Which front-loading washing machine should I buy?
November 4, 2013 12:24 PM Subscribe
I need to buy myself a washing machine for the first time. Which is fine, but the difficulties are: I've just moved to Germany, speak no German, don't have a car, and don't know anything about washing machines. I'd like to keep this under €500 if possible (can go to €600 if necessary) and obviously lower is better, but I also want a decent machine. Buying online seems to make sense given my language issues (cheers google translate) and amazon.de lists 437 items under that price. Please help me work out which one I actually want to buy.
Our last machine was a top-loader bought in NZ where I understand the local brands etc and I had nothing to do with picking it out anyway. My experiences with front loaders both in NZ and Europe have been pretty bad frankly, long cycles, clothes not terribly clean, and my poor clothes worn out or damaged within just a few washes. But my friends rave about European machines so presumably I can find better now that I get to buy my own.
I don't know what size I need but it will never service more than two people. So presumably not huge. It's going in the basement where there are fittings ready and plenty of space so I don't need to worry about how it fits. I don't need a dryer at all.
I mainly wash normal clothes on a 40degC cycle and would like to be able to wash delicates occasionally but otherwise don't need a lot of fancy electronics or specialised wash cycles. I live three floors up so it needs to work unattended (sounds obvious, but my previous landlord-supplied machine didn't). And provides clean, undamaged clothes at the end of it.
Something that is easy to install and unlikely to break would be great given I don't have the language skills or patience to deal with installation and repair men at present.
I don't even know what else I should be thinking about to evaluate different machines to be honest. I don't currently have any locals to ask although this will change when I start work in the next few weeks, but I'd like to get on top of this now since my clothes aren't getting any cleaner sitting on my floor. So yeah, front loading washing machine in Germany, which one and why?
Our last machine was a top-loader bought in NZ where I understand the local brands etc and I had nothing to do with picking it out anyway. My experiences with front loaders both in NZ and Europe have been pretty bad frankly, long cycles, clothes not terribly clean, and my poor clothes worn out or damaged within just a few washes. But my friends rave about European machines so presumably I can find better now that I get to buy my own.
I don't know what size I need but it will never service more than two people. So presumably not huge. It's going in the basement where there are fittings ready and plenty of space so I don't need to worry about how it fits. I don't need a dryer at all.
I mainly wash normal clothes on a 40degC cycle and would like to be able to wash delicates occasionally but otherwise don't need a lot of fancy electronics or specialised wash cycles. I live three floors up so it needs to work unattended (sounds obvious, but my previous landlord-supplied machine didn't). And provides clean, undamaged clothes at the end of it.
Something that is easy to install and unlikely to break would be great given I don't have the language skills or patience to deal with installation and repair men at present.
I don't even know what else I should be thinking about to evaluate different machines to be honest. I don't currently have any locals to ask although this will change when I start work in the next few weeks, but I'd like to get on top of this now since my clothes aren't getting any cleaner sitting on my floor. So yeah, front loading washing machine in Germany, which one and why?
As general guidance buy Bosch or Siemens (they are basically the same). Hard to go wrong. I was speaking to a (British) washing machine repairman two weeks ago and he said they are hands down the most reliable.
Which? recommends the following models at your price point, in order (best first):
- Samsung WF80F5E5U4W
- Bosch WAQ28461GB
- Hotpoint BHWM129
- Bosch WAQ24461
- Siemens WM14Q390GB
Installation for any modern washing machine should be no harder than connecting up a single cold water inflow, putting the outflow pipe in the drain, plugging the machine in and adjusting the feet to make sure the machine is level.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:34 PM on November 4, 2013
Which? recommends the following models at your price point, in order (best first):
- Samsung WF80F5E5U4W
- Bosch WAQ28461GB
- Hotpoint BHWM129
- Bosch WAQ24461
- Siemens WM14Q390GB
Installation for any modern washing machine should be no harder than connecting up a single cold water inflow, putting the outflow pipe in the drain, plugging the machine in and adjusting the feet to make sure the machine is level.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:34 PM on November 4, 2013
Response by poster: That Which? review site looks really helpful and I'd forgotten things like that even exist. So recommendations for reputable review-type resources would be great as well as specific recommendations like these comments so far. Thanks!
