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What would you say is the safest, a washing machine with a rubber belt between wash motor and spider pulley, or a Direct Drive motor at the back of the wash drum? I would say if the drum stopped turning (say it collapsed due to broken bearings, or just got seized) that on a belt driven drum that eventually the motor spindle would just burn through the black rubber belt , or the belt would just slip off? - but on a direct drive motor the resistance would just overheat and possibly act like an element and possibly cause a fire? - especially if it didn't have any kind of protection on the motor board to cut power to the direct drive motor? - this is one of the reasons that has put me off getting direct drive washing machines in the past. - apart from that is there anything that one system has over the other that makes it better ?

Hi, Andy. All the washing machines I have worked on have normally had their wash motors underneath the machine attached to the outer drum tub - but i have noticed on some throughout the years that some have had the wash motor at the top of the machine tub. This must make it a dream for changing carbon brushes or the motor itself, just pop the lid off the washing machine and bob's your uncle! so why did the manufacturers go back to / or switch to putting them under the drum nowadays? - Does the placement of the motor affect spin keeping the drum more stable when spinning or weight on shock absorbers is less on top of the drum if underneath , or maybe they put it on the top when there was not enough clearance under the machine - or was it just preference with some manufacturers to put the motor on top?

I wonder why in this day and age manufacturers are still using noisy pumps on their washing machines (especially noisy/growl'y at the end when there is no more water to pump out) - I have a 10 year old Dishwasher that pumps out the water into the drain lovely and quiet and smoothly. I understand that dishwashers have a different type of pump (a recirculating pump) but why could they not fit the same kind of pump to washing machines too? or even at least on high end / mid range washing machines at least (have the likes of Miele etc got quieter pumps?) - would there really be a huge difference in manufacturing costs of fitting a dishwasher type pump to a washing machine? You are in a scenario of having a nice quiet brushless induction motor .. and then you have this noisy growly vibrating pump noise as its pumping out the water. what does make a dishwasher recirculating pump a lot quieter than a Washing machine pump? - is it the impeller? - both pumps are brushless are nt they?

Whirlpool has issued a recall notice on some of its models of washing machines due to a potential safety concern. It affects certain models of Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines made between October 2014 and 2018 and it is feared more than 11,000 machines in UK & Ireland may be impacted. A flaw with the door-locking system may lead them to overheat and potentially catch fire. Whirpool launched an urgent recall of certain models of tumble dryers over fire safety fears in July of this year. If you think your washing machine might be affected, you can check by calling 0800 316 1442 or by visiting https://washingmachinerecall.whirlpool.co.uk Here is a full list of the models involved in the Whirlpool recall of fire-risk Hotpoint and Indesit branded washing machines. The models are listed by their commercial code, followed by the brand name. FML 742P UK Hotpoint WMAOD 743G UK Hotpoint WMAOD 743P UK Hotpoint WMAQB 721P UK.M Hotpoint WMAQC 641P UK.M Hotpoint WMAQC 741G UK Hotpoint WMAQC 741P UK Hotpoint WMAQC 741P UK.M Hotpoint WMAQF 621G UK Hotpoint WMAQF 621P UK Hotpoint WMAQF 641 P UK.M Hotpoint WMAQF 721G UK Hotpoint WMAQF 721P UK.M Hotpoint WMAQL 621G UK Hotpoint WMBF 742G UK Hotpoint WMBF 742K UK Hotpoint WMBF 742P UK Hotpoint WMBF 742P UK.M Hotpoint WMBF 763P UK Hotpoint WMEF 722 BC UK Hotpoint WMEF 742 P UK Hotpoint WMEUF 722P UK Hotpoint WMEUF 743G UK Hotpoint WMEUF 743P UK Hotpoint WMFG 741P UK Hotpoint WMFG 741P UK.M Hotpoint WMFUG 742 P UK.M Hotpoint WMFUG 742G UK Hotpoint WMFUG 742P UK Hotpoint WMFUG 842P UK.M Hotpoint WMJLF 842P UK Hotpoint WMJLL 742P UK Hotpoint WMSAQG 621P UK Hotpoint WMXTF 742G UK Hotpoint WMXTF 742K UK Hotpoint WMXTF 742P UK Hotpoint WMXTF 742P UK.M Hotpoint WMXTF 842P UK.M Hotpoint WMYL 7151PS UK Hotpoint XWA 81252X K UK Indesit XWA 81252X W UK Indesit XWD 71452X K UK Indesit

Hello Andy for years we have had a ritual of washing (cotton)things like underwear, towels and teatowels and socks even if they are not heavily soiled at 60c just because I read that germs and bacteria can survive temperatures under 60c. But after washing, I personally prefer towels and underwear dried in the tumble drier rather than on the line because they come out nice and soft. But (and I cannot remember how hot a tumber drier get on heat2 ) but is it likely that a Tumble drier gets well over 60c inside its drum when drying clothes? - if this is the case do you think I could lower the temp of the washing machine to say 40c or 30c and that the germs and bacteria will get killed when they are tumble dried at high heat? - whats your view? I know you can get these 'liquid additives' to soap powder these days that claim to kill germs right down to 30c but i dont really want to go down that road . The tablets we use are Biological tablets and put 2 into the soap drawer on 60c wash if this has any bearing on things.

