We knew the time had come for a new washing machine almost a year ago when our former one managed to boil-wash a load of laundry set to 40 degrees, and then refused to spin. A repair might have been possible, but would not have been cheap - and at nine years old, it had had a good life.
OUR REQUIREMENTS
So we went to the website of our favourite local ‘white goods’ shop, and perused the options. I knew we wanted a machine that would take at least 6kg, preferably 7kg. Although there are only two of us living here, I like to be able to wash duvets at home, and also to know that a week’s worth of sheets or towels can be washed without overloading the machine even when we have visitors.
We didn’t want a washer-dryer. Living in Cyprus, we hang everything out to dry. We wanted a washing machine that would be as efficient as possible, from the point of view of electricity and water usage. I was a little surprised to learn that the energy ratings now start at A (the lowest) up to A+++ (the highest). I had assumed that an A+ rating, as we have on other appliances, would be very good until I realised that it was next to bottom.
Price-wise we wanted a mid-range machine. We’ve learned from experience that the cheapest appliances tend to have irritating features due to budget constraints, and tend to wear out sooner. But we weren’t interested in a top-of-the-range washing machine either. I’m not good with electronics in general, and there are only four or five settings I tend to use. So we set our budget at 400 euros (that’s around £310 at today’s exchange rate).
OUR CHOICE
There were three or four different washing machines listed on the shop website that would take a 7kg load and were under 400 euros but the only one with an A+++ efficiency rating was the Zanussi 71243. It’s a brand we tend to trust, from previous experience, so we looked at a few online reviews of the machine, and they seemed to be positive.
Since everything is relational in this country, our next move was to drive to the shop - not far away - and have a chat with the manager, who feels like an old friend after nearly 18 years. He told us that the Zanussi machine was a good choice and that it came with a three-year guarantee. I liked the look of the panel which didn’t have an electronic display, and was a great deal simpler than some of the others. We were offered a price of ten euros for delivery and installation that afternoon, with the old machine taken away at the same time. This seemed very reasonable, so we agreed to buy it.
OUR NEW MACHINE
Three hours later we had a new washing machine in place, with the most straightforward looking panel I have ever seen. There are dials for several programmes, labelled with words as well as symbols. There are also buttons to select temperatures (from 90C down to 30C) and spin speeds (from 1200 to 700). There are also buttons for half loads, or for leaving the water in, should I ever need those.
I decided the first thing was to re-wash the load that had been boiled, in the hope of removing some of the black which had leached out of a tee-shirt onto some lighter coloured shirts (I rarely separate colours… it hasn’t been a problem before!) So we opted for the ‘eco’ cotton wash, and chose 40 degrees.
As I selected the options, I noticed a digital window at the top right of the panel, saying ‘4:18’. I asked my husband what that was, and he said it must be a clock, which the engineers must have set for us. I assumed he was correct - it was indeed, about twenty past four in the afternoon - so I added powder and set the machine going.
An hour or so later, I came back to look at my shiny new appliance, and to my surprise, the clock was now showing 3:10. As I watched, it moved to 3:09. Realisation dawned: it wasn’t a clock telling the time, but one to measure the duration of the cycle. I had never before had a machine that would take over four hours for one cycle, and had no idea how that could be ecologically sound, but apparently it is. I tried to find out why, but didn’t really understand. I can’t believe that slowly heating the water is actually more efficient than heating it rapidly. I thought eco-washes used cooler temperatures rather than taking forever to run.
When the machine eventually came to an end - with relatively quiet and stable spinning - there were a series of beeps which were mildly annoying, but did alert me (and probably our neighbours, as our utility area is outside on a balcony) to the fact that I had to hang my clean laundry out.
OUR EXPERIENCE OVER THE FIRST YEAR
I typically use my washing machine three times per week: general clothes on Monday, towels on Wednesday, more clothes plus bedding on Friday. I use about a quarter cup of washing powder for the two clothes washes (much less than recommended) and have been very pleased with the results.
It turns out, according to the instruction manual, that other than the cotton washes the limit is in fact 3kg of dry laundry, but that’s rarely a problem: shirts and underwear and so on are fairly light. If I have a lot of jeans to wash, there is a separate jeans cycle.
Despite the lengthy time, I still use the four-hour eco-wash cycle for my weekly towel wash. I put all the towels - bath towels, hand towels, tea towels etc, as well as my microfibre cleaning cloths - into this 60 degree programme, and let it run. I use only about a tablespoon of washing powder, since any more can make towels become board-like and unpleasant to use, and add about a cup of vinegar to the fabric conditioner drawer. That leaves the towels reasonably soft, despite hanging them out, and serves the extra purpose of keeping the machine free of mould and bad smells that can so easily accumulate.
I have also occasionally used the ‘refresh’ cycle, which is only twenty minutes, when buying new towels and wanting to reduce the shop smell; and I’ve used the ‘wool/handwash’ cycle for items labelled ‘hand wash only’, with excellent results.
While the maximum spin speed is 1200 rpm, I know that a washing machine lasts longer if the motor is not run at the fastest possible speed, so I usually select 900, which is still faster than my previous machine was. This still removes most of the water, leaving light items feeling almost dry.
There are options to do a ‘quick’ wash on several of the programs (though not the eco-cotton one), or to leave the water in the machine, but I haven’t used these and doubt if I will.
There is a useful timer function, so that if I am going out and want to hang out laundry in the morning before I leave, I can set it off the night before with a delay of a few hours, to ensure that the load finishes at the appropriate time rather than leaving a load of wet laundry in the machine for several hours.
INSTRUCTIONS
Our machine came with several instruction leaflets in a variety of languages; unfortunately, when we looked through them after the installation, none of them was English. No problem - we went to the Zanussi website and found them in pdf form to print. They're also available at the manualslib.com site. Not that we’ve needed instructions, but I wanted to read about the different cycles and to have it handy in case of any problems in future.
CONCLUSION
While not the cheapest washing machine around, our choice seems to have been a good one. A year later it’s not showing any signs of wear and tear; even the rubber rim around the door is free of black mould. The words on the display are still showing up as if new, and the overall performance is excellent. We would recommend it to anyone looking for an efficient and effective mid-range washing machine.
2022 UPDATE
Seven years after purchase the washing machine still works effectively, and there's minimal black mould around the rim. I have occasionally remembered to do an empty 'hot' wash with vinegar, but have never seemed to need it. I generally run it three times per week, and the clothes, bedding and towels come out clean and fresh. If I forget to hang them out for a couple of hours, they begin to get a little musty, and also crumpled. But an extra quick rinse solves that one.
In the past couple of months there has been an issue with the electronic display not always coming on, and sometimes not allowing me to select a temperature or spin speed different from the default. I like, for instance, to use the synthetic setting on 30 degrees, 900 RPM spin, for shirts, trousers and sweaters. I have to press the buttons several times in order for this to take effect, and even then it sometimes revers to the default (40 degrees, 1200 RPM spin). It's not enough of a problem to call out an engineer; for a seven-year-old washing machine it's probably not worth doing so, although I hope it continues to last at least a few more years.
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