New washing machine takes 4-5 hours to wash a full load, is this normal?

[Shopaholic100]

My old Bosch washing machine died after 15 years, so I bought a new Samsung 9 kg add wash one, after lots of positive reviews both on line and from family and friends. I tried my friends one which was 9kg and had a daily wash cycle and was really impressed. So we bought the latest model thinking thinking they would just have improved on the older model. How wrong we were. After it finally arrived (a whole other story), it has lots of different cycles but only 2 where you can use it for a 9kg load and they take 4-5+ hours and it doesn’t have the daily wash function. It does have a 15 minute one but you can only put in 2kg and it does a cold wash.

I’m not sure how it has a A+++ rating it takes hours to wash a normal family load. I’m not sure why they have a 9kg drum when most of the settings have a maximum of 4kg load. My old machine washed a load in about one hour. Is this normal in new machines?

I’m so disappointed it was quite expensive so I can’t even replace it. I only wanted a machine which would wash my clothes in a reasonable amount of time. I’ve only had it just over a week and wish I’d gone for the older model with less options but a one hour daily wash.

To top it off the new Bosch dryer has decided it only want to dry shirts etc and anything like T-shirt’s come out damp no matter how many times you put them back in😬.

I want my old appliances back at least they washed everything in an hour and dried everything you put in there. Are new appliances just not as good?

@Kpo58

I find it ironic that washing machines were invented so that it didn't take all day washing clothes and now we are back at the start, taking all day (if not longer) to do the laundry.

So true who wants to spend all day doing laundry.

Isn’t this why British machines were better than American back in the day, more agitation?

I’d rather not lose that so will be choosing carefully when I need to buy a machine next

Well this has cheered me up a little OP as my landlord bought the cheapest wash on the market to replace old one today and I was thinking what a scrooge he was and now I'm grateful for its simplicity!! I would never have normally clicked into a thread about washing machines. And I did get a good chuckle from the poster querying whether the washing machine needed the wifi to amuse itself for 4 hours lol.

My LG only takes 1 hr 20 or even less sometimes. Large drum

It does have a 15 minute one but you can only put in 2kg and it does a cold wash.

Does it call the police if you dare put in more? Put in as much as you like. The weight rating is based around the quality and durability of the parts.

This is interesting.

We bought a new dishwasher about 2 years ago.

It has a 4 hour programme, a 3 hour and a 2 1/2.

I hate it intensely.

I’ve got a Siemens which has a “and hurry it up, I don’t have all day!” button which I can press to get almost any programme down to less than an hour. It also has a fifteen minute wash (although that usually needs an extra 13 minute spin cycle if I need it dry in a hurry).
It would be worth reading your manual really really carefully because there might be a secret setting called something cryptic like Sport.

When it comes to your tumble dryer there are two key tips.

1. separate polycottons and light cottons out from heavyweight cottons like T shirts because if you mix them it confuses the sensors. Yes it’s a PITA but doing the lightweight stuff first is more energy efficient and makes them last longer and means you have a chance of getting dry T shirts.
2. if after you’ve done that your cottons are still coming out damp then you do need to trawl the manual to find the magic setting marked “Yes I mean ACTUALLY DRY!!” This normally comes in the form of a ritual which involves pressing six buttons simultaneously in the right order and must be performed on the third Thursday after Candlemas while whistling Greensleeves backwards. I taught my family a whole range of new swearwords while resetting my Siemens tumble dryer to ACTUALLY DRY mode but it was worth it.

I'm on a water meter and chose to pay extra for green energy.
hell yes am I using the eco settings!
would be stupid not to imo.
and with the timer setting and a big huge drum does it really matter that the cycle takes more than 2 hours?

I replaced my heatpump dryer with a vanilla condenser dryer and it's so much better at drying. Better still, I can wash the heat exchanger instead of having it slowly get more and more clogged and more and more useless.

Hoping my 11year old Zanussi lasts a good while longer. It does a wash in 40 min!

Mine does have the daily wash function, if that helps anyone buying.

SAMSUNG - ecobubble WW90J5456FW/EU 9 kg 1400 Spin Washing Machine - White

Product code 199934 £ 389.97

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince Noooooo, I'd be whipping the marigolds out and doing it the old fashioned way, that's ridiculous!

We have a 2 year old LG which takes ages to wash too. It also doesn't rinse the deodorant out of shirts properly. I miss my 15 year old Bosch too.

Have had the same problem, my old one had 60 mins/60 degrees cycle which was perfect for whites and a half hour smaller load one for 40 degrees. Apart from boil washing my work uniforms and discloths that's all I used.

I thought my current one was long at up to 3 hours for the boil wash and 1.5 hours for the quickest 40 degree colours wash. The only quick option is 20 mins for 30 tiny load which isnt quick long enough or hot enough to get things clean!

I find those 15-20 minute cycles most useful for swimming stuff or getting the shit off ds2's clothes before they go in a regular wash with other stuff.

I'm not sure what type ours is but it does have a 15 min and 60 min setting, which I use most frequently. The 60 min seems to do the job for a proper wash. You can choose between 60°C and 40°C.

washing machines get ratings based on efficiency. A+++ is 30 percent more efficient than an A. This is based on consumed use, ie, Electricity and water . To achieve these ratings and get an A rated wash performance the wash time is extended (time use has no cost ), hence the extended wash time. All machines have bypass programs where you can quicken the wash but this is at the the expense of cost.
Analogy - driving car at 50 uses a lot less fuel than driving at 70 but will take longer to get to destination.
Current washing machines are designed to save money and resources not your time.
WIFI is to help people use appropriate programmes for the fabric type and helps with maintenance, etc.
machines are now so efficient that the energy labelling is undergoing a reboot and many A+++ machines will be rated as C for energy use from March next year.

the main thing is that YOU are not doing the laundry, the washing machine is.

I just love my Miele washer, I almost worship it.Not cheap but the best washer I have had.I got married fifty years ago had two two children so I have had a few washers!.

fartedinmybrain, thanks you explained that really well especially your driving analogy.

Could you explain a bit more about how the ratings will change from March? You seem quite informed.

@Shopaholic100

It has a sensor which weighs the load and automatically sets the time so you can’t overload. I bought it from Curry’s.

If you are in a hurry, the WW90T554DAW/S1 won't leave you hanging with a 55-minute program for 5 kg of clothes. And if you really rushing, it can wash 2 kg in just 15 minutes.

5 kilos for example = all of the below

Seven pairs/sets of underwear
Seven pairs of socks
Five short-sleeve T-shirts
Two long-sleeve shirts
One sweatshirt or sweater
Two pairs of jeans or four pairs of shorts
One sheet set
One towel

Any idea how to do the 55 minute program? The instructions for this model are not too great.

I’ve tried the 2kg in 15 minute but it was a cold wash, so ok for very lightly soiled clothes.

We have a Samsung one (it must be almost 8 years old now) and the longest it takes is 2 hours for something like 'deep sanitise' or something of the sort. The Express wash is 38 minutes, and tbh does the job most of the time.

I can't believe it takes 4 hours!

I like my Bosch and it's speed wash of just over an hour and the very handy 15 minute wash and it's seemingly uncomplicated ways. I'll pray it doesnt break down for a while. I've never used the eco wash on it.

I stick most washes on 60 degrees to kill the germs which otherwise wouldn't on a 40 degree wash.