12 Minute Wash - Hype or Reality..!!!

[hoover1100]

12 min wash

Very skeptical here!

The 15min wash cycle on the Indesit IWB5113 in the flat I'm currently renting certainly can't manage to clean a thing (it's a truly TERRIBLE machine all round, but that's another story). A short, cool, gentle action wash cycle, followed by a very brief interim spin, a single rinse then an 800rpm final spin.

I can just see it now in homes across the UK, washing full loads on that cycle! *cringe*

I just wish people would get out of the habit of letting their laundry build up and having to get it all done as quickly as possible and just pop a load on every day or so and let the machine complete the appropriate cycle!

Laundry takes time, no doubt, however, people will believe a Russell Hobbs(!!!) machine can thoroughly clean laundry in 12mins, when other machines require about 2 hours!

Matt

 

[thomasortega]

Of course a machine can perform a cycle in 12 minutes... even less i one wants to

30 seconds wash
30 seconds drain
30 seconds spin

not considering fills and drainings, there's a 90 seconds cycle...

now, get clean clothes... well, that's another story.

 

[confused]

I have a Gorenje machine (to think i only came to ask advise when buying it and im still browsing) and I have used the 17min cycle on it a fair bit recently just to quickly freshen things up and for that it is absolutely fine, i do have the water plus button pressed in though

BUT

to clean anything that has been worn more than once/has been used to work on the car in/the better halfs work clothes you need to use a propper cycle

Then again i never really hang round the machine when it is running so cycle times are not much of an issue

 

[jetcone]

HYPE!!

1948 Frigidaire Unimatic:  25 minutes wash rinse spin- boom boom done - all soil levels. 1948, nothing new under the Sun. However Bendix reccomends 20 minutes for washing alone in a front loader to get clothes really clean.

 

I don't see all the hype, the point about "Automatic" is "set it and forget it". Are we all so OCD these days'  we are tapping our feet after we hit Start?

 

I see it as ridiculous marketing techniques in an overly mature market, grab at anything to stand out today.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Bendixxi

Morning Jon, the trouble is we over here are having your water crisis moment but ours is to do with TIME, to get the latest A-50% energy rating and better we use low levels of Water, Detergent and Energy at the expense of TIME... So many modern machines just extended the cotton wash programmes to obtain the ratings, the majority of these have been on the entry level / mid point machines without any overides, now we go from the "Sublime to the Ridiculous"...all people want is the ability to select a 40d Cotton Wash, good rinsing and a fast max spin in 45mins...

One thing I love about the MaytAsko, I could do that 40d wash in 42mins and even a 95d cottons 3 rinses & 1600rpm spin in 50mins...

 

[rapunzel]

Not just hype - it's mega hype

Front loaders are not designed to wash and rinse anything to an acceptable standard in 12 minutes; unless bleach is added. Even then I wouldn't expect much. At my work we use commercial front loaders. Their longest cycle is 29 minutes and they don't clean.

 

[superelectronic]

Some people just won't know any better...

It strikes me that anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the process of laundering fabrics in a front loader should dismiss a 12 minute total cycle out of hand! The trouble is, so many people now have no real clue how clothes actually get washed beyond "put it in the machine"; what happens whislt it whirls around could be anyone's guess to the uninformed! After all, who (apart from you, dear readers) watches the machine do its thing? Who actually handwashes these days? At least when people used (and made the transition from) single or twin tubs there was a degree of involvement with the process so the user had to know that fabrics require a certain amount of washing, rinsing and extraction. There's very little interaction with laundering in an automatic - it's easy never to see the water, let alone touch it!

If you think about it, there's a whole generation coming up who know nothing but the automatic washer. They might well believe the hype 'cause they don't know any better!

It could just be that laundry in the purest sense is a dieing art.

Alex

 

[3beltwesty]

With the old 1976 westy FL washer I often just washed dress shirts that had no spots in the Knit cycle in green set to 4 minutes, with no bleach. The cycle time is about roughly 16 minutes and one them one has them in the dryer.

A short cycle was done like this when I found I had some emergency trip and short a few shirts. With only a few shirts the dry time was not long with a 5.4 Kw dryer.

