The Indesit Moon washing machine advert had a catchy tag line, “Future Friendly”, and a catchy music track by New Order. I’m sceptical about the use of the phrase future friendly though.
The phrase implies it will either last a very long time, or that a product is so technically advanced it is unlikely to be superseded by anything better in the near future.
If they have genuinely pulled this off it would be an amazing achievement for one of the cheapest brands in the UK.
The TV advert was very slick showing lots of robots mingling with people in everyday life apparently integrated into society. The accompanying overlaid text says, One day – Man and machine – Will live together – In perfect harmony. Then as a woman loads her new Indesit washing machine with laundry it continues, That day – Has dawned. As she closes the door the voice over says, Indesit Moon: Future friendly.
The advert is brilliant (I’m not being sarcastic). It has great music, great visuals, and a great overall concept. I was just disappointed to see it was only advertising a washing machine – and one of the cheapest washing machines in the business.
£299 for a 6 kg washing machine with a 1400 rpm spin is cheap, and these days many cheap washing machines are notoriously not worth repairing (and get scrapped way too soon) if they break down out of guarantee unless it is a minor fault.
It would be great if the spare parts for this washing machine are going to be priced lower than previous Indesit spare parts, and at levels that make it economic to repair in the future.
So far this is not the case with many cheap washing machines and to me, something can’t be truly future friendly if it isn’t worth repairing after 3 or 4 years just because the PCB has failed. I do like the look of this washing machine. I also like the simple solitary control button offering just 4 wash programmes.
Many customers have often told me they want simple controls and fewer programmes – not more. It will appeal to customers buying at the budget end who see extremely simple controls as a priority but they won’t have to mind if this involves compromises elsewhere.
The Moon’s looks
The innovative soap dispenser behind the door looks interesting too although it’s too early to judge if this is a genuinely good idea or not yet (it wasn’t – see update below). The advantage is that, “because water is constantly splashing inside this dispenser as the drum rotates it should be kept very clean”.
However, one disadvantage is that it replaces the customary door glass – so you can no longer see the laundry laundry inside.
Although the novelty of watching laundry go round and round in a washing machine has long since worn off – it is still useful to be able to see the laundry as the drum revolves.
You can occasionally notice something that shouldn’t be there (such as a coin or credit card) and stop the wash to attempt to retrieve it before any damage occurs.
At the end of the day this is a great advert bigging up a normally quite basic brand who’s priority is to make washing machines as cheaply as possible and hopefully give some value for money.
It represents Indesit trying to become more sophisticated and more innovative, but it could only be truly “future friendly” if it proves to be much more reliable than other previous models, and if spares are much more reasonably priced to encourage future repairs. Otherwise the future friendly tag is disingenuous.
Update:
Which? have since reviewed the Indesit Moon and their opening paragraph says, “we weren’t overly impressed by the Moon”. They say it’s not very good on the 40 degree wash, the one most people use, and say it’s only good for light stains. However, surprisingly they say it is good at rinsing, which is remarkably rare these days and even most of their “best buys” aren’t highly rated for rinsing (Why can’t modern washing machines rinse properly?).
So if you require a cheap washing machine and rinsing is especially important to you because of irritation or allergies you might be interested in one but at the compromise of not being very good on 40 degree washes. It has to be said too that Indesit don’t have a good reliability record either according to my experience and Which? reports.
(1 month trial offer plus a copy of the Which? magazine) to get the full benefit of the latest washing machine reviews)
Update: April 2011
The Indesit Moon has now been the subject of a BBC Watchdog item due to them receiving so many complaints about it. The focus of the programme’s criticism is that the Indesit Moon is particularly vulnerable to the nasty build up of grease, grime, sludge, bacteria and black mould as described in my Washerhelp article Washing machine smells – causes of grease, slime and black mould inside washing machines.
Which although affecting any washing machine if the conditions I describe are present, the Indesit Moon appears to be uniquely incapable of doing the 90 degree maintenance boil wash manufacturers (including Indesit themselves) recommend.
If you have a Moon model which is covered in mould and grease you should read the article above for tips on how to discourage the problem.
Although the moon cannot do a 90 degree wash you can still try to limit the problem by not using liquid detergents, doing a 60 degree maintenance wash regularly with normal detergent containing bleaching agent etc.
On balance I think it’s fair to say this model should be avoided.
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I have been contacted by Watchdog about my Moon Machine which I reported to them 18months ago. MOON INDESIT WASHING MACHINE ON WATCHDOG TONIGHT
Below taken from BBC web page
14th April 2011
Today, 20:00 on BBC One
SynopsisThe programme takes a look at high street stores where innocent customers have been accused of shoplifting. Plus, the
the big-brand washing machine that leaves clothes full of mould
HOPE THAT THERE WILL BE FACILITY TO GET MONEY BACK????
My asthma has become significantly worse (life threatening and missing work for weeks on end) and I am now convinced it is down to this blinking machine. I clean it every couple of days so no visible mould and gunge as on Watchdog but certainly there is the disgusting whiff! I am really upset and worried – how can Indesit obviously know about this design fault and health hazard and do nothing and how on earth is it they can get away without doing anything about recompensing people who have their dangerous machine? Surely there is some way we can get them to replace the Moon with a decent, clean and safe machine even if we have to pay a bit extra? My machine isnt even two years old and I hate it but cannot afford to purchase a new one – surely we as consumers have some come-back given this is now a proven health hazard and design fault?
To help prevent mould use white vinegar instead of fabric softner. Its an old tip and works well.
Seems that fabric softners encourage mould growth and the acetic acid in vinegar should help prevent it.
White vinegar has many uses (check online) and can be purchased cheaply from places like chinese supermarkets.
Oh, BTW the clothes don’t come out smelling of vinegar !
