Washing Machine recommendation

[ChippingIn]

Hi all

I had a quick look through the list and couldn't see a recent thread about this - if there is one, please feel free to link me to it instead of replying!!

I need to buy a new washing machine and don't know what to buy, so I'm hoping for a little help

Criteria:

[I don't want to get a 'Miele' due to weight/cost, but I'm not looking for the cheapest option either]

• Quick wash option - preferably 30-40 mins. I'm not sure the 15 min ones are good enough and over 40 mins isn't really 'quick'.

• Quiet - it will (unfortunately) need to be in the kitchen, open plan to sitting room and I don't want to be restricted to only putting it on when we aren't in the sitting room.

• Minimum 6kg capacity, would prefer 7 or 8.

Any comments on whether it's better to have a 'cold fill only' machine or one that will do both?

That's all I can think of - all other comments welcome though!!

Thanks guys!!

I went to Comet today, I spoke to a lovely young girl (Ukranian apparently ) who seemed to know everything there was to know about W/M's and her eyes really lit up when I asked her what she would buy... genuinely keen and interested in them. Really chatted away about the various pro's & con's of them all! Comet should clone her .

By contrast I went to Curry's next door and they were as useless as ever - basically told me to go home, look them up on line then come back to see if they had the one I wanted [eye rolling emoticon]...

Anyway, the short story is - I am more than ever!!

They have one Panasonic one that's supposed to be great - very quiet (but ugly!!).

LG have a range from £380 up to £1000

She likes Siemens, but said Bosch are good too...but not as good as Miele, which are the best but... a bit ummm... dated looking...

Then we started looking at the WM/Dryer combos which I'd always said I would never have (we'd used one on holiday and it was terrible!!), but as we don't have room here for a dryer I'm thinking about it....

.... but they are noisey.......

Bottom Line - Have no idea what to buy!!!

I might just go for the LG at £380, it's cheap (ish) & is supposedly quiet (54dbl).

Any thoughts? (other than WFT, just buy a bloody washing machine!!)

I wouldn't buy a Panasonic washer - or eg a Bosch plasma TV, or a Miele camcorder... - it would just be wrong

otoh I do have an LG fridge freezer & it is fab (but then they also make TVs as well as washers, they don't specialise, where do you draw the line?)

No, do NOT get a washer-dryer, they are a bad idea - put a tumble dryer in a bedroom or garage or somewhere instead.

LG were the first to make really massive washers IIRC (8kg or something? or 10?)...actually tell you what, I'll have another look at Which to see what their reliability index says about LG washers

Washing machine Which? reliability index
Brand Score
Miele 95%
Bosch 90%
John Lewis 89%
Siemens 89%
AEG/AEG-Electrolux 88%
Beko 88%
Zanussi/Zanussi Electrolux 86%
Candy 84%
Indesit 82%
LG 82%
Whirlpool 80%
Hotpoint 79%
Hoover 76%
Servis 72%

Sample sizes Miele (518), Bosch (1737), John Lewis (137), Siemens (184), AEG/AEG-Electrolux (193), Beko (92), Zanussi/Zanussi Electrolux (623), Candy (70), LG (116), Indesit (229), Whirlpool (172), Hotpoint (729), Hoover (200), Servis (72). The total sample size was 5,072.

Panasonic isn't there at all

Sorry to throw another brand into the mix but I have this Samsung washing machine and I love it, 29 minute quick wash, very quiet and you can change spin speed and temperature on different wash programmes. HTH

Also - you get a 2 year warranty instead of the usual 12 months which swayed it for me.

dont get a washer dryer,they areuseless and take ages to dry...the clothes just seem to steam for ages and go all limp. get a seperate dryer if you can

I would agree about not getting a washer dryer - whilst it was nice to put sheets or underwear and socks on in the morning and come home to find they clean and dry our old (hotpoint) one was really, really noisy. Alypaly has described it well by saying the clothes just steam for ages, so I ended up drying things for hours and hours if I wanted to tumble dry anything. We only had it just over a year when it stopped working - luckily we moved house and the new owners were happy for us to leave it there for them to deal with!

Miele are expensive (hence why we didn't get one) but they have a 25 year guarantee I think as my parents just got one for that reason.

Do you need free standing or built in one?