so a lot of new machines in the last 5 years or so , use a tiny amount of water , not even coming up to the height of the top of the paddles/lifters and I get it for economy reasons and that you can heat up a little amount of water quicker than if it half filled the glass door like the ancient washing machines did, and understand that todays washing powders / liquid are more efficient and need hardly any water to do their job these days. However what I cannot get used to is the fact that if the drum is revolving with this little amount of water now, and the clothes dont get nice and saturated/soaked in water like they used to years ago when the water came up to half the drum / glass door is the motor not working more against friction of clothes, that are nearly dry, rubbing again the glass door and door gasket that if they were suspended in water? I mean a happy medium surely would be if the manufacturers made the water come up to just underneath the door gasket at least no? - this friction is very evident when washing something like a Duvet especially. My 8kg machine has a duvet programme on it. I dont overload it with a king size (dont even think physically a king size duvet would even fit in the drum) so i put in a double duvet, and the amout of water that goes in the drum is miniscule witth this big duvet in so obviously the amount of time its washing its trying to wash this duvet in very little water and its near on bone dry as its going around in the drum and its catching on rubber door gasket and door glass and you can almost see that the motor is having a tough old time trying to turn this drum with this near on dry duvet . I just think it the drum filled up with more water before it even revolves for the first time , and absolutely soaked the duvet the water would 'lubricate' the fabric so there was no friction between the door gasket and door bowl and would help the motor revolve the drum more easily if the duvet was suspended in water. This is evident that it would be better because when it comes to rinsing in duvet programme the rinse water is subsequently much more water goes into the drum , as much as over the bottom of the door gasket lip , and then saturates the duvet in rinse cycle and the motor has a much better time of revolving the drum with the duvet saturated in water like this. Also without water level coming up over the bottom of the lip of the door gasket , you know the bit where you have the 3 drain holes in the gasket, well that gets clogged with soap/powder and hairs and all kinds of things - I reckon it suffer like this much more than the old type washing machines where they used to fill up with water halfway up the drum whilst washing. - And if you were doing a 60c wash and the water was going over the bottom of the lip of the door gasket would not only keep those drain holes in the door gasket clean by dissolving any undissolved powder/liquid in the lip of the gasket the hot 60c water would also kill the germs and bacteria there as well also - with these washing machines these days not even coming anywhere near up to the level of the bottom of the door, then no wonder you have to clean them regularly and keep cleaning the drainage holes all the time otherwise it starts stinking. - talking of stinking washing machines I bet you will find that these washing machines that use very little water in the drums these days smell more that the older washing machines that used to fill up halfway up the door bowl when washing. In fact I myself have noticed that the 'older' washing machine drums smell of nice washing powder smells and the newer ones after a while just smell of stale water even if you do regularly do a maintenance wash and keep the door gasket clean by wiping it down after every wash. Talking of which , the machines use little water mainly for economy , but once a month you are required to do a maintenance wash with nothing in the drum at 90c temp (again a tiny amount of water going into drum not even getting up to the top of the bottom paddle/lifter - so again you would think even the maintenance wash programme they give you would fill right up to the bottom of the glass door bowl so it can soak that part of the door gasket where those drain holes are and where the water gets lodged and doesnt drain away ... but they dont. I suppose the way I look at it is that they have gone modern with the way they use less water, less time to heat up (because of less water) and more efficient soap powder/liquid .. but the its gone a step back in the case that now I think it doesnt keep the drum/gasket/door as clean and cushion the clothes as they revolve (and soaks them) , and possibly puts less wear on motor and belt? as when they used to have a good amount of water filling up to the bottom or halfway up the door) and at the end of the day the consumer is to perform a 90c maintenance was anyway once a month so that would push the electricity up annually anyway and take away the advantage of the savings of heating up less water to use less electricity!

Hello Andy, Just wondered why a couple of features featured on some washing machines in the last 5 years but never seemed to catch on or be fitted into the mainstream washing machines? , where they just gimmicks or used as a selling point maybe or do you think they were useful things and should have been adopted? I think the 3 that stick out at the moment is the Anti-Bacterial/Anti Mould rubber door gasket, and I believe these were fitted to Haier washing machines at one time, wouldnt that have been a great thing to adopt on all washing machines these days? - and then the second thing that sticks out is Titanium Drums which i think Hotpoint had on a couple of models of their top(est) range of washing machines - what was the 'benefit(s)' of these? and the third is Direct Drive and I think that was a LG thing wasnt it? - really better than the traditional motor/belt setup do you reckon? also why havent all machines got aquastop fitted to the cold inlet pipes .. and are they really a good addition in your opinion? - you dont hear of too many washing machines flooding kitchens because of a burst cold water inlet pipe these days do you?

Just trying to decipher Hotpoint Washing washing machine numbers Our washing Machine is a WMUD843P. So, OK I predict the WM=Washing machine, the U=Ultima(which is what it is) but what is the 'D' for? - its not a Washer/Dryer model ... and I predict the 8=8KG, the 4=1400rpm spin speed, the 3= (im not sure , could it mean revision of the model?) and the P=Polar white (the colour of the machine) what do you reckon?

It's important to realise that John Lewis do not make washing machines, or any other type of white goods. What they do, is work with major white goods manufacturers (eg. Zanussi, AEG) and have them create models of washing machine with the John Lewis brand name on. John Lewis are proud of the appliances they sell with their name on, and one advantage of them is that they guarantee them for 3 years. John Lewis commonly also get extra features added, or make the appliances even more economical to run.