LG Direct Drive washing machine, 1200rpm, 7kg load, white, F1256QD
From LG
Product Description
BRAND NEW WITH FULL LG WARRANTY FAST DELIVERY ONLY UK MIDLANDS PLEASE
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #77362 in Kitchen & Housewares
- Brand: LG
Customer Reviews
Men don't get excited about washers!
Or is it? Our broke down on Christmas Eve and with a 9 year old boy, we were stuck. We couldn't wait for Amazon or one of it's partners to deliver quickly enough so off to Curry's where we paid somewhat more for this item, which I have to say was delivered and connected within two days.
The washing machine itself is well built, indeed, a friend who helped me install it into our "fitted" kitchen commented how well built it was and that the motors are considered in a completely different league to the belt driven machines of yesteryear. In use the machine is exceptionally quiet and despite its relatively slow 1200 rpm, the size of the drum spreads the surface area somewhat and the washing is no damper than what came out of our 1600 rpm hotpoint with a much smaller drum. The capacity is 8kg on our machine and I think that this might be wrongly labelled as 7kg capacity. Suffice to say, it swallows a huge load through a very wide door and to date has washed about 10 loads of washing ranging from our normal personal laundry, bedding and latterly the dog's bed. All of the items have left the machine very clean.
There are a plethora of programmes including a very swift 30 minute wash which actually took 42 minutes, as the machine has to allow the water to be warmed: like most modern washers it is cold fill only. There are arguments for and against this development, however with modern detergents needing lower temperatures and smaller amounts of water, the use of the hot fill has become somewhat limited unless you are needing water over 70 degrees and most washers only used the hot fill if the temperature was set this high anyway.
After a few days, we reckon that this machine is superb, it is quiet, it uses about 30% less electricity than our previous model and it washes our clothes really well and one last thing, because of the larger drum, they come out much less creased. I love it, I cannot believe how difficult our life was without a washing machine and now thanks to this item, the equilibrium has returned to our home. Can't wait to purchase the next appliance.
Pleased with this machine, in general
For my first trial of my new machine, I washed a load of white towels, using the cotton cycle, with the temperature set to 95, the spin cycle set to 1200, and the Crease Care button ON. I used my usual dollop of gel detergent put directly into the drum and about a tablespoonful of bleach in the fabric softener dispenser. (I never use fabric softener for towels, but prefer a spot of bleach for sterilising purposes.)
I didn't take note of the exact time it took (will do next time) but it was more than 2 hours.
The wash came out beautifully clean, seems to be well-rinsed, and incredibly soft and un-creased. The towels did not smell of bleach. Perfect result.
Very pleased with the result; a little less happy with the time it took to do the wash.
After the wash had finished, I sat with the machine and took note of each cycle's maximum spin, maximum temperature, and average length of cycle. The results are as follows:
Delicate - 800rpm * - 40º - 51 minutes
Handwash - 800rpm * - 40º - 49 minutes
BioCare - 1200rpm - 95º - 2 hours, 26 minutes
White - 800rpm (WHY?!) - 95º - 2 hours, 48 minutes
BabyCare - 800rpm - 95º - 2 hours, 45 minutes
Cotton - 1200rpm - 95º - 1 hour, 54 minutes
CottonQuick - 800rpm (WHY?!) * - 60º - 1 hour, 26 minutes
Synthetic - 800rpm - 60º - 1 hour, 15 minutes
Blanket - 800rpm - 95º - 1 hour, 40 minutes
Bulky - 1200rpm * - 30º - 1 hour, 9 minutes
Quick30 - 1200rpm * - 40º - 37 minutes
Rinse&Spin - 1200 - - 22 minutes
Spin - 1200 - 17 minutes
* no CreaseGuard feature is selectable with this cycle (WHY???)
I am very annoyed that certain programmes don't allow selection of the 1200 spin option. I certainly can't understand why the White and CottonQuick cycles only allow an 800 spin, which will certainly require an EXTRA spin at 1200, adding 17 minutes to an already-lengthy wash time. Cottons get just as wet on these cycles as any other! The CottonQuick cycle ALSO does not allow the Crease-Guard feature to be selected either. So, if you want soggy, creased cottons served up 28 minutes sooner, by all means, choose CottonQuick. Otherwise, choose some other cycle.
