Hotpoint WMA30P

About 18 months ago our second hand washer finally gave up and died - poor thing ,probably exhausted.
We decided to get a Hotpoint from a local shop.Not my first choice ,I didn't really like Hotpoint.

- For the energy efficency concious among us it is rated A for efficiency and washing performance.
- Spin drying is rated B, but I wouldn't have known if I hadn't checked.
- Capacity 5.5kg cotton , the drum is big.
- Uses 58 litres water on a 60 degrees ,cotton wash.
- The machine is available in white ,siver, and linen (cream to you and me !)

The dials on the front are well set out and easy to use.
Five buttons in a row:-

1. Time saver - saves up to a third on the normal programme time.(not available with Quickwash , or any rise or spin only settings.)

2. Super rinse -does what it says really. Uses more water to make sure you get as much soap out as possible.Good if you have some one with sensitive skin or you have used extra detergent to get out bad stains -that's what I use it for epecially if my 13yr.old son has just done cross-country and made me a cross mum.

3. Rinse hold - Ive not used this very often,it holds the water in the final rinse .It is supposed to help reduce creases in delicate fabrics.

4. Gentle action - reduces wash action and spin speed for delicate fabrics. If I ever get delicate fabrics ,I will have to try these out.

5. One- You can use this option for washing single items or a small number of items. eg. jeans or dirty hill walking clothes .Great for keeping them separate from other items.

There is one knob for varying the spin speed , for those delicate fabrics I suppose!

The final knob is the programme selector -more of them in a minute, bet you can't wait.

The machine does not have an LCD display ,I deliberately avoided one ,I prefer to see something mechanical to see where the progamme is up to.

The WMA 33 also has a variable temperature control but I don't think you really need that as you choose the cycle which sets the temperature at a suitable level in the first place.

Now for the programmes, I wont go into all the variables possible , just bear in mind the buttons I have already described.

A MAIN WASH, with pre-wash. Main wash reaches 95deg.C.

B COTTON WASH,with pre-wash.Main wash reaches 40 deg.C.

C WHITE COTTON WASH ,reaches 95deg C.

D COLOURFAST COTTON, reaches 60deg C.

E NON-COLOURFAST COTTON , reaches 40 degrees C . This is the programme I use most , I find it effective on most materials.

There are four spin and rinse only programmes , in various combinations. If you don't know what I mean then you had better ask the woman in your life!

There are also six different programmes for various types of synthetic material including silk and a programme specifically for wool.

As mentioned earlier, there is a quickwash programme which is great if you spill something on a special shirt or for freshening up lightly soiled items.

There are two automatic features ,when washing smaller loads water levels are automatically adjusted to the smaller load. The other is when themachine is spinning if the load is unbalanced the washer stops and starts to try and balance the load itself. If it doesn't manage it, the final spin indicator light flashes and you can open the door to re-arrange the clothes yourself before spinning.

I use my washer for a family that includes two children who seem attracted to mud , my husband and myself.

It probably gets used 5-6 times a week on average ,sometimes more and we have had it since June 2001.

We paid £363.99 including delivery and removal of the old machine.
We have had no problems with it so far .And the results are good .

It's a lot quieter than my old washer, but then it was old. I think this is partly due to the wheels .
They are easy to adjust and can be locked into position when the machine is level. Since the floor where my washer sits is a bit uneven this was a very useful feature.

The only disadvantage I can think of is the wash takes a long time between 90 minutes to 2hours. This does not bother me as I simply do another job whilst it does it's job. There are the shorter programmes if you need something quicker.

*** IMPORTANT UPDATE!! ***

About 3 - 4 months after writing this op. I noticed the machine was getting very noisy and not spinning properly.

I contacted various people and spoke to someone from Hotpoint. They said it sounded like a fault had developed with the machine that was one that they knew about . It had occurred in a few hundred machines.

Apparently it had been flagged up on T.V. The arrangement they had come to was that they would agree to replace the drum on all machines under two years old that developed this fault for £50.

I had been without my machine for nearly a week by now , so I was glad to get it repaired . I wasn't happy about the charge, because I see it as entirely the fault of the company.

The engineer came and said all the bearings round the drum were completely corroded and that the drum was a new design. The washer had to be stripped down to the bare bones and virtually rebuilt.

I now do not recommend Hotpoint and not the Aquarious at all. Though it now washes efficiently and is back to its quiet ways. I think the customer service is terrible.

Incidentely, my mum bought a washer a little later. For different reasons she ended up getting a top loading Hotpoint . The assistant said all the parts were Bosch in the machine. When I asked if this was unusual , she said not at all. The label on the machine no longer tells you who supplies the parts for that machine. she said the parts for my Hotpoint were supplied by Whirlpool!!

Nothing is quite what it seems !

Thanks for reading this op. ,hope you find it helpful.
SueLiz.