Today the new LG WM2501HVA has a short cycle setting of 22 minutes, but it drops ones matrix of settings, thus annoying.

Yesterdays machines were designed for performance, todays are too BUT one has the giant US government tax break carrot of 225 to 325 bucks that steers the design too.

The older machine just gets on with matters and the water enters right at the start. A newer machine has to spend time in a typical government fart around mode, load sense, wait a few minutes before tinkling/sprinkling water.

With the new LG it washes worst in the short wash of 22 minutes than the old machine in 16 minutes. By worst I mean a slight spot or dirty area has a less chance of removal. Both are fine with how a shirt gets dirty in an office environment; ie not much.

Even with hand washing it takes some time to remove dirt and grease ; even if one locally works the spot. It gets worse with time if the clothes got dirty/greasy a week ago, the crud gets deeper into the fibers.

Short washes are do-able with any washer, if one is too short if often can allow grease and stains to set if these clothes go through a hot dryer; THUS RISKY.

 

[haxisfan]

12... Hypes...

Hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype!

12 right? That's more like it!

Manufacturers taking advantage again of Joe public's ignorance!

It's a clever marketing tool for selling these machines... once the potential uninitiated buyers experience the uselessness of this super fast cycle, they will still be able to use other down-to-earth wash programmes, as I believe these machines will most definitely be equipped with standard washes too.

So... this hype might win... for a while.

I find a 15-20 minute low heat/cool refresh cycle in the tumble dryer far superior!

 

[3beltwesty]

Hand Washing

Here I often take SUPER dirty work bluejeans covered with grease and just place them in a 5 gallon bucket with tad of liquid All detergent and let them soak a few hours to many times over night. The water when dumped out is often black! It is a cheap way to prewash, or completely wash too.

Many of us in the USA have had wash sinks in the laundry room to do this too. One just allows time to do its wonders with ones kids muddy clothes or ones crawl under a grease car clothes.

A simple dumb long soak often means a lessor chance of that ultra dirty items crud will get into the washers walls, on your other clothes too.

After Katrina I washed about all my stuff like this; I had no washer since the 1976 westy was apart; I started about the week before Katrina with its rebuild.

The totally bizzare thing is I was hand washing the week before Katrina; and afterward, and Neighbors post Katrina with no washers were TOTALLY CLUELESS as to how to wash clothes by hand!

 

[3beltwesty]

With an old tech US frontloader; one has no internal heater.

Thus If I wanted to use hot for 4 dress shirts; the HOT water comes from the gas WH right behind the wall; ie there is no delay for an electric heater.

 

[gorenje]

it's optimistic to say "wash" in such a short ti

Well if I have to refresh some clothes stored for the season I will say YES, but if I have to "wash" (it's very optimistic to say "wash" because in a short time like this it can't get cleaned properly) dirty and/ or stained laundry I say NO THANKS!!

I don't care how much time my machine is washing since I don't need to stand by it during the entire cycle.
I only care about the results.
I want really clean clothes not only soaked in water for some minutes.

And I don't care about the fast washing of top loaders that are YES fast but also rough on clothes.
I need a washer not a blender for the clothes.

 

[3beltwesty]

Time matters to som, not to others

Here for 50 years I am use to the total wash times with FL washers never being more than 42 minutes; with say 32 to 37 for clothes not so dirty.

Thus a new FL washer that has times where one can get times over an hour or two is rather shocking.

It too would be hard to get use to a car that only goes 30MPH and ones work commute times double; or having a new lawn mower that increases the time too.

I suppose whether TIME matters depends on whether one works and has deadlines; or is retired, on the dole, on on holiday and thus time has a lessor meaning.

Many folks who use a laundromat and are use to 25 to 35 minute cycles are in for a rude surprise to buy a modern FL washer and say get cvcles that are double in time.

With folks with no schedules, waiting in line at the post office, dmv or waiting on a washer does not matter, you have no commitments, no deadlines, no meshing to deliver a product to another on time. ie it really would not matter if that new washer takes 2 hours and 20 minutes if all the buttons are pushed!

 

[jetcone]

Afternoon Mike

I do remember those "MaytAsko" being georgeous and they still ARE!

 

One has to wonder, if you could do 10 kgs of laundry in a top loader in 20 gallons that is pretty darned efficient. So smaller shorter may not be the right way to go.

