My attention was drawn to rinsing efficiency after noticing that out of dozens of washing machines reviewed by Which? most of them had a poor rating for rinsing. Even those singled out as Best Buys were “poor” at rinsing. Believe it or not, at least one Best Buy was “very poor”. I found that pretty shocking.
From studying the figures it is clear that if “good”, or “very good” rinsing was one of the prerequisites for a Best Buy there would be no Best Buy washing machines or washer dryers at all – not a single one. It appears that Which? have decided to allow the poor rinsing results to be a caveat instead of a best buy killer. Please note however that several Which? best buys are “satisfactory” at rinsing which is something at least.
Out of 125 washing machines and washer dryers tested, a remarkable 75 of them (60%) were rated either “poor” or “very poor” at rinsing with only 3 getting the rating we should expect for all washing machines which is “good”.
The rest were a mere “satisfactory”. To summarise, just less than 3 % of the 125 washers & dryers are “good” at rinsing according to Which?
Since writing this article I’ve discovered Which? no longer give the majority of washing machines 1 or 2 star ratings for rinsing ability, and the majority appear to get 3 or 4 stars. Which? tell me they’ve readjusted their rinse marks to more accurately reflect the degrees of abilities between even poor rinsing machines. However, they are still critical of many of their rinsing abilities in the comments and the pros and cons.
What does this mean?
Well for a start it doesn’t mean that we can settle for one of the three washing machines that are “good” at rinsing because they unfortunately let themselves down in other areas such as with “noisy spin, and poor brand reliability”. However, if you really need a washing machine that rinses better than any other – maybe because of allergies – then at least Which? have identified three candidates out of the 125 they’ve tested so far.
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Why aren’t they rinsing properly and does it really matter?
Surely all washing machines should rinse well? It’s surely quite simple, you just use enough water to rinse them properly. It’s astounding that we have reached the situation where the majority of washing machines and washer dryers on sale in the UK are apparently poor at rinsing.
This has probably come about because people have been focussing on other aspects, which has left rinsing as a low priority. Two explanations spring to mind. Firstly, the focus on using less and less water is clearly impacting on our washing machine’s ability to rinse effectively. Whereas modern detergents can facilitate efficient and effective washing results at lower temperatures and with less water, no such product is currently allowing effective rinsing with much less water.
Good rinsing needs plenty of water which is in direct opposition to the current environmental concerns and clamour to be the washing machine using the least amount of water.
Eco LabelsThe second explanation I can think of is that the eco-labelling system which awards ratings for energy efficiency, spin efficiency and wash efficiency do not appear to take into account rinse efficiency.
As such, manufacturers aren’t being judged on how well their washing machines rinse, only on how well they wash and how well they extract water on spin. I’m speculating at this stage, but I can’t see how so many washing machines could be awarded an “A” wash efficiency rating if the tests took into account how well the clothes were rinsed. Presumably, as long as all stains are removed and laundry looks “clean” no one bothers about how much soap detergent residue is left.
It might be a good idea to create a fourth category, “rinse efficiency” on the eco labels, or at least include the rinse efficiency as part of the wash efficiency test.
Ultimately if customers don’t notice an issue then it could be argued that it doesn’t really matter.
Maybe it doesn’t for most people, but it surely does to anyone sensitive to wash detergents and with allergies and a lot of people are. There were 581 comments added on this topic from such people before I had to close comments to prevent it being endless.
The current situation is that to anyone keen to buy a washing machine with good rinsing I have no washing machine to recommend because none of the companies producing the best, and the most reliable washing machines currently supply one that rinses above average according to Which? although this could easily change and you would need to check out the latest to be sure.
Are Which? being too critical? Are Which? applying too stringent a rinse test? I must admit I’ve not had many complaints from people saying their washing machine isn’t rinsing properly and my own Miele washing machine, which although a Which? Best Buy, didn’t receive a “good” rating for rinsing yet it appears to rinse perfectly well as far as we can see.
In fact I remarked to my wife that my clothes don’t smell of detergent like they used to in the old washing machine and deduced that it rinsed much better. However, neither of us have any reactions to washing machine detergent. The thing about Which? is that they are totally independent.
They work only for their subscribers interests and are actually a registered charity. They don’t make any money directly by recommending any product (even though they could) because they want to be seen as 100% unbiased. They are highly respected and I expect they test products fairly. However, my understanding is that the do charge for companies to display their “Best Buy” logo!
I suspect Which? are right and that modern washing machines don’t generally rinse very well because of the reasons I speculate about above. Whether it matters or whether it will change depends on whether enough of the public are bothered, or even notice. The 581 comments added to this article below show that many people do find this a big issue.
