[masraum]

Right, this is probably just like turning on hot water in various places around the house. You turn the hot water on and immediately feel the water, and that water is cold. Depending upon the size and layout of your house which determines the length of pipe between the water heater and whatever faucet you just turned on, the water in the pipes will be cold, and it'll take a bit for the hot to get from the water heater to the faucet.

I know that folks here have talked about recirculation systems that ensure that the pipes are always full of hot water. Then, there's insulation which might help. My guess is that if the missus runs the washer on a hot/hot or hot/warm cycle, the second cycle (rinse) will be hotter than the first since the water was run to fill the thing the first time.

You could probably fix the glitch by installing a small tankless water heater at the washer.