What now with this washing machine.?
Is there a solicitor out there?
There needs to be a class act against Indesit
The machine is not fit for purpose
Also Sales of goods act surely covers this.
I will be emailing Indesit again today and Currys where I bought it from
I suggest all others do the same
Chairman/ Cheif executive of Indesit needs contacting en mass
Hello Julie: Gunge, slime and black mould can affect any washing machine, even the best although there does seem to be anecdotal evidence the Moon is particularly prone to it. Have you read this article? Washing machine smells inside washing machines
We all know the complexities of taking legal action against a large corporation.
My last Hotpoint machine was the one that chewed up and ripped your clothes so I decided enough was enough, NO MORE HOTPOINT / CREDA or any of their other branded products for me.
Had a Zanussi (Electrolux) machine for many years now and very happy with it.
Bad hygiene equals bad health, is it worth fighting for a bit of compensation when you can get a decent machine for a few hundred pounds…. Just vote with your hard earn’t cash and don’t put it Hoptoints way again.
Indesit have just rang me about appointment to replace seal. Told them I was not interested and that I want my money back. They are ringing me back.
Do not accept new seal if offered. Insist on refund.
I’ve just watched the programme. I thought it was a little unfair of them to keep referring to the 60 degree washes as merely “warm”. 60 degrees is so hot you wouldn’t put your hands in it for fear of scalding and is in no way “warm”. Warm is 40 degrees. However they rightly point out a seemingly serious error of judgement of Indesit in removing the 90 degree hot wash, as well as the seemingly poor design of the “self-cleaning” soap dispenser, which doesn’t appear to keep clean, and the lack of a rinse and spin option.
Combined with the Which? reports saying the Moon “isn’t very good at cleaning on the 40 degree wash” mentioned in my article above I think enough evidence is available to quite fairly say this machine should be avoided.
If it’s true (as Watchdog claim) that it’s impossible to control the gunge, slime and black mould that modern day washing machines can suffer from without a 90 degree wash then many people may be able to successfully claim from their retailer under the sale of goods act that the washing machine is not fit for its purpose. Indesit claim 60 degrees is hot enough but are investigating further.
I would have thought 60 was hot enough to prevent a build up as long as you don’t use liquid detergent and you use detergent with bleaching agents in for a regular 60 degree wash but I doubt it would be hot enough to clean a severely gunged up machine. There’s little doubt 90 degrees would be better but it’s simply not available on the Moon so …
D Thomas: The only people obliged to give a refund under the sale of goods act (if you can show the washer is unfit for its purpose) are the people you bought it from. Indesit have no money of yours to refund – the retailer had it.
Contrary to intuitive reasoning it is not the manufacturer who’s responsible – even though they are the only ones really responsible. At the end of the day you didn’t buy it from Indesit, nor pay them any money. The only obligation we have from the manufacturer is their guarantee, which is in addition to and does not affect our statutory rights.
However if by any chance they decide they want to compensate you in any way that you find satisfactory then you could chose to accept.
Replacing the door seal may only be a temporary measure if the washing machine has an inherent problem that means you can’t prevent a re-occurrence of the issue. It may be possible to prevent a build up of the grease and mould by reading and understanding my article Grease, slime and black mould inside washing machines but I can’t say for sure if the Moon’s inability to do a 90 degree maintenance wash means it is incapable of keeping clear during “normal” usage as some people use it.
What I mean by that is that many people including myself do not have any problems with black mould or grease and gunge, and conversely many people do have a big problem who don’t have an Indesit Moon. Therefore people that do have the problem have specific circumstances that’s inadvertently causing it. It could be for example that they mostly do only 40 degree or even 30 degree washes and use liquid detergent which contains no bleaching agents.
Unless the instruction book explicitly instructs not to do that then the user is using it “normally” and can’t be to blame. Many people do – and indeed have been greatly encouraged to reduce the wash temperature of their washing programmes – even down to as low as 15 degrees, and liquid detergent despite its known link to grease and gunge is still being sold. Therefore even though using a washing machine in specific ways can cause this gunge and mould issue people are only using their machines “normally” and not negligently.
Washing machines should not get covered in horrible mould and slime. Manufacturers are completely aware of all the circumstances that cause this problem and should either design to avoid it or implicitly tell their users how to avoid it. Up to now the only advice manufacturers do give is to to do the regular maintenance boil wash at 90 degrees and Indesit/Hotpoint advise the same. The problem is that the Moon cannot do a 90 degree wash so if it’s critical in controlling the problem it’s clearly unfit in that area.
If the instruction book of the Indesit Moon for example states a monthly maintenance wash needs doing and it hasn’t been done they could claim a user is to blame. However, on the Watchdog programme they said it does not advice users to do a maintenance wash (I haven’t double checked this)
I intend to attempt to return my ‘moon’ as it clearly does not do what it is supposed to do. I’ve had the washer for 6 months now and in this time my son’s eczema has worsened considerably (might not be the machines fault but after watching Watchdog it has made me think) The black mould around the door seal is no longer wiping off after each wash it seems to have set in. The ‘self cleaning’ unit is absolutely disgusting constantly full of sludge and grime and the clothes don’t wash and come out clean. I no longer wash anything white in the washing machine as I can not afford to replace the clothes, for example the childrens school shirts which come out with mould spots or dirty stripes all over them.
From reading the comments on here it is clear that I am not alone in being more than unhappy with this purchase. I anticipate requesting a refund will not be an easy task but surely with the proof of the inadequacies that this machine poses and the state my machine is in after 6 months i’m hoping the retailer see’s it the same as I do. A machine not fit for purpose and mis-advertisement by Indesit and the retailer as this machine clearly does not self-clean. I’ll let you know how I get on.