Urgent help - a good washing machine that has soaking function & excellent heating element

[skuml]

My washing machine broke yday!! 7 year old .

Need urgent help as I am not sure which machine to buy ! My must haves

• Good heating element - so that we dont have to change yearly! We live in London. With current, We had to change heating element several times ( Thanks to London limescale!!)!
• Would like to have "soaking" function.

Dont want wifi etc high end features!
Please suggest

What’s your budget?
I’ve got the most basic Miele and am happy with it. It was about £750 (some of them are £2k!!)
it does have a soak function but the eco and cotton programmes are so efficient I have never needed to use it.
Eco 40/60 is over 3 hours but I can reduce it to just over 2 by pressing the ‘short’ option. That cycle involves a lot of pausing and soaking.
I can also wash dog bedding and there is hardly any hair left in the drum afterwards. My old hotpoint used to be full of dog hair and I’d have to throughly clean it.

I'm in London and have never had to change a heating element! My last Samsung lasted 12 years and died recently. I've replaced it with a Hoover. Lover it. I wanted one that didn't sing stupid songs at me and they are few and far between!

Miele are excellent, bought a mid range one when DS was a few weeks old, still going strong and DS was 16 in January. I have never had to replace any parts. When it dies I'm getting another Miele for sure. I have never used a soak. If something needs soaking I leave it in a basin overnight before putting it in the wash

My budget is upto 800-900£. I just want a good machine that works! and dont have to keep fixing it! I had Miele but as I told earlier - had to change heating element almost every year since 2-3 years!!

I checked Miele's new models - Soaking function is only available in £1100 plus models!!! I had a basic Miele but it had soaking function. Now they remove it from basic models !! I dont know why companies do that !

How is Bosch ? Does it has Soaking function??

Or perhaps get a basic Miele and live without soaking!

That's strange re the heating element as I'm in London with very hard water and haven't had this issue.

We live in a very hard water area and had to change a dishwasher element due to limescale build up, so maybe some elements are more prone to it than others.

I have a Samsung ecobubble with a soaking function. This is my second ecobubble after the last one died after 7 years of very heavy usage.

Would it be worth considering a water softener? We recently had one fitted and I wish we'd got one years ago. No more scrubbing limescale, no more picking bits out of the shower head and hopefully no more knackered heating elements.

Many thanks for suggestion about samsung ecobubble! Quite good price compared Miele - might get that :) ! Is it easy to order parts of samsung (heating element?)

Yes been thinking to install water softner installation however not sure how to maintain it in long run ( adding salt/what else is required maintenance wise?)

@skuml
the soak function on my Miele isn’t a separate programme. It’s an option on the eco or cotton programme (it also has options for extra water and to shorten the cycle)
but I see you might have ruled out Miele anyway?
do soda crystals help soften the water - I add a tiny amount in the dispenser drawer

Worth a try as a water softener? I use slightly less washing powder with soda crystals

I've never needed to replace the element on the ecobubble so not sure about parts tbh.

AFAIK water softeners don't need much maintenance. We refill the salt about once a month (takes literally 30 seconds) and I think you're supposed to clean the tank and resin annually.

Oh Ok! I have 7 yar old Miele - It has a separate soak function!

Need to order today - still undecided ! My all other appliances in home are Miele! I love dryer, oven however with such a bad experience with Miele washing machine - I am rethinking!

Yes, checked Ecobubble too. However didnt like the black door and big dark panels! But yes I am still considering it!

My husband says buys whatever you like - as we want peace of mind that it wont have problems for few years!

Yes will research into water softner - need to find companies who can install ( we are in block of flats)

been thinking what would I do if money/time to repair was no issue - I would still like to buy Miele
Shall I give Miele another try ??

Is the heating element problem is rare with Miele? Would love to know any other londoners experienced it or perhaps my machine was faulty?
Miele spares are so expensive - heating element every year cost about 70-80 pound !

Now trip to laundromat !!! Need to decide asap - as deliveries arent that quick!

Miele all the way. However their cleaning is second to none, so I never need to soak anything!