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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that Bosch washing machines have a crappy spin cycle?

50 replies

JMSA · 19/08/2024 19:41

I'm on my second Bosch washing machine. To be fair, the first one was over 10 years old when it became irreparable. It performed well but sometimes the clothing would be inexplicably sodden at the end. A second spin cycle usually sorted it out. A bit annoying and inconvenient but no big deal.

Current Bosch machine, which is under a year old, also performs very well in terms of stain removal etc. However the spin function is poor. Daughter's Oodie has emerged wet, despite having put it on a second spin. I have the spin speed turned up to the highest setting (1400 rpm). God knows what it would be like any lower!

AIBU I'm thinking that Bosch machines are good, but that the spin cycle is inadequate, unless your machine happens to be half full/without heavy fabrics? It's inconsistent too, in that sometimes it's fine and at other times not.

OP posts:
AdaStewart · 20/08/2024 10:47

I recently got the Bosch washer/dryer, it’s such a load of old bollocks. I’d never recommend. I want my old Sammy back!

LooksLikeImStuckHere · 20/08/2024 10:49

I love my Bosch for the most part but agree that Bosch minutes are a thing and it gets unbalanced with stuff that is very absorbent and therefore gets heavy.

When I do my Oodie, I set it on delicate and hope for the best. If it has decided to be grumpy and not spin, I spin on the lowest setting which seems to stop it then grumping for the second spin which seems to work. Asking it to spin again on a fast spin doesn’t work.

PieonaBarm · 20/08/2024 11:50

MagpiePi · 20/08/2024 10:42

Mine is the same - won't spin if the load is unbalanced, or if it has something like a lot of towels in that get really heavy when wet.
What annoys me is that there isn't a stand alone spin cycle. There is a 'Gentle spin' but it only goes up to 800rpm or something wimpy like that. If I want a 1400 spin I have to put it on the 'Rinse and spin' or 'super quick' wash.
I only ever use the 40 degree mixed load or 90 degree hot wash. I have no idea what things like the Allergy or Sports programmes differ from any of the others.

When it's on rinse and spin press the aqua plus button and it takes the rinse part out and will just spin. Took me a couple of years to work it out!!

Summertimer · 20/08/2024 11:57

It’s well known that there’s a knack to washing bath mats and chunky hoodies in Bosch. Never wash them on their own or with very few other items. Serie 4 washers are much improved on earlier models.

Summertimer · 20/08/2024 11:58

PieonaBarm · 20/08/2024 11:50

When it's on rinse and spin press the aqua plus button and it takes the rinse part out and will just spin. Took me a couple of years to work it out!!

Interesting, I thought aqua plus added water, do you mean switch it off?

Borborygmus · 20/08/2024 12:21

YABU in thinking that Bosch machines are good. They're not.

jolota · 20/08/2024 12:39

I have a Bosch washing machine and only ever do the spin cycle on 800 (some anecdote from a repair guy that the high spin cycles cause the machines to stop working quicker!? No idea if that's actually true though, I guess I just took him at his word!)
sorry my point was that my clothes never come out sopping even on 800 spin so yours might have an issue?

PieonaBarm · 20/08/2024 13:04

@Summertimer yep, it'll be lit red (mine is) and gives me 22 units of Bosch time, if I turn it off it goes to 13 units of Bosch time and just spins

Summertimer · 20/08/2024 13:07

PieonaBarm · 20/08/2024 13:04

@Summertimer yep, it'll be lit red (mine is) and gives me 22 units of Bosch time, if I turn it off it goes to 13 units of Bosch time and just spins

Yep, my previous washer like that 👍🏼

BertieBotts · 20/08/2024 13:08

It does sound like you might be overloading the machine which is why it won't spin properly - but if it's new, see if you can get an engineer out to confirm.

You do need to leave space in the drum for the clothes to turn. I am a bit annoyed with my new LG because I bought it with a higher capacity than my old AEG machine but it doesn't wash stuff well unless I leave it about half full. This is on the standard normal wash, I feel like it takes less clothing than my old machine overall.