 

[gorenje]

@ 3beltwesty

Yes you are right!
I can't speak for everyone. I belive that for many people even the time used for a wash cycle is important, because in life there are other much more important things to do than laundreing.

I just wanted to say that for how a front loader works a 12 minute wash time can't do much more than only get the clothes wet or refresh them. For the rest of the laundry I would never use this cycle. How for example some dirty white socks can get clean in a short time like this. (12 min. is the total of the cycle not only the washing part)

 

[chestermikeuk]

Times...

Jon, Just in case people are thinking it " I'm NOT advocating 12 mins...LOl...Get away with 17mins on the Gorenje, and as was saying can do an energetic wash with the Askos in 42 mins and thats with an 8min 1600rpm spin, continuous in stages!!

Westy, Our frontloaders here since the 50's had very short washtimes even with the heater as in our English Electric and Reversomat models (Your SpaceMates), most of the vintage machines, Hoover, Hotpoint & Servis had a Programme 5 wash (40d cotton, 3 rinses & fast 800 spin) and completed it in 40mins. Its only in recent years that the Energy Police have made changes & some manufacturers have found ways to achieve top gradings!!

Sam, Glad to here The Gorenje Set are performing well for you, excllent machines with the total 5yr guarantee on all parts & labour -

 

[pierreandreply4]

my mother has a maytag front loader in her vacation home

hello everyone my mother has a maytag neptune fl the model in this pic with matching dryer and the quick wash cycle is 29 minutes top and on the normal cycle its 54 minutes count extra time if option like stain treat or extra rinse is selected but gets the clothe clean as the quick wash cycle is the same as the normal cycle but with a shorter washtime

 

[jerrod6]

My FL washer has a 20 minute default wash(just the wash not including the rinses and spins) that does very well and I use it for most loads.  If it detects a small load it reduces the wash time to about 12 minutes.   I have also tried this short wash for heavily soiled whites but when doing this I included a 15 minute prewash so I guess the total time exposed to detergent was more like 35 minutes, still soiled white socks with ground in dirt came clean.

 

Didn't Electrolux advertise a quick wash(total cycle time) option of 18 minutes?

 

[logixx]

Hype

The Quick cycle on our Electrolux is 30 minutes at 30C - that's a deep-fill wash and two deep-fill rinses. I only use it for my EastPak shoulderbag, which essentially only needs surface dirt to be removed. Even with minimal detergent, I can still smell it at the end of the cycle due to the lack on interim spins and only a 700 rpm spin at the end. It's pretty much a useless cycle.

My grandma's Miele has a 30 min cycle that runs at 40C with interim spins - much better. BUT, I recently watched the washer go through the Express wash and when the timer said 22 minutes left, it paused for seven minutes to finish heating the water... So much for 30 minutes. Same on our Siemens dishwasher: the 29 minute cycle always takes 40 minutes but, unlike our washing machine, the dishwasher does very well in 40 minutes.

 

[haxisfan]

@chestermikeuk

As for "Our frontloaders here since the 50's had very short washtimes"... well, I'm not too comfortable with that statement, perhaps it's because I'm not considering only the UK washing machines of that era but those throughout Europe in general. However, the fact that you said “Programme 5 wash (40d cotton, 3 rinses & fast 800 spin)” makes me feel that UK machines also had other cycles before this number which would have had a much longer duration!

I know of many vintage European automatic FL which foresaw an hour biological pre-wash at a temperature of 60 degree to be added to another hour (or longer) main wash at 90/60 and again over half an hour for performing 4 rinses and a final spin. Even without the Bio pre-wash a long cotton cycle would boast over an hour main wash. I see as a much fairer statement something that reads "Our frontloaders here since the 50's had both short and long (or medium) washtimes". In other words the user is in control of how long a wash cycle has to last (in spite of high temperatures on short ones).

I absolutely don't see much difference between those vintage washers and the modern ones in terms of wash times, only some low end models nowadays compel the user to abide by extremely long wash times even on a 40 degree cycle, as most machines are equipped with time saving facilities. Water levels are probably responsible for a major difference between old and new models but even that can often be tweaked by means of available options or cycles.