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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Ahh the WMA30s. Yours would be a couple years younger than you think they came out in 2000 and believe it or not Indesit kept the basic design on Hotpoint machines until as late as last year when the Wales factory closed. But they were their first A wash performance machines though hence why they have the long cycles as you say. Powerhouse they were still around our way until about 4 years ago, we bought our old AEG dishwasher there (I say old, we bought it in 2005 but sold it 6 months later when we got a new kitchen) they always seemed to be far more helpful than the two C’s.
Persil small and mighty isn’t a bad product, although it does foam more than the tablets I’m using. Always seems to be going for quite cheap too, often Sains or Asda have the huge bottles for £4, if its not selling for £4 in one supermarket it generally is in another. Seems a lot more simpler a concept than the gels too the gels certainly perform well but are less value for money. The big bottles sell for £8 I think for only 25 washes or so. I remember you used to be able to buy a huge bottle of Ariel liquid, 50 washes or so, with change from a fiver.
I’ve heard about Amway stuff here and there but not seen it anywhere I presume it’s only available from specialist places?
Jon
Jon,
You have to buy it from a distributor, a bit like Avon really. Simon
Here’s an idea that seems to be working for me and could work for anyone who would like proper rinsing with less fuss. This works on cottons:
Use the washing machine as normal, but don’t add the softener yet.
When the washing machine has finished, use the-quick-wash cycle (if you have one) without detergent and set it at 40C. When the machine stops adding water, use a large jug or a kettle, fill with water from the hot tap and pour this into the soap drawer about 7 times until you see the clothes tumbling into plenty of water. Obviously you don’t want to use water that’s too hot.
Now add your softener if you use it.
Using this approach, I find the-quick-wash programme for cottons has good agitation during its main wash and 2 rinses and I can set the final spin to 1600 rpm on the quick-wash. It’s also very quick at 45 minutes from start to finish. The other advantage is you can run your quick-wash programme later on, which is great if you need to go out or run the washing machine totally unattended and come back to it later.
I’m not saying this will work for everyone, but it may help most readers. :)
The only downside is it could cost a bit more in electricity? Is that a price worth paying if you cure the skin allergies?
It does seem that warm rinsing helps enormously. Thank you Nikki Jenkins for suggesting warm rinsing – I get shocked every time I see the amount of foam released from supposedly rinsed laundry during the 40 deg C quick-wash cycle!
Warm water rinsing is the ONLY way to remove detergent completely … I for one do not want detergent left in my laundry, so I have to resort to rinsing my clothes by hand in my sink in warm water as a cheaper option than doing hot washes in the Miele without detergent. It is terrifying how much soap is left behind in laundry washed in modern front loaders. I am convinced that this is at least partially responsible for the rise in asthma and skin conditions such as excema.
Like you WMUser, I have resorted to adding hot water to the washing machine on occasions when I have some “free” hot water in my tank that has been heated by our Coalbrookdale wood burner.
Here’s what I believe is a major flaw with washing machines which hampers rinsing: foam gets trapped between the drum and the outer tub. After each interim spin during the rinsing cycles, I’m sure the foam is not being cleared away. On older washing machines I remember the water inlet valve would switch on immediately when the interim spin switched off and was slowing down, which probably helped to flush the foam away.
Here’s what I think they should do: blast the water around the outside of the drum and inside the outer tub to clear the foam away when the interim spin slows down, then pump away the foam. Also flush water over the inside of the door glass to clear foam away from it and the inside door seal.
Remember also that warm water rinsing helps MUCH better than cold rinsing.
Perhaps someone could tell me why Dreft that is marketed for wool and silk contains enzymes? I thought it was supposed to be a gentle detergent but how can it be if it contains enzymes? Simon
Hi Simon,
This is only a guess but perhaps it is only one type of enzyme that attacks wool and silk. There are 4 types of “normal” enzyme, Lipase, Amylase, Protease and Cellulase.
However you will notice that modern detergents only contain 2 types of enzyme, Protease and Glycosidease, the latter not being the normal as it were, this could be the culprit in destroying wool and silk as it is a fairly new type. Whereas if Dreft only contains the 4 “normal” types of enzyme these may not affect the said articles.
I happily wash my woollen items with biological Persil and have not ruined anything nor has anything become holed. This could be the over cautious public or simply the manufacturers trying to make you buy different types of detergent you don’t really need. We all know about the scams manufacturers pull these days to try to get you to buy their products, its truly laughable.
Oliver.
Hi Simon: I can only presume they are different enzymes to the ones used in biological detergent although I haven’t looked at the ingredients on their packet which I presume you have.
I have an article warning about using biological detergents with silk or woollens Biological washing machine detergents can damage woollens & silks (cause holes) where I mention Dreft as being one of the most gentle and as you say they do say it is good for washing silks and woollens.
I think Oliver & WMUser made the following points about soda crystals –
I contacted the makers of soda crystals in the UK a few years back and they told me that it can cause pitting on aluminium, which is what their warning relates to, and assured me it can’t harm the aluminium drum spider on a washing machine. I think if they were used for example on aluminium saucepans they could cause unsightly pitting, which would cause a complaint, but it wouldn’t structurally damage the aluminium.
Oliver,
I think i may have already asked you about Optical Brighteners and you stated that they did nothing useful except create the illusion that clothes are brighter. Some makers of clothes say they cause colour fade and create a ‘dulling’ effect and that you should use colour care products. If you go in a supermarket you will see all the various liquids like Persil bio, non bio, and colour care. The Colour care leaves the OB out but the bio and non bio adds them so if your a consumer who knows little about detergents one would be inclined to think that the OB detergents were for white clothes only?
As someone with very sensitive skin would it be best to avoid OB? They are also allegedly nonbiodegradeable in the environement and toxic to aquatic life though that could depend on the type of brightener used?
I no Ecover doesn’t use them but its only good for things that need freshening up. Just bought a small powder of Ariel and to be honest not that impressed with the quality of cleaning and it foams too much and doesn’t rinse well. The rinse water on the third rinse is still very soapy, how bad is that! I think Persil seems to like my Hotpoint better and its not over scented. Any one else think Persil cleans better than Ariel?
I trust your oppinions and advice Oliver more so than the big named brand manufacturers.
Thanks
Simon