The plain Cotton cycle works fine, but takes a helluva long time. It can be shortened some by reducing the temperature to 40º, although it still takes at least 1 hour, 37 minutes to do a normal wash at 1200 WITHOUT CreaseGuard. It does do a great job with the clothes, though, and the fact that the clothes are tumbled 4 times after the normal spin does help reduce the wrinkles. The CreaseGuard, if selected, adds about 4 minutes to the overall time, but the clothes come out in perfectly unwrinkled condition. A great feature!
The Quick30 allows a 1200 spin, and 40º suits me, and the 37-minute-cycle is pretty good for small loads. This is a cycle I will probably use often, despite its lack of a CreaseGuard option. However, BIG BIG FLAW. This cycle only allows 3kg of laundry to be done at one time! In a 7kg machine! What a PAIN. What are they thinking of? Why didn't they just call it a Half-Load cycle instead, which is what it actually is? I feel quite cheated by this option, which was supposed to be quicker, not smaller! Geez.
I have also tried the Bulky cycle with a normal wash load, to see what happens. The machine's Detector allowed me to choose this option with a lot of normal clothing in it. It's got the 1200 spin and a 30º wash temperature, and only took just over an hour to complete. It didn't allow the CreaseGuard, but the wash does automatically tumble 4 times after the cycle has finished, so the clothes came out reasonably wrinkle-free. I'd only ever washed at 40º as the lowest temperature before, but the drop to 30º didn't matter too much. (If ever the Detector doesn't allow me to choose this option because my load isn't bulky enough, though, I will be mightily cheesed off!) I can see myself using this cycle fairly often, otherwise.
Did I happen to say how much I hate and fear the Detector? I keep waiting for it to throw a strop, and refuse to do my washing until I straighten up and fly right! It's like they've installed Inspector Slack from Miss Marple into my machine! So far I've managed to stay on its good side, though.
One other minor annoyance - the "Pause" button only holds the wash for 4 minutes. If, after that time, you haven't re-started the machine, it turns itself off and all the programming is lost. You'll need to start ALL over again. Not terribly handy, if you've paused the machine to answer the phone or some other reason which might take longer than 4 minutes.
So far I have not resorted to using the MedicRinse option, as the clothes I've washed so far seem to come out fairly soap-free. Very pleased with this; it's a huge improvement on my previous (non-LG) machine. I'm not sure how the MedicRinse cycle actually operates; I don't know if it uses more water (the best option) or if it just adds another rinse cycle with tiddly bits of water and lots more time and energy (not the best option.) However, so far I've not needed it, which is good.
The control panel is initially intimidating, as it resembles the flight deck of a Boeing 747. However, once I got over being intimidated by the bells and whistles and flashing lights, I discovered it's actually very easy and intuitive to use. In fact, the bells are quite helpful in letting me know when washing has finished, when I've made a mistake in programming a cycle, and the flashing display tells me exactly what's happening with the wash and how much longer it's going to take. (Mind you, the display did stick for nearly 10 minutes at the `7-minute' mark during one cycle, but anybody can make a mistake, even a machine!)
Another BIG plus. LG has finally eliminated the insanely long time between a wash cycle ending and the door unlocking. My previous (non-LG) machine had a 3-minute delay, which drove me to the brink of insanity. The machine I had before that -- also not an LG -- had a delay of a minute and a half. This new LG opens the door more or less immediately after the cycle has finished. Yee-ha! No more hanging around the machine, staring at my watch for several minutes. So far I've not lost an arm in the process, so it seems to be safe enough.
This machine has a `revolutionary' new design, which has attached the drum directly to the machine's motor. This is supposed to make the machine run more quietly. So far, I must say, I haven't noticed much of a difference between this one and my previous machines, especially during the 1200 spin cycle. In fact, the spin cycle is quite noisy, with lots of floor vibration. This could be a problem with my bouncy floor, and isn't something I can't live with - but you should not buy this machine based on the premise that it will be quiet. It's not, really.
So far, I am reasonably pleased with the machine. It seems sturdy and well-made. I am extremely annoyed that there isn't any one programme I can select which doesn't have some disadvantage; with a little more engineering attention paid to how folks actually DO their laundry, these annoyances could have been avoided. However, compared to the specifications of other machines -- including one which was far more expensive, but didn't have a separately-selectable spin cycle to use on handwashed items (!) - this LG is the best I could find. I can live with its programming flaws, and am very pleased with the way my clothes come out. So far, so good. I would recommend this machine to any prospective buyer.
greatest washer ever
Once again amazone were better than their promise the washer was delivered with 2 days and also the washer itself is the quietest washer that i have ever heard even when it is spinning theri is no sound great great GREAT.
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