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phrase implies it will either last a very long time, or that a product is so technically advanced it is unlikely to be superseded by anything better in the near future.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 read all the comments on you page with interest, I was going to buy a moon but now have been put off. The reasons being the long cycles, no option to spin, door opening when full in the machine breaks down, slow spin on low temp wash. Good site with good comments.
Phil: Virtually every washing machine is now cold fill only including the Indesit Moon.
The whole concept of hot and cold fill washing machines is virtually redundant and out dated. Modern washing machines use so little water that most would not take any hot water in and still have to heat it up. This is because by the time the hot water runs into the machine it’s finished filling. There is also an argument that having a hot valve is wasting hot water for most people because in most cases all that happens is the washing machine draws in a few litres of water but it’s cold because the hot water has cooled in the pipes. It stops filling just at the time that proper hot water has been drawn into the pipework but not reached the washer (or only just reached it). This hot water doesn’t get used and is usually wasted as it rapidly cools in the pipework.
Also, when supplied from a hot water cylinder, all the water drawn into the pipes is replaced by cold from the header tank in the loft, which cools down the rest of the hot water and has to be heated back up.
In this common scenario all that happens when a modern washing machine draws a couple of litres of water of hot and cold water is that none gets into the machine but hot water is wasted and replaced by cold which needs heating up again. Even with combination boilers there is still waste hot water because of cooling in pipes and it takes a lot of energy to heat water instantly as it passes through the boiler. There may well be scenarios where all this doesn’t happen but it does for the majority of people.
It’s all explained in this article but it’s lengthy – Cold fill washing machines
At the end of the day, manufacturers are falling over themselves to produce washing machines that use less energy to get the coveted A energy efficiency rating. If it used less energy using a hot valve, you would think they’d put one in. As most people only wash at 40 degrees and less, and I believe we are heading for cold water washing anyway I can’t see the hot valve coming back
I do believe it is possible to use one – particularly for the boil or 60 degree washes that all manufacturers say we should do regularly to get rid of washing machine smells and to keep the washing machine clean inside. However, it would need sophisticated techniques to overcome the problems mentioned that caused the demise of the hot valve in the first place and involve wasting the first draw of water which would need to be pumped out (there’s no room to store it for later use in the rinses).
i have a question is the MOON Hot and Cold Fill or Just Cold?? a quick reply would much appreciated as I’m installing my moon now!!
if it is both hot and cold then the people who are concerned about the length of a cycle are you just using the cold fill if you are then the machine will take time to heat the water and thus make the cycle longer
So then if there is a connection for cold and hot water do i need to connect pipe to hot valve ? ?
There is only a connection for a cold water hose on virtually all washing machines now. You just connect the cold fill hose. You should ideally blank off the old hot tap.
You should be able to buy a screw-on cap from a plumbers merchant (or maybe a DIY store) to seal off the hot valve.
In theory, just leaving the hot tap turned off and unused should be fine (and that’s what most people do) but many common taps are prone to getting accidentally knocked and allowing water to leak out. I’ve heard of cases where the lever’s been knocked inside the cupboard or even by the washing machine moving about on spin if fitted behind it causing floods. A slow dripping tap can cause a lot of damage.
Hi
I bought one of these for my Father and whilst not being to worried about wash cycles taking a bit longer than advertised, we do find that after the wash has finished and before he goes to do another wash, the liquid dispenser is still full of water and if he tries to add laudry liquid it obviously overflows. He now uses a ball, but maybe this sitting water is a reason for the damp and mold issues?
Deano: The water problem could be caused by a blockage in the same way that you can get a fabric conditioner compartment full of water after each wash as dealt with here – The fabric conditioner / rinse aid compartment is always full of water
We recently purchased the new Indesit Moon washing machine in the UK. It’s a great washing machine and everything wash related seems fine, the only problem is when we open the door, regardless of whether we had completed a wash 1 minute or 1 day ago, water seems to leak onto the floor. Not sure where the water is coming from everytime (trays, condensation etc.) but it always seems alot and the manufacturers seem to think it’s the sponge at the bottom of the dispencer, but we’ve squeezed this out loads and always seem to have the same problem.
Don’t know if that’s a common problem or not Matthew. Sounds like a design issue. The soap dispenser is inside the door on this machine and it sounds like it’s holding water. Having said that though, if it runs out when you open the door, why doesn’t it just drain out into the machine before you open the door?
The collected water in the dispenser is a design fault but easy to fix. Pull the dispenser from the machine and remove the inner syphon cover (pull it up) You’ll be left with a hole you can see directly through. I used a long drill bit slightly larger to remove any burrs of plastic and make the hole 1mm larger. This makes the tube more ‘uniform’ reseat the syphon cover and test under the kitchen tap. The syphon should now work correctly.