Also missing a 50C wash, though not the end of the world. It took me ages to find rinse and spin, or just spin - for just spin on mine, I have to turn it on, NOT select a cycle, and press the spin speed button. And Rinse and Spin takes up the one "downloadable cycle" slot so I have to delete it if I want to download another custom cycle Hmm I think this is stupid and 1. They should give you 3-4 "downloadable cycle" slots and 2. They should include the rinse cycle as one of the most basic obvious things, not make it take up a slot.

Another annoying thing is that it won't let you choose between a longer (more eco) cycle and a shorter cycle apart from obviously choosing the eco vs quick wash - but if I just want to put a normal cycle on it insists on weighing the clothes first and deciding how long it needs. That is fine when it's a normal load of laundry but I had a basket full of sodden clothes from the old WM which had completely refused to spin at all in the end and it wanted 4 hours to wash them because it had decided there must be 10000000000 clothes in there. It would have been helpful to be able to override this. Especially as I hadn't found the spin only setting at that point! Sometimes if I need to run a load through twice it has the same issue and I have to take half of it out to get it to recalculate, then I can sneak the rest back in.

But I do find that even the 800 spin gets most of the water out. Anything above 1000 is perfectly fine and basically as dry as my old (1600 spin) machine did.

It also took me a while to find the pre-wash option - I bet it will be there somewhere if you look in the manual. I can't believe a brand new Bosch machine wouldn't have a pre-wash setting at all? Try youtubg "Bosch series [X] pre-wash"

Does wind me up when products claim they are AI and it is no more than an algorithm (which doesn't always work that well IRL). You should be able to rate the machine after every wash and tell it what you want to optimise for (any combination of speed, cleanliness, hygiene, energy usage, water usage, gentleness to the clothes, etc) and then it should do mini experiments and find out through actual AI what is giving it the best result based on what you've selected. They have apps, but the apps are totally pointless. About the most useful thing mine does is tell me how much energy a given cycle uses. You could use them for things like this! And input where you live (for a water hardness rating), and what detergent you're using (from which it could get details of all the chemical ingredients from the companies) And a properly custom cycle would be cool if you could actually configure it totally yourself. Plus it would be great if it could give you suggestions for what might be wrong and what troubleshooting steps to try. Building a troubleshooter into the app (even just copying the one from the website) or even better, letting you know when it's done something like stopped a spin early and why it did that, would be useful.

Also, mine has an indicator which tells me when I should clean out the drum but it's just a counter which counts when I've run 30 cycles. If I run 30x rinse cycles it thinks it needs a clean - it does not. I did loads of this when we first got it to check all the connections were working properly. But if I run 10 cycles of really mucky stuff it will merrily carry on for another 20. In reality I do a cleaning cycle about once every 60 cycles.

My tumble dryer has a humidity sensor which is great even though not perfect. It works well enough that I can stop a cycle with 5-10 mins left to go, put a whole new load of wet washing in and unpause and it will adjust and dry it all properly taking the full amount of time. (I don't do this all the time because I'm not sure if it actually does the same thing for a whole cycle or not, but I did it once because I was curious). The only time this doesn't work properly is when there are only a couple of items left from a full wash which are still damp and I put them in on their own, certain materials don't seem to register the dampness properly and it just immediately stops.

The washing machine should use a turbigidy sensor (like dishwashers do) to check if the water coming off the clothes is clean or dirty. And it should have some kind of sensor in the bits that get clogged up with soap scum and limescale to indicate that those need cleaning.

They should still include standard settings for anyone who doesn't want to mess around with all of that kind of thing but if you do want to - why can't they do this? It would be a much better use of the technology IMO.

JudgeJ · 20/08/2024 13:10

HelpMeGetThrough · 20/08/2024 10:23

I do find it tangles things though, and puts things inside out.

And what it does to tights in the machine, god only knows. It must decide to go on knot tying practice!!

