shopping in currys

[dave886]

i went into currys yesterday to have a look at some washing machine, as for i was thinking to sell my recent washing machine to get an up to date version of the 11kg aqualtis, i opened the door to have a look at the drum, and the drum was no bigger than the 9kg aqualtis which i own; i went on to look at the PANASONIC NA-168VX3WGB 8kg washer and the drum was massive it was bigger than the aqualtis 11kg. i saw the hotpoint ultima 10kg washer and built quailty seems to be really good i could even say better than the aqualtis, thing are not always as they seems and why do these manufacturers continue to mislead the customers.


at the moment i really want a 12kg LG the drum is actually massive

 

[dyson2drums]

Thats always been one thing I hate that indesit company are doing! The 6kg and 7kg models have the same 52l drum. The 8kg and 9kg models have the 62l drum. The new aqualtis' are slightly bigger at 71 litres (correct me if i'm wrong). However that is not equivalent to 11kg of washing, my 9kg LG has a 69 litre drum which is pretty big.

I saw the 12kg LG washing machines on the Currys website a few weeks ago, yet to see one in person. Would love to have one of those. The 11kg drum is massive at 78litres, wonder if the 12kg models have a bigger one as LG always has a different drum size for different /kg machines.

We're all very pleased with LG. Its very quiet, great at washing, rinsing and spinning. The steam feature is very good on soiled clothes and the refresh cycle actually gets rid of odours such as cigarette smoke and bbq which is what we tested it on.

Are you planning on getting a new washing machine?

All the best with your choice

 

[glenfieldmathk1]

I would presume the 12KG LG will have a 80+ litres drum!
If not then it will be the 78l used on the 11KG.
What would be really Good would try see them fit a USA 100l drum inside the small depth! Probably wouldn't happen!

The Aqualtis machines have a new drum called Wave (this has different paddles, and the word titanium on the back), its 71l - 9l bigger than the previous Aqualtis machines, however they use the same drum on the 10KG ultimas, and in Italy there is a 9KG machine with the same drum, which shows to me, it could actually get a bit full, and cause extra creasing in a 11KG Aqualtis.
I prefer the standard machines, they are built better, the door is much stronger than the Aqualtis, they have better control Panels, and I prefer the round classic look!
The Aqualtis not to mention has a bigger depth (backwards), this is because the drum is tilted backwards slightly. The Standard hotpoints don't have this tilt.

What would be nice is a Ultima with all the features of the Aqualtis, Ultima, Aquarius + machines combined on one classic look 10KG machine with the 71l drum!

I absoloutly love the tumble dryer Wave drum, not sure if it is bigger than the old one though.

 

[dave886]

i want an LG 12kg so bad because LG is the badboy of all washing machine and there stain removeral on fabrics is excellent, and the build quality is to notch if miele came out with a 78L drum then i would definately get a miele but i need an extra big drum! or even the panasonic washing machine i saw 8kg which looked massive apprantly it has 71L drum and it was rated at 8kg so hmm i wonder how big is the 10kg model

 

[dave886]

i think im gonna put my machine for sale on ebay soon

 

[Jsneaker]

The size of machines available

If someone's not so concerned with the size of the washer or dryer's cabinet, then get one the way they are sold in the USA. Both front and top-load HE washers here are taller and deeper than usual. My machine's in the basement, so it doesn't matter the height. Look at my Samsung's photo-the white cabinet's top lined-up perfectly with my old Kenmore's machine-top. Sometimes I wish I had the smaller Miele
machine(available here in 120V), but the Samsung already takes forever to wash compared to all previous machines. Besides, the machine is not "with me" and I spend HOURS doing my wash every other weekend. love those Panasonics-too bad they are not sold here! Are they made in Japan or China? I also loved the selection of home appliances at John Lewis! I never got to visit any "discounters" over in the UK. Trying to get a better than list price here is a joke-everything's just about price-fixed!

