Quick Wash on Washing Machines - Load Capacity

[andyr12345]

When the manufactures put a quick wash feature on a washing machine why can you not load the drum to the full capacity of the machine? 

So , my particular washing machine is an 8KG model. If I use a 1hr quick wash the maximum allowed to put in the drum is 3kg I think it is. 

Do they say 3KG maximum because there is fraction of water that goes into the drum on a quick wash than on a full wash and thats why its a quick wash, because more water going in to fill tub = more time? 

I realise on a quick wash the amount of rinses is cut down to 1 and that the spin is shortened - but what are the consequences if you fill up the drum nearly all the way to the top of the drum and select quick wash, are they just not going to clean properly or are there other issues?

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Andy. The larger the load the more water is needed. However, the time spent filling with water doesn't really add a lot of time to wash cycle. The washing machine generally just gets on with what it needs to do whilst the water is running in. So for example on the main wash cycle as soon as the water starts going into the machine (and covers the heating element) the heater can be switched on. Water can still be coming into the machine but the washing machine is already doing the wash.

The savings in time (and energy) with less water will be made by the simple fact that it will take it less time and use less energy to heat it to the required temperature. The most amount of time spent on wash cycle is heating up the wash water and rinsing the laundry. 

Using less volume of water on the rinse cycle will save a few minutes on fill time but again the most time-saving will be if the laundry gets rinsed effectively in less time. This can be done if there is less laundry in the drum and it is less dirty rather than because there is less water.

Manufacturers tend to boast about quick wash cycles and sell them as a feature. People get the impression that a particular washing machine washes quicker. The truth is that all washing machines need virtually the same amount of time to wash properly. At the end of the day all washing machines work exactly the same. You can't cut down the wash time and achieve the same result's if you are washing them in a normal drum using agitation and heat. The only washing machine that I've ever known that genuinely washed quicker was the Dyson contra rotating washing machine. I had one of these washing machines and it was the quickest washing machine we've ever used. It managed to wash quicker because of the unique design of the drum. It turned in two directions at the same time. This was a much more efficient way of agitating the drum.

The quick wash cycles are all designed to wash very small, hardly dirty laundry. They are great for freshening up laundry that's not really dirty. You might get away with washing relatively dirty laundry if there are very few items inside but even then the quick wash is not the ideal cycle to use. They are designed to just be extremely quick so they are not going to clean dirty laundry. If you were to wash a full load on one of these wash cycles it would just not get the laundry clean.

The following articles may be of interest -

• Washing machines with faster washes
• Washing machines with a 30 degree wash cycle
• Quick wash options aren’t quick enough
• Washing machine drum sizes

[andyr12345]

Thank you Andy for that extensive information very interesting, I know I shouldnt be interested in washing machines and how they work, it must sound a bit nerdy, but I am , i find them fascinating and how they work  - I shall read them articles. 

if the time taken up (or part of it is heating up the water) why do manufacturers use elements that are only around 1700w on the washing machine I wonder? - A 13a plug can take up to 3000w of power, so if the machine manufacturers even put a 2500w heating element in it to heat up the water that still leaves 500w and the motor or any other components in the washing machine wouldnt use that amount of power

Also I have noticed different washing machines operate in different ways, on my older hotpoint machine (I think it was wmf something or other ) it would start washing (IE drum wouldnt start revolving) until there was nearly all the water in the drum , and even then if it had to input more water it would stop revolving as the water went in and then start revolving again when the water had finished going in. On my present WMUD843P washer on 60c fast wash it waits until it nearly filled up with water before washing / revolving ... but if I put the machine on 30c / 800rpm fast wash it starts revolving/washing straight away as well as taking in water.  

So on the basis of that is it better for machines to start washing at the same time of taking in water? - or is it better to have water go in first into the drum and then start washing/revolving? 

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Andy. It could be something to do with energy ratings. Once everything got obsessive about appliances using as little energy as possible a lower heating element wattage would make it look like it used less energy - even if it used exactly the same because it took longer. I'm pretty sure they used to be slightly higher at one time.

However, there is no requirement for a more powerful element because washing laundry effectively takes time. Biological detergents in particular work better at lower temperatures and with water that slowly increases in temperature. If the water was hot to start with, or very quickly heated up to the right temperature it wouldn't necessarily cut down wash times because "time" is one of the crucial elements (excuse the pun).

