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?

the 20 min wash in ohr house is for rinsing swimming stuff and for the lunch bags.
rest of tge time we use mostly the 3 hour eco cycles.

I couldn’t have the patience to wait 4 hours. I have a Hoover and it takes under an hour for a 40° wash. It all comes up lovely, even white socks with added Vanish.
I’d expect my washing machine to walk itself to the dry cleaners in four hours. Too long.

I bought a Hoover because it has three quick settings 15, 30 or 45 minutes.
It also has a 1 hour daily wash but the clothes are always very warm when that cycle finishes so it can't be rinsing very well.
The 20c wash is 1hr36mins.

@Coffeecak3 my clothes come out warm too with my Hoover. I love the quick settings too.
Working full time I don’t have time for 4 hour washes.

I have a 10kg machine but having weighed my dry washing several times I cannot physically fit more than about 5kg of Washington in the machine so everything gets done on the daily 60 minute 40 degree wash and it’s all clean and fresh. There are lots more programs but I don’t need to use any of them.

They are such a pita. Agree with a pp that we've gone back to the days of washing taking all day. Mine has a so called time saver function which on the white cottons setting at 60 takes 1.45 which is still not particularly quick. The regular time for this cycle is 3.30 which is insane. For the pp who said you can just leave it so it's fine, sure you can, but there are limits. Eg I live in a flat so can't have it on overnight or during the working day when I'm not there. I actually hate the fucking thing and wouldn't have bought it if I'd known it would take half a day to do a wash.

I think the energy ratings are bogus if they are based on a 4 hour program that no one actually uses because it takes 4 hours. If I’m trying to get all my family washing done over 2 days on the weekend, I’m not waiting 4 hours for a wash - especially if I want to get it out on the line to dry.

I’ll either have to do more washes (as the time reduces for smaller loads), or use the quicker cycles which aren’t as energy efficient. So what’s the point of an A+++ wash?

Good point! I guess it's a box ticking exercise, similar to "we are reducing our use of plastic by refusing to give you bags to carry your shopping to your flat, while simultaneously continuing to wrap every last item in said shopping in plastic".

@Johnny1963

This is so timely. Our washing machine is on its last legs and I've been looking for a new one. It's so difficult to find out how long the wash cycles are. I only use the full cycle rarely so I rely on the short washes on my current Zanussi machine.

Sorry to hijack the thread but does anyone have a machine they recommend for short washes at a range of temperatures?

We have a fairly new hoover dynamic next machine. Lots of long and short settings and easy to adjust temperature. I do find it says things like 3 minutes left for about 10 mins, but that's just the sensor reading the load weight etc. It has a 14/30/44 min option and longer ones for bigger/dirtier loads. Very pleased with it.

Current energy label standard is 25 years old and is on a programme standard across all machines under same test conditions, bit like a car mpg. New energy label being introduced from March next year under new test parameters still energy , water and wash performance based but scored on more realistic usage.
Agree that most people can get a good wash performance in quick cycles but this is due to better detergents and like my kids, washing clothes that are almost clean

Does it have a timer function? Can you set it to run in the night so it finishes just when you get up?

When I went to replace my old washing machine, the biggest factor in my new one was the length a cycle would take. Curry's tend to have it on their labels.
I was shocked how long most took.

Wow. My wash takes 20 mins - America

What's the worst that can happen if you use a shorter wash but ignore the 4-5kg weight part?

Oh god that would drive me crazy! My daily wash setting is all I use and that takes 59 mins at 40deg. I like to do all my laundry washing drying and ironing/putting away in one day so waiting 3-4 hours would NOT work for me!

And I forgot to add mine is A+++ new machine, clothes come out clean too!

Interesting that every fire brigade in the UK will tell you not to run your washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher while you are out or overnight as they are such a high fire risk (relatively, of course). Yet, with 4 hour cycles that's exactly what everyone will be doing. I'd strongly suggest you make sure you have working smoke alarms in the vicinity if you do run them overnight - well, hopefully everyone does anyway, but worth checking!

I wish manufacturers would take note. We want basic features and quicker cycles! I'd like 2 knobs: one dial for water temp (which has a delicates/ wool cycle option); and one dial for spin speed (800 to at least1400) which I could combine as I choose. All in a 60-90 minute cycle.

@TherapyClient

What's the worst that can happen if you use a shorter wash but ignore the 4-5kg weight part?

the machine parts can break sooner than otherwise.

I agree that I do not run the machines overnight or if I'm going out! So it is irritating.

My washing machine "weighs" the contents when wetted. Then adjusts the time.

(Is it going to take over my home soon?)

Defo agree on beko. 40 or 60 wash with 1600 spin 38 minutes. Ide never go for anything other than beko after reading these horror stories

That's interesting my 2 year old Bosch washer on mixed load using eco is 58 mins even with extra rinse. I put on a load at 5:25 yesterday evening and was done just before 6:30. It is a 9kg one. The cotton at 90 she wash is 2hrs 35 mins that's for bed linens and towels and washer packed full.
If I include extra rinse and eco timer comes down to 1hr 28 mins. I just checked again.
Without eco with just full wash and extra rinse wash time is 2 hrs 50 mins, so adding eco on my wash halves the wash time to 90 mins.

@TherapyClient

What's the worst that can happen if you use a shorter wash but ignore the 4-5kg weight part?

It automatically readjusts the time, so e.g. it shows 1 hour 27 etc then as the machine starts the sensor adjusts the time to 4 hours if you have more clothes (I don’t mean over filling, still one hand space for the washing to move around).

@ooohbananas

Oh god that would drive me crazy! My daily wash setting is all I use and that takes 59 mins at 40deg. I like to do all my laundry washing drying and ironing/putting away in one day so waiting 3-4 hours would NOT work for me!

I agree. I know some posters think it’s fine for the washing to take hours and I should just accept it, most people who buy large 9/10/11kg machines do so because they either have larger families or more washing. What’s the point of buying a large capacity if it takes hours and that isn’t even the economy setting!