 

[aquacycle]

I really do not understand the recent obsession with 6kg+ drums. What's the point? "You can wash more in one load" I've heard, but who in the heck has 11kg of the same coloured and material clothing unless you're like The Simpsons and just wear the same clothes all the time.

A 4.5kg Zanussi served my family of 6 perfectly well for 11 years without excessive use. Oddly, my Mum does more washing in her current 6kg machine than she did in her old 5kg machine - weird!

 

[dyson2drums]

Well if you live in a household that has say 5 or 6 people then you create a lot of washing. Which is the case at ours, the 9kg LG is big enough for us as it meets our needs. If theres someone living alone or just a few of them then a 6kg machine should be able to cater for their needs. We did have a 6kg hotpoint which is at my aunts, its a decent sized machine but we had a load every day and more at times. Also when it comes to washing duvets or larger items it can be washed at home which is an advantage with larger capacity machines, instead of going to the launderette.

I personally dislike the launderette machines, they don't have efficient stain removal (witnessed it using the ipso 35 in the local laundertte), poor rinsing and spinning and they being way too quick but guess that has to be the case as its a business end of the day.

As for doing more laundry, they state the machines are bigger but the drum volume is either the same, slightly more or less in some cases! Which is something that gets on my nerves. I have to look at drum volume as it always surprises me when new machines are released etc.

 

[ronhic]

The size of domestic machines is getting ridiculous to say the least. I completely agree with you Chris that what our mothers used, a 4kg machine in our case for a family of 4, served them perfectly well - 20 years in our case.

 

But there are other factors at play these days.

 

Firstly, we have more clothes. They're cheaper to buy (or can be bought much cheaper) thanks to places like Primark forcing down prices....

 

Secondly, kids (3 - 12 year olds) never seem to be in anything other than spotless clothes...and we wonder why there's more washing generated.

 

Thirdly, it seems to be unacceptable to wear clothes more than once even if they have no odour....

 

...and finally, that 9kg machine with the 70 litre drum is, for all intents and purposes, only going to 'comfortably' hold 7kg of laundry unless the user is determined to stuff it full.....and every user manual I've ever seen always says not to stuff, but to 'comfortably fill' or words to that effect.

 

The other factor is that there are less and less 'stay at home' adults that do the multiple loads of washing. With both parents or partners working, people like to think they can get it all done at once and/or faster in a larger capacity machine. What they fail to remember is that the 60 - 75 minute cycles of their smaller machines are now 120 - 180 minute cycles in a large capacity machine...though they do save water

 

[aquacycle]

a 6kg machine should be able to cater for their needs

a sink full of water with a large wooden spoon in it would suit a single person!

I struggle to fill a 6kg Miele between 2 of us. That said, my brother was most pissed off recently to find that my 6kg Miele holds MORE than his 7kg Indesit.

Like I said before, there were 6 of us at home at one point, both parents working and all we had until '93 was a 4.5kg Zanussi S218T and we managed perfectly well.

 

[dave886]

my main reason to have a bigger washer is to wash my duvet and bulky items better and saving me from visiting the laundrette, for example i cannot use a towel more than once never did never will so i get through loads of between me and my girlfriend and my 2kids, my point to all of this is, if you want a large machine in the uk check the liters of the drum before buying. back in those days 4kg to 5kg machine was obviously acceptable because there where no other large machines on the market from what im aware of and if you wanted to wash something bulky you need to go to the launderette.

where i lived our launderette had minlor and primus washers, where minlor washers did a good job at cleaning and the drums where massive to fit 3 loads of washing where the primus was noisy and aggressive on your clothes where it had the trafic light indicators on it which showed you what stage the washing was at.

 

[logixx]

Who has that much laundry?

