Posted by Kate Owen
Thursday, 11 Mar 2010
Large washing machines might seem like a great idea in theory but before you buy ask yourself do you really need such a large appliance?
In reality many families don’t actually need a 9kg washing machine (or a 10kg, or 11kg appliance...) because anything up to 8kg is perfectly adequate. An 8kg washing machine will even take a king sized duvet and unless you’re actually running a hotel (no matter how much it might feel like it some days) it is highly unlikely you’ll be washing bulkier loads than that!
Larger 9kg washing machines are very useful in particular situations; like at Christmas when the world and his wife come to stay, when you arrive home from holiday with case-loads of dirty laundry. Or even when your (allegedly self sufficient) offspring descend on the doorstep with their bags of washing. Oh joy...oh bliss!
But the fact is many families won’t require more than 8kg washing capacity on a regular basis. So when you’re buying a washing machine bear in mind the capacity you need to wash. 1kg is the equivalent of five man’s shirts so...
• 6kg will wash 30shirts
• 7kg will wash 35shirts
• 8kg will wash 40shirts
• 9kg will wash 45 shirts!!
Chances are your family won’t get through 45 man’s shirts in a week and if you’re laundering children’s clothes they’ll make up a considerably smaller load. Plus, you’ll likely have to split loads into colours and fabrics, rather than doing everything at once.
The beauty of a 9kg washing machine is that you do have the option to wash vast amounts of laundry when those situations arise. If you are dead set of investing in one of these machines, make sure you choose one like the Hotpoint Aqualtis AQ9L29IV, which possesses a half load option. This ensures you conserve energy rather than running a complete programme at only half full.