Ponders - I know, I kept looking for the remote!! It just seems wrong.

Unfortunately this place doesn't have a garage or any bloody storage, so if the 'spare room' has to house anymore household stuff we will not get into it The only way to fit in a dryer is to put a wall in where there is currently a hallway and build a cupboard, but it will be seriously annoying having to 'go aroud the long way'. I am hoping we wont be here very long!!

Due to the terrible experience we had with the washer/dryer (just how Aly described it!!) I hadn't even considered a washer/dryer, having put them out of my mind years ago, but Sparky up the top of the thread put the idea back in my mind!! I just thought that maybe it would be a handy thing to have for emergencies - rather than regularly drying things in it iyswim.

However, they do seem to be much noisier.

Thanks for the reliability list

The LG comes with a 2yr P&L guarantee and a 10 year motor replacement guarantee - which I thought for a machine for £380 was pretty good...

MG - thanks for that, it seems good too...

Hendo - free standing. This kitchen is being done on a tight budget, so integrated isn't getting a look in! We might be renting the place out semi furnished, so I'm a bit loathed to spend too much on a w/m.

I would have said that if it was just for me, long term, I'd get a Miele, however, having talked to the girl at Comet today, I'm not so sure now. She showed me some nice machines

I looked on which? for you for free standing, quiet washing machines that were also 'best buys'. 5 in total - 4 of which were under £500 and were as follows (prices will be approx)...

Hotpoint WMF 760 G Aquarius+ (£275) grey and quite ugly in my opinion!

Hotpoint WMF 760 P Aquarius+ (£290) white

Hotpoint WMF 760 A Aquarius+ (£320) silver

Hotpoint AQ9L291 (£345) white

LG F1403FD (£560) white

Looking at all the other ratings I'd probably choose either the 2nd or 3rd one if I had to choose from these options. Both have 7kg load, 1600 rpm, I think they might be more or less the same machine in different colours actually!

No idea if that helps though!

Try ISE - mine was £479.99 with five year guarantee for parts and labour (my concrete front drum weight got dislodged and they were very good at replacing swiftly). Even after guarantee ends because it is serviced by independent service engineers (they have a co-op) parts are charged at cost and I have been quoted £60 for call out in London which is very reasonable. Only 6kg drum, but very quiet, 30 min quick wash and AAB rating (1400 spin). We will definitely be saving for the new ISE10 then will be bringing out soon.

see here for details

Hendo Thanks!!!

Are you able to see the dbl rating - the ones I have been looking at are 53 or 54.

AllsheepareWhite Thanks - I think . I haven't heard of them before?

No, it doesn't seem to say - but they all have 4 out of 5 stars for noise rating and the quote for the aquarius ones were "This machine is exceptionally quiet when washing, and has one of the quietest spin cycles we've seen.".

Quote for the LG one was "Another great thing about this machine is that it's very quiet, even on the spin cycle."

Nothing mentioned on the other one. You could perhaps contact Hotpoint to find out?

I have an Indesit Moon
I like the way it looks, it is quiet enough and fairly simple to use

Have you decided what you're going for yet? I have to keep looking back to find out...!!!

I've had most makes and my current hoover is fantastic - quick wash at 40 or 60o does most things I think it's brill and it was next to nothing.

Just want to say - DO NOT BUY AN LG MACHINE!!
I 'treated' myself to the new, expensive (£800+) 11kg steam machine last week (as seen on TV). The child lock function doesn't lock the power button (consequence, DS turned it off twice this morning, so the nappies took 4 hours to wash!!), and it doesn't lock the door after the cycle has finished. Otherwise it's a lovely machine (but only if you keep it away from kids, e.g. in garage). Looks like most of the models have the same problem too.

Had a Bosch washer/dryer before, and I found wash programmes really quick (50 minutes for a standard dark wash). BTW, dryer didn't really work, so never used it. I also found that the buttons were hard to use as they're not proper push buttons, just touch buttons. So hard to use when hands wet from washing up, etc.
I'm still looking for my replacement for the LG I'm sending back...

hey,...what did you buy?? Come tell us...!

I have a Bosch, brilliant and excellent spin, almost dry when it comes out. Before I had hotpoint, pump broke after 1 year.

Which Bosch dikkertjedap?