I wonder how my Miele manages to get all the pillow cases inside the duvet cover, every time.

JudgeJ · 20/08/2024 13:12

Borborygmus · 20/08/2024 12:21

YABU in thinking that Bosch machines are good. They're not.

Most of the 'German' machines are now manufactured elsewhere and are not the same quality they used to be. My Bosch Fridge-freezer is a nightmare.

tootiredtobother · 20/08/2024 13:13

mine too will get a hissy fit over say a small net bag of delicate somethings, and not spin or woe betide asking it to spin one heavy item, it cant seem to balance to drum

HelpMeGetThrough · 20/08/2024 13:17

I wonder how my Miele manages to get all the pillow cases inside the duvet cover, every time.

I just do a few of the fasteners up on the duvet cover and it sorts it. Apart from the ones that don't have them for some weird reason.

Borborygmus · 20/08/2024 13:25

JudgeJ · 20/08/2024 13:12

Most of the 'German' machines are now manufactured elsewhere and are not the same quality they used to be. My Bosch Fridge-freezer is a nightmare.

My German Bosch washing machine is actually one of the ones made in Germany. It's still crap.

PickAChew · 20/08/2024 13:38

KnittedCardi · 20/08/2024 09:30

My Bosch is fine. I do find it tangles things though, and puts things inside out.

Opposite to everyone on here, I don't need multiple programmes. I only use two. 60c Cotton for towels and sheets, and 40c Synthetic for everything else! All the others are useless, too long, or superfluous. Oh, yeah,the beeper drives me nuts.

You can disable the beeper.

ohtowinthelottery · 20/08/2024 13:41

@Karentoo I've also got a Siemens washer and have the same problem. It won't spin one heavy item even if that heavy item is big enough to spread around the whole drum. If I put 2 bathsheets in together it sometimes refuses to spin them because they're too heavy. And goodness knows why it thinks a quick wash means you only want to spin at 800rpm. Mine also refuses to start and just beeps at me sometimes, but if I just press start again without taking any other action it will start the 2nd or 3rd time!

invisiblecat · 20/08/2024 14:16

I've had two Bosch machines, and they were both crap. Wouldn't have another if they gave it to me.

Summertimer · 20/08/2024 16:30

BertieBotts see my earlier reply. Some items like jumpers, sweatshirts and bath mats washed with too few other items hold the water in Bosch pre Serie 4 and then won’t spin until dry.

Summertimer · 20/08/2024 16:32

JudgeJ · 20/08/2024 13:12

Most of the 'German' machines are now manufactured elsewhere and are not the same quality they used to be. My Bosch Fridge-freezer is a nightmare.

So far the new one I got at Easter is vast improvement on the previous. Luckily still has the quick wash, which I love. Esp the 15 min one

Summertimer · 20/08/2024 16:35

PieonaBarm · 20/08/2024 13:04

@Summertimer yep, it'll be lit red (mine is) and gives me 22 units of Bosch time, if I turn it off it goes to 13 units of Bosch time and just spins

I’m struggling to remember the lights on the previous one now. I do recommend the Serie 4. The door is black and the door boot is charcoal grey, everso much neater despite being bigger

ClickHereNow · 20/08/2024 16:38

Every time we get fed up of our Bosch and its inconsistent spinning, it senses that we are looking at other models and suddenly behaves itself and spins impeccably for a few months until it starts misbehaving again.

ClickHereNow · 20/08/2024 16:40

PieonaBarm · 20/08/2024 11:50

When it's on rinse and spin press the aqua plus button and it takes the rinse part out and will just spin. Took me a couple of years to work it out!!

It’s such a counter-intuitive and stupid rinse system. Why did they make it so complex?!

voiceofastar · 20/08/2024 16:46

I'm boggling at people who wash one thing at a time. What a waste of water and electricity!

It won't spin properly with a single item because the machine is unbalanced. I have a Bosch machine and have never had an issue with the spin.

Boomer55 · 20/08/2024 16:57

Bosch products are nowhere near as good as they used to be. 😗

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