What washing machine?

so unless it lasts that much longer it's not going to pay for itself.

And of course, unless we last that much longer

If I last as long as my dad, this machine's only got to do another 7 years.....

The saying goes: You only buy one Miele. They last forever.

Hmm, I've been looking online, reading reviews, reading specifications etc. Was starting to lean towards the Samsung after all, BUT, according to AO's list of features the Samsungs don't appear to have a 'Spin and Drain' feature. Seriously? . So I couldn't, for example, spin a jumper that I'd hand washed? They don't seem to have handwash or delicates programmes either, so I couldn't even put that handwash item through an appropriate programme and spin at the end.
Not impressed with that at all. Back to Bosch I reckon, or AEG.

My Samsung has both a handwash programme and a rinse and spin function

I have a Samsung Ecobubble 7kg bought about 18 months ago. The programmes on my machine are as follows:

Super Eco wash Cotton
Outdoor care Synthetics
Wool 15 minute Quick wash
Handwash Baby Care
Spin Daily wash
Rinse and Spin Stain away

I have looked at the AO site and all the Samsung machines they sell have identical dials to mine with all the same programmes. One even has two more.

I did the different programmes as two separate columns. The two columns seem to have been merged into one in transit so each column line lists two programmes.

For clarity the programmes are: Super Eco wash, Outdoor care, Wool, Handwash, Spin, Rinse and spin, Cotton, Synthetics, 15 minute Quick wash, Daily wash, Stain away.

I've had a simple Bosch for some years and very happy with it (fingers crossed it doesn't go wrong now) - but it wasn't a washer dryer.

John Lewis offer a 5 year guarantee on some appliances with online registration.

I am on my second Hotpoint the first one I had 11yrs , they have always been reliable and I mostly use the quickwash function unless its a load of towels or bedding then a longer hot wash. I only had one repair on the first machine for door lock but the newer one I have now is great its quiet and the quickwash is 45mins and is fine for most of my laundry. I also have a Hotpoint dishwasher with no problems.

For me the big attraction of the Samsung was the moulded drum, which meant the baffles inside the drum that slow the clothing going round in the drum were all part of the part and not separate parts bolted/welded (I am not sure which) together

In my Hotpoint the baffles were cut outs from the drum bent upwards, sharp rectangles of metal with v shaped pieces of metal fixed over them to protect the clothes. Unfortunately for me two of the protective pieces came off mid wash so that the clothes were pulled and dropped over the sharp pieces of metal. They managed to destroy a whole drum full of washing. Every item that came out of the machine was pockmarked with little holes and some were ripped. Replacing the garments was neither easy nor cheap. The plastic fascia also cracked. It had 14 cracks in it by the time I ditched it. Fortunately it was hidden in a utility room. I certainly wouldn't have wanted a machine with a cracked fascia in the kitchen.

I also found the Hotpoint very noisy with a loud high pitched sound when spinning. I actally got a repair man out shortly after it was fitted because I thought there was something wrong with it. It was particularly annoying as the washing machine is in a small utility room at the bottom of the stairs to our bedroom and I could no longer put washing on overnight because the nosie kept us awake.

M0nica it was the AO site that I got my information from. I've just checked again and of the three I've been looking at, only the dearest at £749 includes a spin and drain. The other two (£599 and £629) are listed as having the following programmes:

Cotton
Intensive Cycle
15 minute quick wash
Synthetics
Economy wash
Pre-wash
Quick wash (is this different from the 15 minute quick wash? )
Wool programme

The dearer one also has Outdoor Wear.

We went to Currys to have a look at them - the limited info there said that they had a Rinse and Spin programme, but this is not mentioned on the AO site. Very confusing!

"In my Hotpoint the baffles were cut outs from the drum bent upwards, sharp rectangles of metal with v shaped pieces of metal fixed over them to protect the clothes. Unfortunately for me two of the protective pieces came off mid wash so that the clothes were pulled and dropped over the sharp pieces of metal. They managed to destroy a whole drum full of washing. Every item that came out of the machine was pockmarked with little holes and some were ripped."

