A Hoover That Doesn't Suck (Hoover WDM-130)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Hoover WDM-130
Date:	12/08/05 (1354 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value for money . Fast spin . It DRIES !

Disadvantages: It doesn't always spin . Drying can take AGES

My Hoover doesn't suck, because it's a washer dryer, not a vacuum cleaner! Now THAT'S cleared up, we can continue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Background and Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As some of you may already know, I grew up in the States. Washing machines in the States are BIG - they are top loaders, and often have a room or part of a room (often the basement - oh, how I MISS basements *sigh*) to themselves. Next to the washing machine sits a tumble dryer - both are big enough to take at LEAST three days worth of laundry for a family of four.

What a shock it was for me when I came to live in the UK. I lived in a flat. There was just one dinky little washing machine in the kitchen under the counter (as another little aside, this is actually a better situation than many flat-dwellers have in the States. In many rented flats, there is a coin up mini-launderette in some dingy little room somewhere in the block, often, you guessed it, in the basement). No dryer - and, being in flat, nowhere outside to hang laundry. Just a plastic contraption that fits over the bath.

Oh, how I wanted a dryer. I REALLY wanted a dryer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fast Forward a Few Years
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We moved, to a small house. The washing machine packed up. So off I trot to a local (NOT Comet or Curry's - support your local high street traders!) appliance retailer. The local folks were incredibly helpful - even taking TWO broken machines away).

Our kitchen is tiny. Way too small to take all the appliances I, a spoilt American, wanted. We have a dishwasher already, so a separate washer and dryer was out of the question. But I wanted a dryer. I REALLY...you get the picture.

Then, I discovered the existence of combined washer-dryers. These nifty items are just that - combined, so it's only one machine. Even better, you don't have to vent the dryer outside, so you don't have an unsightly tube sticking out of your kitchen window; nor do you have to drill holes in your walls to create an outlet.

Now, it was just choosing which one within our budget.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the Winner is...Technical Specifications
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I bought a Hoover 6 1300 Express Combined Washer Dryer. It can wash 6 kilos of laundry and dry 2.5 kilos (I'd like to know, though, who weighs their laundry before washing?) It has a maximum spin speed of 1300 rpm. It can wash at 90, 60, 50, 40, 30 degrees Celsius, or you can use the Express Wash feature, which washes the clothes at the ambient temperature of the incoming water. It also has an extra rinse feature for washing heavy and absorbent items such as towels.

It has a 6kg button, allowing you to wash, you guessed it, 6kg (many machines have a maximum capacity of 5kg). It automatically adjusts the water level for the size of the load up to 5kg; you use the 6kg button for big loads.

This machine cost £399, including delivery and removal of the TWO busted machines (and they are HEAVY!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, you read correctly - it's a COMBINED Washer AND Dryer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As mentioned before, my washing machine dries as well! This is brilliant for me, since my (then) small end of terrace house has no basement or utility room. It means I only need one machine for laundry in my kitchen rather than two. I can't stress this bonus enough. But boy, how I miss a basement (deja vu).

---THE DOWNSIDE of this, however, is that I can only dry just under half as much as I can wash. This is true, to my knowledge, of ALL combined Washer Dryers. Having said THAT, this isn't really a big problem for us, since we tend to hang out shirts and T-shirts and anything else that shrinks or wrinkles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But does it work? - Or - The Good Bits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So far, mostly yes. Hoover doesn't have the greatest reliability record, but we live and hope that ours will survive (we are the domestic appliance jinx of SW London - everything we touch seems to break...I could tell stories!).

A year and a half or so on, we were still happy with it, especially as it replaced a second hand machine that was very noisy and on its last legs. The 1300 rpm spin speed (many machines in this price range have spin speeds of between 1000 and 1200 rpm) means that the clothes come out of the washing machine without feeling like they've been tossed into a swimming pool. The dryer is quiet and effective, and because it's a condensing dryer, I don't need to vent it outside.

My husband swears that the whites come out whiter, but I personally think he's imagining that!

I STILL miss massive top-loading machines, but, one real bonus to the British Front Loader - it uses significantly less water than a top loader. A top loader practically fills the whole tub with water. As anyone who has peered at his or her laundry through a front loader knows, the drum usually less than half fills.

---NIGGLES, or SLIGHT DISADVANTAGES --- If the load is unbalanced or too heavy, the machine won't spin at all. This is a design feature - it's supposed to keep the drive belt from breaking under too much stress. BUT, if you do as I do - put the laundry on before going to work, and dealing with it after you come home, arriving home to discover you washing is still sopping wet is not nice.

I have found that the 6kg feature is more or less a waste of time, because the machine won't always spin such a heavy load.

The manufacturers recommend that you don't wash too many towels at one time, as they are so absorbent. Therefore, you shouldn't wash 6kg of dry towels in the machine, as they will be considerably heavier wet.

The drawer which holds detergent and fabric softener tends to creep slightly open during use. However, we rarely use the drawer - we use an all-in-one liquid detergent (I do LIKE combined products, clearly!)

As well as only holding half a load, the dryer isn't as efficient as it might be. If I am drying something heavy and absorbent, like jeans, it takes the full 120 minutes, and sometimes more, to get them fully dry. However, it is fine for 'smalls' - socks underwear, and those other little bits and pieces that are annoying to hang. Especially when you have around 20 pairs of child's knickers to dry because the child in question has left knickers in the bed, under the bed, behind the bed, in trousers which have been pulled off inside out and jammed back in the drawer...you get my drift.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bits I Know Almost Nothing About
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE - I haven't cleaned anything but the soap drawer. What should I be cleaning - it's a WASHING machine, for crying out loud!!!

After two and half years. the dryer packed up - clothes were coming out wetter than after the spin. It seems the condenser was jammed with fluff - enough, apparently, to knit a sweater with. Forty pounds lighter (in both senses of the word 'pounds'...ok, the fluff didn't weigh THAT much, but that's what it cost), the dryer works again, and husband knows how to fix it should the same thing happen again. Why, oh why does it not have a lint filter??? This happened a few times.

---MANUAL - read it once, don't remember. It couldn't have been THAT difficult.

---SAFETY - seems safe to me. I've not accidentally stuck my head in it, nor dropped it on my toes. It's never attacked me. On a more serious note, as with any dryer, the window and door can get hot during drying. Ours doesn't get TOO hot to touch, as there is a reinforced flat plastic window in front of the heat resistant glass, so I'll give it a thumbs up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Finish (finally)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Hoover Six 1300rpm combined Washer Dryer is reasonable value for money. The dryer need repairing a few times - when it gets clogged with fluff, the heating element shuts out (that's a safety feature), so needing cleaning and re-setting. This happened four or five times. It's not an Ariston or any of the other 'Mercedes of Washing Machines', but it washed and dried my clothes, most of the time.

And that is, after all, what I got it for, isn't it?

Summary: A washer dryer (also known as the Hoover WDM 6 130) combined - slightly dodgy reliablity

Reliability:
Ease of use:
Design:
Cleaning/Maintenance:
Quality: