The answer to this is sometime STW!
But who reviews the reviewers? There's so much AI content out there its hard to know what to believe. It seems washing machines have AI these days so I wonder if there is some self publicity out there. I don't want to pay for Which?.
I'm looking for a new washing machine. We consider it something of a miracle that ours has lasted 16 years. It's had a few moments but survives my wife's horse riding kit and cyclocross kit abuse. It's not coming with us when we move house and I'm looking at what we should order.
Any forum style websites basically list problems people have had. Hard to know where to look for recommendations.
Where do you go for reviews of this type of thing?
I went for what fitted best, largest load capacity (i.e. should last longer), and stock available to take away.
Just get a Bosch one that fits your needs.
HTH! 🙂
Makes dirty clothes clean.
We mainly use 2 settings (cotton + synthetic 30C washes).
The problem with the ubiquity of reviews is that it tends to lead to overthinking. What's a washing machine review going to tell you, really - all washing machines make clothes clean, it's just some have loads of features (that you'll probably never use) and some are more reliable than others (which a review can't give you a view on as they don't keep it long enough).
Decide what you want in terms of 'features', like a delayed start timer maybe, and then either go expensive (i.e. Miele) in the expectation that it'll last a long time, or go for a cheaper-but-known brand and accept that anything over five years without breaking is a bonus.
TBH the last two of mine have been bosch, and they have been long lasting and hugely reliable. Last time went looking for one, my main requirement was no touch screen (or buttons) as that shit breaks, IMO a more basic unit (less to go wrong) will last longer. My issue with reviewer, is they have it/test it for 2 minutes, and expect to tell you how it will perform for the next 5-10 years.
PS: If you have Bosch, and the "speed perfect" button use it. So much quicker, but mine has to be set every time. My 5 year old bosch, now washing in half the time, thanks to the M-i-L telling me about it...
Makes dirty clothes clean.
We mainly use 2 settings (cotton + synthetic 30C washes).
Basic Bosch one then!! Job Jobbed! 🙂
If you aren't paying then you're the product. If you want reliable reviews that you can be confident aren't just adverts then I'm not sure you have many options other than stumping for which.
mumsnet
Which magazine online for a short period is good.
Subscribe to Which? ... who will tell you to buy a Bosch!
Places that mean you have to buy something before you can leave a review, so shop sites. But most people don't wait 20 years before writing a review so IMO they're mostly useless.
That said equiping a place recently I walked into the local white goods shop with a wheely thing completely ignorant of reviews and checked:
Where it was made with a preference order of French, European, friendly country
Size
Repairability index
simplicity of use
Price limit
Just those left me with a choice of one washing machine, one induction hob and two fridges - easy to choose then. So far so good on all three.
The free standing oven was more complicated because they were all Chinese made but we bought the most expensive. Got it home and plugged it in and heated before use, and found it got dangerously hot on the outside. We took it back and they swapped it for a cheaper one with thicker walls and more insulation. Took it home and plugged it in and whilst it didn't get hot on the outside it didn't get hot on the inside either. We took it back, they tested it, then gave us our money back and asked us not to buy another one in their shop. So we checked the leboncoin and found a second-hand one at 20e. The seller delivered to our door, it was clean and hardly used. We plugged it in and it got hot on the inside but not on the outside.
The washing machine we bought is an Indesit 8kg, too soon to tell if it's reliable but it's quiet and does the job. Our other washing machine is a cheapo noisy Far 6kg which has so far resisted horse and MTB gear, overloading, tissues left in pockets, small items jamming the pump, blocked pipes, hard water... for so long I can't remember where or when we bought it.
Beko for budget, Bosch if you have the funds
The problem with the ubiquity of reviews is that it tends to lead to overthinking. What's a washing machine review going to tell you, really - all washing machines make clothes clean, it's just some have loads of features (that you'll probably never use) and some are more reliable than others (which a review can't give you a view on as they don't keep it long enough).
more to the point - buy the time a washing machine has proved itself to be reliable over an extended timescale... they're not on sale anymore - so all that tells you what washing machine you should have bought a decade ago.
For the last few years I've bought all new appliances from AO. Before I decide I scour the reviews on their site and I've found them reliable and accurate.
I was looking for a cooker hood with good extraction but super quiet. It was the reviews that led me to this one and they were spot on.
As above, Which best buys are all mostly LG, Bosch and AEG in the £400-£700 area.
If you want any specific detail, I'll have a look for you??
AEG or Bosch fan here as well.
I use reviews on John Lewis .
They do the odd extended warranty offers for free if you buy it through John Lewis.
Most reviews will lead you to AEG/Bosch. However....when we moved house a couple of years ago with thoughts of upgrading our white goods, i was put onto the Miele Outlet operation where you can pick up new stock of discontinued models and ex-display kit for a decent discount to RRP. Stock is updated daily, staff are very helpful and you get free delivery.
