vacuum enthusiasts: what's your choice of washer and dryer?

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turbo500

turbo500

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
3,908
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Hey folks,

I posted this over in Autowasher but the other way around and it made for some interesting discussion, so lets try it here.

I thought this might be an interesting area for discussion.

I know a lot of us on here are members on both autowasher and vacuumland, but I am aware that there are a lot of members on here who aren't interested and don't collect washing machines. This got me thinking - what washer and dryer does someone who isn't interested in them but still into vacuums use? The cleanliness aspect and of course wanting a high performing, reliable machine surely would be the same across all appliances, right? For example, I'm not really interested in food mixers like a lot of members here are, but I would still do my research and buy something I know will be good.

Based on the same principal, what washer and dryer does everyone use at home and what made you chose that particular make/model?

I've always been interested in both, but when I first joined autowasher, I was a little confused by all the brand movement(Hoover-Candy, Hotpoint-Indesit, Zanussi-AEG etc) and how things had changed since the days of staring into the porthole of my Grandma's Hotpoint 18371. Reliability was important for me as I quickly became aware of how hit and miss modern machines could be. I alsow wanted a machine that didn't take a ridiculous length of time to wash (2.5 hours is FAR too long for a cottons 40 wash IMO). Based on advice I got from friends I made through autowasher, I ended up with a Miele W562 Prestige Plus 6 washing machine and Siemens Extraklasse 660 dryer.
 
Bosch Logixx 8 WAS28461GB, which I've had for going on two years now without any problems, touch wood. At the time Bosch were running a £100 cash back promotion, which effectively brought the price of the machine down to £399. I thought that was a good deal, seeing as full retail elsewhere was around the £600 mark.

Being a TOL model this has the full set of wash programmes and options, and by combining them you can achieve wash times between 15 minutes to over 4 hours, with everything in between. Very flexible, and I've never been unable to find a programme to suit. Selecting the Speed Perfect and Aqua Plus options together will give you a vintage style wash cycle, typically 1 to 1.5 hours depending on temperature, with plenty of water in the wash, a full cooldown fill and three DEEP rinses. Who says modern machines have to take all day, and use too little water? Not if you research beforehand and choose carefully.

It's quiet as well, which is the other reason I chose this specific model. Having a brushless motor it is virtually silent during the wash, and not unduly noisy when spinning. This is important because I live in an upstairs flat, and the downstairs neighbours face the opposite way with their bedrooms underneath our living areas and vice-versa. Means I can start a wash when I get up in the morning, rather than having to hold off for a more "reasonable" time.

As for the dryer, I have a Beko DRCT70W. Just a basic condenser with pre-set time selections, not as flexible as I'd like but it does the job and is reasonably quick. Thinking about replacing it sometime in the new year with a sensor controlled dryer, most likely a heat pump model. We have no outdoor space here to dry clothes, and I absolutely will not have laundry draped around the house, so the dryer gets used all year round. This is where the bulk of our energy use goes, so halving that would be a good start.
 
We have no outdoor space here to dry clothes

I'm just the same, Spiraclean. I have a back to back terraced house. Walk out of my front door and you're on the pavement. The dryer is absolutely essential as the place would look like a chinese laundry if I had to hang everything up.

I don't use the dryer for everything, though. I have a clothes horse upstairs that I dry jeans, t-shirts and jumpers on. But everything else goes in the dryer.

Good choice with the Bosch and glad you're pleased with it. Out of interest, what did that machine replace?
 
My cousin lives in a terrace and has exactly the same issue. She too hangs things to dry on a clothes horse, but a dryer is still necessary for larger things like towels and bed linen. At least with older housing, there is usually enough space somewhere you can shoehorn a dryer in. I've seen many a new build with insufficient space outdoors for a clothesline, and nowhere practical to put a dryer. The thought of having nothing but a combined washer-dryer makes my toes curl.

The old machine we had here was a Hotpoint WM61, which being little more than a 95 series in a tarted-up facia, was already outdated by the time it first hit the shops. Too noisy, shite at rinsing and the 900 rpm spin was of no use for someone who has to rely on a dryer all the time. Called the landlord and had him cart it off so I could buy my own machine!