Which? research
NOTE: Which? do rate some washing machines as satisfactory for rinsing and even a couple are rated as good, although unfortunately the few rated good (so far) are not so good on reliability.
Which? are constantly reviewing washing machines so if rinsing is particularly important to you it makes sense to become a member and see all the buying advice. I can’t print their advice for copyright reasons.
Here’s how they describe their reviews –
We are of course well known for our traditional product testing. And when we test something like the proverbial washing machine, we will ask the laboratory not only to measure how clean the clothes get, but how much water and energy is used? How easy is it to work out the programmes? What is the machine like on specialist cycles? How long does it take? All these things feed into our best buy criteria.
We will devise the testing schedule by looking at things from the ordinary user’s point of view: and if standard industry methods are not good enough we will devise our own methods ”
Causes of poor rinsing
There are some common causes of poor rinsing even in washing machines that do rinse well that it might be useful to point out. Anyone experiencing poor rinsing problems where washing comes out with detergent residues or white powder streaks should read this – White streaks or residual washing powder after washing
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I tried the clear vinegar trick by putting vinegar in the compartment for fabric conditioner, to the “max” mark. Then on the rinse-hold, turned off the machine and added my “sensitive” fabric conditioner and turned the dial to “rinse” (in order to run the rinse cycles again), with the final spin speed set at 1600 rpm.
Clear vinegar seems to have done something… emptied the drum and had a job to smell *any* sort of fragrance. 3 towels that I included in the load felt much softer when they dried.
I hope this solution works and alleviates allergies after a few months. Please remember not to overload the drum and to only use clear vinegar, not brown vinegar or any other colour. Re-rinse and good luck :)
I don’t know exactly why vinegar improves rinsing, it could be that detergent is alkaline and vinegar is acidic, the vinegar probably lowers the alkali pH nearer to neutral (pH 7 I think?). Maybe the vinegar works in other ways when used in rinsing? I’ve seen plenty of tips on websites about using vinegar on fabrics for other purposes e.g. stain removal.
Hope it helps. :D
Hi Oliver,
Sounds like your Bosch had the same rinse spin patterns as ours, just ours never had water rise above the door seal – which probably explains why yours rinses and ours didn’t! Ours was so bad that it left pet hair over everything, and if we wanted properly rinsed laundry we had to use the Easy Care cycle which had a higher water level but only spun at 800 at the end, so things would take ages in the tumble dryer as the seperate spin programme was only limited to 800 revs. Our Miele has a similar water fill down the door to the one our Bosch had – which I think is why it probably manages to saturate the load well. All the benefits of Zanussi Jetsystem machines, but without the extra sudsing the recirculation pump creates.
I think the fast intermediate spins compared with deepish rinses on our Miele explains why it rinses so well with so little water – I was reluctant to believe at first that 2 rinses would do an excellent job and always used the extra rinse, but now I save 20 minutes and 15 litres of water and still have perfect results that our Bosch couldn’t deliver with 4 low water rinses. I certainly wouldn’t discount Miele for rinse performance.
My nana had a Hotpoint WF340 I think it was… 1400 spin Aquarius. Bear in mind that she washes three times a week, it didn’t last until it’s 2nd birthday until the bearings were shot. That had pretty decent rinse levels though, it filled a few inches up the door similar to Gary’s Hotpoint.
I’ve used a detergent called Ecos before, it’s a super concentrated washing powder which costs about 7 quid for 54 loads – you can order it online from the guardian eco store (at least that’s where I get it from), which rinses perfectly, but also cleans superbly. It’s just such a hassle to order it online once it’s run out, so the majority of the time we just go for what’s on offer in Asda or Sainsbury’s, but my preference is for Ariel or Bold. It’s very lightly fragranced too, it’s worth a try if you’re allergic to detergents and better (and significantly cheaper) than Ecover in my opinion.
Take care,
Jon
Hi Jon,
I have noticed alot of simalarities between the WFF2000 and Miele machines, I wonder which company stole the ideas!!!!
The Hotpoint I had lasted 2.5 years at 4 loads a week, the timer and computer packed up. It only just touched the bottom of the door on rinses though and did 3 with extra rinse selected. It was a useless machine not only was the rinsing bad but the wash performance was pathetic. It did not remove easy stains, such as tea, coffee etc. And it washed for 1 hour before rinsing. The only good thing was it looked nice.
I have also tried Ecover and am allergic to it, it washed as well as plain water too. Never heard of Ecos either, sounds good though.
The Zanussi Jetsystem machines were daft wern’t they, I bet there would be no difference in wash performance whether the recirculation pump worked or not. Plus have heard of alot of pump failures as it is in so much use, and pump fires. It seemed like a selling point to me rather than a useful idea, in my eyes it was just another point of failure. I like the Bosch, if it packs up I will be repairing it!
