To think 5h45m for a standard cotton wash is an absolute piss take???

[babyproblems]

Had our washing machine about 18 months. Paid about £750 for it, new. It was the latest Samsung model, and (claims) takes a 8KG load. It is a combi dryer aswell but that’s not what my post is about.
I have just put a load in, nowhere near 8kgs, and on a standard cotton wash at 40 degrees, the time is 5 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES.

I think this is insane. The only quick wash option is a 20 min cycle which I do often use but not always and I like to wash some items ‘properly’. When you buy white goods you don’t realise how crap they really are and I’m so pissed off with this shit machine! Tempted to change it. DH thinks it’s ‘fine’!! I think 5 hours and 45 minutes just for a wash is a complete joke and nowhere near efficient. AIBU to get rid of this machine and buy a new one insisting on a full info of standard cycles before I buy!!!

A lesson learned OP.

When I buy a new washing machine I do a lot of research, including programmes, power consumption, speed of wash, options of wash, spin speed, loading capacity.

I do a lot of cold water 20 minute cycles for items that are not too dirty or are delicate.
I also run hot long washes for other items, cotton, whites, smelly & stained stuff.

Sounds as if you aren't aware of all the options or it's a rubbish machine!

My Miele (2nd one- it's just over a year old) has a quick wash with 40 or 60C options and takes 9 kgs. It takes 49 minutes.

I can do extra rinses or spins after that if I want.

The cotton wash is over 2 hours. I never use that unless it's for 1kg of clothing and that takes around 40mins on a range of temps right up to 90C.

Why give us a 15 minute wash if it doesn't get clothes clean? doesn't make sense

. AIBU to get rid of this machine and buy a new one insisting on a full info of standard cycles before I buy!!!

You can read all the teccie stuff on the manufacturer's website before you buy

I use a three hour eco wash generally, but there is a faster mixed wash option. Not generally I’m that much of a hurry

Yes I have used it. My machine has a 14 minute cycle. It's barely useful as a rinse. You're not getting swear or dirt out of anything in 15 minutes. I will on occasion use a 30 minute cycle to freshen up a lightly worn polyester blouse or something.

The fire service would not recommend washing overnight or leaving unattended due to the risk of electrical fire

In a 15 min wash, most of the 15 minutes is taken up by filling with water and spinning. Very little cleaning is actually happening.

You just need to find how to rebel against eco choices being forced on us.

The Mixed Load option on my washing machine washes everything perfectly at 40 degrees and is finished in one hour and 5 minutes. The cotton options are three and half hours. I have no time or patience for that.

The eco option on my dishwasher takes three hours and does not work particularly well. I use one hour at 65 degrees and everything comes out sparkling.

The eco option in the Scottish Government are the Greens and they are a bunch of crazy misogynists, none of whom actually won a seat, but that is another story.

Is a 8kg load wet or dry weight?

We both work full time - we generally only get the chance to power through washing at weekends. We'd put the odd wash on during the week but mainly take a run at it. That way we can do all the school uniforms, all the shirts etc in one go.

As an aside, I’ve never understood why an eco wash takes double the amount of time as a standard wash. Surely it’s using more energy running twice as long!

I have an eco friendly washing machine (Zanussi) which I've had for about 3 years and it took me a while to become used to the lengthy wash cycles.
The longest cycle is cotton 60c 3h30mins although I can opt for 'quick' which brings it down to 2 hours.
Synthetic at 40c and takes about 2 hours. Using the quick function shaves about 30 to 40 minutes off that but depends on the size of the load.

^ This.

I have never used the so called Eco washes. Also use the timer so it runs overnight on cheap electricity and is ready to bung in dryer before work in the morning still on cheap electricity or hang outside.

Is the load going in wet, out of interest?

Is this in the UK? When we had stayed in an aparthotel in the middle east the washing machine there took about 4 or five hours for everything.

My Samsung at home uses some sort of sensor to decide how long each load will take, and adjusts the time as it goes along. So sometimes it starts off saying 3 hours 25 but actually I go back an hour and a half later and it's finished. It has a 'daily wash' setting which is 60 mins, and great for anything that isn't heavily soiled or stained. It has 20 and 40 degrees but no 30.

Sometimes, if I am washing sheets or towels or t-shirts with stains on them and I want a longish cycle to really soak out any stains or grime, I'll set it on a 60 degree full cycle for cottons and linens but the machine decides to make the cycle shorter, based on what, I do not know. That's annoying because sometimes the stuff is dirty and it needs longer in the machine, but I don't think I can override it.

Someone else explained it much better but a washing machine isn't like a fridge or freezer that runs constantly and uses electricity at a constant rate. The electricity is used at certain times in the cycle such as when the clothes are being agitated or the water is being brought up to temperature.

Shorter washes have more agitation for longer and often more lectricity is used. eco washes take longer because as well as being agitated the clothes are soaked to let the detergent do the work , they also take in less water. Less water equals less heating up time.

@SpaceRaiders someone once explained it to me like driving your car more fuel efficiency at 50mph rather than 100. Takes longer but uses less energy. Still don't fully get it though!

Have you actually used it and does it really take 5 hours or more/ I say this as my washing machine will say 2 hours 20 mins but once it starts and calculates weight etc you go back to it in half an hour and it says 1 hour 20 mins

Because it uses around a third of the electricity of the previous machine despite taking much longer.
Not sure why that is but maybe a washing machine engineer could explain that for us 🤔

A 15 minute wash is the equivalent of rinsing something through in lukewarm water.

We use the quick 25 min wash on 40c for everything except towels and bedding. It all seems to come out fine. If the item of clothing is stained we treat it with a bar of Vanish before it goes in the wash.