What is your actual daily driver for your clothes (washers from 1970 to today:

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Speed Queen Imperials

For me at the moment.

Anyone wanna buy a slightly used Touchtronic set? :)

Malcolm
 
Hoover who else!

Having owned 3 modern type front loading machines (Hoover AL-150, Bosch 1400 Express and a Hotpoint Aqualtis) I found them all wanting in various ways
Last year I found myself in a situation where I had to clear my collection of old machines, but I decided to keep a set (washer and dryer) those being the Hoover A3190 Electron 1100 and the matching dryer D6142.

They have been in use for 8/9 months now as daily drivers, and all I can say is that they are excellent machines superior in all respects to the previous modern machines.

The Hoover set up dates back to 1981 and it shows in the build quality, serviceability and dam right good design, some people describe these old type washers as "water guzzlers" well in fact my water charge has dropped by £2.00 a month now, also it costs 9 pence in electricity to do a 40 degree cottons wash, inefficient, I don't think so taking the age of the machine and the fact it was built in Britain unlike modern so called efficient machines that have a short life expectancy and are shipped halfway round the world, that's having been made by poorly paid workers aswell who do not benefit from the wests employee protection........... modern so called efficient machines are anything but efficient in my view

None of the modern machines could cope with there rated full loads (6kg.6kg.7kg respectively), the Hoover would not even get all the load wet, the Bosch was better at this as was the Hotpoint but none of them washed or rinsed aswell, the Hotpoint had poor "turn over" in as much as an item of clothing put in the front at the start of a wash would still be there when it had finished a wash

However the amount of re-washing items because they had not come out clean "first time" on all the three machines was damright frustrating to say nothing of the Hotpoints ability to balance and spin a load which was crap., And of course they all took ages to wash a load.

There is a thread about what powders etc do people use, and it occurred to me since I went back the Electron I now longer have to buy expensive sudsy brand leader powders that claim to get stains out first time (a poor reflection on modern machines washing performance in itself), I now use Tescos or Waitrose own brand colour and bio powders, this is due to the superior washing performance of the Electron, it washes clothes beautifully, it is very rare I have "re-wash anything now" and anything that is that bad I either soak or use Vanish.

They all come out less creased than with any of the previous machines, some may say oh that's because it spins at 1100, I say no to that, the first thing that it doesn't do that that the three previous machines did, is spin the clothes at the first pump out now I understand the reasons for doing this as regards powder removal but in my opinion spinning warm clothes is also a good way to put creases in them.

The Electron also has high rinse levels this also not only helps rinse clothes but it also makes for a more gentle rinse by supporting the clothes in water rather than just saturating them and allowing them to rub over each other .

Then the final preference is the sheer usability of the machine, being operated by a mechanical timer you can interrupt, stop, start anything you want, there is no waiting for a computer to decide if you can switch it on or off, no waiting for programs to run through, it is a damsight easier and more friendly to use than the previous three, and of course it doesn't need cheap gimmicks to make it attractive, it is a solid well designed and built washing machine, and in that it beats the previous three hands down.

So there you are based on my experience of three contempory European machines and living with the Electron things have only gone down hill as far as I can see for mainstream washing appliances, so I have gone retro with better results :-)

I am not blaming manufacturers as they have to meets the needs of the "Tree Hugger" zealouts who have the ear of goverments but at what cost I wonder?

right that's my report on my daily driver

electron1100++8-8-2013-07-30-50.jpg
 
AEG Lavamat L71670FL, Panasonic NA148VG4WDE, and as dryer the Siemens WT46E3M5 (OR WT46M3E5??? Don't remember right now). Dryer and the AEG are ok, but the Panasonic is really genius. Just handeld our weekly toweling load (consisting out of 4 towels 180cm*100cm; 1 Bathrobe size S made of synthetic; 6 Towels 100cm*50cm, 2 Towels 120Cm*80cm and some smaller items what made a total load of 8.5 kg roundabout) on Cottons Rinse+ with extra rinse at 60° and 1400rpm within 3h. Had some balancing troubles, but nothing problematical.
 
Daily drivers...

Martin hit it on the head. NEPTUNES! The washer was completely rebuilt (it didn't need everything but I did anyway...) and I customized the dryer with a commercial windowed door. Soon as I find the matching MDE7500 dryer, on goes the door and into the line it goes.

RCD

redcarpetdrew++8-8-2013-14-43-24.jpg
 
Another happy hoover owner

we've been using this hoover 1100 for just over 13 years now as our regular machine, I've always been pleased with the results, and with its sensible wash times I can do several loads in a morning when the laundry has to be left until the weekend.

I think to sum up Garys overview is that it just does the job it's designed to do and does it well and at aproachine 35 years old it's still doing it.

Mathew

keymatic3203++8-8-2013-15-15-57.jpg
 
Different kind of Hoover 4 me... but still very happy :-)

My current daily drivers are also Hoovers... but not really Hoover... let's say, the 2nd generation.

I owned my very first front loader when I moved into my own place back in 2000... that was an old Bendix (from late 80's) with only 500rpm... it was a present from my landlady bless her :-)

I replaced the tireless Bendix with a Zanussi Nexus towards the end of 2001, this was also a gift from a friend, it was about 5 years of age... not the friend, the machine :-P

I loathed it, but it did-ish the job until 2004 when I got to choose my own washing machine for the first time... yup, a brand spanking new Hoover Nextra. I always loved it to bits and I always will.

It's still my daily driver to date, although, it has recently been granted a helper, another Hoover (Dynamic), with a more generous size drum, ideal for large items such as duvets and quilts... only for that really... after careful consideration I came to the conclusion that I don't really need the bigger drum for anything else as I like to do as many loads as I can ;-)
 
Was A Miele W1070 But Now

After doing several loads in the AEG last night am firmly a believer in "modern" German front loaders.

The Miele is circa 1990's whilst the AEG Lavamat is from the current decade (around 2008 or so is my guess), and the difference between electronic/mechanical timer control (Miele) versus full frontal computer (AEG) on so many levels was astounding.

Using less water and doing fewer cycles the AEG rinsed better and more completely than the Miele. Part of this is because the former unlike the later has interim spins after the wash and each rinse cycle. Miele only spins twice between rinses; one short 30sec pulse (after third rinse), and a short full spin between the fourth and fifth.

However where the AEG shines over the Miele is because of computer controls the machine can use feedback about load size, distribution and so forth to make adjustments without further input from Moi.

For instance when the Miele went into spins it would try to balance a set number of times first. If things weren't quite right so be it and away the machine went often banging, clanging and or vibrating away. OTOH the AEG senses unbalanced loads and uses various methods of drum control to get the load where it should be.

The best thing about rinsing with this more modern German machine is that on very absorbent/bulky loads where there much water is being extracted during spin, washer will slow the spinning, stop or whatever all while the pump is running to give a chance for all soapy water to drain, then things start up again.
 

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