Would have preferred a Miele or ISE (Asko), but at the time I had other appliances and furniture to buy and couldn't quite stretch to that. Maybe next time.
 
I actually quite like the WM series Hotpoints, although I agree that they are just a sprused up 95 series (which weren't all THAT different from the 18 series that came before those!). Maybe it's just personal attachment as my Grandma in Belfast had a WM52 for many years, although despite it's faults, it was always very good at rinsing.

Glad you're pleased with the Bosch though, sounds like you've got a good balance with it, despite not being a Miele or Asko machine.
 
For the price paid I'm very pleased with it, you can easily spend a lot more on something worse. I'm talking your £500 Hoovers and £800 Samsungs here. For that kind of money, it would make more sense to seek out a good deal on a basic Miele instead.

There was nothing wrong with the Hotpoint WM series per se (to be fair it was a proven design with a long track record) it's just by the time they came out things had already moved on considerably. It was competing against the likes of the Hoover New Wave and Zanussi Jetsystem, and long before that, the Servis Quartz. OK, I'll admit the latter was very much ahead of its time, but they did make using the Hotpoint feel like a massive step backwards.
 
The Servis quartz really were ahead of their time! I know what you mean about the WM's though when you look at everything else that was on the market at the time. Even the last of the 95 series looked outdated compared with the Hoover Computer Control Logic's and the first style Zanussi Jetsystems in the early 90's.

My parents bought a Zanussi FJ1295 Jetsystem in 1995 - that was probably the best washer we ever had.
 
I have a brand new LG top loader with no agitator, and a Maytag Bravos dryer. My late husband used the Maytag washer so much that the motor went out. It was only six years old. The last thing he bought was that new LG for us. I can't figure it out too well, so I just use the Bulky/Bedding cycle for everything.
 
I prefer the Belt Drive Whirlpools and Kenmores-Have three at present.Older GE Filter and Rimflos are another choice for me.For a NEW washer-would like to go with a Speed Queen TL washer-closests to "old school" washers now out there.I won't buy or own another other type of machine sold out there today.Same sort of thing with dishwashers-the older Hobart KA's are the best!!and will last almost forever-still going long after new dishwashers have died and been interred in the landfill.
 
I have had quite a few during rented periods of my life including what my parents had. Off hand my parents have had:

Hoover Twin Tub
Hoover Keymatic (1960s model)
Hoover Electron 1300 washer dryer
Bendix washer dryer 1200 (cant mind the model number because it didn't hang around in our home for long due to broken door, element and poor controls).
Hoover Ecologic 1300 washer dryer
LG 1622FD washer

Me:

Bosch washer (1400) don't know the model, sadly but it was a monthly rental and pretty quiet),
Zanussi 1500 Aquacycle washer
John Lewis JLWM1203 washer
Hotpoint Ultima WMUD962P
LG F1296TDA7 washer

As for dryers, I always buy vented on account that I have a hole on an external wall with a hose permanently fitted. I once had a Hoover condenser - too much effort and constant problems with its bottom release metal bar tank.
 
Very interesting thread.


 


My current washer/dryer set up is:


 


Hoover OPHS 612 for in the kitchen,


 


Hotpoint WM64 in the garage,


 


And the White Knight dryer also in the garage.


 


I'm temped to put the Hoover in the garage and put the WM64 in it's place, but I'm not too sure yet.


 


~ Joe
 
Joe, if Ma and Pa Wray will let you, put the Hotpoint in the kitchen! It's a far superior machine - more reliable, better washing and rinsing and (this may appeal to the parents) considerably quicker.

It can be hooked up to cold fill only, if needed

Ry, you've had some classics!! Keymatic, Electron, Logic...some of the best!!
 
My parents have a black Indesit washer and dryer combined don't know model sorry don't know if Indesit is good or bad I know nothing about washers. My mum wanted it because it fitted the colour scheme in the kitchen lol
 
don't know if Indesit is good or bad

Hi Dan,

Sorry to break it to you, but Indesit aren't great. Budget end of the range, not particularly reliable and the build quality is quite questionable at best.

