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.
Forbes rent appliances and specialise in renting Bosch appliances so they know them inside out. They also rent other brands and many other products – more details at Forbes
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
Repairs
Fixed-price repairs, Pay monthly options, Repair & protect your whole appliance..
Save Money Now
Subscribe to Which? today and start saving money now. Subscription offers often available.
Spares
Spares4Appliances is a spares company run by repair engineers who understand all about spare parts for appliances.
Hi WMUser,
You are right about the agitation, it would seem now that water has been so drastically reduced not only is washing taking forever but the agitation is near constant. A Miele tumbles for 13 seconds with only a 2 second gap between tumbles, doing that for an hour should do some damage to clothing! I have justed watched the Bosch, 10 seconds clockwise, 10 seconds off, 5 seconds anti-clockwise and 5 seconds off then it repeats, it does this for the wash and rinses on cotton and synthetic cycles. No idea what it does on delicate and wool washes as I have never tried any of them!
I have just washed my work clothes on “Whites Economy” it washed for 45 minutes before rinsing (the whole programme takes about 90-95 minutes) and they are spotless. Bearing in mind that is has both fill hoses connected to the cold supply that is not bad at all. So even very dirty washing dosen’t seem to need the stupid wash times of todays machines. This is with no prewash either. I have never tried the prewash, but will be doing shortly as I have one of those Hi-Vis jackets to wash and they are a real bugger to get clean and they tell you to use non-bio, nothing like a challenge, says 40oC on the label just to add insult to injury, it will be getting a 60oC and I will have to buy a box of Non-bio especially, what a pain.
On the quick wash front, yesterday we changed the bearings on my Mums Siltal (9 years old), that all went well, it turns out it has a sealled metal tank, the bearings are held in a rear cross piece and through the hole where the shaft of the drum spider leaves the tank you could see about an inch of the spider its self. My Mum has being using quick wash a little too often as the spider is half an inch thick in soap powder and badly corroded, which now as I have discovered the sealled tank the machine will be written off as and when it breaks, looking at the state of it probably will not take too long! I have been telling her the perils of the quick wash for years but she couldn’t be told and as the powder has not being disolving properly it is now rotting the machine away. I have done 4 maintainence washes but how much it has helped nobody will ever know. It may have given the machine a little more life.
I have noticed Persil powder foams a lot less than Ariel powder, don’t know if thats just in my machine though. Another option is (if you have hard water) to use calgon and then you can use a soft water dose of soap powder. Still means the Calgon has to be rinsed out too I suppose, I don’t know if it will make any difference just a guess. Our water is not hard enough to try it.
Oliver.
Yes it would for some, if they have low water pressure. It’s a known issue that with low water pressure not all the detergent is flushed into the drum on the wash. Then on the rinse cycle it’s possible for small amounts of detergent to get into the rinse water.
Regarding the different types of detergent and colour friendly detergent verses detergent using bleach I have an article on this subject here You don’t just use one detergent do you?
Basically bleach makes whites whiter but also fades coloureds. Colour friendly detergent doesn’t fade colours but eventually leads to dingy looking whites.
Oliver Shaw – you are a very lucky man. You have a modern washing machine that rinses effectively! I am madly jealous. I am continuing to resort to hand rinsing, in combination with using the cold water wool wash cycle on the Miele to rinse the clothes as well. This actually works quite well, the clothes are still soapy, but nowhere near as bad as they used to be.
I will continue to stick to my mantra that you cannot rinse clothes in anything but hot water … cold water will not rinse soap out of clothes, only hot or maybe warm water will. Hence my hot hand rinses.
@Oliver Shaw
Softer water versus hard water for rinsing, I don’t know if there’s any difference. I live in a hard water area.
Calgon would soften the water, but doing so would create more foam. I know soda crystals (washing soda) also softens water, about 1 tablespoon. Soda crystals are also well known for removing grease. I don’t know how much less detergent you could get away with using, when you try water softening products. Perhaps just the minimum recommended dose stated for “soft” water? If that still makes too much foam, maybe 2/3 of the minimum dose? It would help if you could use less detergent in the first place, to help rinsing later, without harming the inside of the washing machine by doing so.
I know too well that even using the minimum dose of detergent when washing towels-only, causes a lot of foam during the last 20 – 30 minutes of the main wash. Next time I will be using half the minimum recommended dose for towels. If that means the towels don’t get cleaned properly, maybe soda crystals or calgon might help with this lower dosage?
I wonder if people living in “soft” water areas have better or worse rinsing?
Reading through these comments, I feel that in 20 years of changes to washing machines and detergents, it isn’t just less water that’s responsible for useless rinsing with modern washing machines. Rather than sticking with tried and trusted methods, manufacturers of washing machines and detergents are constantly pushing new ideas and gimmicks in place of “old” technology.
Hi Nikki,
I wouldn’t have said its that modern, the Bosch is 16 years old now, how time flies! Its only 5 years younger than me! If you want to try and find one its a WFF2000. I have seen modern Bosch rinsing and they will only fill to the bottom of the door and only do 3 rinses (with Aqua Plus), 16 years is not that long ago, its amazing how they can cock up a tried and tested design. Modern Bosch are crap in comparison, everything is plastic and flimsy. But if you do find a WFF2000 the parts are very expensive, although they last a repair bill can be frightening. A motor is £256.00 + VAT. A drum spider is nearly £200.
Oliver.
Has anyone tried using chlorine bleach instead of powder bleach in the machine to bleach whites? Wondered if it would damage the machine? Also is it safe to use soda crystals in washing machines? Mine is a Hotpoint WMA30 model so think its got an aluminium drum?
Also i am looking to replace it though with a Hotpoint 9506 model or that series so if anyone knows whereabouts is best to look would be most helpful. Im in Sudbury, Suffolk. Hotpoint also used to make a washing machine that had a purple door, control dial, buttons and dispenser and think it was called Super de Luxe but wanted one of those in particular as they were very reliable. Not sure if they are about any more though.
Hi WMUser,
I just mean’t you could use less detergent if using Calgon without limescale damaging your washing machine in anyway, water hardness has very little to do with rinsing, in hard water detergent struggles to work as well, thats why you need more, as well as to protect the machine from limescale formation, hard water kills detergent residue better. This is why you need less for soft water. Our water is classed as “soft” by Yorkshire water so I cannot try my theory, using less should make rinsing results improve whist the Calgon looks after the washing machine.
If you use a water softener such as Calgon you use a “soft” water detergent dose or you get over foaming. As far as I know hard water doesn’t exist in West Yorkshire, we just get the crap from being the end of the line!
Oliver.
You shouldn’t need Calgon if you use the right amount of detergent as detergent should soften hard water perfectly adequately, it’s part of its job to soften hard water.
I recently bought a new Bosch Classixx washing machine and it is causing me so much stress. When my clothes are drying the whole room smells of the washing powder I use, it’s extremely strong and disgusting. I have tried using several different brands of washing powder, with the same outcome. I have had an engineer out and he said it was working perfectly!! I often wash one load of washing 3 times, but I can still smell the detergent. When I wear my clothes I can still smell the detergent and unfortunately it’s not a particulary fresh smell, so making me a bit paranoid now!!
I live in Scotland, so have soft water.
I have read this thread with interest and will try running a pre-wash to see if that helps. Any other advice would be gratefully received.