On your last point I would agree that starting to agitate the drum as soon as water starts to enter is how they used to work. However they use so little water nowadays that that waiting for the correct water level to operate before rotating the drum shouldn't really impact anything at all. You would think though that they would want to try and shave every minute off the wash cycle. They seem happy enough to just slap quick washes on instead.

[JetSystem]

Quick washes on modern washing machines irritate me to no end. There's a myth that quick washes are more energy efficient, but it's not true.

Fast forward to the days of old (well, the 70's - 90's anyway). Most washing machines were all around a 4kg capacity and were hot and cold fill. They also used double the amount of water of a modern equivalent machine. Smaller load, less heating time, more water = quicker wash times.

The current trend of large capacity, energy efficient machines means that modern washing machines are expected to wash, in some cases, more than double the amount of laundry in one load with half the amount of water that they used to. There has to be a compromise somewhere and it's usually time.

Quick washes still have to meet certain energy standards now, therefore the amount of heating time, washing time, rinse length and spin length/speed largely isn't adequate to wash a full load of dirty laundry.

Also...and this is more of a theory than a confirmed fact...but I suspect washing full capacity on quick wash causes excess wear on the motor. Mainly because the quick wash will be programmed to spin in a shorter time. Ramping up to spin with a full load in a cycle that isn't meant to be used like that could potentially cause more wear than is standard.

A few brands do offer quick washes that will wash full capacity loads. Beko have "Daily Quick", Hotpoint have "Fast Wash 1 Hour" and Hoover have "Daily 59min" - thought the Hotpoint fast wash only offers 30 and 60 degree temp options. Most of these offer a reduced spin speed and less rinsing - 1 or 2 rinses tops. Not at all adequate for anyone with allergies or sensitive skin, but that's another kettle of fish entirely.

My Miele is pretty good with cycle times. It automatically reduces the cycle length for shorter loads, so it only washes at full length (which even then is only around 2 hours - move over Zanussi/AEG with your 3 and a half hour cottons 40 washes!) if it's a full load. I can't say I've ever needed to use the quick wash, except for if I've bought something new and just want to freshen it up.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Another thing is that as far as I'm aware most people with a large capacity washing machine rarely fill it up any more than they used to fill their old ones. Large drums are only energy efficient if they wash a large load. I read somewhere that the average wash load is still quite small. 

[andyr12345]

I have only seen 2 washing machines (lets say in the affordable range) that will wash a full capacity of 9kg drum load in 1hr quick wash. A Bloomberg one which was in a leaflet that come in the post, it was about 399euro - and an Indesit Innex 9kg at 349euro (does one rinse, and then 1 fabric rinse) and can only select 1000rpm speed max even though machine can do 1400rpm. 

My present Hotpoint does 48min @ 30c  or 1hr10mins @60c both can use 1400rpm - but , and here is the caveat, it says in instructions for the machine is that you can only put in  3kg of washing. I am no good at weighing washing, I have intetion of putting dirty washing in basket then getting this scale thing you weigh your airport luggage bag with just to give me a rough idea of what 3kg of washing actually is.

It is for these reasons , I really wish for the day and age we live in (and i am sure its technically possible without hardly much more added cost to manufacture of the machine ) that with machines with large LCD/LED displays (even the cheaper models of around 300-500euro) that when you turn it on and the display lights up that it calibrates at 0.0kg on the display, and then as you load the washing it totals up how many kg's precisely going into the drum ... then if it flashes up 3.0kg you know thats the limit for the quick wash, no guessing involved, then shut the door and away you go, if it flashes over 3kg (or whatever maximum the quickwash is designed for) then you can take some garments out and then away you go. And then when you shut the door the Display panel can go back to its standard info for setting the wash. This might seem a gimmick also to most but I can see people selling this machine telling people that it weighs your load as your loading your machine and it being a selling point. 

Now, I have no doubt that maybe if you are paying maybe over 600 - 800euro for a bosch or miele or something like that they do have this kind of feature and electronics? - do they? 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

They should be able to weigh a wash load by measuring the resistance that the motor faces when turning the drum. It should be possible to calculate the weight of a load by analysing how much power it needs to use in order to turn it. They use this method already to decide if the load is balanced or not. A balance load would allow the motor to run fairly smoothly with consistent draw on power. I don't know if anyone has developed way of calculating the wash load size by my speculative method or not but if anybody can it would be Miele.