If your wash machine capacity was 7 kg & you went to one with 9 kg or 11 kg...-

[Mum5net]

... did it change your life?
Moving home and need a new washing machine. Budget is £450. Two of us and the dog. Also expecting lots of visitors so frequent bed linen changes. What did you notice when you went XL? Is it just that you get a bigger door?

Agree with chisping but would add one more vv important rule. Never leave the door closed if the machine is empty! Leave it ajar so it can dry out, otherwise the bits of dirt washed off the clothes fester and grow mould inside the machine which is very difficult to clean.

TBH my new machine is 11kg capacity and my old one was 8kg. I don't notice any difference in the amount of washing I can do. Both of them fit about 1x 50L washing basket's worth of clothes in, allowing enough space in the drum for movement. If you dislike long cycles, avoid anything that weighs the clothes and chooses the cycle based on this and look for something which has a button that can shorten the cycle length. This is the main thing I miss about my old machine - it did a 4 hour cycle, but I could shorten it to what it called 1h10 but actually took about 90 mins, which was fine for me. My new one weighs the clothes and decides how long it needs based on this which would be fine except it gets really confused if anything is already wet. TBF to it, a normal sized wash load does trigger a 59 min wash, but there is a lot of faffing around taking things in and out if anything is wet.

Modern tumble dryers are very efficient. That was the purchase which changed my life.