Washing machine advice!

[Gemma]

Hi all,

We're moving out to France to start up a B&B and we're looking into washing machines at the moment!  What is a good washing machine for somewhere that's going to have 5 rooms to let out...doubles and singles so it'll need to be fairly sturdy!

Would appreciate any advice.

Gemma

 

[Quillan]

We bought two with us, one failed after 8 months and even though it was a Hotpoint it could not be fixed here. Different electronics and valves for hot and cold water than the European one as they only use cold water here. We bought the replacement, a LG here, we went for biggest load and highest spin, we also bought a dryer which you really need in the winter. Our second machine has just gone bang, its a old Bendix from the UK, about 25 years old and we will replace with a French one. We have 4 rooms and require the following items to run if this helps.

3 sets of bedding for each bed.

3 sets of towels for each bed

2 washing machines

1 drier

2 dishwashers

1 Proffessional steam iron with a tank that can be filled without switching it off. We paid a lot for ours and it was worth it, can iron a sheet folded in four.

Custom built ironing board (I posted instructions on how to make one in this part of the forum last year)

There are cheap places to by machines, they sell B grade stuff like in the UK, dent in the side or a scratch on the front. Not as cheap as the UK but cheaper than the shops.

My tip is buy quality sheets from the UK and buy only white because you can boil them to get rid of 'body fluids'.

[Cerise]

Like Quillan we have an LG large capacity machine - much cheaper than some of the other makes and same amount of guarantee.  Really could do with a second machine.  We too have 4 rooms.  During busiest times I sometimes just wash towels myself and send sheets to the laundry. The ironing is what I really hate especially when it is very hot weather.  I do have 2 ironing boards and irons and we can both iron at once if necessary (there's partnership!!)  We do have a tumble dryer but I rarely use it as we have a very large cellar/laundryroom and I have large old fashioned pull up dryer next to boiler and sheets dry very quickly in there when weather is not good.

We too go for the all white sheets option - but I buy mine from La Redoute.  As we rarely go to UK and never in car I think buying there would be a bit expensive, plus the sizes are slightly different.  We have one English (rectangular) and one French (square) pillow for each place and although I use quilts also have some sheets and blankets in case anyone prefers.

Maggi

[Alan]

[quote user="Cerise"]

I use quilts also have some sheets and blankets in case anyone prefers.

Maggi

[/quote]

Hi Maggi

We use quilts but do find that the french prefer sheets and blankets.With only 3 rooms i can manage with one washer machine but if i had the space i would have a second dishwasher.

Chris i could do with a new heavy weight iron, what make is yours

[Russethouse]

The one piece of advice I would give to anyone buying a washing machine is to check not only the guarantee but also how long the response to a call out is.

My Bosch machine had an extra years guarantee as standard but it went wrong twice in the first year and it took them 3 weeks each time, to come out (and the first time they left me with a leaky connection) I wasn't amused in a household with 4 adults, if I had been running a business that needed clean linen I would have been very upset.

[Eslier]

Gay makes a very good point.  It would be worth buying a machine from a local supplier - Gitem maybe - who provide their own backup sevice. It may (or maybe not) cost a few euros more but could save you loads of grief if it ever breaks down.

We have a Thompson 6kg top loader which has been extremely reliable and efficient. A top loader will save on a lot of back breaking bending when loading and unloading. Most of them are only 5kg load but if you look around there are a few 6kg ones available.

[Coco]

It's a shame you've just missed the sales.  We bought a 7kg Ariston front-loader and saved 100 euros.  I currently have a top-loader which takes a 4.5kg load and have struggled on for the last 3 years with 3 bedrooms.  And I do say STRUGGLED - it was permanently running during the summer months.  We are having an extension at the moment so don't need to replace the old top-loader but will be running it alongside the new one, which will probably be necessary as we will also have an extra bedroom.  Also great backup in case one goes wrong (I'd always worried about that).  We're also getting a new dishwasher (but will keep the old one) if you're planning on doing table d'hotes two will be very useful, as you'll find that if you have more than six for dinner you won't possibly get everything in one wash (and again, we'll have no break-down worries).

I started off with colour co-ordinated towels and bedding for each room the first year but soon learnt that by the end of one season of washing most of them on a daily (or alternate daily) basis that they looked pretty washed out and faded.  Now everything is white, which as Chris says, allows for a hotter wash, and also means you can use them in any room.  I've just bought some percale stuff from www.becquet.fr which was pretty good, also some white bath mats which are good enough quality but half the thickness (and a third of the price) of my previous John Lewis ones, which means they will dry much quicker!

Chris, I'm about to invest in a new iron - I'd be interested in the make and price of yours too.

[Gemma]

Thanks for that, definate food for thought.  We're looking to come out in April so it's a case of trying to know what we want before we get there.  Can't wait but feeling the stress of getting things organised!

Definititely going to be going the white sheet avenue now!

Thanks G

[Quillan]

OK you guys wanted steam iron info.

We have two (one as a backup) Delonghi Stiro Meglio 3D Pro1100 and it costs from between 169 and 184€ depending where you buy it. The best thing about it is that it creates 4 Bar of steam pressure which means you can fold a double sheet in four (quarters) and it will iron it. It has a water container on the front and fills it's self whilst running. It's so easy to use a man can use it. Takes me 46 seconds to iron a double sheet properly, beat that girls.

The reason we have two, well we had a Polti which was crap and it went bang after 11 months and for 6 days we had to use a ordinary domestic iron, never again.