My two Hotpoints had baffles that were an integral part of the drum, but my new Indesit is as you describe, and I think that's what damages the clothes. I suspect they're getting pinched in the gap between the baffle and the drum. Sometimes it picks a few feet of thread out of a garment, and uses it to tie everything into a knot. I think the dryer's also overheating the clothes as well, because there are little shreds of elasthane coming out of all my socks. It has also worn thin patches on my bed linen.

Last month I ruined a whole machine load of clothes, but that was my own fault. I absent mindedly set it to wash and dry instead of wash only, and the whole lot shrank.

indinana Why don't you ring AO, I found them very helpful.

Yes I might do that Lona. Thanks.

Indinana Have a look at the dials on the machines in the photographs on th AO site. That was what I did and they all had the same programmes as mine.

Another vote for the Samsung washer dryer here. Does rinse and spin. has useful 15 mins quick wash although you may need to spin after to get full 1400 spin. Then total of 30 mins. Also the "Daily wash" takes just 60 mins with full spin. I use these programs all the time. No need to hand wash. Had a Bosch before which lasted well but the cycles took much longer. Hope this helps.

Thanks Nannystar, yes that does help. M0nica thanks for the tip - yes the photos of the controls are quite clear aren't they? Think I'm going to order one of these - I've read only good things about them, and lots of recommendations from Gransnetters. (How on earth did I manage before I found GN? )

...and then you can blame us if you get the one dodgy Samsung!

If you possibly can I would really recommend Miele. My first one lasted 25 years, three children and endless sports kit. I then passed it on to someone who says it is still going and is the best machine they have ever had. I treated myself to a new one as they were on really good offer and a 10 year warranty. Should see me out. My previous one never had a repair!

hespian thank you for the recommendation. I would love to have the kind of disposable income required to buy Miele goods. I've looked online and their washer/dryer with a wash/dry capacity of 6kg/3kg is retailing at £1299 - for half that price I can get a very good Samsung which has a considerably larger wash/dry capacity (9kg/6kg).

(And besides, at my age, what's the point of a machine that lasts 25+ years )

M0nica

Well, now not so sure about AO. Just went there to order and I found, contrary to reports upthread ^^, that they do not deliver free within 24 hours, they do not take your old machine away for free, and they do not unpack your new machine and take away the packaging for free.
These services are charged as follows:
24 hour delivery - £19.99
Recycle old machine - £19.99
Unpack and take away packaging - £2.49.

So that is a whopping additional £42.46 to pay .

Yes, there is a standard delivery option which is free, but the earliest date is Thursday, which is very good, but disappointing when I'd thought it would be 24 hours
JL, on the other hand, offer free delivery - within 7 working days on their own brand - and they take the old machine away for £9.

What is curious, however, is that I have discovered from the reviews that the JL washer/dryer is a re-badged AEG. Now I'm bewildered: the JL is rated by Which as 89% reliable, 2nd in the list, while AEG comes in at 6th with 74% reliability . Given that Which draw their results from user reports, I suspect there could be a bit of brand snobbery creeping in there!

It's like those sites that headline prices that are exclusive of VAT, and when they add it on the deal is suddenly not quite so good.

We bought a new washing machine last year, and went for the cheapest, an Ocean. Basic washer, no dryer. Made in Italy. It cost about 280€ (approx £200.)
Very pleased with it up to now, remains to be seen how long it lasts.
The only problem is that it's for only 5kg, so we have to be careful not to overload it or it just stops, usually while rinsing.
Only 2 of us, so it's not used often, 3-4 small loads per week.

I have Bosch washer, and that has a spin only cycle which is very useful,
We have had this 10 years and is cost about £ 280 but we are not too sure, but it is excellent.

indinana earlier in 2015 we arrived at our second home in rural Scotland to find the fridge freezer broken. It was 1.30 pm on a Sunday. We ordered the new one by 2pm.

It arrived at 7.30am the next day, having been phoned by the delivery men at 6.30 to say they were on their way. They took the old f/f away for free.

We unpacked the f/f ourselves, which was no problem. They also told us that they had already delivered 2 items that morning.

I can only speak as I found, we thought they were. However, there were some items that did not have a 24 hr delivery.

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