The Environmentally Friendly Sock Eater!! (Tricity Bendix AW1400W)

Member Name: luseantom

Product:	Tricity Bendix AW1400W
Date:	02/07/05 (1005 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't have much luck with anything electrical. I have been married for 6 years and in this time I have had 5 washing machines. When my last washing machine broke we couldn't afford a new one so I was constantly taking my washing to my mums, which is quite difficult when you have three messy kids. My mum finally got sick of doing my washing and thought she would buy me a washing machine for my birthday. This was last April. Now my mum and dad are very smart when it comes to purchasing things. Me, I just go and buy the first cheapest thing I see. Which is maybe why they always break.

So my mum and dad went off to Curry's the people there were really helpful and showed them all the ranges of washing machines. They then showed them this one. The Tricity Bendix AW1400. The woman in the shop showed them the economy features and they decided that this one would be best for me. At the time it cost them £189.00 but I have recently looked them up on the Internet and they can be as dear as £219.00. Curry's delivered my new machine within the next week, and to say that I was relived that I didn't have to traipsed round to my mums with bin bags of washing again was an understatement.

Fitting it was simple You had to take off the panel at the back with a spanner type key that comes with it and slide out two plastic pins. You then have to lay the machine on its back to take off the polystyrene block from the bottom. You then have to take two plastic bags out. What all this is for I don't know. The good thing about this machine is that it does not use hot water. It has a heating element like a shower, which heats the cold water up as you use it. Which is what makes the machine more economical. Therefore you aren't using as much water and are also saving on electricity/gas bills by not using as much electric/gas to heat up hot water. So you just plug the pipe into the cold-water pump and the drain hose into the outflow pipe.

Child Safety
^^^^^^^^^^^

The machine comes with a button on the door, much like child safety locks on a car. It prevents small children climbing inside the machine and being trapped.

Programme Option Buttons
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The front of the machine has several setting for different options. Unlike some machines there is no dial for this but there are electronic Buttons that light up when they are selected.
1) Spin button. - By pressing this button you can reduce the spin speeds on the programme, or you can select no spin at all.
2) Prewash Button. - You can select this button if you want your washing to be prewashed before the main wash starts. This is ideal if you have very dirty clothes like my husbands.
3) Half Load Button. - You can select this button to reduce water consumption throughout the rinsing process. It is ideal if you only have a few clothes to put in.
4) Rinse Hold Button. - By pressing this button you are stopping the water from the last rinse emptying out, this is to prevent fabrics from creasing. So then you can drain the water by pressing the drain option afterwards.
5) Start Pause Button. - This button is quite obvious really. This button is quite obvious really. You press this button after you have elected your programme and if you wish to stop it half way through you can pause it with this button too.

Programme dial
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As with most washing machines this one has the usual programme dial with the settings as follows

Cottons - Linens
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1) Whites95degrees
2) Eco wash 60degrees
3) Fast colours 60degrees
4) Non fast colours 40degrees
Synthetics
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5) Mixed fabrics 60degrees
6) Mixed fabrics 50degrees
7) Mixed fabrics 40degrees
Delicate fabrics
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8) Delicates 40degrees
9) Delicates 30degrees
10) Wool 30degrees

11) Cold wash
12) Quick and cool
13) Rinse
14) Drain
15) Spin


Programme process display
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is a set of lights that show the stages of your wash. For example there are 5 coloured circles 1) wash, 2) Rinses, 3) spin, 4) End, and 5) door. When you press the start button the first light comes on, and during the wash the lights change down so when it's rinsing the lights on rinse and when it's spinning its on spin…etc. Until the final one which is door. This is when you can safely open the door.


There is a simple to use filter in the bottom right hand side that has a pipe to drain excess water before you open the filter up. Also it helps if the machine breaks with water still in it, as you can empty the water from the filter pipe. There is quite a large dispensing draw for all your washing powder. There are 3 compartments like most washing machines one for prewash, main wash and fabric softener. The machine comes in white and says on the front Advanced Eco Shower wash that is one of the best features of the machine. It means that instead of the machine just filling up from the bottom with water, it actually rinses the washing like a shower from the top of the drum.

In conclusion I love this machine it has never let me down, except for once when a sock got stuck in the seal but other than that it has been perfect. Which for me is quite unusual. It is very economical as well so if your all for saving the environment then this is the machine for you. The cost of the machine can be pretty expensive but when you take into account how much you're saving on water and electric/gas then it's worth it.

Thanks for reading

Lynsey xx

Summary: see review