Hotpoint WD440 > Reviews > My first washing machine

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Good
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Long
Noise	Average
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Great washer, easy to use
Disadvantages:	Take's ages to dry

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I bought the Hotpoint WD440 as my first ever Washer Dryer for my new home. Having previously lived at home where my mum or the laudret did my washing, I had never reallly had the need to use a washing machine myself. In fact when confronted with having to do my own washing, I was scared about all the dials and buttons and settings and was convinced that I would shrink all my clothes or dye my clothes pink with that ellusive red sock!

My first beautiful washer dryer machine was delivered to me one Saturday and within 15 mintues my husband had connected it all up and it was doing it's first wash! I was so shocked at how easy it was to use. There are a lot of settings, for silk wash, hand wash, wool wash included the usual 60 degree, 40 degree etc washes.

With the Hotpoint WD440, there are only 3 dials which you use to select your drying time, the heat and the programme (which is written in plain English on the front of the machine). There are 4 buttons for you to select any special features like, reduces creases, hot drying time etc. And then another two buttons to start/stope the cycle and on/off.

The dryer leaves the clothes with a lovely finish, once they are completely dry. However to get the clothes completely dry you would have to leave them in the dryer for at least 2 hours. I usually use the 90mintue dry as I get bored of waiting for the cycle to finish, but this results in having to finish the clothes off in the airing cupboard, which isn't always a bad thing. For items like towels and bed linen, I have to use the 2 hour dry. But if using this drying time, you will definitely have to select the "reduce crease" feature as the items seem to come out really tangled and creased.

Other than the problems with the dryer time this is a lovely washer dry that is easy to use and had a modern and sleek design. I would recommend it to any one needing a new washer dryer, as long as you don't mind the increase dry time. It is also fairly quiet until it does a "fast spin" which only takes about 15-20 mintues.