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phrase implies it will either last a very long time, or that a product is so technically advanced it is unlikely to be superseded by anything better in the near future.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 one of these and for normal colors and clothes i find it just fine and like others have said its very quiet but it really does not seem to get my Whites clean
i have tried the 60 wash with various powders , Liquids and whitners (Nappisan , crystal , Vanishetc) but to no avail my whites are still gray and grubby
so anyone have any tips as i am seriously contemplating going back to a machine that does a 90 degree white’s wash
Paul: You need to make sure you are using a detergent that contains bleaching agent. No liquids and no kind to coloureds detergents will get whites really white. You might want to check this article out Whites coming out of washing machine looking grey, coloureds losing their colour. If you still have a problem I’d then return suspicion back to the washing machine.
Yeah i have tried those the Nappisan , Crystal and Vanish are all bleaching agents that are added to the wash but they seem to have little effect
i have tried small amounts of washing in with nearly double the recommended bleaching agent and the results just arnt very good
hi i bought the indesit moon 2 years ago wen i first moved into my house i thought it was great looking at first! then i noticed a small amount of mould witch is now alot of mould. i tried cleaning it but it wont come off. also the 30 wash is crap it leaves detergent marks on clothes. the door despenser is hard to clean ( lots of nooks and crannys)and does not clean itself as advertised. the machine cost me £300 and im so disopointed with it. bottom line dont buy 1 not reccomended….
Hello Leah: In the interests of fairness I suspect most of your issues are not necessarily related to the specific Indesit Moon model apart from the problem with the door dispenser which is unique to that model.
I don’t know if the Indesit Moon is particularly vulnerable to black mould or not but it is a common problem potentially affecting any washing machine, which is caused by low wash temperatures and using detergents (especially liquid detergents) not containing any bleaching agents. Full details here – Washing machine smells – causes of grease, slime and black mould inside washing machines
Washing at 30 degrees is also likely to give poor results in most washing machines unless the items are very lightly soiled and unless specific low temperature detergent is used. There are many caveats to washing at 30 degrees and the limitations are mentioned in this article Washing at 30 degrees
Finally, many modern washing machines don’t have a 30 degree wash cycle suitable for washing cottons on (the Indesit Moon is probably just one of them). Full details here Washing machines with a 30 degree wash cycle
Hope that helps.
Hi,
I have had my Indesit washing machine for 6 months now, clothes on a 30 degree wash are not coming out clean and are very cold, even on 60 degree wash clothes/sheets/towels are still not clean and still cold. There is a hot water pipe which I have tried to connect but the pipe wont fit. I am very confused with this machine, do you think the electrics are working correctly? Is there anyway I can get my money back?
Any help would be appriectaed.
Naomi: The Indesit Moon is cold fill only as are almost all washing machines now. The washing should come out cold – Should the washing come out warm or cold?
30 degree washes aren’t likely to give good wash results in many washing machines. Most 30 degree wash programmes are short, don’t spin fast enough for cottons and are designed for delicates. It’s only recently that detergent manufacturers have started pushing 30 degree washes and most washing machines don’t seem to have programmes designed especially to utilise modern 30 degree detergents.
The Indesit moon washing machine has a 30 degree wash suitable for cottons and synthetics, but it only spins at 800 and it only lasts for half an hour – including rinse and spins.
A wash program that lasts a mere 30 minutes and washes at only 30 degrees is not going to give good wash results for normal washing. Only very lightly soiled items are likely to come out clean. This will be true for most other washing machines unless they have a specific cottons wash at 30 degrees designed not for delicates but for normal washing, with proper agitation, full rinses and full spin – only at the reduced temperature of 30 degrees. Alternatively, one with a manual temperature control would allow you to select a proper cottons wash but just turn down the temperature to 30.
Unless there’s a fault on the washing machine there aren’t any grounds for complaint if it just turns out it doesn’t have a programme suitable for washing normally soiled laundry at 30 degrees unless you were advised that it was suitable by the sales person.
Even the detergent manufacturers who make 30 degree only detergent have a long list of caveats where they concede the limitations of washing at 30 degrees. I wrote a couple of articles here you should find useful to read –
Regarding washing not coming out clean at 60 degrees I have the following articles, which may help –
If you don’t think your poor wash results are related to any of the points made in the articles you would need to decide whether to report the washer as faulty or not.
nan and graddad bought the moon in march
the bottons keep getting stuck it takes forever to do one load and only spins on 40 my nan is not happy we live in the uk and would like to call the indesit company to get it repaired but the number we were given does not work could any please email the uk indesit repair number
thank you
All modern washing machines take a long time to wash compared with older ones so it might not be a fault as such, this article tries to explain why
Wash Times Too Long? Reasons why. Plus how long does your washing machine take to wash?
I am the owner of an Indesit Moon and have experienced all of the above mentioned problems. Have called out engineer on numerous occasions who often just plugs in a laptop which says there is no problem with the machine. Beware of this because if you have an extended guarantee you will be liable for a call out charge as they say there is no problem found. I also experience problems with 30degree washes. My son’s rugby tops, underarmour etc all state that they have to be washed at this temp but even small marks are still left on them. If I swish them in water by hand they come out, but since the Moon does not have a rinse cycle this is not an option on a day when I can’t dry outside. Also residue left on clothes washed at 30 degrees. Constantly being disappointed by Indesit – whether it is their machine or their call centre service