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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Hi Simon,
I’m glad you have found a solution. Ecover seem to have improved their products massivley recently, so if it rinse out easily that is the icing on the cake!
I too feel detergents have become more of a challenge to rinse out, they just keep trying to make them better, by doing so they seem to easily over foam and as you say do not rinse out easily at all.
I agree on Shout, the only spray stain remover I buy, which I rarley use and is as you point out the only one that works. Not seen the Ariel stain removers, but won’t be buying any either!
All the best,
Oliver.
Re: comment #334. I did the washing and made sure I was around for the last 25 minutes to pause the washing machine and add 7 jugfuls of COLD water to rinse 3 of 3 then resumed the cycle.
At the 40C re-rinsing stage, I added the same amount of WARM water, making sure the water level was the same as the cold. As usual, the warm water produced more foam after about 20 minutes. From that observation, I’m assuming that once the water is fully heated to 40C, it does rinse differently to cold water.
Think about warm water and detergents. You can’t wash dirty clothing properly in cold water (I don’t believe the claims with modern detergents being able to clean at 30C or 15C!!). When it comes to rinsing, with each rinse the detergent gets diluted more, but the detergent stuck in the clothes fibres probably gets dissolved or activated differently in warm water. Perhaps it gets “dissolved”? I have read the link in my comment #334 several times.
HI ALL,
When the washing powder or liquid leaves you with a
itch or burning, and i think you know what i mean ! after you use the right amount.
Take it back to shop where you bought it from tell the them
product is no good and get refund , it costs the makers more
money that way when the shop gets the money back from
the makers IT COSTS THEM MORE to refund the shop .
Pay back time after you have to rewash all your clothes
again thats if they do rinse the chemicals out which have
stuck to the lime particals on your clothes which i have now found out is the problem after a lot of tests.
So Washerhelp man or woman can you give an answer why the
particals no longer rinse out when they did before on a
normal wash with the use of the correct amount of washing
powder or liquids even after more extra rinses .
Thank you for the ecover tip simon .
ADY.
@ady quartermain
I think you’ll find it’s mostly the fault of the environmentalists who have forced washing machine manufacturers to use stupidly small amounts of water for rinsing. 20 years ago and before, typical rinse levels were about 1/4 or 1/2 way up the door glass for every rinse. You will not find a modern washing machine that uses anywhere near that level of water for rinsing, which is why you have to add it yourself.
Modern detergents do seem to foam more than they used to. When washing towels, I find I can only use HALF the MINIMUM recommended amount to avoid vast amounts of foam forming!
Don’t forget also that the environmentalists have forced the manufacturers of detergents to be more “green”. Today’s detergents have to be able to wash at stupidly low temperatures like 30C and now lower than that i.e. 15C! If you wash at temperatures that low, the inside of the washing machine will quickly become filthy and germ ridden and require twice the number of “maintenance washes” at the highest temperature without any laundry. That basically defeats the purpose of saving energy by washing at very low temperatures, not to mention the fact that it won’t clean the clothes properly and you will probably end up rewashing because the stains are still there.
As usual, the environmentalists invent a ‘problem’, such as running out of water, but never propose a solution and forces legislation that makes us all reduce what we can do and use. To get around it, I have to re-rinse every load and add jugfuls of hot water to raise the water level to rinse the so-called “rinsed” washing properly. The water goes slightly cloudy, which proves that the detergent was still in the supposedly “rinsed” washing.
Sadly, I think this problem will NEVER change and those of us with detergent sensitivity will have to re-rinse and manually add lots of extra water!!
It’s not just the fact that they use a lot less water to rinse now, they also rinse for less time, which compounds the problem. As wash times have increased extensively to get away with using lower temperatures they’ve had to reduce the time spent rinsing at the other end to compensate. So they now rinse with a lot less water for less time.
Washerhelp:
I DO NOT HAVE AN ALLERGY !!
However, in common with most people, if a large amount of detergent is left in my laundry, it will cause me to have eczema/psoriasis/dermetitis, particularly on the “sweaty” areas such as backs of the knees, elbows, middle of the back area (where, in the case of ladies, the bra strap sits). My husband finds that he has a particular problem in the more sensitive areas (not to put too fine a point on it), if I do not rinse out his underwear by hand in hot water after I have washed it in the Miele.
But neither of us have an allergy.
HI ALL,
I have sat in front of my washing machine for hours watching the washing cycles very fed up with it all now, so where to go from here with my washing problem, which is after the washing is dry you pick it up and it feels like a load of pins sticking in your hands and lower arms also put a t shirt over your head you the have it on your eye lids a bit like fibre glass loft insulation feel ! and as for putting your hands in your pockets to get keys or coins out.
It is not detergent which is left on my washing i, it is lime which has bonded on the clothes in the wash like dust or fine grit and this is after cold and hot rinses but this lime also has some thing from the washing powder or liquid with it as well a chemical reaction has taken place in the wash i think ? as i can put neat washing powder or liquid on my arm and have no problem with it ( dont try this at home???) .
With what i was told today even calgon does not help and people now find it no longer works with the new powders and liquids , as i found out too using the correct amount? I now using ECOVER DELICATE and SURCARE CONDITIONER which after a few washes this week does look like it is working so far , but still with an extra rinse,
Also i am going to fit WPRO MAGNET PLUG from comet to my washing machine as other people in hard water areas now fit to there washing machine as a water conditioner.
GOOD LUCK OUT THERE ,HOPE THE ABOVE HELPS
ADY.
Hi Nikki: I didn’t want an argument about semantics but if you look up eczema or dermatitis on wikipedia they all say they are allergy related conditions. Also, if you have a skin reaction to something, most people would say that’s an allergic reaction. It sounds nasty, I have sympathy for anyone suffering from it especially if it’s particularly bad.
ady: I’ve not heard of this problem, are you using the recommended amount of detergent for the hardness of your water? One of the jobs of detergent is to combat hard water and limescale by softening the water.
@ady quartermain Have you considered adding soda crystals (also called “washing soda”) into the drum before loading with laundry and detergent? A heaped spoonful from a standard dessert spoon should be enough to soften the water and help remove stains, especially greasy stains. It will allow you to use the recommended amount of detergent for “soft” water. You can find soda crystals in any supermarket with the detergents, but it can be well hidden lol.
I used to have a problem with the washing feeling rough, then I discovered that re-rinsing in LOTS of water did the trick. Finally, after using LOTS of warm water, the clothes now feel really soft and there’s no perfume smells when drying or ironing the washing. I also use Surcare fabric conditioner because it has no perfumes added.
You may wish to clean out the washing machine when it’s empty – on the hottest main wash, without pre-wash, (i.e. 90C or 95C) then pour in no less than 1 pint of clear vinegar into the soap drawer when the machine stops filling for the main wash. This should help to clean out remains of previously used detergents and clear any limescale.