Washing Machines

[Diver300]

What's an "iron"

A temperature-controlled device for applying wax to the base of skis.

Mine is a temperature-controlled device for attaching SMD components to a circuit board using solder.

[hatler]

As far as I can make, out the price points within a single manufacturer's range typically relate to more 'features' and the underlying quality of the item remains the same. We bought the lowest featured Miele washing machine on the grounds we don't need 50 different wash cycles.

[hellymedic]

My thinking is the more 'features' to more potential for things to go wrong, so avoid...

[hatler]

That too !

[Paul]

My next washing machine will have accessible bearings, if possible. It was galling to have to replace the entire sealed drum when only the bearings had gone.

[Kim]

My thinking is the more 'features' to more potential for things to go wrong, so avoid...

Yeahbut most features on a washing machine are just extra programs for the controller to not run because you never use them, and therefore harmless.  The only really useful one is automagic extra rinses.

[ian]

See also the comments about my $Brand has been going strong for 30 years.
That's fine, but what you can buy today is not going to be made the same way, out of the same components. And as Warm Farts says, they're probably not even made by the same company any more. So unfortunately no indication as to future performance of a machine purchased today.

There's also survivor bias. Our ancient Bosch came via the grandmother who'd gone to ga-ga home as we were poor and buying our first house in London (two facts that seem inseparably paired). That said, our car was a similarly aged Golf (still working when we sold it because parking).

Does anyone use more than two different programmes? I think the only problem we've ever had with any washer was the other week, when the Smeg not unreasonably choked on one of my wife's gym socks and she had to extricate it from the portal underneath (I've never seen her fix a machine before, but for reasons I'm not allowed to operate or even touch the washing machine).

Anyway, we've never had to get anyone to fix a washing machine. I remember growing up and my dad always seemed to be cursing and yanking bits out of a washing machine's innards while my mum looked on grumpily.

[nicknack]

When mum went into a home 10 years ago we had to clear the house and sell it to pay for the home. There was a washing machine (Beko) that had been used all of three times, so I brought it home to replace our roughly 10 year old Hoover when it inevitably packed up. So it went in the shed to wait. It's still there.
When we got married (40 years ago) we had a twin tub which got retired in favour of an automatic Zanussi when the first child arrived (36 years ago). And that's it. We've had 3 machines in 40 years.

[hellymedic]

I use four programs:
A 60C cotton wash for towels, hankies & dishcloths; takes AGES but does the job. Quite rough.
40C 'minimum iron' for undies, shirts and bedlinen; good compromise.
40C Delicates for delicate synthetics; doesn't rinse too well. Stuff can smell musty, especially if 'delicate' detergent used.
30C Wool for wool only; it doesn't clean very well.

[hellymedic]

Miele last around 20 years, as mine did.

I did a HOT hygiene wash when I received my new machine last summer. Some dishcloths had grown a beard in the 6 weeks I had been without a machine...

[MattH]

Our current machine is 9 years old, bought because we were moving in to a new house and putting in a new kitchen. MrsH wanted a nice neat fitted one behind a matching wooden door rather than our standalone one. That was probably 15 years old, so I wasn't too upset to leave it at the old house.

Telling it what program to run involves spinning a dial to choose, then pressing the "Play" triangle button. However, the programming dial has "helpful" Euro-style pictograms to indicate what each does, with no words or numbers to give a clue. And those pictograms are totally different to the ones on clothes care labels. So, for the odd occasion I do the washing, I know to put the dial to 2 o'clock, and press play. Not got a clue what any of the other 20 or so settings do, and I'm reasonably convinced MrsH doesn't either.

Extremely rarely, we need to do something unusual in there, so have to dig out the manual to decipher the "helpful" pictures.

Our clothes seem to come out clean, not trashed, and smelling OK, so that's good enough.

[sojournermike]

We left a machine behind for the couple who bought our London flat in 2001 and bought a Bosch when we moved back north. The Bosch lasted until the first day of lockdown in 2020 with only one call out (bearing) and one repair that I did. We replaced it with a Miele, which washes very well, but does seem to take the drawstrings out of my tracksters and shorts - I really haven’t worked out how it does this.

I only use, and am only permitted to use, the sports program for my bike gear. Sue does everything else, although I am trusted to take stuff out and put it in a basket or, occasionally, the dryer. I do have form on washing to be fair, but I’m more careful now about red socks...

[chrisbainbridge]

We left a machine behind for the couple who bought our London flat in 2001 and bought a Bosch when we moved back north. The Bosch lasted until the first day of lockdown in 2020 with only one call out (bearing) and one repair that I did. We replaced it with a Miele, which washes very well, but does seem to take the drawstrings out of my tracksters and shorts - I really haven’t worked out how it does this.

