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!!!

But the majority of people put their washing machine on in the morning, hang washing out on sunny days (which is the best thing you can do for the environment with the washing). I’d say its pretty normal to want a washing machine cycle you dont have to leave going in the day or start in the middle of the night.

Check the instructions for your machine and look at all the options, not just the cottons one and the ones that explicitly mention speed or quick in the name.

On our machine, like the OP's, the "cottons eco" cycle takes several hours and the "quick wash" is so quick that I can't persuade myself to trust it. But there's also an innocuously named "mixed fabrics" wash which would be easy to overlook. It takes about an hour, washes well and uses less energy and water than the so-called "eco" cycle.

As a previous poster mentioned, economy washing are very much "soaking driven". Personally, I tend to use a delicates wash for most things. It takes just over an hour. I then sort the real delicates (jumpers, bras, knickers etc) from the rest and give the rest an additional 10 minute spin.

😂😂😂

That's not a sentence that I ever thought I'd see!

The clothes will turn musty steeping for so long at that temperature. I speak from experience. DH wanted to use the 4 hr 30 min eco setting on our machine "to save money and the environment", until he had to agree that the washing was coming out smelling musty, and ditched it. Now we just use the 2 hr 10 min cycle, sometimes shortened to 1 hr 20 min. There's also a 40 min quick wash, but I don't trust it to get underwear and sweaty stuff fresh. We have a Bosch Maxx 6.

True I guess but those are rough figure. It seems to be hard to find good data on how many electrical fires are caused by washing machings rather than anything else or how many people die from those fires. It even harder to know how many of those fires were left from unattended washing machines. In some way I under estimated and in some ways I over estimated but my point it it's a risk I am comfortable with given my life style and attitude to risk.

I'm happy to change my mind if you can give definitive figures.

Sorry. I meant to quote the OP there! 🤦‍♀️

Its madness. What's the point. I usually do a one hour 5 minutes wash. Called a quick . wash. Its not quick IMHO. What is the point of those 2 hour plus washes.

I cant give you any figures, only that I wouldn’t leave an electrical appliance going whilst I wasn’t there if there was an easy option not to. Obviously some things have to stay on all the time - fridge, freezer etc but if you can time your washing machine with being home (pretty easy for me, up at 6am most days, washing on, out on the line before work), then ideally you should be home. Small thing to remember to turn it on first thing and just peace of mind im home if it does go wrong.

If you have the one that can link to your phone (smart things app) I found a colours cycle that was a little over an hour. My usual default is "cloudy day" otherwise but it isn't very quick

Firstly, did you not look at the wash options for the machine when you purchased it?

Secondly, yes it’s a long cycle. But it’s much less energy intensive. A lot more soaking than aggitation, so uses less electricity. this has been discussed at length on many threads.

My standard ones (not intelligent, but pre programmed) are over 3 hours. I set it the night before and time it to finish at a convenient point in my day.

I have just bought a new machine and it has a 45 mins at 40 degrees which I use all the time. Sadly there is no option to reduce to 30 unless I choose a much longer wash. Surely you must have something you could pick between 20 mins and 5+ hours. Maybe a synthetics or mixed wash would be shorter. Sounds like the manufacturer decided it is better to soak cotton whereas other fibres might not stand up to it. I get that soaking uses less energy but that seems an awfully long time!

Washing machines linking to phones? What sorcery is this?!

I’m found the longer cycles less environmentally friendly as they wreck your clothes and you need to replace them more often , I’ve got a Miele now, it’s 15 years old and has a 30 minute wash which I use 90% of the time

@TheGoogleMum and @UnctuousUnicorns - Do you have to pour the fabric conditioner into your phone as well?

brilliant!!

Just to add it was a hot point that wrecked my clothes, the Miele is perfect

Electrical fires are not the only risk. I have lots count of the amount of times over the years the machine has started making a weird noise and I have had to go to turn it off. The majority of the time it's something stuck in the filter which needs removed but once the machine was off balance and started moving across the room. I I hadn't got there quickly (I was in the next room) it would have ripped the water pipes off and plug from the wall causing god knows what damage.

I'm always surprised when people give risk of electrical fire as the only reason not to run a machine unattended, then I wonder if I'm the only one every to have experienced anything else.

I am one of them!

I always use the hour long cycle on 40 degrees for normal or hour long on 60 for gross things.

i think that a 5 hour cycle is a little mad. Can you jig around with the settings to get an hour ish cycle?

I deally yes, but we don't live an ideal world so I'm not sure the point your actually making there? I'm just trying to guage how risky it is to other things in my every day life. I saying I value the time more and it doesn't hurt my peace of mind due to examining the risk. That risk value is a very individual thing that people will always exactly agree on. I appricate that you have weighed the risk differently due to your life experience and that's ok.

That's what we get for minimising electricity and water usage.

We have a Bosch from a fair few years ago, the default cotton cycle is 3 hours and "easy care" 2, but push the "eco" button and it gets to that 5 or 6 hour level. Conversely push the speed button and it drops down. I guess the new ones are making the eco cycle the default.

Said Bosch has also mangled our clothes, it's very noticeable how much quicker everything wears out now, our previous machine was much gentler. So possibly not an environmental benefit after all considering how much water and energy it takes to grow cotton.

I have a Samsung and I can make my own custom cycles on the app.

I've tinkered with the 20 minute quick wash to change the temperature, add an extra rinse and make it spin more.

It's now 35 minutes long and for general day to day laundry it's my go to.

I agree though on not using the eco setting. Although mine is 2hr 55.

That being said - my machine will say a load is going to be a certain time - then once it starts it 'senses' the load for a minute or so and then almost always adjusts the load down.

Really love my machine and the tumble dryer that matches - amazing seeing the difference in energy usage compared to my old hotpoint ones!

From what I read on here most of the mn posters wrork fom home so I'm surprised that the time of the cycle is an issue

The message that longer washes save both electricity and water is really slow to get I to the public consciousness. I think of it like the petrol in your car, you can overrev and drive with your foot flat to the floor to get somewhere quicker but driving at a steady 55moh has the same result, takes a bit more time but saves money on petrol

The principle of the fast wash is the same

Does no one check the wash cycles on a machine before buying it? I got one that does everything from 15 minutes to 4+ hours.