When the time comes that you need your own machine, let us know and we'll point you in the right direction :).

Chris
 
They're all as bad as each other now, and for the price we are getting the quality we are paying for. I really don't think it matters anymore what one buys.
 
on the basis that they do own Hotpoint

The first series of Indesit made Hotpoints were the worst machines that both Hotpoint and Indesit ever offered. The newer range are considerably better.

Benny, the difference is that certain brands are more reliable than others and more repairable should anything go wrong. Formerly very reputable brands like Hotpoint and Hoover are making machines with sealed tubs, which means that if anything gets stuck between the drum and tub, if the bearings need replacing or a simple heat element repair, you have to replace the entire outer and inner tub assembly because the whole thing is welded together.

Beko, Bosch/Siemens, Miele, Gorenje and LG are, I believe, the only machines that have retained the older, easily repairable 2 piece tub. Hoover/Candy, Hotpoint/Indesit and all the Electrolux group machines (Electrolux, AEG, Zanussi and John Lewis) all have sealed outer tubs.
 
More repairable

That is as maybe, but for the ludicrously low prices which some white goods command, repairs will be a thing of the past before long.
 
Heat-pump dryers

Picking up on this point, if I may, I notice these beasts often feature in my Which? magazine. May I be the first to say I know very little of them?

From what I have gleamed, they cost considerably more to buy, but if used regularly and if they last as long as one might hope, they would make significant savings on the electricity consumption. However, one subscriber did write in to say that his Bosch heat-pump dryer was liable to need servicing every 12 months, which was costly and inconvenient, but failure to do so meant his dryer was running for a number of hours at a time before the washing was actually dry.

Now, on the other side of this completely, my cleaning lady has recently purchased a rather inexpensive 8KG Hoover vented dryer, with sensor dry facility. She informs me her choice was made solely on the basis of what was in stock locally on the day her rather old 6KG Hotpoint Ultima sensor-condenser dryer broke down. The ability to vent the dryer in her home was such that a condenser was not actually necessary, indeed she tells me that some 12 or so years after buying the Hotpoint, she cannot now recall why she went for a condenser in the first place, adding that the bother of emptying water tanks and cleaning condenser units was quite wearing.

So, with all this in mind, she tells me she is astounded as to how fast the new vented dryer gets through a wash load some 2KG larger than her old machine could cope with. Her washing machine -also 8KG- spins at 1500rpm and it now takes around an hour and a quarter or so, ass opposed to double that for her condenser dryer. This got me thinking long and hard about efficiency, because in my own mind I see the equation being rather simple; to get the wet laundry dry as quickly as possible, without over-drying it. Thus, if a vented dryer is doing this faster than a condenser dryer with the same kilowatt loading, surely it has to be more efficient, irrespective of what letter it is rated at on the energy label?
 
Indesit

At risk of hijacking the thread (perhaps this should go in the 'Imperial' section of AW) I used to own an Indesit which lasted around 20 years with very few problems and very little maintenance. I have no idea of the model number now, but it was a FL induction motor model, with a knob for manually setting temperature as well as the programmer for setting the wash time/type. For the technically inclined, the pump was carried on an extension of the main motor shaft.
The machine was second-hand when a friend of mine bought it, she used it for about six years, before passing it on to me, who got another eight or ten years or so out of it before it died of seal failure.
Washers were plentiful then, and I could have easily repaired it and got even more service from it, had I felt the need to at the time.

All best

Dave T
 
The sealed tub issue is one reason why I quickly eliminated Zanussi and AEG amongst others from my list of potential choices. Should the tub, drum, bearings, seals or spider fail, I would at least like to be given the choice as to whether or not to replace them individually, rather than having that decision taken out of my hands entirely. With a sealed tub, if any ONE of those parts fails, the whole machine is scrap.

As an example, a complete new set of bearings and seals for my machine, supplied directly from Bosch, would cost me just under £54. I could fit them myself in an afternoon, the whole job done for one tenth of the price of an equivalent machine at RRP. Makes much better economic sense than going out and buying a £200 Indesit or whatever, and I'd still have a far nicer machine at the end of it, rather than just settling for whatever happened to be cheap and available at the time.