Okay, it takes some time but... ;-p

 

[dascot]

I agree with AquaCycle and Ronhic - there's no need for the size of machines the way they are these days. People buy them because they are there, and sometimes because they have to have the shiniest newest thing around. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, each to their own, but I would actually quite like a more simple machine with a normal capacity that does a decent job in less than 1.5hrs. The machine I have is fine, though I tend to use the synthetics cycle and an extra spin rather than the cottons cycles. Does just as good a job and is done about 30-40 minutes faster, so why bother with the longer cycle.

I grew up in a family of five, with multiple pets, and we didn't need an enormous machine, nor was it on multiple times every day unless it happened to be the day the beds got changed. I've never used towels only once - they are normally used for 4-5 days before washing. I don't know why people only use them once then wash them.

Sure, big washers will save having to take duvets etc. to the launderette, but you can't dry them properly in a domestic sized dryer, so to be honest you'd be as well taking them to the launderette anyway unless you have space to hang them to dry.

Like I said, each to their own, but I don't fancy any of these 9kg+ machines - it seems excessive, and something will have to give in the design, so either clothes are too crammed in or there will be potential problems opened up with suspension etc. later in the machines life.

 

[Jsneaker]

Commercial machines & Logixx's Bauknecht, etc.

We have few laundrettes here that use Milnor washers(they are made in Louisiana), as they are not energy-efficient. We have many laundries that use horrible, slow-spinning Dexter machines! We do have places that use Primus & Ipso machines, they last a LONG time! The very first time I used an Ipso I was so impressed by it's performance. That is definitely over 20 years ago-the machines at one are still in use! Current Wascomats are horrible, some laundries have them, some have OLD ones. NONE of these commercial machines spin well enough, but I think the Ipso's are the best. Logixx's Bauknecht is identical to our US Whirlpool Duet "older-style" belt-drive machines! I also agree that a "normal-size"(4.5-6kg)machine is fine for regular use. If I could have kept my old Kenmore AND have my new Samsung, I would be "slap-happy"!

 

[glenfieldmathk1]

@Jsneaker (and others)

Ipso here in the UK also perform very well as laundry machines. If I go to a laundrette I like to see Ipso machines there, as they give better washing & rinsing than other laundry machines.
Another good one here is the old Ipso machines, with push buttons, they use deep water levels during the wash and take around 50 minutes to do the cycle. The water flushes around through clothes, helping remove stains.

@dave886 I agree Primus machines do fath around doing nothing. They aren't the best, and are noisy.

Other observations:
The brand new Electrolux machines with the Miele Novotronic style display are also very good, visited a laundrette and it had them, and they have options to add Pre-wash, extra rinse, shorten the wash, Extend the spin. All adjusts the price, and normal cycle without options at 40C takes around 36 minutes to complete the whole cycle! Theres even a 95C setting, and it actually has a heater element too. (the laundrette I visited, the 95 wash came at a price £4.50, thats £1.25 more than the 40C Cottons, and £1.05 more than cottons 60C. But I think thats worth it.

Anyway thats my observations

 

[hunter]

Wow

Four pounds fifty for a 95C wash? WOW. In my terms that is seven dollars twenty.

What size load was this?

Even the 3 pounds twenty five for a normal load...five dollars twenty?

Is that a 10kg load?

I will not complain about laundry costs again in the USA!

 

[supremewhirlpol]

I have Wascomat, Ipso, and 1 Primus currently. All of them use lots of water and lots of 3 phase. Here is my 1989 Ipso WE-165 (OPL) It has 40# capacity.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

The Ipso has 2 pressure switches. One for the wash water level, and the other for the rinse water level. It's a bit of a beast to move around. Here it is next to the W-10 22# 1989 Primus that I had. As far as build quality, they are about the same, execpt the Ipso uses real SS and only the top of the Primus is SS.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Here is my 1987 Wascomat FLex-o-matic 184. It is 50# capacity, comes in ~612LB. Build quality is not as good as the Ipsos of its age. Takes ~ 12 min. to fill for hot wash. Uses punch cards, cycles are totally customizable. Can use the machine in manual mode with the buttons on the front.