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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Yes, detergents these days are commonly specifically designed to leave the clothes smelling of fragrance and some people like it. The smell is not supposed to be rinsed out.
If you really want to get rid of them irritating perfumes from your washing, the affected washing needs rinsing in lots of warm or hot water and to be really sure, white (clear) vinegar could be used in the final rinse instead of fabric conditioner, it just needs to be added to the compartment of the soap drawer where the conditioner normally gets added. Vinegar is said to neutralise just about anything nasty and it’s also meant to be good for the clothes as well, so they say. The clothes won’t come out stinking of vinegar as the amount is too small, but it should be enough to hopefully rid the clothes of the irritating perfumes.
I know earlier in this blog people were saying that white vinegar is expensive unless you can buy it in bulk. If hot rinsing with fast interim spins doesn’t work on its own, white vinegar may be worth a try.
Hi everybody!
I am somewhat relieved to know that Spain is not the only country where washing machines rinse poorly. I will tell you our story:
We had an old Zanussi SL-503 washing machine (made around the year 1982). Of course it washed and rinsed very well. Its main axle broke in year 2006, and we were so stupid not to have it repaired (the technician told us that they still had all spare parts for this model). We bought a new Whirlpool AWO 8107 model and soon noticed that it did not wash well and rinsed very, very, very poorly.
We called Whirlpool’s technical service twice, the first time they told us that these machines used very little soap, much less than the quantity that we added. We tried to add less and rinsing became only very poor, while clothes were almost so dirty as they had entered the washing machine. We tried changing the detergent’s brand, adding several rinsing cycles, pressing the extra water button, but nothing helped. The second time the technician came, I asked him if he could make the machine take more water, and he told me he couldn’t, because he was not allowed to, but that a private technician not belonging to any washing machine’s official technical service could do it by replacing the pressure gauge and the main electronic board of the machine by older models. He told me that it would cost more than 400 euros, and we didn’t know if we would find a non-official technician that was qualified to do the job, so we didn’t try to do it.
Two weeks ago, the machine broke and we have not tried to repair it. Instead we have bought an old Bosch WFB 1605 machine that will be delivered tomorrow and costs 165 euros. It was made some year between 1995 and 2000, before the main European regulation limiting the amount of water that washer machines can use began to apply (the regulation dates back from year 1999, but I think it did not begin to be applied in Spain till years 2000-2001. There is an older regulation, from year 1995, but it did not restrict water’s usage, only made compulsory for the manufacturers to inform about the amount of water that the machines use in the 60 degrees cotton cycle). So, it is not so old as Oliver’s Bosch WFF2000, but I hope that it will do a proper rinse. It has, as Oliver’s, a more water button. Moreover, in case it still does not take enough water, the seller told us that any technician could easily adjust its pressure gauge to rise the water level, since it is a fully mechanical machine.
In a few days, when we will have tried it, I will let you know how it rinses and some more information that we have and may be of interest to all of you, but that I do not post now in order not to make this comment too long.
Best Regards
I look forward to your report Felix.
If the detergent is scented there should be SOME scent left over, but not much! And yes, unfortunately most modern machines don’t rinse very well. The “if the clothes are wet, the cycle must have done its job in washing and rinsing” mentality is there.
I’m surprised few people have commented on how to successfully solve rinsing problems.
Stopping your allergy may be as simple as running a “rinse” cycle after the washing machine has finished, which should also perform a final spin afterwards at your chosen speed. Doing this won’t void the guarantee and won’t take up much time. Given that new washing machines are full of features, the separate rinse and spin cycle should be present on just about every new washing machine. I know Miele’s have “Water Plus” which needs setting up to perform extra rinses in higher levels of water than the default.
I can understand when people are very sensitive to detergents and need more than just a few extra rinses in cold water. I know it’s frustrating not having high levels of warm water rinsing, especially for towels, but it can be achieved with little effort and stop you itching. I have found that the last rinse with Surcare softener (it has no perfumes) with warm water, instead of cold, leaves the clothes feeling MUCH softer. To anyone who doesn’t believe warm water rinses better, try it on your cottons and watch the soapsuds appear from nowhere! The warm rinsing water will also remove the detergent’s perfumes from your clothes, which cause skin reactions. White vinegar also neutralises just about anything, but I know it’s hard to find it cheap, so warm rinsing alone may be sufficient.
(Comment number 470 continued)
Hi again!
We received the used Bosch WFB 1605 washing machine.
