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Hoover OPH716DF80
by daddyumyum
I like clean clothes as do most people so when choosing a washing machine I did a lot of research into spin speeds and load capacity and added extras, so when I saw this advertised with a good reduction on it I couldn't believe my luck. I should have know it would be too good to be true because upon first use after the initial setup, ... which consists of removing 4 screws from the rear of the machine and connecting the appropriate pipes, I found that I couldn't open the drawer for the washing powder! I contacted the Hoover customer service and was told I would have my replacement in 5-10 working days! I explained that I felt this was too long and I would be wearing rather smelly clothes, she relented and I received it 2 days later!
The next time I used it I opened the door and was swamped by a torrent of water as the machine had just decided not to drain it away! Once again I was on to Hoover and told them the problem and the Hoover repair man was with me the next day and repaired it there and then.
So now on attempted number three to have clean clothes I was understandably dubious and was not let down because I when I checked the machine after it had completed the standard 59 minute wash I saw inside the machine SMOKE! I opened it and yes there was indeed smoke pouring out! So for the third time I was phoning Hoover in a week! They were really quite good as they said they would have a repair man with the same day and if he was not able to repair it on the spot they would replace the machine and as a good will gesture they have given me a 5 year warranty.
The repair man arrived about 2 hours later (the same one as before) and repaired the fault which was in the rubber surrounding the drum. He even hung around as I did a wash and checked it afterwards to make sure that the machine was draining properly and not smoking anymore.
I have had the machine for going on a year now and after the first week of problems it has been very good. It has some very good options in its washing cycles, i.e. a standard wash of 59 minutes to a quick 29 minutes wash and special washes for wool or for delicates. You can also set it to a delay wash and change the set temperature of the washes. The drum has a 7kg load capacity and with it being A+ energy rated it has help with the soaring cost of electricity. The machine has a upper spin speed of 1600rpm so your clothes come out almost dry so that's a definite bonus, but you can turn the speed down for various wash cycles as some clothes can't take the speed! But with that speed you do get rather a lot of noise, I can even hear it upstairs.
Realistically, I do like the machine, it washes well, after the initial problems it has been reasonably reliable, but it IS expensive, and for the price I paid, around £400 when I bought and it's about £300 now. I think there might be better machines. I expected something special for that price, but I've got something good that I hope will last for many years.
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Ikea Renlig IWM60
by europe-chick
Now I can't say that I would ever in a million zillion years have bought an Ikea washing machine. As much as I do like Ikea and have bought quite a lot of stuff from there I'm not entirely sure that I would trust them to produce a decent washing machine. I mean they sell flat packed furniture, not appliances right! Anyway when we moved ... into our new house 11 months ago the previous owners had installed this brand new Ikea washing machine. It was actually brand new when we moved in, and it had never been used.
I've had a quick look online and it currently costs £399.00 from Ikea.
It's a built in washing machine, and ours is currently housed behind white kitchen cabinets in our utility room. Because our washing machine is located in a utility room and hidden away, the previous owners could have chosen to put a free standing washing machine in there, of which Ikea seem to have 3 to choose from, including one at just £249.00. But anyway built in ours is.
I have to admit that is a really easy washing machine to use, probably the easiest that I've ever used. So it's scoring brownie points already!
The detergent drawer has just 2 holes, one for powder or liquid detergent, and one for fabric softener. If you want to use the pre-wash feature you need to add the detergent for the pre-wash directly into the drum. It has 'max' lines on both the detergent and softener holes so that you don't overfill it. It also has a little flap in the detergent hole that you switch depending on whether you're using powder or liquid detergent. I always use powder so I've always just kept ours in the powder poition. The drawer is easy to remove so that you can clean it occasionally, and it then easily slots back in.
The only gripe that I have with the detergent drawer is when using the delayed start feature. I've found that if you set it for 9 hours then for some unknown reason all of the fabric softener seems to run out of the drawer. I'm entirely sure where it ends up, maybe it just runs out and is stored somewhere else, and still goes in your wash? I don't know. On the occasions that I've noticed this I've always topped up the fabric softener again just to be on the safe side.
The washing machine has a large selector dial to choose the wash programme. It has loads of different wash programmes, 20 in total; featuring cottons, cottons with pre-wash, cottons economy, synthetics, delicates, wool/handwash, rinse, drain, spin, etc. And each programme has various temperature controls to choose from; 30, 40, 60 or 90.
I have to admit that I do miss a 50 temperature on this washer, I always used to wash my towels on a 50 wash, I've swapped down to a 40 wash now however and they do still come up nice and clean and fresh.
The spin speed will automatically light up next to the selector dial according to the wash programme that you have chosen, you can change this if you want to by pressing the spin speed selector button until the spin speed that you require is lit up.
