Possibly a bit of a boring thread, so I apologise in advance!!

My 15 year old washing machine is nearing the end of its life, it is a Zanussi and has survived in our house with 5-6 loads a day and I have never, ever had to call out the mechanic for it. It has been totally, totally brilliant. Until that is, a year ago when it started to rust around the door edges.

So today I have started looking for a new one, and I cannot believe how much they have changed in that time. All these washes (I only use two), all these buttons and timers and the prices!!! Mine was only £250 from Curry's all those years ago, now a comparable machine would be not much less than £400.

I only use two of the washes on my machine and I cannot help thinking to myself, shall I just buy an entry level machine for £250 for those two washes or is it really worth paying £450 plus for a really fandangle one? Or shall I risk a machine off ebay for about £50?,


All opinions welcome,

TLC x

I can't help, but I am Interested to know peoples thoughts as I will be needing to buy one shortly for the first time as Im moving out soon, originally I was just going to buy a cheap second hand one but I'm thinking maybe in the long run it will be worth getting a new one but where do u start ??

I'm one of those really dull people who does lengthy research before parting with my hard earned -and when we needed to replace the washing machine a couple of years ago I went through the same process TLC of wondering whether I should go for all singing all dancing at twice the price. When it came down to it, I didn't need or want dozens of programmes (I only use three) but I did want a large drum so I could wash dog bedding, single duvets and more than a couple of towels at a time. I eventually narrowed it down to the Hoover HD 8kg. which was about £250 ish, and I have to say I've been delighted with it. It's a great work horse. The drum size really cuts down the number of loads I need to do and I haven't had a minutes trouble with it.

We've got similar needs to Heli plus a baby and got a Which best buy Beko 8kg for less than £300 and so far it's been great.

I've had a Hotpoint Ultima Extra* for the last 10 years. If you ignore the fact it's now bouncing around the utility room and sounds hideous, it's been fab. I love the extra buttons (hand wash, delicates, half loads and the variable spins etc) on it because I will not pay out for dry cleaning. Everything goes in there, wool, silk, the lot and it's never let me down. Well, it did 2 weeks after I got it but that's because a small person stuffed a lolly stick in there. It's great, it filters out pound coins beautifully.

*Ignore the spurious link that's on here (pesky predictive linkage!), it's not a cooker, honest!

I can't help at all with machine selection but I just had to express my unmitigated horror at having to do 5 or 6 loads of washing everyday!!!! :-0

Originally Posted by Joey

I can't help at all with machine selection but I just had to express my unmitigated horror at having to do 5 or 6 loads of washing everyday!!!! :-0

I ignored that bit. It was too scary.

The joy of still paying through the nose to rent a place that came with a washing machine. It broke. Landlord got a new one fitted within two days I think it was a cheapy from one of the supermarkets. Cost him about £300 and has everything needed to get most stuff through.

And holey hell 5-6 loads a day?! When OH is away I can only bear to split my clothes into two loads at the end of the week to avoid turning everything grey!

Thanks for the reponses so far!!!!

Six washes a day? Oh yes I know it does sound like a lot but my current washing machine is only 6kg, so I am thinking that if I trade up to a 8kg that should reduce it down a bit.

The kids have clean uniform and pj's everyday, bedding is done twice or three times a week for everyone (we are an excema house and clean, ironed bedding really helps), cadet uniforms and kit, TA uniform and kit, PE kits, swimming kits, oh, and OHs and my clothes as well. It just all seems to add up really......

My washing machine I have now is a 1600wpm spin and so everything comes out nearly dry, which helps as well.....

My tumble dryer is 17 years old, and the door broke 11 years ago and I have spent all this time propping the door shut with two unused tins of paint! Works a treat although the paint has really gone out of fashion, wait for it, Moonshadow and Hot Pink. Oh the horror!!

TLC x

Oh shit. Is hot pink out? I like my kitchen that way! I'll agree with moon shadow though. Whatever that is!

My Candy washing machine was more than 15 years old when I finally gave it away on Freecycle, OH had a newer Beko, I swear he only ever used the 1 program before we moved in together, now we use 3, but it was cheap, it has a 30 min cycle large capacity and actually, does exactly what we need it to do.

Personally, If you only use a couple of programs and do high volume washing, I'd go for more of a budget machine, they don't have the fancy bells on, maybe not digital, but there's less to go wrong and they end up being real workhorses (in my experience)

Have a Beko too and it does the job. Have had it for 2.5 years and run a wash most days and it hasn't let me down yet (touch wood) It was under £300 and has a load of settings I don't even use, along with some really useful ones that my last Beko didn't have- such as Delicates and a 3, 6, or 9 hour delay (which is fab to set late at night, and it then comes on at 6am and the wash is done for when I get up at 7am. Hope that helps...

I have once been the proud owner of an all singing and all dancing top of the range Bosch. Did not have a fekkin clue how to work it all!!
The best advice i can give you is this website, it is good for many things, not just washing machines. As my OH has said, we have a BEKO, bought from this site on the cheap, and it goes brilliantly. If it goes wrong at any time, i dont feel i have wasted any money and i will not begrudge getting another

http://www.laskys.com

Enjoy ladies