Baby on the way and new washing machine needed!

I imagine, having never been directly involved in childbirth, that it’s important to make sure that with a new baby comes relative serenity in the rest of the house. Therefore, it’s no surprise that expectant mother ‘baby-sunshine’ is “looking for a new washer, as her old Bosch has broken. She states that the new machine “needs to be completely reliable and could do with a larger drum” and so has asked the denizens of UK Parents Lounge should she go for a Hotpoint?

Not according to sazuburns, who says: “Nooooooo! Step away from the Hotpoint, their modern machines are the very opposite of reliable”, who incidentally passes on the Which? rating of their washing machines as ‘above average’. Duncan is pretty convinced too, suggesting he agrees with “keeping away for Hotpoint. I stick with Bosch or if you can afford on a Miele they are supposed to be the Rolls Royce of washing machines“.

Pootle has read that “Miele cannot be faulted” and CarolineJ was keen to point out the following: “I’d recommend a Miele. If looked after they are expected to last around 20 years for the average household. Some models are expensive but tbh they tend to have lots of extra programmes you may never use – I know I only use a few programmes on my machine. I got a fairly basic Miele for around £500 4 years ago and am very pleased with it.”

Sazuburns leaves us with what he considers to be sage advice however: “I believe it’s always worth getter a lower spec from a better brand, not the other way round if you have a budget to stick to.”

What do you think? Have your say over at the forum.

Washing machines for a large load

Purpletiger23 gets straight to the point over at the eBay.co.uk Forum with her request: “I need a big one…….washing machine that is”.  She needs one to handle “at least 7kg preferably 8 [and] with a quick wash cycle” and would like recommendations for which machines to go for and which avoid.

Suckers-r-us immediately suggests Miele which she describes as “expensive but excellent with large load”, while sleepyeyes0800 inherited a Miele from her mum’s vintage clothes shop business and is “still going now after 15 years.” Ivvie too, has both a Miele washer and tumble dryer which she describes as “washes really well. It’s also intelligent so if I don’t fill it to capacity on a “normal” wash cycle it reduces the amount of water it uses and the time it takes. Takes 8kg”.

However, the decision over which machine to purchase is not entirely purpletiger23′s alone as she usually leaves these choices to her other half. While this means she’ll “end up with the more expensive/technically best one” it may not necessarily be “the best practically if you know what I mean.”

If you’ve got a further suggestion for purpletiger23, hop over to the eBay forum and have your say.

Best machine for a large family?

Money Saving Expert member SmellyOldSock is in the market for a new washing machine and is looking for one which meets all the needs of a large family.

The general concensus is a preference for Miele with the initial extra outlay considered worth it when factors such as build quality and engineering are brought into the equation.

What’s your experience of dealing with the mountains of washing that invariably comes with a busy home? Join in the conversation and share your thoughts.