Need a new washing machine - what should I buy?

[Purplecatshopaholic]

My old faithful Beko WM has given up the ghost. He served me faithfully for 14 years, so probably a pretty good innings. So what to buy now, the choice is overwhelming. Is there a ‘good make’ of WM? What sort of price is reasonable for a pretty bog-standard machine? I don’t think I need anything fancy - just that it washes things well! If you bought one recently what did you consider? Thoughts would be welcome as the more I google, the more confused I get!

I bought the entry level (no app or remote features) Miele. Not cheap but if it lasts 20 years like the Miele it replaced then I'll be happy! (It'll do a lot fewer washes as the children have their own homes now so maybe will be my last ever machine?)

Washing machines just seem to give up the ghost at random, there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that a more expensive machine will last longer. I'd just go for another Beko if I were you, given the old one did 14 years.

I like the LG we replaced our 15 year old Hotpoint with. It does play a very smug sounding tune when it’s finished a cycle though ….

Why don't you just buy another Beko?;
That narrows your choice down and you can pick which model suits you best.

I have a large drum beko steam therapy. Had it a few years and it's been brilliant.

That's what we have too. Been good so far but we like Miele products. DH is engineer so fixes things himself when they break down.

As suggested, why not look at Beko models and see if there's one reviews well? Sometimes there's just too much choice!

Bosch

Can’t fault them.

I did a lot of research and concluded that a large capacity, fast spin, basic model was least likely to go wrong, especially as I tend to stick to 3 or 4 programmes. Brands like beko, hotpoint and maybe indesit (Bosch were expensive and less basic but very good). Most complaints related to automatic dosing, bluetooth, apps, automatic weighing and programming going haywire and taking hours, eco washes taking all day etc so I think basic is better unless you need a million programmes and want to leave it to its own devices

I've got an indesit washer dryer that won't die.

My old flat was on the market recently and I noticed that it still had the original washer dryer in the estate agent pictures which was there when I lived there. It was the older model of the one I currently have.

I didn't choose either (I'd probably have gone Bosch if I did as I miss things like crease guard) but they have been reliable, reasonable appliances.

Is it integrated or freestanding. I’ve recently had to get a new washing machine. The old one was suspected to be close to 20 years old (Neff) and because it’s integrated I was very limited by the space available. Might be worth filtering by that. I was only left with 2 brands as options.

My washing machines seem to last for about ten years. My latest is Haier which, so far in two years has been good. Tbh I looked at a nice colour, reasonable price and large capacity.

I think Beko are still good. We also have an LG which I'm happy with, and my previous one was an AEG and was good.

I saw a video from a repair guy online the other day who said Bosch/Siemens/Neff are now only making machines with closed drums, which makes it much harder to repair them.

I would avoid Hotpoint/Whirlpool personally due to the fire risk though I don't know if they are actually worse than other brands or it was a load of bad publicity.

AI and Wi-fi are gimmicks, don't pay extra for them.

Here is the repair guy - he seems to know what he's talking about. https://www.youtube.com/@How-to-repair

We’ve just bought a Bosch Series 2. It’s great. We bought it from Elekdirect which is AO.com resales. The items are mainly returns that have been rejected for having scratches on them - the website has photos of any damage. There’s one on there t the moment reduced by £100 with some scratches down the sides.

https://www.elekdirect.co.uk/product/bosch-series-2-wge03408gb-8kg-washing-machine-with-1400-rpm-white-a-rated-397632/?_gl=11hno8fd_upMQ.._gs*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-uTdgOHJkAMVtKVQBh0xHiJUEAAYASAAEgJIW_D_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAACzsyI8DHSIx2XiUGhWoSKpx1xDfB

This is the one I have, it’s a really good. I even do the dogs beds in it without problems, they’re sizeable and get very grubby.

Whatever you get make sure you look at the programme length. Some machines no longer have a one hour programme, it’s all two and three hours.

My mums not impressed with hers for this reason. You don’t need programmes that long for just a freshen up that could done in half an hour or an hour.

I don't want a machine that lasts 20 years...10 is fine. A 20 year old machine will have horrible dirty innards and pipes and all that stuff. My 10 year old machine is gungy inside the pipes (just look at the dispenser tray) and that's with regular cleaning.

