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My washing machine is dying like an opera diva – a long, noisy and protracted process! At least it’s giving us some warning.
We are:
A family of 3 humans and 2 cats (yes, they are significant!), one of which is male, teenager, and plays rugby…
I sew, a lot (occasionally professionally), and I quilt.
We have skin sensitivities and allergy issues (me especially).We wash:
2-3 dark and sometimes muddy loads per week
1-2 quick loads of swimming kit per week (2-3 towels, 2 swimsuits, so smallish loads)
2-3 lighter coloured loads per week
1-2 wool/delicates loads per fortnight
1 boil wash of towels per week
Sleeping bags, duvets (up to King sized), camp blankets several times per year
Fabric yardage (up to 10m of 60″ wide fabric) about once per month: sometimes delicate silks, sometimes more robust linen or wool…
Patchwork Quilts, quilting yardage (cotton), and quilt batting (cotton – requires a delicate wash and gentle spin before being made up)
Cat bedding! That gets very furry, and while I do vacuum it before washing…I have been looking at washing machines, reading the UK Whitegoods advice, and thinking hard. Mostly I know what I DON’T want, if that makes sense!
DON’T want Whirlpoo! (Saga of present washer is ugly, and most of what I don’t want is their call centre, though I’m also unimpressed with some aspects of the machine. It WASHES OK, but is known as Eater of Socks… )
CBA with hot fill, not after reading the advice here…
Not at all sure about load size, but I wash large items often enough not to want to need to take them to the cleaners… ESPECIALLY not customer’s delicate silk yardage! Or the king sized duvet (it does come in two parts, which helps). I think a large door hole may be more important than an 8kg capacity.
Three machines I have considered are:
CANDY GO1682 @ £279 from Curry’s: has all the features I was looking at, and the price looks fine on the surface, but it’s a ‘cheap & cheerful’ and may not last. I HATE buying white goods…LG WM14336FDK @ £399 from Curry’s. Hits all the right buttons as far as one can judge…
Delivery for about £20.
ISE 5 Washing Machine @ £450 approx + delivery of £50, though this may be lessened if I can find a local shop that will deliver. This is slightly above what I was hoping for on price, but hits all my environmental buttons. If it will take my occasional mad loads of duvets and fabric yardage, it’s in the running. I’d rather pay a bit more for reliability and a saving on repairs down the line.
Your comments will be appreciated. Further options and alternatives will also be helpful. I’m no longer up to taking rugby kit down to the river and thumping it with rocks.
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
We tend to substitute another word for cheerful when it is preceded by ‘cheap and’ in relation to Italian washing machines. :rolls: 😉
LG like Samsung suffer from over expensive parts and long delays in supplying them.
ISE 5 is a sound machine with the bonus of five year guarantee and the advantage of local independent service.
Mid price range Bosch/Siemens/Neff are good.
Best of all is the Miele and the ISE 10.
The ISE 10 will cost you just under £80.00 a year for ten years complete cover and will last twice as long in most cases.
Jim.
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
I don’t know enough about washing machines to know which ones are cheap & cheerful and which are cheap & nasty, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt… I know where I am with sewing machines, and which ‘entry level’ light weight budget machines will sew and which won’t, but having only bought two washing machines in the last 25 years… Well, you see my problem!
While I’d love the ISE 10, it is beyond my budget at present, and I don’t have time to save more as the current Whirlpoo is off it’s last legs and crawling on the stumps…
The local independent shop isn’t an ISE dealer (I’d have to go to Rochester or Maidstone), but does sell the Bosch WAA24169 for £329. I’m quite keen to support this shop, as it is local, and has served me very well in the past, for washing machines, tumble dryer, vacuum cleaners, and at least one fridge/freezer.
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
The Bosch machine is fine and comes with a 2 year guarantee as well.
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
Kate XXXXXX wrote:The local independent shop isn’t an ISE dealer (I’d have to go to Rochester or Maidstone), but does sell the Bosch WAA24169 for £329. I’m quite keen to support this shop, as it is local, and has served me very well in the past, for washing machines, tumble dryer, vacuum cleaners, and at least one fridge/freezer.
Go for it Kate, support your local independent! :tup:
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
I rang the most local stockist of the ISE5…
They do it for £399, including delivery, installation, removal of old machine, and usually within the week… Sell lots, no complaints so far.
OK, now what? ALMOST local, a little more expensive than the Bosch… If the Bosch is Spanish built rather than German built, it gets even more tempting!
Now you see why I hate doing this stuff? I could be sewing! 😈
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
The extra £70.00 gets you another three years guarantee over the Bosch machine, the Spanish factories work to Bosch standards so whichever way you go you should be OK.
PS. I like the redcoats costumes, but if that is you in the black velvet bodice then I hope that isn’t your ‘my washer is broken, what are you going to do about it’ face, 😯 it would put the wind up me. 😆
Jim.
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
OK, I’ll toss a coin! Sounds like the way I chose Geography rather than History to study for A level… 😀
Yup, that’s me! That’s my ‘It’s four in the morning, freezing cold, I’m wearing an Elizabethan corset, and I’m knackered’ face!:eeek:
The ‘My washer is dying, can you help?’ face is much friendlier. You don’t want to see the ‘My washer is 3 hours old and already broken down’ face, which is how the last one started its career! :angry4:
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
Hi Kate,
I’ve let this one play out and kept out of it thus far but I have this strange compelling desire to reply.
The ISE machine can be carried by your local independent no problem, all they have to do is ask. It really is that simple.
There are some CI555’s still in the system but not many. The new ISE5 is due to touch down the first week in April and, if you can hold out that long I’d advise that you do so as the new one has a few more tricks up its sleeve.
Oh and history was a bit dull anyway IMO. 😉
K.
Re: New washing machine advice needed…
Thank you, that is very helpful information. Whether or not we can last another month is entirely up to the machine… It’s a long time dying, so it may eke outs its miserable existence until then. It punishes out ears mightily with every spin and the cats are giving it squinty-eyed looks, as only cats can…
I think the price I was quoted was for the C1555. I don’t mind paying the bit more for the newer model, and another month gives me another job paid for (re-enactors wedding: 19th C Royal Artillery uniforms for a couple of kids!) to add dosh to the available pile!:lol:
Big Sis did history, and followed Dad through uni doing the same… I loved the geography as we did physical geography (geomorphology, weather systems and plate tectonics and stuff – fascinating), economic geography (bit boring) and historical geography, which was almost as much fun as art.
Attempting wash last night has determined that the Whirlpoo is really dead: it sounded like I was spinning bricks in it rather than a half load of darks! So, can’t wait for the new ISE5, and need to order a new washing machine tomorrow! We’re going to have a talk with the Rochester ISE seller and see what he says in person before finally deciding between it and the Bosch.
Erk! I hate this process… But I can’t wait another 3-4 weeks.
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