posted by shelleycat at 12:43 PM on November 4, 2013
posted by shelleycat at 12:43 PM on November 4, 2013
Seconding Siemens or Bosch, which are identical on the inside since both come from BSH (Bosch Siemens Hausgeräte). I've owned one of their washer-dryers for 16 years, and it still works great! You should be able to get one in your price range. I would take a look at how much water and energy the machine consumes and then decide on a model; the Bestseller Nr. 1 on Amazon looks decent, for example, is made by Siemens and costs 443,09€. It's got AquaStop, which means that the company will pay for all damages if the machine ever leaks, which the AquaStop is supposed to prevent.
posted by amf at 1:19 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by amf at 1:19 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't know what size I need but it will never service more than two people. So presumably not huge.
Mine services only one person, and one piece of advice I was given when buying a washing machine is not to skimp on the size: for a given amount of money, buy the largest capacity available. The reason is that machines that can handle a heavier load have better mechanical engineering, and that's what counts in the long run.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:20 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mine services only one person, and one piece of advice I was given when buying a washing machine is not to skimp on the size: for a given amount of money, buy the largest capacity available. The reason is that machines that can handle a heavier load have better mechanical engineering, and that's what counts in the long run.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:20 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I was you. When I was in Germany and wanted to buy a front-loading washing machine for under €500, I trusted the wisdom of crowds, went to amazon.de and looked for the top selling "waschmaschine" that I could afford. Currently it seems like it's this Siemens. Unless you want this washing machine to last a lifetime (in which case you need to forget Bosch/Siemens, rethink your budget, and buy a Miele), I wouldn't put any more thought into it than that.
By the way, the German second-hand market is insane compared to what I was used to in the UK, and I sold it two years later on Toytown for only €100 less than I paid for it. So bear that in mind when you're thinking about your budget.
posted by caek at 6:19 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
By the way, the German second-hand market is insane compared to what I was used to in the UK, and I sold it two years later on Toytown for only €100 less than I paid for it. So bear that in mind when you're thinking about your budget.
posted by caek at 6:19 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't have any specific advice on the brand to buy--Bosch and Siemens are both reputable, and when I lived in Berlin, I had a Bosch, I think--but front-loaders are generally easier on clothes than top-loaders. If your clothes are getting damaged in them, try reducing the spin RPMs. That will leave more water in them when you dry them, but it will put less stress on delicate fabrics.
posted by brianogilvie at 6:21 PM on November 4, 2013
posted by brianogilvie at 6:21 PM on November 4, 2013
One thing - if you truly know no German, make sure the front dials are intuitive. Otherwise you're looking forward to hours with the manual and a dictionary.
posted by kjs4 at 7:24 PM on November 4, 2013
posted by kjs4 at 7:24 PM on November 4, 2013
That's not necessary. The manual will usually be in English (among other languages) but, if not, you can just Google the model name and "manual" and the English manual will be the first result.
posted by caek at 8:03 PM on November 4, 2013
posted by caek at 8:03 PM on November 4, 2013
I saw a photo on Stellar over the weekend of a German washing machine whose owner had printed out the English translations with a label maker and stuck them on/over, and now I can't find the photo and I'm sad. But you could do that.
(That Siemens IQ300 looks like it has slightly different labelling concepts for its rotary dial for the English and German versions. I've no idea if they're the same programmes or not, but there might be a bit of cultural translation involved in terms of the cycles you're familiar with.)
posted by holgate at 10:33 PM on November 4, 2013
(That Siemens IQ300 looks like it has slightly different labelling concepts for its rotary dial for the English and German versions. I've no idea if they're the same programmes or not, but there might be a bit of cultural translation involved in terms of the cycles you're familiar with.)
posted by holgate at 10:33 PM on November 4, 2013
I have this one. I am moving. This is not coming with me. MetaMail me.
posted by chiefthe at 11:16 PM on November 4, 2013
posted by chiefthe at 11:16 PM on November 4, 2013
Response by poster: I'm OK with translating dials and instructions etc, google translate really is a life saver. This has all been helpful and I feel like I have some clue where to begin now, so thanks!
posted by shelleycat at 11:50 PM on November 4, 2013
posted by shelleycat at 11:50 PM on November 4, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pipeski at 12:31 PM on November 4, 2013