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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Thank you for the replies.
I know many people reading these comments probably don’t have the time to make today’s washing machines rinse ‘better’. I’m wondering if using the “rinse hold” function, found on many washing machines, would help? Basically, the “rinse hold” will hold the laundry in the final rinse water until you manually advance the washing machine onto the final spin, to reduce creasing, which would occur if you leave the clothes in the washing machine for hours after the final spin has finished.
Maybe leaving the washing machine on “rinse hold” overnight might help? If the clothes are left soaking for a long time in the rinsing water, maybe the water will absorb into the clothing fibres better? I’m not a scientist lol.
When you are ready to dry the clothes, re-rinse and spin. The clothes should hopefully be rinsed much better and not irritate skin and cause other health problems.
I SAY BRING BACK THE TWIN TUBS . I HAVE JUST GOT A HOTPOINT TWIN TUB FROM THE HEART FOUNDATION. AND GET ALL THE WASHING DONE IN ONE DAY. AND RINSE IN HOT WATER.
AND BOIL ALL THE WHITES..
Hi WMUser,
I don’t think Rinse Hold will help, to remove the detergent from the clothing you need agitation to force it out, it does not just soak out without any movement.
It could also cause bacteria to breed in the laundry and the machine, say if a load of towels were washed at 40oC with liquid detergent (no bleach, no sanitisation effect) the germs in towels will not be killed so could fester and stink to high heaven in the morning after an overnight soak.
To rinse properly you need:
1-A few water changes.
2-Good agitation.
3-High water levels.
4-Intermediate spins that do not sudslock.
Take one away and the results will be serverely compermised.
HTH,
Oliver.
Hi Oliver.
I’m aware that there’s no way to make a modern washing machine rinse properly by either using its default settings or just selecting the “extra rinse” option. Improved rinsing requires manual intervention and valuable time, unfortunately – some people simply don’t have the time to wait longer or the patience to fiddle around with the controls. If I knew of a simple “no fuss” method to improve rinsing, I would have mentioned it by now.
Unless people don’t mind leaving the washing in the drum when the final spin is over and allow the clothes to crease up, the rinse-hold option may help, until the user is ready to re-rinse (and WAIT again until it’s finished).
The quickest method is to add extra water during the rinses, but again that requires manual intervention and it can spill water over the floor, but at least it doesn’t take hours. However, if the washing machine “sudslocks” (to those who don’t know, that term “sudslock” describes the situation where the pump switches off before all of the soapy water is pumped away, then this soapy water is used in the next rinse!) – then adding extra water will not be helpful.
There’s NO simple solution!! Unless you replace your washing machine with one that rinses better: the older refurbished models, that guzzle water, seem to be the best option. Provided the spare parts will be available should it need repairing.
What a bad situation we have with new things. They don’t make ’em like they used to! :(
I can’t see rinse hold helping because even if suspending them in water somehow removed more detergent from the laundry as soon as you start up the machine and the drum turns the laundry will swish around in the mucky water.
If a particular machine just drains the water when you advance it on though and doesn’t turn the drum until the water has drained away this wouldn’t be an issue. However, I’m not sure how just soaking would remove anything as rinsing is presumably effected by forcing clean water through the fabric. Maybe if they were soaking in a large amount of water but not the small amounts currently used.
The only way you can efficiently rinse laundry is with HOT or at worst WARM water. That is the bottom line as far as I am concerned. A cold rinse will never ever ever rinse clothes, it is a scientific fact.
I am having some fairly good results with my newly restored Miele using the pre-wash option, so that the clothes are at least semi-rinsed in hot water – by virtue of the fact that at least some of the detergent has been dispensed during the pre-wash.
None of this would be necessary if modern washing machine were not restricted by ridiculously low water levels, and cold rinses. Yet again, I will reiterate that it is SCIENTIFIC FACT THAT YOU CANNOT RINSE LAUNDRY EFFECTIVELY IN COLD WATER. You need warm or hot water, and plenty of it. That is the bottom line.
@Nikki Jenkins. I think you could tell every washing machine manufacturer what you know about hot or warm rinsing.
One problem I have is the hot water pressure is low, so that could be a problem if I connected the hot water to the washing machine’s cold inlet (it’s cold-fill only). I could fill a large jug or the kettle with water from the hot tap and keep adding it to the rinsing water, if I have time, otherwise it’s a case of re-rinsing on a cycle without detergent, where the first “wash” of the second cycle acts as a warm rinse.
Delicate fabrics like silk can only be washed at about 30 degrees, so warm rinsing water for these delicates can only be that temperature or lower.
Warm or hot rinsing could be similar to steam ironing: the steam and heat “opens up” the clothing fibres. Spraying cottons with water and ironing will have a similar effect, as the hot moisture does something, compared to just dry ironing that won’t give you the same nice finish.
Hello Nikki. If what you say is true then no washing machine has ever rinsed to a decent standard in the UK since they were invented as they’ve always rinsed in cold water. When they used a lot more water though there didn’t seem to be any issues.
I don’t see how the temperature of water is critical for diluting and washing out detergent. Clearly you can’t rinse in hot water as it would damage and excessively crease and even shrink certain laundry items but if it was the case that warm water is a bit better at it than cold presumably it’s not sufficiently better to justify the extra energy costs involved in rinsing in warm water.
It would be nice to point us in the direction of the scientific evidence so we can make an informed view.
On the subject of water temperature and rinsing you have probably noticed that if you want to clean something then hot water is better. This is because its easier to dissolve something (the dirt) in hot water. In fact of couse this is why washing machines warm the water for wash cycles. For most solids the higher the temperature of the solvent (water) the more material is dissolved.
Some modern detergents are made to try to overcome this to some extent but even these only really start to dissolve at about 32 degrees. The temperature of a cold rinse will be as cold as the water from the cold tap which is much colder than this.
If you want to see this for yourself then take one of those towels you have got which are stiff as a board because of the detergent residue and rinse it in cold water by hand. Then after this rinse it in hot water – you will be shocked at the difference.
This of course is why many people on this thread complain of foaming in their washing machine when they have got towels in there!
We used to have a hot and cold fill hoover keymatic years ago which would do a hot or warm rinse and I used hoses from the hot and cold taps to fill our old twin tub with warm water for rinsing.
Of course I accept that the reduced water volumes in modern washing machines are a factor but in my experience temperature is even more important.
Thanks Nikki: I’m not sure that rinsing is about dissolving detergent, dissolving it would increase its quantity and activate it which is good for the wash cycle. I’d have thought rinsing is more about removing detergent by flushing it away with water. I wouldn’t have thought it needs dissolving to be removed, only to be dislodged from the fibres and flushed away by the sheer volume of water added during all the rinses.
I used to work on the old Hoover keymatics but can’t remember if they had a warm rinse or not as it was a very long time ago :-)
If warm water rinsing was superior I’d have expected manufacturers who are all desperate for anything to let them claim that their washing machine is better than all the competition to have long since jumped on this and created washing machines with “superior rinsing” to sell to the consumer. I would have expected this to have long since been exploited by at least one of the major washing machine manufacturers.