My Experience Of Using The Hotpoint WDL540 (Hotpoint-Ariston WDL540)

Member Name: andrew_dav

Product:	Hotpoint-Ariston WDL540
Date:	04/11/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots Of Cleaning Options To Adapt To How You Want It To Work

Disadvantages: Can Be Costly To Run, Drying Heavy Loads Is Hard Work

I am the proud owner of one of these and it's really handy for both washing and drying clothes, especially in the winter months. It costed me about £400 but I can see already that it's come down in price substantially since then.

It has a number beneficial features, not at least the flexibility it gives you while cleaning clothes. you can basically choose a whole cycle from washing it, to pulling your clothes out of the machine dry. I'll explain. For example, I could select how to wash it depending on how I want and then select a drying programme to follow instantly afterwards for a set amount of time. It's handy that when I'm on my way out in the morning, that I can put everything on to go, and then come back in the evening and have them not only clean, but dried and ready to iron or wear when I get in. Basically it leaves you with peace of mind that there's not more to do when you get back, as it's already taken care of it.

There are Sixteen presets:

1. Cotton (Extremely Soiled)
2. Cotton (Heavily Soiled)
3. Coloured Cottons
4. Synthetics
5. Fast wash 60 Degrees
6. Baby Cycle (Heavily Soiled Delicate Colours)
7. Shirts
8. Ready To Wear
9. Wool
10. Silk/Curtains
11 Drying: Cottons
12. Drying: Synthetics
13. Drying: Wool
A. Rinse Fast
B. Spin Fast
C. Pump Out

All of these are really handy and really do allow you to adapt the wash for the type of clothes that you are washing. You can set a drying cycle to follow immediately afterwards with set times of 40, 60, 100, or 180 minutes as well as options for Cupboard Dry, Hanger Dry or Iron Dry. So for example, the other day I was washing my work shirts so I used option 7 followed by Hanger Dry and went to work. When I came home it had washed and dried them so they could be ironed and put away with little or no hassle.

It can hold a large amount of washing, 7kg to be precise which allows you to get an awful lot done. It's also quieter than most models I've used, especially when drying so shut the door to the kitchen and you hardly notice it's going.

One other handy benefit is the indicator lights so you can see what it's doing rather than just assuming it's doing something. They show wash, since, spin or dry. It's handy to know where it is in the process and how far it has got to go.

Also it can go as fast as 1400rpm. This is incredibly fast and really gets the water out of your clothes and leaves you with a lot less drying work to be done.

Also, there are function lights and options. These show:

1. Super Wash
2. Extra Rinse
3. Mini Load
4. Super Spin

I find these really handy as you can personalise your wash even more and adapt it to suit the clothes and types of clothes that you are washing.

Ido find there are a few downsides though, for example, when it spins at 1400rpm, you really know about it regardless of where you are nearby. When it's spinning normally it's nice and quiet but it does kick up a gear in noise volume when it's working at this speed. If you live in a flat with neighbours then you might want to avoid using this option in the evening.

Secondly, although it can dry the loads need to be a lot less. It can only handle 1.5kg of wool to be dried properly on cupboard dry for example so you might have to do a few cycles to get that done.

Finally, It eats up electricity on drying mode so if you're watching your wallet then it might be advisable to keep drying to a minimum.

that aside, it's a great tool and one of the most useful things I own in terms of a diverse set of options for cleaning something, and is a handy addition to the property I live in.

Summary: Efficient, But Comes At A Price

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