It washes and rinses very well. After washing, it rinses the clothes three times, and each time,
the water level rises up to a third of the height that you can see through the glass. Moreover,
if you press the “more water” button, then, the level rises up more than half the height
you can see! We do not have any skin problems, so we will not use the “more watter” button
very often. The machine looks well and sounds well when working, and Bosch has a reputation
for having spare parts for its discontinued appliances during many years, so we hope that we
will be able to use this one for about 10 or 15 years yet.
In some previous comments I read that the British Which? magazine rated only 3 washing machines
as good at rinsing, and that the overall rating of these three machines was bad. Well, the main
(and well reputed) Spanish consumer organization OCU publishes monthly a magazine called Compra Maestra where many consumer reports are available. In the last months two reports of interest have been published. One of them rated 24 models of washing machines that spin the load up to 1200 RPM, and none of them received a “good” rating for rinsing, at least for cotton load
programs. The report also said what we all know: that modern washing machines use less energy
and water at the expense of poorer washing and rinsing. The other report rated another 24
washing machines that spin the load up to 1000 RPM and only one of them
(the Bosch WAE 20260EE) was rated as “good” for rinsing (but did not receive the top
“very good” rating). The overall rating of the machine was slightly above average and it ranked
12th. of the 24 models. I do not know it this model is or has been sold in Britain and another
countries.
One of the corollaries to Murphy’s Law states “Just when you think things cannot get any
worse, they will”. Well, this seems to be the case with the European regulation
which affects water consumption of washing machines and has versions from years 1995, 1999,
,,,etc. I found a document on the web (unfortunately, I did not save or bookmarked it)
where it read that they are preparing a new version of the regulation that
will further reduce the limit of water consumption from 12 to 8 liters of water per kilogram
of load in the 60 degrees cotton load program. Apparently, that does not affect the other programs,
but experience shows that manufacturers tend to reduce the water consumption of all programs
when they have to reduce that of the 60 degrees cotton load one. So, I think that if we were
thinking of buying a new washing machine, we would buy one before the new regulation applies!.
Best regards.
@Oliver Shaw, comment #479, that sounds brilliant!
If or when I own an ISE in future, I would have it plumbed into the warm water supply via a TMV ~35C, which would be easy to accomplish if the Zanussi was moved out of the way, so all the rinses are in warm water and soap perfumes get removed completely, even from towels. If you have to use half the recommended detergent with the ISE, I would definitely advise people in “hard water” areas to use a heaped tablespoon of soda crystals to soften the water – limescale will damage washing machines!! I always use less detergent than recommended and I don’t have problems with cleaning performance. The only time I would use the recommended amount is for washing very dirty items.
Thanks for posting the review Oliver. :)
I haven’t read all the other comments, so apologies if I’m repeating things. I think it’s vital that we reduce our water consumption, particularly our use of drinking water for non-food uses (washing clothes, flushing the loo, etc). Personally I blame the rinsing problems on modern detergents. If you’ve ever hand-washed a jumper with laundry detergent, you’ll know how many rinses it takes to get all the soap out – in fact, you probably gave up rinsing even though you knew there was still detergent in your jumper. On the other hand, if you use a neutral baby shampoo (which is recommended in some knitting books), you can get out all the soap in two rinses. I do have an allergic reaction (asthma) to the perfumes in Persil etc, so I use an eco-friendly un-perfumed detergent called Bio-D. I also usually use the ‘quick wash’ option on my machine which reduces the amount of water used and the length of the rinse cycle. I’ve never noticed a problem with soap residue in my laundry. What’s more, my detergent’s completely biodegradable and not harmful to aquatic life, and therefore the discarded rinse water isn’t polluting our waterways. Many washes (eg bathroom towels) don’t really need detergent at all – warm water’s enough to clean them. Or you could try soapnuts.
Hi Nina,
All the products you mention scum a washing machine up, thus rotting it from the inside out, the drum spider will suffer. Many modern machines have sealled tanks which would need a new unit thus writing the machine off as being beyond economical repair. This process can take less than 18 months, this is hardly eco-friendly. The permanent use of quickwash will only accellerate the problem. Its a short term environmental saving, the long term is FAR more damaging.
So to counteract this you would need to do maintainence wash every 2-4 weeks, ie. a boil wash with normal bleach containig powder Persil or Ariel suffice.
Bathroom towels will smell and fester if not washed at at least 60oC with a good bleach containg powder. Warm water will not remove skin grease and flakes they get covered in, not to mention bacteria from sweat even after a bath or shower you are never 100% free from these nasties.
Soap nuts if emerge from the bag can do alot of damage to a washing machine, the minimum being a blocked pump.
Something I feel compelled to ask, now please don’t think I am having a go at you because I certainly am not. Why do we need to reduce water consumption, the UK rains that much we have more water than we can shake a stick at?
All the best,
Oliver.