I know time is money as well, but really... so is waiting in all day for a new machine to be delivered, only for it to be their last drop of the day at 6pm. Happens to me every time.
 
Benny,

It's funny, but I do see and hear of a lot of people buying condenser dryers now, when they could just as easily have vented one out in the first place had they been so inclined. It's almost as though they are the default choice these days. Certainly there are now far more condensers available than vented, when it used to be very much the other way round.

Personally I would choose a vented dryer every time if at all possible. They are definitely quicker, don't run anywhere near as hot, and have less to potentially go wrong.

Because my flat is rented, and the dryer is located in a spare bedroom, there's no way I can drill through the wall for a vent. So a condenser it has to be. I'm really not crazy about them, but think next time round a heat pump dryer would be better suited to my needs. More economical, considering it is my only means of drying laundry, and they are less likely to shrink clothes due to their very low operating temperatures. Emptying the water is something I already do, so that's OK. As I understand it, you do need to vacuum off the secondary filter(s) once or twice a week, but I'd happily take that over trying to rinse out soggy fluff from an ordinary condenser any day.

As far as non-vented dryers go, I really think heap pumps will be the way to go in future, especially as prices continue to drop over time.
 
Dave,

I know the type of Indesit you speak of, my parents had a model 092 back in the day as their first automatic, as did one of my aunts. There were numerous other models as well, some with controls on top and others with the more conventional layout we are used to. For their time they were a reasonable machine at a very affordable price, finally putting an automatic within everyone's reach.

Although the pump was driven off the main motor, it didn't run fast enough during wash and rinse tumbles to drain the machine. Only when the machine launched into a spin cycle would the pump pick up enough speed to start shifting water out through the drain hose. Quite clever, considering there was no clutch involved.
 
Currently have the Maytag Bravos X with Allergen Cycle. The interesting thing I've noted is that it seems here in the states we're getting back to - or maybe starting to get really used to, front loading washing machines. Maytag now only carries 2 top load washers. Personally, I can't stand a front load washer and will take a top load Maytag all day long, but that is what I use and I am happy with it. My grandmother has some kind of Maytag from the early 60s that is still going strong without ever skipping a beat.
 
There are new condensers on the market now that automatically drain the water for you whenever the tumble dryers are being used. I just wouldn't bother unless I was forced to buy in such a machine if I lived in a property where no vent hole was located. When gas was cheaper in the 1980s my parents bought White Knight tumble dryers because they could be run off gas. The savings were greater than using electricity alone, and at a time when our last Hoover Ecologic washer dryer burnt out its last element from continually drying. Infact I think I have an old brochure somewhere of the Hoover models back then but I think it may have been posted on the other site already.

The White Knights weren't the best made but they did the job and both of them were vented. There was no question in my mind that after they failed, I'd buy a Hotpoint for my mum. Well it's been about 3 years now since I bought it, and I bought it purely because it was the cheapest tumble dryer that our local electrical show room stocked in. I have never had an issue with it - it just does what it says on the tin and it has reverse tumbling, which IMHO makes all the difference for faster drying.
 
Fisher & Paykel

Purchased Fisher & Paykel GWL10W Washer and DG05US Gas Drier on 07/21/2001. They replaced a Whirlpool set purchased in 1982, which had one drier motor replaced in that 19 year stretch.

In May 2009 the pump leaked in the washer. This caused the electronic control to short. Replacement cost for that part was so high, I opted to buy a replacement washer instead. After much research, I ended up buying another Fisher & Paykel. I am in love with the whole design and lack of transmission, 1,000RPM spin cycle etc. Our laundry loads almost always finish in the drier at the exact same time the washer load ends. It's amazing.

The drier has had a sticking start button on occasion, but nothing I had to buy parts for. I've heard GE makes the Fisher & Paykel drier, but don't know that's true. Knock wood, it's been rock solid since it was purchased. If the washer gives me anymore trouble, I feel confident I'll be able to find fair priced parts online next time.

http://www.fisherpaykel.com/us/laundry/washing-machines/washing-machine/WL4227J1/
ornery++12-14-2013-09-50-15.jpg
 

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