Help!!!
So my washing machine has decided to break down and can't be fixed. To be fair - it's 14 years old so has done pretty well. But I like going out to look at what I buy when I'm buying something big like this and now I can't. (If only it had broken down a week earlier...!)
So please hit me with your recommendations - any to particularly go for or avoid? Previous one was a Bosch so happy to go with that (although not going straight for it as I would have done previously - replaced our Bosch tumble drier last year and it's nowhere near as good as the old one it replaced, which had been bought at the same time as the washing machine that's just died, hence worry that they are not as good as they used to be...).
Current washing machine has the facility to add things that you forget or drop on the way - use it quite a bit so would still like that feature.
My mother gets annoyed that her machine can't spin, it has to rinse and spin, so would like to have the facility to spin only.
But looking at the specs there's all sorts of new features - washing with steam or bubbles or with paddles or auto sensors or eco modes (seem to be very very slow) or fast modes (for tiny amounts of washing) or have 7kg or 8kg or 9kg or more capacity - and it's not clear which is a useful feature and which is a buzz word to get more money but doesn't actually make much difference.
So - any thoughts or recomendations? We're a family of 4 including one sports mad teenager that gets covered in mud at least 4 times a week and frequently more during the winter! Rest of us are normally dirty 
if that makes any difference - would need to cope with that.
Thanks for your help!