New washing machine

aliasojo

Need one! Now! Desperately!

Recommendations please?

Spent hours in stores this afternoon and come home with nothing although I'm now totally confused.

Store staff in several stores reckon Hotpoint has been taken over and quality is now really bad.

Hoover is a no-no for me as personal experience has put me off.

Don't know anything about Dyson although staff reckon quality has improved, and the large drum looks great. Hate the design but I don't care too much what it looks like as long as it is efficient.

Not fond of Zanussi, again because of personal experience.

LG seems to be fairly good (I'm told).

Opinions please? I need to order something by the morning.

Want at least 1400 spin speed, but pref 1600. Large drum and AAA efficiency.

Anyone who can help me decide gets a (virtual) chocolate watch.

Edinburghlass_2

When mine went a year or so ago the independant repair guy recommended a Creda, so I listened to him :j

Fortyfoot

aliasojo wrote:

Need one! Now! Desperately!

Recommendations please?


Opinions please? I need to order something by the morning.

Want at least 1400 spin speed, but pref 1600. Large drum and AAA efficiency.

Anyone who can help me decide gets a (virtual) chocolate watch.

I tried to send a report to you, but it failed. See PM.
Fortyfoot

aliasojo

Thanks forty, emailed you.

Creda wasn't on my hitlist E, but I'll go have a look.

Savvy_Sue

Well, I have recently bought a Bosch WFO 2466 and I am very happy with it. We have Bosch WM and separate TD at work and are very happy with them. I believe they tend to have big drums and come out well in Which? surveys.

You say you want v. high spin speed - again going on Which? reports a higher spin speed doesn't necessarily get things any drier, and in fact they don't give a spin speed, just a result! My Bosch has max spin speed of 1200 but I keep it on 1000 because it's quieter and sends fewer cups hurtling across the room at that speed, and it honestly doesn't seem to make a significant difference to drying times.

Have just found Jan 2005 issue of Which? and guess what - Washing Machines! (We got our free trial at just the right time!) Biggest drum they tested was 7.5 kg, in LG WM 16220FD, LG WM14225FD, and a Hoover. LG good for spin dry, poor for rinse, poor for noise. Both rated AAA. Then there's the Dyson at 7kg, which didn't do particularly well. Then several more machines at 6kg capacity.

Very few are AAA rated, and TBH, how much difference is there really between an AAA and an AAB? Running costs according to Which? - some AAB machines get same rating as AAA machines, and some are a lot worse.

If you can get to a library of reasonable size, they probably have Which? if you can spare the time to look at that. But you don't say how much you want to spend. If it's less than £300, get the same Bosch as me or a Tricity Bendix AW1260. If it's more than £300, the other Best Buys are a Siemens WSL 146A for £500, a Miele W2203 for £600+ (and the drum capacity is only 5kg), or the Bosch WFX 2867 for £400.

But the Bosches and the Siemens have the best spin dry results. So, if you want a recommendation - BUY THE BOSCH! (I am not on commission for them!)

The only complaint I've had about it is that you can't change the temperature - one of those using machine at home wants to wash his clothes at 50degrees and there's nothing between 40 and 60. I'm not complaining - I like it!

aliasojo

Thanks savvy_sue.

With regard to the spin speed, I have to say I did notice a difference between my old 1200 and the 1400 I have now. (I expect I shouldn't admit to this on MSE, but I tumble dry EVERYTHING ) and things were coming out the w.m. a bit dryer to start with, with the 1400.

Although I don't want to throw money away, getting a decent machine is more important than price, so I'd be willing to shell out for a good one.

I came across Siemens machines on the web last night with 10 year parts AND labour guarantees which made me think the machines must be reliable or they wouldn't have such a long warranty? They are pretty pricey though £600-£1000. There again, my Hotpoint has had to be repaired 3 times in the last 2 years and it's only 3 years old! It had to be practically rebuilt with a new drum kit and controller and would have cost me more than it was worth to repair if it wasn't covered by a warranty (which cost me £200 itself!) Maybe it's worth coughing up more at the start for less outlay later on? Oh decisions, decisions.

Forty very helpfully emailed me some Which info which was useful, but so far I don't seem to have seen or heard the same thing written twice, lol. Some reviews slate the very model other reviews value.

I found a washing machine forum with reviews etc and the Dyson was fairly well received on there, but slated elsewhere. I do still like that big drum though.

The general feeling all round is that build quality is not as good as in a few years ago and in an effort to produce cheaper machines, ALL manufacturer's skimp on quality a bit.

I think I'll print out name labels, pin them to the wall and chuck a dart at them! I expect that whatever I buy will break down knowing my luck, I seem to be magically drawn to dodgy appliances, lol.

BigAde

aliasojo wrote:

Thanks savvy_sue.
I found a washing machine forum with reviews etc and the Dyson was fairly well received on there, but slated elsewhere. I do still like that big drum though.

We've got a Dyson CR01 and can safely say that it is excellent. Didn't read any reviews on it, but I knew other people who have them who also rate them well. Large drum is bl**dy fantastic when you've got kids and it washes everything very effectively. No complaints here.

Savvy_Sue

It is all a nightmare, isn't it? I was glad that this time around I had the Which? review as I decided to just get a BB from there. But then the problems start if you can't get what you've set your heart on. Meanwhile the washing builds up, and up, and up and it takes days to dig yourself out!

Before you makes holes in your walls with darts, would it help to prioritise your wish list? My needs have changed: once it would have been

Noise! (WM in kitchen, no door between kitchen and lounge!)
Rinse efficiency (eczema in the family)
Spin speed
Drum size

Now the noise is less important.

Then if the huge drum is more important than the spin speed then pick out those with a big drum, then work through your other priorities etc.

Oh, and check the height of your work surfaces: I had to buy the metal plate for 'built-in' appliances because the new machine was a tad taller than expected and it didn't fit where it should have done!

Good luck ...

Savvy_Sue

aliasojo wrote:

With regard to the spin speed, I have to say I did notice a difference between my old 1200 and the 1400 I have now. (I expect I shouldn't admit to this on MSE, but I tumble dry EVERYTHING ) and things were coming out the w.m. a bit dryer to start with, with the 1400.

You can admit anything you like here (except perhaps using a Coinstar machine in Asda :rolleyes:).

Tumble drying: couple of things I've tried for reducing times. One is to stick an old dry towel in with the load - keep one for just that purpose as it will lose all its fluffiness! The other - if you have time - is to do two or three shorter spells. My machine doesn't run the heater for the last 20 minutes, and I find that 2 x 40 minutes is better than 1 x 80 minutes. I also stir stuff round in between those runs ... and if there are several pairs of jog bottoms in the load then I turn them inside out in between because otherwise the hems are bone dry and the pockets are still damp!

Maybe that will help if you end up with a new machine which doesn't spin as fast as you like!

Fortyfoot

I did not know that it was so hard to buy a washer.
Please let us all know the result!
Fortyfoot

flea72

just one thing, if you buy a dyson which has a large drum, wouldnt you also need a tumble drier with a bigger drum, as you wouldnt be able to fit it all in in one go?