Whirlpool AWM1200

...washing machine was also a Whirlpool and it lasted for about six years so we got a fair bit of use out of it. Rather than get it fixed and incur labour charges that can make up most of the bills we saw an offer for another Whirlpool machine for only £179.99. It was reduced from £279.99 in a sale saving a massive £100.00. So after looking at the online specs at miller bros we decided to visit our local store so we could have a closer inspection of ...
...was like. Well when we went we decided to look at the offers in the other stores as well and there were other machines for as low as £150.00 but they truly looked crap.

You know what I mean when I say they looked plain and just Damn ugly, pardon my French. Not the sort of machine that you would want if you had the choice. We eventually made it to Miller Bros and when we saw the machine in question for the price looks alone won it ... more

Well Christmas Eve saw us left without a washing machine as ours decided that it wanted to pack up. This was a pain, as we wanted to get our last bit of washing done and out the way for the next day. Well we had to wait to get Christmas day out of the way and decided to wait till the sales got in full swing. Anyway it is now New Years Eve and there were plenty of places for us to look at now. Firstly we looked online to see what machines were on offer in the various stores, we looked at the usual, Dixons, Argos, Curry?s and Comet etc. Then we saw an ad on tv and went to the Miller Bros website to look the offer over.

Our previous washing machine was also a Whirlpool and it lasted for about six years so we got a fair bit of use out of it. Rather than get it fixed and incur labour charges that can make up most of the bills we saw an offer for another Whirlpool machine for only £179.99. It was reduced from £279.99 in a sale saving a massive £100.00. So after looking at the online specs at miller bros we decided to visit our local store so we could have a closer inspection of it and to see what the quality of the machine was like. Well when we went we decided to look at the offers in the other stores as well and there were other machines for as low as £150.00 but they truly looked crap.

You know what I mean when I say they looked plain and just Damn ugly, pardon my French. Not the sort of machine that you would want if you had the choice. We eventually made it to Miller Bros and when we saw the machine in question for the price looks alone won it a lot. Compared to a lot of the other washing machines we saw this looked great. It was not the machine that I wanted as I would have preferred to wait a bit longer and get one of the new digital machines but with it being straight after Christmas cash was a bit shorter. We did not want to have to rely on family or any laundrette for clean clothes so we decided to buy this machine.

Now to get into detail on this machine.

Firstly I want to state that it cost about £12.00 for delivery but I did not mind as with some places you have to wait weeks for delivery but it was only the third day for Miller Bros. They deliver all the same weeks orders starting on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Only three days each week but they get them all out so you never can be made to wait for more than a week normally. This was excellent as with other places like Curry?s I have had to wait up to three weeks for items.

Even though I still have my right hand in a cast I did not wish to pay extra for installation as it is so simple anyone can do it. The delivery crew dropped off the machine exactly where I wanted it ready for me to install. Like I said I still have a cast on my right hand so I am somewhat restricted but it only took me about five to ten minutes so that must say a bit about how simple it is. Thought I would just mention that as some people do get concerned about installing new things themselves.

Installation

You get supplied with a spanner and there are four bolts at the rear of the machine to remove. These are simple and are there to just protect the machine whilst in transit, so out they came and you get four plastic caps. These simply are to cover the holes where the bolts were. Slot them in and that is done. These are not even truly needed as they are at the rear of the machine that you normally never see. After this you take your two hoses for the water and connect them. In this case they were Grey for the Cold water and Red for Hot. Straightforward again just screw them on as tight as you can by hand. Next it the drain hose, this was simply slotted into the back of the machine and all you had to do was pull it free. Now you are finished w ith the machine itself. Simply fit the other end of the hoses to your water taps, once again screw them on by hand and connect your water drain to your waste pipe. Another two-minute job and you are ready to wash. Simply turn on the water and check for any leeks before continuing.

Next if everything is ok position your machine and check that it is flat on the surface. If not it has adjustable feet to get it even as this reduces vibration and noise.

Now we are ready to go.

