I don't believe a preload is necessary. Try using a different cycle...heavy?

As best I can tell, the unit decides how much water to use. There is no water level button.

You put too much soap and it has to come out somewhere done this before that's y I say this

Have you been using a HE detergent in the recommended quantity? My machine is only a month old and it is the first time that I have used an energy efficient top loader. I've noticed that with my black clothes loads I occasionally get some light white spots on my clothes. I use the recommended quantity of detergent and try to maximize the amount of water used with the black loads to prevent this problem. The only other thing that I am going to try is decreasing the amount of detergent I use per load (it will be below what is recommended by whirlpool and the detergent manufacturer).