All the best,
Oliver.
It is sad that Zanussi no longer do the version of Jetsystem that they made back in the late 80’s as that was the best washer in its day. I bought after having a 2nd baby as our Servis Quartz died after so much use. The jetsystem was ace as it only used cold water and was economical and it did 3 deep rinses with water level going half way up the door, a great machine in my eyes. I bought another one years later it did not do the spin on wash but did during the rinse I have to say I have never used the extra rinse cycle as never needed it and I too have excema but use good powder like Ariel as cannot abide mucky whites… I guess its caused progress but like most on this forum agree the rinse is crap nowadays on modern machines. Pity really as its the rinsing that cleans the laundry. Just my 2 pennyworth.
Austin
One thing that is being overlooked is old detergent being left behind in the washing machine and the build up of grease, mould and bad smells. If you run the washing machine with no laundry and see some soap bubbles, then it’s a good idea to clean out the washing machine to remove the old detergent. I reckon bad rinsing is also leaving behind detergent in the washing machine itself, not just in your clothes!
There’s plenty of advice about cleaning out washing machines. It’s probably best to start off by pulling out the soap drawer and giving that a clean and also clean the recess where the drawer goes into (it can get very dirty in there!). Then clean the pump filter before we clean out the empty washing machine on a boil wash with vinegar or a suitable washing machine cleaner (before anyone recommends using a washing powder with bleaching properties, we’re trying to remove existing detergent and not add to it).
Having done all that, hopefully you can be one step closer to better rinsing by trying out the ideas mentioned earlier, like re-rinsing etc.
Has anyone tried Amway laundry detergents? How do you rate the cleaning performance compared with Ariel or Persil?
Even Which? Online don’t seem to have tested Amway products. I don’t know much about them to be honest except I have an impression they are expensive because of the way they are marketed by agents visiting homes individually, but probably decent stuff or the whole concept couldn’t survive.
(Formerly called “WhatMatters”).
Hi, I am writing another posting as I’ve discovered on the Which? website a washing machine rated “very poor” for rinsing on the cottons cycle is a “Best Buy”. Get this: Which? suggests using the “easy care” programme if you have sensitive skin, as there is no extra rinse option. However the cleaning is not as good on this washing machine’s “easy care” programme.
Due to copyright I can’t reveal the make/model.
It is alarming that a washing machine that is very poor at rinsing with no extra rinse can be awarded a “Best Buy”. At least Which? warn you about the very poor rinsing.
As I put earlier, if you own a modern washing machine, you have to force it to rinse better. Has anyone had any luck with this?
WMUser: (I wonder what happened to WhatMatters?) Yes, I wrote to Which? at least a year ago pointing out the issue you describe. I couldn’t understand how anyone could describe a washing machine that they think is very poor, or even just poor at rinsing as a Best Buy. I said in my opinion it undermines the credibility of the reviews.
Maybe the washing machine is still the best of the ones available but if it was me, I would just say we can’t nominate any washing machine as a best buy if it doesn’t rinse to a high enough standard, and if that means there aren’t any washing machines deserving a Which? Best Buy award where’s the problem with that?
Which? would get even more respect if they advised that they didn’t think any washing machine could justifiably get the award and they would probably influence manufacturers to address the problem.
The only way it makes sense is if Best Buy simply means it’s just the best tested – warts and all. To be fair, if all washing machines don’t rinse well you can still argue that one or more of them are much better than the others and deserve being pointed out.
However, according to Which? themselves the Best Buy “was launched to recognise excellence.”
Hi WMUser (I still like “WhatMatters”,it summed up this situation very well!)
I noticed this too, back in 2005 when we subscribed to their magazine, not one washing machine made it past “satisfactory” for rinsing. I too thought it diabolical that anyone of them should be awarded “Best Buy”, when obviously they are some what lacking in one VERY major area.
I am sceptical of Which?, I am not completely convinced that they are 100% unbiased, that cannot be proven. A good example is washing powders, they said Ariel cleans better then Persil, but in my Bosch Persil can p*ss all over Ariel, it is better by a long way. Did P&G drop them a back hander I wonder.
Another example is vacuum cleaners, they award countless Dysons “Best Buys” and also publish poor brand reliability, a bit contradictory is it not. I can tell you as a carpet cleaner Dysons are the worst performing cleaners you can buy, and do shorten the life of carpets etc. But thats a little of topic!!
Personally I take no notice of which, for a washing machine to be a “Best Buy” it should wash, rinse and spin to perfection. And also be built to last.
We no longer subscribe to Which? as we no longer give them any credability in what they publish.
All the best,
Oliver.