To think I need .ore than a 9kg drum for a family of 5+

[NotAnotherHeffalump]

There are 5 of us in my family, but we'd like to have more kids. I want something that's going to get clothes really clean, and something that's big enough that I won't have to replace it if we have another baby or two in the next few years. I don't mind spending more at this stage, but really want it to last.

I'd been looking at the Samsung Ecobubble 12kg because it's huge. But some of the reviews on reliability are a bit hit and miss.

I was also looking at Miele as we have their vacuum cleaner and we love it, and it gets fantastic reviews on reliability. They only seem to go up to a 9kg drum, though.

Is this big enough for a family of potentially 7/8?

Thanks

I'm so indecisive! We do have the money for a miele, but there are lots of other things that need to be bought for the new house too. I do want a very reliable make though. I prefer the idea of doing a few very big loads rather the many smaller ones, as I work part time it isn't really possible to do several loads a day, every day.

We are a family of 6 and have 2 regular sized washing machines. Works well for us as we can do a light wash and a dark wash or one type of wash and another of towels/bed linen.

We have a ceiling pulley, Sheila Maid, attached to the joists in the ceiling above that hold more than a washing machine load. Then two of those wee things with about 20 odd pegs hanging from it that socks and pants get hung from. Very little needs to go in the tumble drier.

I have a 10kg and a family of nine. I still do 2 loads a day, sometimes three.

Does the Shiela Maid not make your house damp?

If you have the space get two 6k/9kg drum machines. That's my plan next time. The wash cycles are so long it's more that that slows me down than drum size. I laughed at an old boyfriends mum who had two and now I wish I did too!

The Sheila Maid is a good idea. I was eyeing up 5 line retractable washing line for outside, but had never though of anything for inside.

Family of 6 here. Have a 9KG Miele - perfectly adequate and by far the best machine we’ve ever owned!

If this helps, I bought a large drum Samsung earlier this year. Read the reviews online about them moving around the room. Mine moved about from the start, it had been installed correctly, I did all the balancing things, tried moving it to a different position and re-balancing it, had to keep moving it anyway as it would move into the room. Had the guys back to check it, it was even worse, it shook the entire back of the house and moved 8" inches into the room.

Samsung machines are still tested on concrete floors apparently and supposedly do not travel on concrete. However most people no longer have bare concrete floors and the machines move around a lot.

I didn't want another Bosch as our last one was rubbish but the only other large drum that we could exchange it for was a Bosch, and it is much better. Hasn't moved at all and I have just washed a king size duvet in it.

I wanted a Beko allergy 10kg however the AO guy didn't want to install it, too much trouble to bend down because he had cramp, so I told him to leave and went to Euronics who are excellent.

Looked at Miele, so many things that could go wrong and customer service is not good.

Look at all the reviews you can find, not the ones on the site you are buying from as they are usually only good ones. Read the ones on the repair sites by putting the model no. into search with the word repair or problem.

Sad to say this but it looks as if Bosch are still one of the better ones, the drum is huge on mine. I reckon to spend around £400 - £500 on a machine, most of them last the same length of time anyway unless you get a rogue one.

Too many options!

We have a Bosch washer-drier, not a big one though. Which? "Best Buy" but I'm not impressed, it cleans OK and dries well but rinsing is poor, and worst of all the spin brutalises the clothes, everything comes out creased to oblivion even if I slow the spin speed down.

I have a 9kg capacity Miele machine, two years old. It's not a high end Miele, it's a 'W' range Classic, and has all the programmes I need, express wash (20 mins), outstanding wool wash which I use for silk clothes as well (I make my own) and bras, pre-wash, soak, rinse-only, extra water, standard and extra-thorough variations on several programmes. I don't expect to buy another machine in my lifetime!

I washed a 13-tog double feather and down duvet recently, no problems. I lucky to get a very good discount on it as it was a discontinued model. I bought Miele because my 20-year old Miele vacuum cleaner was still going strong.

When I had to replace the oven this year, I chose a Miele, fabbo oven.

I think I'm between a 12kg Samsung ww800 and a Miele at 9kg.

Miele all the way. I cannot emphasise enough how shite Samsungs customer care is.

Do either of them come with a longer warranty?

Both have a 5 yr warranty. The Miele is about £100 more expensive.

I'd still go Miele

I'd go for the better brand.

The weight claim is often spurious, anyhow. I have an 8kg Siemens but in reality, that is 8kg washed badly in 3 hours or more and needing another spin. More like 6kg for a full cottons load and still needs an extra spin.

No, the Shiela Maid doesn’t make the house damp. It is in the utility room above/in front the coat rack, when it is pulled up. I tend to put on washing after the kids go to bed then hang them up before I go to bed and most things are dry by the morning. Things like jeans would be dry by lunchtime.

We have a rectractable wall mounted washing line outside. But I use the Sheila Maid overnight much more.

Does the Sheila maid not get in the way? I want one in my utility room but am unsure how big and awkward it would be in reality.

Do you have a lot of heating in your utility room all year round? In my experience they're not very warm rooms.

Our utility room is a rectangle with entry at one end. Cabinets with washing machine under bench on right hand side. Row of coat hooks on left hand wall. Only about 1.5m width between face of wall and face of cupboards. Ceiling pulley sits so that you drop it down in front of the coats. So I put washing on top of bench from machines. Then drop pulley, load up rails and lift up pulley.

There is underfloor heating in the utility room set to 20 degrees.

Sounds identical to mine. Except for the underfloor heating.

We have 6 kids. 9kg AEG is completely fine.

I have a 9kg Samsung and hate the bloody thing as it simply cannot cope with anything big like a towel. I can't do a towels wash any more as it can't balance the load and spin it. Even sneaking a towel in with each wash results in it not spinning about 50% of the time. The size of the wash as counterbalance makes no difference.

Oh dear Brenna24 is it a reasonably new Samsung? That's very worrying indeed.

I have a samsung 9kg. Had for 3 yrs now and love it, no problems at all since day one

I would definitely go for Miele. I don’t have one now, but had them in rented houses twice - once for 5 years, once for 4 years I think - and both times never a creak or a groan out of them. They weren’t new, either.