Well firstly for safety there is a adjustable child lock on the door so that if be in a emergency you can set it so that you can open the door at any time. This is good for several reasons, Incase your kid puts anything in the machine that really should not be you can open the door and get it out, and the door still will not open when it is turning so you have to stop it first. Then you do not have to worry about water going everywhere. How that I hear you ask, washers get full of water.

This is one thing I wondered about when I first washed with this machine and that was the seeming lack of water. With a lot of machines you see water sloshing everywhere with this you do not. All the water is below door level and barely visible. The machine itself is designed to maximise water usage without losing out on wash performance. I cannot explain how they do this as I do not know I just know that it works however they done it.

Features

Firstly the detergent drawer is simple and straightforward as most. You have three slots one for conditioner and the other two for detergent. Depending on the wash cycle you use depends what drawer to put it in but the middle drawer is the main one. It even has a removable plastic guide in case that you prefer to use the new liquid soap powders that are around. This guide has the amounts marked on it so you can see easily if you have enough in without having to try to measure anything beforehand.

Next we go to th e two dials that this machine has. One is for spin speed the other for your wash cycle. Firstly I want to mention the spin speeds. This dial has quite a few setting from 200 to 400, 600, 800 100 and 1200 spin speeds which is a lot more than most and the slower speeds are brilliant when it comes to delicate items such as wool or silk. When you pick your main wash cycle though most spin speeds are pre-set but you can manually adjust this by this dial so where permitted it will adjust to your desired speed.

Wash cycle options

These are what the extra buttons are for on this machine.

1. Easy Ironing

This increases the water quantity and spins things on the lowest settings to help prevent creasing from washing.

2. Eco

Your economical setting where wash cycle is lengthened but you use cooler water to save on energy. Only a setting that you would really want to use if you are trying to be energy efficient.

3. Quick Wash

Mainly for stuff that is not too soiled or for small loads

4. Intensive rinse

Best for delicate items like underwear seeing that they are close to personal areas to help prevent unwanted aggravation from detergent remaining on items or for baby clothes for basically the same reason.

5. Spin speed reduction

Straightforward like the spin cycle dial it reduces spin speeds

6. No spin

Best for things like wool to prevent stretching.

7. Half Load

Simple again for small loads

8. Cold wash

20 degree wash for delicates again.

Main wash Cycles

The main wash cycles are listed from A through to L. starting from A the wash cycles are at their hottest 95 degrees for things like whites etc and reduces down to l which is 30 degrees for silk.

A cotton 95 with prewash
B synthetics 60 with prewash
C Delicate 40 with prewash
D White cotton 95
E white cotton 60
F Coloured cotton 40
G coloured synthetics 60
H acrylics/synthetics 40
J Delicate 40
K wool 40
L silk 30

As mentioned with the use of the buttons and spin selector most have options that you can change as well.

There are a few extra wash cycles as well numbered 1 to 4

1. Rinse and spin

An extra intensive spin cycle if you want things in a hurry

2. fast spin

An extra spin cycle for tougher items

3. Slow spin

Once again a extra cycle for delicates

4. Drain

This is a way of disposing of water from the machine to terminate a wash cycle or to remove something that should not be there

Even though at first I thought it was weird with the seeming lack of water this machine works very well indeed. Another point to mention is the noise or rather lack of it as this is a lot quieter than our last. Even when on full spin the machine makes less noise and there is almost no noticeable vibration What also struck me was that when in use the motor sounded weird but this was explained in the manual as nothing to be worried about as they are using a newer system than the old motors which helps to reduce noise, get better results and save on energy without losing on performance.

It comes with the standard 12-month guarantee but you have the option for 8-year parts warranty for the price of £24.50 not bad but it is the labour that costs the most to fix them.

The washer itself is A rated for efficiency and B rated for detergent use so it is quite a good buy for those reasons. Not only that, but it truly does what it is meant to and get clothes clean. So far I have not had any problems with stuff not coming out but with the machine being new what else do you expect. All in all this is a great little machine for its price and a good little buy.

 

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