New Bosch washing machine | 3 hours and 50 minutes cotton cycle | WTF?

[ThisOldThang]

Our old Bosch washing machine gave up the ghost. The cotton cycle took around 90 minutes with extra rinse selected.

The new one has a 3 hour and 50 minute cycle.

How is that acceptable to anybody?

From what I've read it's all due to water efficiency. I live in Britain. We've got shit loads of water falling from the sky. This isn't an arid Greek island.

Am I unreasonable to think this is total bullshit and not what any family needs? Which morons allowed this to happen?

These days I wash most things on the 15 mins cycle then an extra 1400 spin cycle. I simply CBA to wait 2.5h for the easy care cycle to run! It’s only towels and bedding that I put on the longer cycle. YANBU!

I agree and never use the eco washes for this reason. My go to is more or less cottons at 30/40 for a minimum of 90 mins for black, colours, white, underwear and technical fabric washes. For towels or bedding then I do 60 for slightly longer.

That might be the maximum cycle, my machine is about 3.5 hours but I can shorten it to as little as an hour and other times in between.

That sounds no different to just swilling them out….. 15 mins? How does that work for detergent, softener and antibacterial stages? Do you not get itchy?

Surely there’s a quick wash option?

Well, it'll have loads of other cycles so you don't have to use that one. But, if you do, delay the start so stuff is washed when you're ready to take it out.

Funny enough I have an eco cycle on mine that’s nearly 3 hours long. I never use it for that reason. Ridiculous!

Ours runs overnight. Doesn’t matter how long it takes then. Check the other cycles, I use eco 20 and it takes 90mins

They do that so they can put a good eco rating on it. Realistically, no one is getting the benefit of the ratings because we are all putting everything on fast wash.

Is there a “speed perfect” button or similar? Friend has a machine with a cycle for cottons, that’s over 3 hours, but the there is a button to press which cuts it down to 1hr 10.

My bosch 2 years old, cotton cycle runs either 1.24 mins or 4.00 depending on size of load. It decides for itself. If I've put in a larger load and its still running after an hour or so I switch it mid cycle to the fast wash 24 mins.

My new Hotpoint has a 4 hour 20 mins cotton cycle. I know that because I used it once, never again. The eco ones are over 3 hours on mine too.

That's how modern washing machines work because they rely on soaking not agitation but use less water and electricity on the eco cycle.

Fine once you get used to it and plan around the cycle length eg let it run in the evening to hang out the next day or on the airer before bed rather than expecting to get up and put a wash on.

But we don't all have plenty of water, a lot of the country has been in drought this year and it needs to be treated before it arrives at our homes so shouldn't be considered an infinite resource.

I usually use the timer to do the 3hr+ wash overnight to save energy when I'm doing cottons but if I'm in a hurry I just use the 'speed perfect' option to do it in half the time (at greater cost). Doesn't your Bosch have this option?

There is probably a synthetics cycle you can use, that's usually about 1-2 hours

I really doubt the 3hr 50 min cycle is the only one available. Check the manual.

You could always collect all that rainwater from the sky and wash everything the old fashioned way. Probably take you longer than 3hr 50 mind.

Yes i have a new washing machine and the cycles are all really long . There is no 1 hour cycle. Yes a 15 mins but wouldnt wash teen boy clothes. It is really frustrating !!!!

I wash everything on duvet setting because the clothes actually get washed in a decent amount of water, unlike all the other options. I can't see how clothes can be cleaned in such a small amount, or the washing liquid rinsed away properly. That takes about 90 mins, I wouldn't wait 3+hrs, I doubt many would.

I hate my 18 month old Beko washing machine for many reasons, and the stupid cotton cycle is one of them. It starts a 40, 30 or 20 degree, 1400 or 1200 spin wash, displaying time remaining as 2 hours 40 minutes, but whatever size the load it recalculates after about 30 minutes and adds at least another hour. Oddly, none of the other programmes do this (well, not the ones I’ve used) and if I press the “Fast” button it starts off at 1 hour 11 minutes and doesn’t recalculate.

I don’t use Eco, Shirts, Dark, Sports or any other pointless programmes. Since its first use the 1400 spin leaves far more water than the 1200 on my wonderful old Siemens. I do use the Quick cycle, 28 minutes, and the Fast button reduces that by half, it’s ok to freshen something I’ve worn once but obviously doesn’t clean very well.

As washing machines are such a fire risk I’d never put it on overnight or when I’m going out, so nearly four hours means putting a load on at dawn to have any hope of getting it out on the line for a few hours before dusk. Ridiculous!

I’m not due to cat hair on bedding, needs longer wash

My Bosch has a 59 min mixed fabric wash that I use for the majority of washes plus the usual long economy washes and a variety of other options. It’s very unlikely that’s your only option.

At the risk of being stupid, how is such a long cycle eco friendly? Doesn’t it use more electricity if it keeps going for so long?

It's been like that since at least 5 years ago! The machine will 'weigh' the load and the time will shorten if it isn't full. There's also a Speed setting that cuts it down to under 2 hours. I usually use the Mix cycle that's slightly over an hour and find it adequate for clothing.

It's much more fuel efficient to heat the water slowly. The OP talking about water use is a red herring, the ECO bit is talking about how much electricity it uses.
Letting the washing sit and soak uses almost no electricity, heating it slowly uses less than whacking it up to full temp quickly.

I'm not UK, in Aus, so not sure it's the same. My Bosch has a 'SpeedPerfect' button next to the screen that makes a 3.5 hour wash an hour long.

If I want a fast wash, I use the quick cycle with Speed perfect turned off, so it's 30 min.

Water efficiency matters here but no way I'm doing 3 hr washes!