I've been happy with various Bosch over the years. I want quick programmes (15mins for quick wash), hand wash, wool wash and hour washes for most other things. I don't want autodosing. I like being able to choose the water temperature of the programme I'm using too.

If my 10 year old Bosch dies I'll check out the latest models of Bosch first.

I got an LG, biggest drum I could find. I scoffed at ‘AI wash’ but it’s really good and about the only programme I use. Quiet, fast, everything perfectly clean. All good

You can avoid gunge by:-
Only use powder detergent
Put detergent in the drum not the drawer
Never used fabric conditioner use white vinegar instead.
My machine has been treated like this from new and there's no mould or gunge.

I think it depends on your water supply as well. When I lived in Scotland with the wonderful soft water I never had an issue. I'm SE England now and Thames Water. Hard hard water. (I don't use fabric conditioner and I put detergent in the drum albeit not powder but liquid)

I also need a new dishwasher so this thread is super useful - thanks OP. I know everyone swears by Bosch but ours (that's just died) was a Bosch 6.0L. To be fair it was inherited 5 years ago so maybe it was originally brilliant but I have found it v annoying. Shelled out £150 on an engineer just over a year ago but it never really solved the problem (grit left behind). And I had to run a cleaner through it about every 5 washes to keep it even vaguely functional. Also it's really hard to get the bits of food out of the water holes in the revolving arms without accidentally pushing them back inside. Does anyone have a dishwasher that it's easy to clean the revolving arms of? That is now a major concern for me!

Sorry I'm an idiot, I've just realised that you're talking about washing machines not dishwashers - I'll put my glasses on now, and start my own thread 😂

Bosch dishwasher still going strong after 22 years! Never had to clean the arms, what are you putting in there!

It's so old I recently had to replace both trays and the basket. Still cheaper than buying a new machine.

@deathbyprocrastination just whatever you do, avoid the ones where the bottom arm has an extra attachment to make it turn in a "square" absolute bane of my life - I got a Beko dishwasher because the only Bosch one in our price range had a plastic floor - which I thought looked like a nightmare to clean. (Stainless steel inner is best). However - the Beko has this stupid "satellite arm" on the bottom which gets full of grit constantly and is impossible to clean since it has parts you can't reach inside at all, and then it locks up and stops spinning. Our old Bosch, while it was utterly grim due to the previous tenants apparently not ever deep cleaning it in 5 years, could be fully disassembled including all of the water jets etc taken out to clean them properly.

Now have ongoing argument with DH where he reckons we can't get any customer support with the stupid hard to clean design because it's user error ie we don't wash the plates before putting them in the dishwasher. I maintain that as long as solid food and large amounts of residue are scraped off, some food residue is expected use conditions for a dishwasher and it ought to be able to handle it. ARGH. Anyway.

With a standard spinny arm, a long pipe cleaner is useful for popping bits of grit, spinach, egg shell, seeds etc back through the holes and then you swish it around enough and can rinse them back out through the large hole where it attaches to the machine.

I think in the future I am going to stick to the mantra KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) - avoid ANY fancy feature that involves extra moving parts, make sure everything is as simple and accessible as possible.

We got a LG steam 10kg pretty simple to use buy it direct from LG, it's free delivery and £100 trade in of your old machine there original price l was £549 reduced to £399.98 then £100 trade in if you have one and also extra 5 per cent off if you become a member of LG and that gets you the free delivery. Think we ended up paying £290ish and it's a great washing machine

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I completely agree , i had a candy that lasted 9 years ,and a hotpoint that lasted just 2 years, i'm not loyal to any brand my current machine is a logic and i like it.
I don't believe the more expensive ones can be relied on more and the maximum i will pay is around £220.00 .
I don't want a complex all singing machine just something that does the job.

Hmm, that's so weird - we rinse everything before it goes in but we still get little things (grains of rice, fragment of a pine nut, tiny fibrous bit of ginger) stuck in the holes that are meant to spray water around and you can't take the arms apart to get them out.

That's on issue but also there's the recurrent grit getting baked on thing (and it's awash with salt and rinseaid so that isn't the issue). And now the bastard machine has started leaking so that's the last straw! I think it was originally installed in 2018 before we moved in here so it should still be going strong.