I’ve been writing about and following cases of “exploding” door glass on washing machines since 2008. There’s been a steady trickle of reports from people with various brands. Some even claim their door glass shattered spontaneously when the washing machine was not even switched on. It’s potentially a genuine safety concern. Especially for children.
Customers who report these incidents are definitely claiming it is dangerous. I have seen reports of people being cut and injured, but nothing serious so far. As far as I can make out it’s been more to do with being cut picking up the glass.
Back in 2012 there was a brief flurry of international media interest in my article. It was widely quoted and linked to. However, presumably without any reports of serious injury it was soon forgotten.
Don’t confuse two separate “exploding” washing machine issues
This article is about the door glass exploding. Another issue, which has also had national press coverage is when the washing machine’s inner drum “explodes” during spin.
This is a known issue related to specific brands and is covered in my article here – washing machines exploding: What’s going on?
Shattering door glass
I’m not entirely happy using the word explode because it sounds sensational. But as most people experiencing this issue use that word it needs to be used. Some have even described it as being like “a bomb”.
The previous picture is of a Beko washing machine. Beko are one of the most common UK washing machines who so far have the highest reported cases. The consumer who sent it me wrote –
I dread to think the outcome if my son had been in front of the machine at the time!
Lots of people have expressed concerns over children and pets.
Seeing the following photo on my Facebook news-feed heightened my concerns. It’s of a friend’s small child innocently looking into their washing machine.
Reports of spontaneous exploding glass when washer not even running
No parent could be expected to foresee the thick door glass of their washing machine shattering, either when on – or especially when it’s just standing unused. This photo is worrying when you know about all of the incidents that have happened (rare or not). Clearly it’s best to not let children get this close up just in case.
Manufacturers are saying the problem is caused by foreign obstructions such as coins or metal buckles hitting and weakening the door glass. The weakened door can then shatter under constant heating up and cooling down.
Another theory is that it’s caused by people overloading the washing machine. However, it would be nice if the door glass was strong enough to cope with such inevitable stresses. I have written an article specifically covering that subject here – exploding door glass who’s fault is it?
Which washing machines are affected?
Many brands have been mentioned across the price range. Cheap, middle, and even some top-end brands have been affected. So it’s not necessarily only the cheapest brands. See the tally of reports on the right column (after the comments on mobile devices).
What’s the solution?
Until a definite cause is proved it’s difficult to know what needs to be done. The main expectation is that the door glass maybe needs to be made thicker. There’s no proof that the glass is too thin as yet. If manufacturers placed a plastic cover in front of the door glass it would definitely prevent any injuries. This would make it double-glazed.
It’s likely to be difficult to fit one retrospectively. So it would probably need to be designed like this from the off. This was actually done around 20 years back by Hoover on models like the Eco Logic, Soft Wave and New Wave. However it was done for thermal protection and insulation. To my knowledge, and in my experience, the shattering door glass was not an issue back then. I didn’t come across any shattered door glass until around 2008.
What can you do to limit any danger?
Enough reports of the glass shattering whilst the washer isn’t even on have been made to be taken seriously although this still appears to be rare.
Don’t let kids play around washing machines until this issue is hopefully resolved.
Some door glass appears to break into relatively safe rounded chunks, but some (see photos of broken glass ) have broken into more sharp and jagged pieces, which definitely look dangerous.
Remember, there are only (presumably) a few hundred cases out of millions of washing machines and only a small percentage of them claim the washer wasn’t running at the time.
So the odds of it happening at all – never mind someone being in front of it at the time – should be very low. If you are concerned enough to need to do something you could try hanging a thick towel over the door when the washer is not in use. That would prevent or limit any glass flying out. Keep children and pets away from it especially when it’s running.
Take care of your washing machine and treat it gently
Many of them aren’t built as well as they used to and can’t take much “abuse”. Don’t overload the machine by cramming it so full that the whole laundry just turns around in one big lump. Don’t under-load it either – Loading a washing machine).
Also make sure you check all pockets for coins and other obstructions before washing.
Don’t put laundry in with metal buckles or buttons which could hit the door glass.
Some new washing machines do have a plastic barrier in front of the glass
I’ve seen two new AEG washing machines that both have a protective plastic see-through plate in front of the door glass (which is the solution I’ve always described). However, they were both washer dryers.
So it’s more to do with thermal insulation again than protecting against shattering door glass. As AEG have only had 1 reported incident on Whitegoodshelp (so far) it seems unlikely they would have introduced this “shield” for safety. It’s likely to just be coincidental.
(More views on this subject from another engineer : Ken Watt runs UKWhitegoods and is an experienced appliance engineer. He has written an article giving his views here – Washing Machine Door Glass Failures)
Photos and tally of broken door glass
I have a separate page where I feature some of the photos of shattered door glass I’ve received. On this page there is also a list of all of the incidents reported to me in order of which brands are most affected. Photos are currently here – photos and tally of broken glass.
There are also plenty of comments on this article below to read and research if you scroll down. If you have any information or would just like to register an incident with me please add a comment or contact me
Related articles
- Exploding door glass who’s fault is it?
- For an article on actual washing machines exploding (not just the door glass) go here – Washing machines exploding: What’s going on?
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can anybody tell me which beko model as been affected as i have just bought one obliged
Good question Anonymous, model numbers have rarely been mentioned. I would expect the door glass to be the same on virtually all models of any particular brand in most cases. Beko have indeed had the most reported cases but remember this is still a very rare event so it’s only 18 Beko’s at the moment out of maybe hundreds of thousands of them.