I only use, and am only permitted to use, the sports program for my bike gear. Sue does everything else, although I am trusted to take stuff out and put it in a basket or, occasionally, the dryer. I do have form on washing to be fair, but I’m more careful now about red socks...

Be honest.  You did it on purpose, to make sure you were never asked again?

[Bledlow]

I HAS NEW MIELE WASHING MACHINE!

I could easily see my buying one as a retirement present to myself next year. But alas, even
their smallest one won't fit into the area currently occupied by a Bosch machine. I'd have to
get the who kitchen redesigned (too much faff and too spendy)....

Our problem. Without ripping apart bits of house, including removal of some brickwork, no Miele model will fit. Well, I suppose we could have it standing in the middle of the kitchen & squeeze past . . . .    Or add a small extension to the 1960s bit built on the back*.

Actually, very few washing machines will fit, but there is some choice. We used to have a Bosch back in the 2000s, & there are Zanussi & Beko models plus one or two others which will fit.

*Replaced an early 1880s walk-in larder, coal store, & outside toilet. There was one house in the street which still had 'em when I moved in.

[Mrs Pingu]

Didn't realise you got non standard washers. Top loader?

[Bledlow]

There are top loaders that'll fit (our Bosch was one), but there are also some front loaders, e.g. the Zanussi & Beko ones (a couple of choices from each company IIRC). Standard width, but shallower front to back, so we can get 'em in.

[hellymedic]

My Miele is around 10cm deeper than the slot into which it was put, so it juts into the kitchen.
The previous Miele replaced an 'integrated' Hygena, which fitted flush with the rest of the kitchen. AIUI 'integrated' machines are smaller.

[Bledlow]

OK, so I"ve just looked up the Which website, they tested 2 models in 2017 and gave them a 'Don't Buy' rating on account of poor washing it seems.
Bit more discussion here about Which refusing to test under 'aggressive mode' https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/forums/forum/public-support-forums/buying-advice/863959-ebac-washing-machines

Ebac's response:
https://www.ebac.com/washing-machines/articles/ebacs-response-to-the-which-review-2/

On the 'aggressive mode' comment, when we first got our Miele, I found thr clothes felt a bit funny. Crispy is how I can best describe it. So I started doing most washes on the 'dark clothing' setting which is designed to use a bit more water to prevent powder turning up on clothes.

Good reviews on Amazon & Trustpilot tho, so who knows.

The Ebac response seems to be, basically, that the Which test is dated, & doesn't allow for users adjusting how they wash (both washing machine settings & pre-treatment) to the type of dirt. It noted that Which reported a high level of customer satisfaction.

[rachel t]

There are top loaders that'll fit (our Bosch was one), but there are also some front loaders, e.g. the Zanussi & Beko ones (a couple of choices from each company IIRC). Standard width, but shallower front to back, so we can get 'em in.

My latest washer is a hotpoint but only a 6kg & it is much shallower front to back than the 20 year old one it replaced last year think that was a 7 or 8 kg

[De Sisti]

My latest washer is a hotpoint

Just been listening to an item on Radio Four's You and Yours consumer programme, about
Hotpoint washing machines becoming faulty and breaking down within 12 months of purchase.
This is compounded by shocking customer non service.

[SweatRash]

Very good info site on white goods
https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/

This repairer, Andy, is funny/knowledgeable, too: https://www.awmronline.com
I've resurrected his longer rant from the Internet archive:https://web.archive.org/web/20190119155257/https://www.awmronline.com/
He wouldn't touch Miele. He reckons that 10 year warranties don't cover labour, so some top-end machines can be beyond economic repair within warranty. He writes that four year lives from sealed tank machines is quite common, often down to insufficient grease on the oil seal that shields the first bearing from the water (modern large drums might also contribute?). The vast majority of modern machines have sealed tanks, including Miele models WEA025, WCA030 and the WWD120. LG and Samsung are noted as being separate, but they are difficult to repair in other ways. He also recommends no one every buy a washer-dryer, unless they have no alternative.
Here is a thread on ukwhitegoods discussing one-piece tanks. There are videos on youtube of people cutting and siliconing up their one-piece tanks to replace the bearings!

My own machine is a 22 year old WM series Welsh-built Hotpoint, which he rates highly and suggests owners hold on to. I've recently treated mine to a set of stainless steel bearings.
During the Second World War, we had the utility designation (was it a circle with a quadrant removed?) which was a mark of quality and longevity because we couldn't be wasting materials by over embellishing, and we couldn't be wasting material on things that weren't built to last. I can't see why the same isn't true now, but with the crisis being and energy and environmental one. But the quest for relentless GDP growth, which almost all politicians support, takes us ever further away. Clown world.