You basically just add your detergent and softener (if you use it - I never use fabric softener with towels as fabric softener actually makes towels lose their fluffiness over time, obviously this is only really practical if you have a dryer as otherwise without fabric softener your towels will end up as stiff as a board!), choose the programme and temperature that you require, press start and that's it. The washing machine door is locked when in use, and will unlock a few minutes after the washing cycle has completely finished. It doesn't beep or anything when the cycle has finished, the light above the start button just comes on.
The washing mashine has a delay start function, you can choose to start the wash cycle in either 3, 6 or 9 hours. This allows you to wash when it suits you or maybe when a lower rate electricity is available such as the Economy 7 overnight rate. I have used this a few times, but I don't really need to use this function that often, plus as I mentioned earlier on the 9 hour delay start the fabric softener seems to seep out somewhere!
The washing machine also has a super quick function, for items that are not really dirty as such, they just need a quick freshen up. I find that this function works best when the washing machine isn't too full, if you try to put too much in the washer and then use the super quick function the washing doesn't really smell clean and fresh to me.
I have to admit that this is quite a noisy washing machine when in use, it doesn't bother us as it's located in a seperate room, but I can imagine that if it was in your kitchen and you were in there having dinner or something then it would really get on your nerves. It is especially noisy if you leave the kitchen cabinet door housing the washing machine open, my husband always does this for some reason and you can really notice the difference.
It also seems to take forever to wash a load, for example a 60 cottons with pre-wash takes around 2.5 hours. A 40 easycare takes around 1.25 hours. It's not a massive problem, I've just used quicker washers in the past so this just seems like it takes forever!
The washing machine holds up to to 6kg, I don't weigh my washing, who does!!?? But I can say that I have filled the washer to absolute capacity on a number of occasions and it works perfectly well, and still gets everything clean and leaves everything smelling fresh and clean.
The instruction manual that comes with the washer is in every language you could possibly think of! It is a very short and sweet manual, but it is easy to understand and well laid out, and provides all the information that you need.
Overall I'm impressed with this Ikea washer, I know that I've pointed out a few gripes, but this is a review so I wanted to list everything. I would certainly reccomend it, and I would consider buying an Ikea washer again. We haven't had any issues or problems with ours at all. It has had 11 months of constant use, I would say that I use it on average 4 times per week.
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Beko WMB71642W
by rosaliecullen
**Overview**
My poor washing machine packed in on Christmas Eve last year. As we'd had it for over ten years, it had done its service and due to rust we decided to purchase a new one. After much deliberation: "shall we spend a lot on a good one or spend a little on a not so good one and wonder if it will break" we ... decided that if we spent £400 or £200, either one could break after a year so we decided to go for a cheaper one. I wanted a 7kg drum as I was fed up of the 6Kg drum in the last washing machine and was adamant that I didn't want a Beko because of the brand name - usually have Hotpoint or suchlike. However, 4 months down the line...the Beko is doing me really well. We paid £209 for this in B&Q and got about £12 cashback through Quidco so all in all, it is a sub-£200 washing machine.
**Features**
I was bowled over by the number of washes on this (even though it is really simple to use) and the fact you could change the temperature and spin revs - my old machine had none of that, finally felt like I had entered the 21st century! I like the digital display that counts down the minutes until the washing machine has ended. I also like the fact you can stop the machine if you make a mistake, my old machine had none of that!
There are lots of cycle option but in my opinion they all take quite a while (cotton is about 2 hours) and don't really do any better than the "Daily Quick" which can take just 39 minutes at 30 degrees. I use the Daily Quick for everything unless I have just one or two items which I need washing really quickly and I use the Quick cycle which takes just 14 minutes. I can't comment on other cycles as I haven't used them.
The one caveat of the washing machine is that on the 'Daily Quick', the spin can only be set to 1200rpm which might be fine for you, but for me, the washing came out a lot wetter than my old machine. What I tend to do is then is have to put the washing on an extra spin after the main cycle has finished, then I can use the super duper 1600rpm spin which gets all of the moisture out and reduces the time the washing will stay in my tumble dryer. The extra spin takes 12 minutes. It isn't really a hassle, but I wish you could programme the two cycles together so I wouldn't have to remember to put it on the extra spin after the main cycle has finished. It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would do.
I like that you can change the temperature and spin rpm, you can do this manually for any cycle. The drum is large and water doesn't tend to gather in the door after the cycle has finished.
**Overall**
Up to now I have been happy with my Beko machine. I have explained the main caveat above but up to now, it seems as though the machine is fit for purpose. The machine comes with a booklet to explain the cycles and a trouble shooting guide which was really helpful when it started frothing foam from the washing powder drawer...a quick check in the book confirmed I had been a numpty and put the powder and fabric conditioner in the wrong compartments hence the foam! Oops!
I'm happy with it, particularly for the price. I hope it lasts a little while but for less than £200 I can't complain too much if it doesn't.
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