Hoover VHD 814/Z 14 > Reviews > promises more than it delivers

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Good
Ease of use	Easy
Durability	Satisfactory
Noise	Low
Value for money	Fair

Advantages:	only small amount of detergent needed for a very clean wash
Disadvantages:	cycles for the 8kg washes are over 3 hours long

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

This washing machine sounded absolutely perfect - a big 8kg load, 2 short programmes of 29 and 44 minutes, adjustable spin speeds and wash temperature, timer saver, stain blaster, delay start and sensitive care controls. I bought it primarily because of the 8kg capacity and the short 29 minute programme thinking that you could use both simultaneously. Unfortunately this is not the case - the maximum load for the 29 minute programme is only 2kg. and the rinse on a large item is poor (powder remains on clothes). It's really only suitable for a few items of underwear. The 8kg. washes are only on 4 programmes which take an eternity to complete. Even with the Timer Saver button, my towel wash took over 3 hours. I was so convinced that something was wrong with the machine that I called out the service engineer but was then advised that because it uses a cold fill, it does actually take this long! You don't find this out until you have read the user manual, so beware if you want a large capacity machine that washes in a short time - this is not it! However, I must admit that my socks have never been so white and you really don't have to use much detergent to achieve a really clean wash. But I would not have bought this machine if I had been able to read the user manual beforehand simply because I expected to be able to load 8kg for ALL wash loads.