I got an LG which has a direct drive motor with a warranty of 10 years. They have honoured the warranty which I'm not sure whether is a recommendation based on good customer service or against as it broke in the first place!
It's impossible to get good reviews of white goods.
Just go on FB marketplace and buy whatever is less than a year old (someone will have bought one and then be needing to move house) with the features you need from a brand you trust. Will probably pay 30-50% less than new. Got a Samsung this way. Still cleaning my clothes 4 years later and not making any unwanted noises or smells so I'm happy.
PS: If you have Bosch, and the "speed perfect" button use it. So much quicker, but mine has to be set every time. My 5 year old bosch, now washing in half the time, thanks to the M-i-L telling me about it...
@z1ppy ooooh ive got one of these! so you just press it each time you use the dishwasher and it does its voodoo?
AO have an outlet store on eBay, I bought a new Samsung ( cos the drum was huge) with £250 off it because
of a few paint chips.
it replaced a Bosch I bought second hand 15 years ago. The new one is so quiet!!
It's impossible to get good reviews of [white goods] almost anything.
I've found 'professional' reviews of the same bike where one reviewer praises how stiff it is and another criticises it for being flexy.
For white goods what most of us are concerned about it is not how well it washes but how long it will last without breaking down. (most of our clothes aren't actually dirty when we wash them, and everybody sticks almost all their washing on the same short wash settings anyway - see this EBAC page on what Which tests - it's not how we use our machines. https://ebac.com/washing-machines/which).
That's pretty difficult to judge and 'my last Bosch lasted 15 years" tells you nothing about whether current Bosch machines are built to the same quality.
Any of the cheap or midrange stuff you might be lucky, you might be unlucky. It probably won't be repairable or worth repairing if something breaks.
At the high end you will get something that was at least designed to last, though it might not - we had a Miele drum frame fail at 7 years but they'd had a 10 year warranty when we bought. They determined a drum replacement wasn't economic and gave us a new machine. Their warranty is now only 2 years as standard, with offers of 5 years periodically. They still feel simpler and better made than the lower end manufacturers.
https://ebac.com/washing-machines/range is interesting - UK made, designed to be repairable, 7 year warranty. Feels like the sort of company that should be supported.
Ok, thanks. Plenty to go off.
When I need to press the button I will compare BOSCH and Ebac. Ebac aren't that far away from us. I like the long warranty/repairable nature.
Just get a Bosch one that fits your needs.
HTH! 🙂
That'd be my suggestion too. Although we're on our second now, our first lasted nearly 20 years worth of dirty riding gear, football kit (me and 2 kids), 2 babies > 16 year olds and all the associated mess that makes etc. It was fixable but was pretty much the same price as a newer, more efficient one so we bought another Bosch.
@sadexpunk, Yep, shortens the wash significantly but annoyingly you cannot set it as a default option, it has to be pressed everytime (not the end of the world, but seems silly)
I wonder if that's an economical thing. The dishwasher at work had an Eco setting and it took forever to complete, so logically a rapid programme would murder penguins or something.
I wonder if that's an economical thing. The dishwasher at work had an Eco setting and it took forever to complete, so logically a rapid programme would murder penguins or something.
They discussed that on Radio 4 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001xdbx
TLDR - There are enzymes in the dishwasher tablet that work at low temperatures, but they take a long time. The rapid programs don't properly utilise the enzymes and compensate with high temperatures.
As someone who will always attempt a repair before replacement (our hotpoint combined washer dryer is about 20 years old) and like the OP, has a machine that has to deal with large amounts of mud, horse hair and large horse rugs, my main shopping point would be buying a machine that does not have a welded/glued drum. Not just for the ability to replace the bearings (£20 vs £200+ for a complete drum) but also voting with my feet against planned obsolescence and right to repair!
I wonder if that's an economical thing. The dishwasher at work had an Eco setting and it took forever to complete, so logically a rapid programme would murder penguins or something.
I pretty much always use eco mode as, when I looked at the manual, it uses about the same amount of water, but quite a bit less electricity than the usual mode. The difference was that it pops the door open to dry rather than heating the contents.
Also that means I know it's finished rather than listening out for 2 faint bleeps.
We just got a Bosch. Which? recommended I think.
One thing I came across online, so may not be 100% true, is that brands tend to use the same basics for all their machines - stuff like bearings, motors, seals etc - the higher end machines with more cycles, weird timer options etc, use the same basic chassis, but with fancier electronics. So it makes more sense to to buy a low-end machine from Bosche, Miele etc, than a high-end one from a budget brand.
I figure we use around four or five of the wash programmes on our machine regularly and could probably survive with a single programme and temperature/spin control. I guess if you're someone who needs a special 'silk underwear' programme or 'sock' setting then ymmv, but as with a load of tech stuff, I'm guessing a lot of the advanced features are rarely used by most owners. Same as smartphones, computers and dogs.