to ask about automatic washing machines

[VeganFromSveden]

As title really… my faithful Hoover auto, purchased well over twenty years ago, has finally died… funeral pending 😪

So I’m not up to date at all on which machine I should buy next.

I expect all the new ones are digital, and technical and scary.

I’m in my very late sixties, but hopefully with an open mind.

Theres only me and my man at home, so no huge demands on the weekly wash.

If anyone could give me advice on what to look for, that’d be so helpful.

I’ve also no idea of what a reasonable cost would be, and which machine is easiest to obtain parts.

I’ve heard good things about Miele, but the cost seems outrageous?
I wouldn’t mind a high cost, it it buys me reliability and longevity.

I like the idea of Bosch, Samsung too.

Look forward to seeing responses, and ask me anything if I’ve not included enough info.
Tia….

I have a 14 year old Miele, it’s used most days, and still going strong

Another vote for Samsung eco bubble

I am also 67 and have the same machine.
I love it!
My sister in law always buys Miele at huge expense and constantly has problems. I used to be a massive Bosch fan but the quality has definitely hugely deteriorated over recent years hence I decided to try this Hoover which was on offer.
The results I get from this machine far surpass anything I have ever had from Bosch.

Most washing machines are rubbish these days. Our Bosch is doing well 10 years on but it's one of the last of the decent ones.
I would not go for too high capacity it will just overload the motor.

Useful reading here https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/buying-advice/washing-machine/3049-the-best-washing-machine/

You might want to look at a secondhand Miele or Bosch.
IIRC a sealed (plastic) drum is a bad thing as if a bearing dies the whole machine is toast. For example this old model has pages of spares and was completely repairable. https://www.partmaster.co.uk/washing-machine/wfx145sgb01/catalogue.pl?shop=bosch&path=112757&model_ref=10436918&page=5

Most new machines will have no spares beyond hoses and maybe a door seal which is a giveaway for being unrepairable.

So in summary don't buy too cheap but don't expect 20 years again!

I recently lost a 20 year old Miele (sob!) I asked my appliance man about getting another Miele and he said the quality has gone seriously down hill in the last 10 years and not to bother getting another.

I now have a Haier that looks like it would be at home on the Death Star. It cost about £500 and is fine.

Both my mother and I have been great fans of Candy washing machines over the years, love them.

Get the cheaper end of a good brand.
The insides are the same - you are being charged for extra pointless features.
I find going to the local independent white goods shop works best for me. A limited range to choose from, so not overwhelming. Get to speak to a human who will come and fit it at a specific time that suits me, costs the same at big online retailers.

Has anyone here got experience of an Ebac machine ?

I had a second hand Miele top loader that worked a treat for 10 years but my movers dropped it and it tried bless it but never really was the same again. Due to lack of space and wanting a drier, we went for AEG.

If I was to buy a washing machine now I’d avoid all the bells and whistles, ours has a steam function which I never have used.

Avoid Samsung, for any appliance, at all costs.

Miele are the best but Bosch and Samsung are very good too. We have a Samsung.

We have an ebac - mainly because at the time we bought it they came with a 7 year guarantee.

I have a Haier and am perfectly happy with it - but to be honest my parameters were that it needed to be a short depth machine front to back, to fit into a cupboard, and it needed to have a decent spin speed. I also wanted one with at least an A rating.
I think you need to look at what you need first, size, eco rating, functions, maybe even colour, then work out how much you are willing to pay, then choose from what is available.

Any ‘Direct Drive’ LG model should be fine.
So quiet we had to keep checking it was on the first few weeks.

Miele but avoid the Twin dos system at all costs , it's a complete faff, I hate mine.

Samsung ecobubble. Had mine for at least eight years. Got it in the sales at JL. Much prefer it to its Miele predecessor.

Siemens. They are the same as Bosch but come with a 5 year warranty.

We got a Bosch last year as an insurance replacement for a hoover. We've had cheap hoover or Hotpoint washers over the years
I wouldn't go back. Bit extra money. Washes better and is much quieter. Only down side is drum is smaller but if there are just two of you in your house that won't matter

I have recently replaced my 10 yr old (might be more) Bosch with another Bosch and quite happy with.

I would also add the praise pp's are giving to Haier.
I bought one for my daughter almost 2 years ago which is now used daily and is so, so good and very quiet.

It was the Haier machine that swayed me to buy my fabulous Hoover as Haier only had 1400rpm spin and the Hoover had 1600rpm but then discovered Hoover are now owned by Haier.👍

My top criteria;

Drum size/load. This varies now. Its measured in kilos. I like to go big so i can put all of the sheets from a king size bed in for example or wash everyones towels in a single load.

Ability to turn down/up the temp on any watch cycle.

A short wash programme. Increasingly to save time and energy and water i am using the 28 min cycle. Particularly for clothes. None of them are actually dirty and just need freshening up.

A button which gives you the option to shorten the wash time on any programme.

Timer delay. So you can put it all in the night before and set it to come up whilst you are snoozing in the morning and then you just hang it up when you get up. Handy if electric is cheaper overnight too.

But honestly even with a fancy machine you tend to use the same handful of functions.

I bought my Samsung Ecobubble after reading a thread like this. I got the one that has wifi connection and autodispense. The phone alerts are really helpful when your machine is on a different floor to your kitchen/lounge.

However, 18 months in it stopped dispensing softener and we called an engineer under guarantee. Couldn't fault the service and a pump had gone and was replaced under the warranty. Can't help but wonder if this is going to happen again.

Apart from that it washes by far the best of the others I have had over the years (Hotpoint and Zanussi). Zanussi machine was appalling.

I've got a Miele. It was around £1000 but is now 17 years old and still going strong. I do at least 5 loads a week. Yesterday I did 5 in one day taking advantage of the sunny weather we had!

Mine is a beko and is absolutely fine. Washes clothes just the same as a miele. My previous beko washed clothes for more than 15 years.

My Hotpoint Whirlpool large capacity washer dryer is ten years old and still going fine. It has a one hour programme which I use all the time, and a choice of wash temperatures from cold to 90 degrees. The dryer works brilliantly - you just have to split a large wash load into two to dry it. It sounds as though more expensive models aren’t necessarily lasting longer than cheap ones, so it’s worth considering.

I have an AEG and the little door to the filter is so low down it’s really really hard to empty. I would always look very carefully at that if buying a new machine. We would not be able to manually empty a full machine…