How Long Does a Washing Machine Last

What You Pay for in Expensive Washing Machine and How Reasonable Is it?

The functionality of expensive home appliances is created not only by engineers but marketing experts as well. What do we expect from premium washing machines?

We will help you to understand the value of modes, options, and settings available in the market, and determine how reasonable it is to pay extra for them. Moreover, at the end of the article, you will find a link to a selection of washing machines.

Evaluation Criteria

I divide the available features into five categories:

• Ease of use;
• Economy;
• Washing quality;
• Technical;
• Least useful (in our opinion).

Ease of Use

These features are designed not only to make the machine easier to use but also to save a lot of your time.

They include:

• Wi-Fi remote control You can turn on the device and change the settings while sitting in another room. Some manufacturers even have a door-opening function to prevent the laundry from getting musty.
• Delayed start It can range up to 24 hours depending on the model. You can get your laundry clean as soon as you arrive from work. This feature can be also related to the energy-saving category if you have cheaper night rates.
• Drying This feature can be useful if you need to get your clothes dry quickly. If you go for this option, load the drum by 30-40% only. Dry clothes are bigger than wet in volume, and the drying is more effective with some free space.
• Add a load You can get distracted and forget to put some things in. If you have this feature, you will be able to pause the washing machine and add the necessary laundry. This is implemented easier in the top load models with an additional "Drum parking" feature. However, engineers found a way to add this feature as a small window in the front load washing machines as well.

Economy

These options can save on water, detergents, and energy in the long term.

• Quick wash This mode is used to wash lightly soiled laundry at lower temperatures.
• Smart mode Various sensors, chips, and complicated algorithms control the load weight, water clarity, and foam formation. It determines the best temperature mode, volume of water, washing time, drum rotation rate at wringing, and many other parameters.

Washing quality

The following modes (among others) are included to improve this parameter without our help:

• Steam supply It helps to wash heavily soiled laundry and make the clothes softer. Apart from that, it kills any ticks attached to your clothes (t is more than 140 °F).
• Foam washing Automatically creates foam solution with active elements affecting the difficult spots.

Technical

These features increase the washing machine operation life and help troubleshooting:

• Leak protection Various design solutions are available. It can be implemented by comparing the water pressure in operation and at the washing machine inlet. Tray liquid level control. Bosch started to equip washing machines with a flexible hose with a dual locking valve. Any of the offered solutions shuts off the water supply and stops the washing machine.
• Imbalance control in the wringing mode It helps to calm down a "dancing" helper. While the drum is rotating, a microprocessor weighs the load and steadily increases the rotation rate.
• Self-diagnosis It definitely cannot determine the exact reason for a breakdown, but it can help a specialist narrow the search and reduce the repair time. The error code can be seen on the washing machine display.

Least useful

It’s worth saying this is our personal opinion that might differ from yours.

• Drum self-cleaning The auto-cleaning cycle takes 90 minutes at the temperature above 158 °F. According to manufacturers’ claims, it removes surface fat and salt deposits, small lints, sand grains, etc.
• Easy ironing It offers laundry creasing protection. It uses more water for washing and gentle wringing mode. In the end, the laundry will be wet and less creasy.
• "Silver wash" mode The tank has a silver coating for water ionization (sterilization). But can this process really achieve the desired effect during the washing time?

Bottom Line

Modern home appliance potential has been developing together with marketing offers. In many cases, much-touted modes and options don’t offer any real value but only increase the product price.