Further to washerhelps comment I agree that this is an event that doesn’t affect specific models, its an issue that can affect any washer of any brand at any time. The combination of extreme heat variations on the glass and the difference of temperature from the inside of the machine to the outside of the machine will all play a role in these situations. I think this is an across the board issue that affects all brands and its unfair to put too much emphasis on the number of cases reported by brand, especially bearing in mind Beko hold 20% of the UKs Whitegoods sales which means they probably sell close to 10x more washing machines in the UK than some other brands.
Hi SurfUK. Yes, as I said in my previous post the door glass is most likely common across all models and therefore model numbers aren’t likely to be be relevant. If it was only one brand affected though I would start to ask about model numbers in case by any chance it threw up a pattern.
The counting of individual brand incidents is something I instinctively did from early on as it was unknown which brands where affected. By the time it started to become apparent that many different brands were affected the chart had been running some time and I’ve kept it updated. I take your point about more popular brands potentially showing up more and giving a false impression but with Miele being number 2 so far who probably sell the least amount of washing machines it’s hard to be sure what to make of it.
There are several manufacturers who so far have no incidents reported so for now it remains a useful chart to keep.
You can now add another Beko. My 5 month old WMB91242 LC’s door exploded tonight 30 degree quick daily wash, only half full. door exploded during spin with about 2 minutes to go. Wash ruined with hundreds of tiny pieces of glass in the material. will be calling Beko first thing tommorow. will let you know outcome.
Hotpoint model: wmd 740 . While on full spin the glass popped while i was stood there. As i tried to turn it of as it had just started a full spin it started spitting out glass and ripping the items in the washer. It had my kids school uniform and a cushion ofthe sofa in it . Luckily my 3year old was in anotherroom orwho knows what could of happend.
Hi I have unfortunately been vexed by the exploding door! Got my beko washing machine over 16 months ago, was in bed the other night and heard a smashing noise. Me and my partner ran down expecting the worst, could not find anything. In my head it would not comprehend to check the washing machine. So to my surprise the next morning I was greeted with pieces of glass on the floor, and the whole glass window in the door inside my machine shattered. It was lucky it wasnt daytime and my soon to be 2 year old wasn’t walking past. I also have to say beko were not the best to communicate with over the problem, and I am now awaiting on someone to come and inspect it, to see if its repairable. And this happened on wednesday night and the earliest they could get someone out was tuesday.I will be really honest I don’t want it repaired, everyone knows how glass gets everywhere I am going to be too on edge washing my daughters washing in there just incase. Anybody got any advice where I could go with this.
The main problem Becky, is knowing what caused it (see Exploding door glass who’s fault it is?) – Is it a flaw in the glass, a design fault or caused by coins or other objects that shouldn’t be in the machine? However, my personal view is even if it’s the latter, washing machine door glass should be strong enough to cope with what washers have always had to cope with ie coins and other objects.
They shouldn’t be exploding spontaneously and shattering into sharp pieces.
If you believe it’s unacceptable you have to argue with the people you bought it from under UK sale of goods act. Beko may or may not try to appease you to try to keep you as a customer and protect their reputation with you and everyone you know but they have no responsibility to do anything other than repair it if it’s still under their guarantee.
Hi thanks for your reply . My concern is now, if they repair it,will it happen again and maybe this time we won’t be so lucky that someone is not by it. Also will they move every inch of glass out the machine for me, how do they know that has been done? Plus my machine was off at the time this happened, it was actually 3am in the morning when we heard the smash but didn’t realise what it was. It had not been used since about 6pm the night before, this is what concerns me. They may come in and replace drum,glass etc but if its a fault on these machines should they not recall them like other products they have listed on their recall list on the website!
Becks, Have just finished dealing with Beko on the very same problem. My machine was about 6 months old. I contacted them directly as soon as door exploded. They sent somebody around to look at it 4 days later. Beko agreed to exchange the machine (not repair, They can’t repair them after the glass has gone inside)A new machine was delivered 3 days later. Beko asked me to parcel up all the clothes that were in the machine and send them to them with a list of values (I was honest with this and just priced at replacement cost from original source, even if it was Matalan socks at £5 for 5 pairs)
They have just agreed to pay the full amount plus postage costs.
While I agree the doors should not be exploding in the first place, I have no problems with Beko’s service following the incident.
I do not know why Beko are telling you that they cannot repair the machine once glass has gone inside it as they sent an engineer to fix mine although after a lot of aggravation and a very grumpy engineer. Once they decided they no longer used the same door had to come back with a new glass bowl to fix inside the original door. Seems they only said this as it was only 6 months old. Beko are the worst company I have ever had to deal with and I for one will not be buying anything from them again. These machines are supposed to be able to deal with 90 degrees heat and vibration from fast spin cycles. If the glass breaks it is because they are being economical with safety by using thinner cheaper glass. I have not used 90 degrees heat cycle on it ever since as I do not trust it not to break again. I will be very careful with the next purchase and be asking a lot of questions next time. I would not want the same engineer in my house again either as he had the cheek to say when he came back that I had hidden the screws for the door when he had taken them away with him last time. He even had the cheek to go looking through drawers etc looking for them. I had to restrain myself from throwing him out the door before he fixed it.