Laundry Issues

First of all, whomever decided it was a good idea to combine the Mud Room with the Laundry Room, clearly has never done a load in his or her entire life. Seriously, is it even possible to keep the floor clean for more than 12 hours during the 6 months out of the year we get snow? Few things bug me more than accidentally dropping an otherwise perfectly clean article of clothing on its way from the washer to the dryer. We've tried taking our shoes off in the garage, but most of the time it's too cold for the snow to melt and dry.

Speaking of said washer, I think I am overworking the machine because it is beginning to give me issues (and, it's less than 6 months old). I swear I use the tiniest amount of detergent...I'm talking measuring in teaspoons, not cups. The trouble is I am getting build-up in the machine. I've tried using RLR to strip diapers, and all I get for my trouble is a boat load of suds that keep coming back wash after wash, even when running the machine EMPTY with nothing but warm water.

Oh, and the fact that at least 33.33% of the time I get an error message that, so far as I know, means the machine hasn't drained properly, doesn't help things, either. Yes, the machine is level. Yes, I am using the correct detergents AND in most cases using just half or less of the recommended amount. So what am I doing wrong? Or, is my machine defective?

In the meantime, I'm bringing all the diapers to my MIL's tomorrow. She has a standard top loader, and I'm beginning to think that, at least for really dirty items like cloth diapers, nothing beats the ability to use a full load of water. With the HE machines (at least mine) you cannot set the amount of water; the machines determine the correct amount based on weight. I've tried adding towels to increase the weight, but no dice.