A washer dryer with a large drum

Verdict

There are a few interface quirks with the Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK, but once you know what the options do, this washer-dryer is great. As a washing machine, its 10kg capacity is very good, and it has low running costs and great stain removal. It costs more to run on the tumble drying setting, although I found it comparatively cheaper to run than the competition and found its 7kg limit good. For simple convenience, this is a good washer-dryer.

Introduction

The Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK isn’t the company’s first large-capacity washer-dryer, but this new model has lower running costs than I’ve seen before. The A-rated washing machine is the particular highlight.

Lower running costs, than with previous machines, for the tumble dryer are good to see, although the cost for a load of tumble drying is considerably higher than with a standalone heat pump tumble dryer.

Design and Features

• Lots of wash cycles
• Dedicated Ariel Pod cycle
• Some slightly confusing interface quirks

The Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK uses the same design language as the company’s other products, including the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK washing machine. As a more entry-level washer dryer, there’s a simple white finish, but the machine at least feels well-made and robust.

It’s nice to see a large 10kg drum inside, which is big enough to take large loads or bigger items, such as duvets. That 10kg drum is for dry washing only, and the compromise is that in drying mode the machine can handle 7kg of wet washing.

Even so, 7kg is only a couple of kg behind the average load capacity of a standalone tumble dryer, so you can still get a decent amount of washing from dirty to clean and dry in one go.

The door opens wide, so it’s easy to load up with washing. As this is a more budget machine, there’s no light inside the drum to help you see what you’re doing when loading and unloading.

All wash cycles are available via the dial on the front, with the names of the cycles helpfully printed on the front of the machine. Options include all of the standards, but there are specials including cycles for Wool, 20°C, Rapid 45min Full Load and Wash & Dry 45min.

In addition, there’s a dedicated mode for Ariel Pods, and options that add steam at the end of a cycle to help make it faster to iron.

As usual, for Indesit, there’s a Push & Go button that you can press and hold after turning the machine on, which runs a wash & dry cycle. I personally found it easier to go with the other cycles listed on the front.

The front of the machine doesn’t give you any information on the maximum load capacity for each cycle, so you’ll need the manual to find this information. For example, the Wash & Dry 45min cycle sounds great, but it’s limited to 1kg of dry washing, so suitable for small loads only.

Strangely, while the table in the manual simply lists the wash details (temperature range, spin speed, maximum load size and so on) for the main cycles, the Push&Go cycle is listed elsewhere in the manual.

For each load, the LCD shows the estimated run time, although this is updated during a wash to give a real-time remaining. Each cycle can have the wash temperature and spin speed overridden, plus you can add tumble drying to most modes, drying clothes after a wash.

Alternatively, you can select a cycle, and turn off the wash phase, tumble drying only with a choice of cupboard, hanging or iron dry settings.

While the Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK can add steam at the end of a wash cycle, this mode is only for two wash cycles; there’s no option to add steam to other cycles and no steam refresh cycle.

Dedicated stain removal options are selectable, with a choice of stain type: food, work (grease and ink), and outdoor (mud and grass). The manual isn’t clear where the stain selection can be used. Through trial and error I found that the stain options are available on the White cycle only; this should be clearer in the manual.

Once loaded up with washing, there’s a standard drawer for detergent and softener at the front. You then hit the Play button to start the machine going.

Performance

• Low running costs for washing
• Good stain removal
• Expensive tumble drying

I ran multiple wash and dry cycles on the Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK to see where it was good and bad. First, I recommend carefully loading the machine and pushing items far back into the drum to reduce the chances of smaller items, such as socks, from getting caught and pushed into the door seal.

For my tests, I mostly used a 5kg dry load of washing, which is representative of a typical load of household washing.

I started my tests with the Eco 40-60 cycle. The Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK has an A-rated wash cycle, which means that this particular mode should be fairly inexpensive to run. Assuming a unit cost of 24.5p per kWh, I found that this cycle cost 31p to run, which was just a couple of pence more expensive than the same wash on the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK.

Compared to last year’s Indesit BDE107625XWUKN washer dryer, the new machine is more efficient and 3p per cycle cheaper to run.

My washing was 42.11% heavier than when it went in, which is just over the 40% threshold that I like to see. That’s not a bad result, but below 40% shows that more moisture has been removed, reducing drying times.

Stain removal was good, as you can see below (stains are, left to right, red wine, cooking oil, ketchup, orange juice and gravy). I found that all of the stains were gone, bar some flakes of ketchup, which can be brushed off, and the red wine stain, which was prominent.

Switching to the Cottons 30°C wash, I found that running costs jumped to 40p per cycle, while my clothes added 40.49% in weight.

With this cycle, the stains were all removed, including the ketchup stain, which had a faint trace left, and the red wine stain, although here it was reduced more than when using the Eco 40-60 cycle.

Switching to the 20°C wash, running costs dropped to 25p for the cycle, mostly because water usage remained flat. Here, my clothes were quite wet at the end, adding 50% in weight. The wash performance was alright, but there was quite a bit of ketchup and gravy stains left, and the red wine stain was very prominent.

I tried the Ariel Pod setting, which is designed for 4.5kg of clothes, so I had to remove some items for this test. I found that the running cost was just 25p for this cycle, although my clothes added 58.54% in weight, as this cycle uses a 1000rpm spin speed.

Stain removal wasn’t the best on this cycle, either, with a lot of the ketchup and gravy stains remaining, while the red wine stain was still highly visible.

To see what the Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK is really capable of, I used the White cycle at 60°C, with the stain removal set to food. I found that this cycle cost 58p to run, and my clothes came out 44.08% heavier.

This thoroughly removed all stains, bar ketchup, which was still quite visible, and red wine, although for the latter, the stain was dramatically reduced, which is impressive.

Running the Fast wash cycle, which is designed for lightly soiled items, I found that the cycle cost 39p to run, and my clothes were 49.17% heavier. I’d only use this cycle if I really needed to turn around a load of washing fast.

I then switched to tumble drying. Here, the costs are considerably higher than when using a standalone tumble dryer. That tends to be the case, as washer-dryers aren’t as efficient and must use water in the condenser.

I also found that the Indesit BDE 107436 WV UK was a little strange in its operation. When set to tumble dry only, the machine doesn’t spring to life immediately but instead sucks in a small amount of water and then jolts as the drum moves. It did this for around 10 minutes each time I used the dry cycle, and I thought there was an issue at first; however, after this initial start, the drying began as normal.

To take a load of washing to dry using the cupboard dry setting, I found that it cost 75p. That’s quite a lot, although 14p cheaper than the same cycle in the Indesit BDE107625XWUKN. I found that 102.49% of the moisture was removed, which means that some fibres were lost during the drying process.

Switching to the hanging dry setting, I got better results: 70p running costs, and 100.83% moisture removed.

Running the wash and dry cycle, with just 1kg of clothes, I found that the cycle cost 26p, although my clothes were still quite wet with only 90.74% of the moisture removed. They needed another go in the tumble dryer, or leaving out for a while. That’s quite expensive for a small load of washing and drying, but if you have a few items that you want to go from lightly soiled to ready to wear in under an hour, it’s impressive going.

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