Big drum and cheap to run

Verdict

Slightly clunky user interface aside, once you’re used to how it works, the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK is a great low-cost washing machine, with low running costs and a large 11kg drum. Working well to remove stains across its run of wash cycles, I found this machine a great performer with a brilliant choice of wash cycles.

Introduction

The Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK is designed to be convenient to use, with multiple wash cycles that take less than an hour to run, plus a dedicated cycle for Ariel Pods.

With a very large 11kg drum and an A energy rating, could this be the ultimate low-cost washing machine? I’ve been putting it through its paces in our testing lab to find out.

Design and Features

• Lots of wash cycles
• Slightly confusing manual
• Dedicated Ariel Pods cycle

I’ve reviewed plenty of lower-cost washing machines before, but the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK stands out. It has a very large 11kg drum and an A rating on the energy label. Normally, at this price, I’d expect either a smaller drum or a higher energy rating.

This washing machine is a little deeper than some of the competition, sitting 605mm front-to-back. That may mean it protrudes slightly from the counter. The more expensive competition, such as the Samsung WW11D8B95GB fits an 11kg drum into a 550mm deep cabinet.

Finished in white plastic, this washing machine isn’t the most stylish that I’ve reviewed, but it is well-built and feels solidly made.

The porthole door opens wide, giving access to that large drum inside. A big drum like this means that you can squeeze a bit more washing in, compared to a standard-sized 9kg model, and there’s more room for big items, such as king size duvets.

As this is a cheaper machine, there’s no light inside the drum to make it easier to see when loading or unloading.

Wash cycle control is provided by the dial on the front, with a guide to the cycles listed on the front drawer. All of the standard cycles are there, plus there are special modes for duvets, 20°C, 45-minute and 20-minute fast cycles, two modes that use steam to soften fibres for easier ironing, and wool.

In addition, the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK has a dedicated cycle for use with Ariel Pods, which are the ultimate in convenience: throw a pod in, add your washing, and off you go.

As is common with other Indesit appliances, the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK has a Push&Go button. Turn the machine on, press and hold this, and a 30°C wash programme is selected. I actually think it takes more time to select this cycle than it does to pick one of the other ones.

While it’s useful to have the cycle names on the front, there’s no guide as to the maximum weight of washing you can use for each cycle. For this information, you need to turn to the manual, which is a combination of the brilliant and the frustrating.

For the brilliant, there’s a simple wash table that shows you the wash temperature range, the maximum load and the duration. That’s great, but the table doesn’t list the details for the Push&Go cycle, which only has text information later in the manual.

I also didn’t find the manual very helpful when choosing some of the additional wash options. For each wash, I could choose a range of temperatures and spin speeds, plus set a delay timer. There’s also a button to select a stain type (food for beverages and foodstuffs; work for grease and ink stains; and outdoor for mud and grass), with the cycle adjusted to target this kind of muck.

The manual says that if the stain option isn’t supported, the machine beeps when the button is pressed; however, it doesn’t say which cycles the stain option can be used on. The answer is that the stain feature is only compatible with the white cycle, which I found out through a slightly frustrating process of elimination.

It’s also a shame that steam is only an option for two complete wash cycles and that it can’t be enabled for other cycles. I’d have also liked a steam refresh wash cycle as an option.

Aside from this, the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK is easy to use. There’s a large drawer for detergent and fabric softener, and the LCD shows the estimated wash time, with a live countdown.

Performance

• Low running costs
• Useful fast cycles
• Excellent stain removal

To see how well the Indesit BWE 111496X WV UK performed, I ran it through a wide range of cycles, using my standard 5kg mixed load of washing, which is about an average load in the UK. I started off with the Eco 40-60 wash cycle, which I estimated would cost 29p (assuming an electricity cost of 24.5p per kWh).

The cheapest that I’ve seen for this test was from the Samsung WW11D8B95GB, which cost just 18p for the same cycle. However, Samsung’s washing machine is a lot more expensive to buy. Comparing with something more similar, last year’s Indesit BWE101685XWUKN cost 34p for the same cycle.

The wash performance was good, as you can see from my stain strip below, which shows stains from left to right: red wine, cooking oil, ketchup, orange juice, and gravy. The red wine stain was still quite prominent (as it usually is on this cycle), and there was a faint outline of gravy, as well as a few particles of ketchup that would brush off. Otherwise, the strip was clean.

My clothing was just 37.86% heavier than when it went in, showing that the spin cycle is good: I like a result under 40%.

Next, I tried the Cotton 30 wash, which increased the running cost to 36p, while the spin performance dropped a little, with my clothes coming out 41% heavier.

Here, stain removal was good. The red wine stain was more faded, but still visible, and there was just a trace of ketchup stain, while the other marks were removed.

Moving on to the 20°C wash, I found that running costs dropped to just 14p, which is cheaper than the same wash cycle on the Samsung WW11D8B95GB. Weighing 41% heavier than when they went in, the spin cycle did a relatively good job with my clothes.

Stain removal on this cycle was excellent. The red wine stain was still very visible, and the gravy stain remained quite visible, but the other stains were gone.

I tried the Ariel Pod setting, which runs a 30°C wash and is designed for 4.5kg of washing, so I had to remove a few items. I measured this cycle as costing 35p. As the spin cycle is just 1000rpm on this mode, my clothes were pretty wet, coming out 56.38% heavier. It is a fast cycle, though, taking just 59 minutes.

Stain removal is a mixed bag in this mode. While the red wine stain was quite faded, the gravy stain remained very visible, as did the ketchup and oil stains.

Finally, I used the White wash at 60°C, with the stain setting set to food. This cycle cost 59p, with my clothes coming out 43.57% heavier. However, the stain removal was very good, with the red wine stain very faded, while the other stains (bar the ketchup) completely removed. For those deep, engrained stains, this cycle is very good.

For lightly soiled clothes, the 45-minute rapid cycle can get your washing ready in a flash. It’s relatively expensive to run, though, at 36p, and my clothes came out 47.28% heavier. I’d use this cycle if time was the most important thing, but the other cycles are cheaper to run.

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