Time for a new Washing Machine

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Time for a new Washing Machine

1 | 2 | 3

trig42

5810 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1493029 16-Feb-2016 09:08

I once did a sales course at F&P, and they told us that even the cold water detergents became significantly less effective below 20 degrees C.

Our front loader washes at 40deg.

Our previous LG top loader had a cold/warm cycle that was about 25 degrees.

Our previous to that F&P Intuitive Top Loader had Cold+ that added hot water so that the wash temp was 20degrees or above.

I find with the towels, chucking in the drier after they have dried on the line fluffs them up nicely. It is not detergent (at least not that I can smell), just a Front Loader thing (I have washed without powder and they still come out crunchy after line drying.

Coil

6614 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1493043 16-Feb-2016 09:35

I got a top loader Simpson 7.5KG sitting in storage. Make an offer, About 2 years old.

Dont quote me on the model here but i believe its a SWT704.

richms

28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1493079 16-Feb-2016 10:22

When I complained about cold power or one of the other cold detergents not dissolving and filling up pockets with white powdery residues I was told that a cold wash is defined as 20 degrees, which means its impossible in a top loader in winter to actually do a cold wash without adding some hot water.

Richard rich.ms

nzeshe

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#1493084 16-Feb-2016 10:23

Have an old Haier at home, pm me if you are interested. Used condition but works a treat.

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#1493088 16-Feb-2016 10:28

richms:

When I complained about cold power or one of the other cold detergents not dissolving and filling up pockets with white powdery residues I was told that a cold wash is defined as 20 degrees, which means its impossible in a top loader in winter to actually do a cold wash without adding some hot water.

I use cold most of the time and have done for years and have never had a problem. But run a warm wash through the machine once a month. Perhaps use a liquid detergent.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1493108 16-Feb-2016 11:02

ajw:

richms:

When I complained about cold power or one of the other cold detergents not dissolving and filling up pockets with white powdery residues I was told that a cold wash is defined as 20 degrees, which means its impossible in a top loader in winter to actually do a cold wash without adding some hot water.

I use cold most of the time and have done for years and have never had a problem. But run a warm wash through the machine once a month. Perhaps use a liquid detergent.

We do exactly the same. We ensure we use a liquid detergent (the gold Persil) for dark loads, as we find powder can leave some minor but ugly residue that's visible on dark fabric. I find Persil powder's fine for light-coloured loads, however.

Interesting to read a post earlier saying that towels can still be tough from a front-loaded even with no detergent added; definitely a turn-off for me, as I'm not prepared to use a drier to dry items just to solve such a major flaw with the washing process (both for cost and environmental reasons).

richms

28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1493110 16-Feb-2016 11:04

If you lower the spin speed then towels are not so compressed they go hard, but then you have long drying times like a top loader.

Richard rich.ms

GoodSync

GoodSync. Easily back up and sync your files with GoodSync. Simple and secure file backup and synchronisation software will ensure that your files are never lost (affiliate link).

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1493155 16-Feb-2016 11:43

We have an Asko front loader that is 16 years old. Excellent washing machine, as per the thread theme, front loaders do a superior clean. Never an issue with this machine, and it is efficient.

Would highly recommend Asko, total cost of ownership over something like F&P is certainly less, but this isn't a scientific comment. Up front cost is higher.

tdgeek

29746 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1493188 16-Feb-2016 12:36

MikeAqua:

Maybe staying in motels/hotels etc has prejudiced me against front loaders but ...

I would go top loader any day of the week.

I'm tall and find loading and unloading front loaders rather awkward. It's very hard to check for fugitive socks, when you have to get down on your knees to look into the machine. Put a front loader on the wall or bench and I guess that problem would go away.

I simply don't believe that something which uses less water can get clothes cleaner. Cleaning is based on dilution/dissolving.

Front loaders take longer. Sometimes you just need something washed quickly. If I select the right options our smart drive will clean a small load inside 20 minutes.

Words. Top loaders generally have labels with words. Front loaders have hieroglyphics.

I tend to agree. Washing anything with much less water has to be not great. Dirt level remains constant, but fed into 2/3 less water.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#1493411 16-Feb-2016 19:45

I've had 3 x F&P top loaders, an LG front loader and a Miele front loader.

The F&P's damaged shirts (buttons in particular) and were/are very, very noisy.

The LG door bugged me, it simply didn't close all the time and required me to slam / push far harder than I should.

The Miele is a 'flash harry' model, with dual liquid dispensers that put different detergent in at different times depending on the soiling of the clothes (using less when required) and the stage of the wash cycle.

Think about it, who actually measures the weight of their clothing, then adds the correct amount of detergent dependent on this weight?

No one...

Especially as all the ratings for detergents that I've seen are dependent on the clothing being weighed while wet!

Imagine running a rinse cycle, removing clothing, weighing clothing, then measuring out powder.

If your machine isn't using sensors to figure out how soiled the waste water is, then how would it know how much to put in?

Without this info, the machine will most likely be over using detergent, or under using it...

Meaning, you either end up with 'spotting / residue' or dirty clothes.

So yeah, I don't necessarily think everyone should spend $3.5k on a washing machine, but it pays to know that those getting bad results with their washing are either using the wrong amount of detergent, or solely doing cold washes (as others have stated, NZ cold wash powders are designed to work between 20 and 30 degrees, not with cold tap water).

alasta

6703 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1493415 16-Feb-2016 19:55

Benjip: I'll add my vote for a front loader too, but try to get one with which you can "pause and add". I could've sworn my LG front loader had a sticker on the display model with that feature, yet it never seems to work. Quite often I'll hit start and then realise seconds later that I've forgotten to throw in something, so I have to restart the whole process (and wait 10-30 seconds for the door to unlock).

I've found that if you wait a very long time after pressing pause then it will eventually unlock the door. It's frustrating enough that I never use this feature.

One thing I love about my LG unit is the timer, which when you set, it measures the weight of clothes in the machine so it knows how long the cycle will take, so when you set it for "10 hours" that means 10 hours until it's finished.

This is a very good feature for those who object to the slow cycles on a front loader. If you only have enough time to run one load after getting home from work then you can pre-program it to run another load in the afternoon before you get home.

1 | 2 | 3