I miss my top loader - this front loading Bosch machine may be economical, but doesn't wash as well – We bought this machine as our 2nd washing machine - the first was a Simpson 7.5kg top loader, which died with a leaking water pump that was too expensive to justify replacing. We had our first machine for about 5-6 years. I thought that a 6.5kg front loader was a little smaller, but we could make do, as there are only 2 people in our household. Boy, was I wrong!

I agree with another reviewer, that this particular front loader doesn't wash the clothes as well as a top loader. There is inconsistency in the distribution of powder and sometimes the clothes aren't wet through fully, so the best you can load it to would be about 5.5kgs to get an even wash. I wash 4-5 bath towels (not bath sheets) and a hand towel or two, but have to wash the bath mat separately. And when doing bed linen, I wash sheets and pillow cases, then the mattress protector separately. So overall, I am probably using more water and detergent than with the top loader - not so eco-friendly!

I use Omo sensitive detergent, and only use 3/4 of a cupful with this machine, as any more and there is so much detergent left on the clothes and towels that they dry stiff. I have never used fabric softener, so I'm not sure if this would help the problem.

The dog bedding definitely does not wash as well with this machine as our top loader, as there is no lint filter which used to catch all the dog hairs :( and the larger dog bed cover doesn't fit in this machine at all.

The spin cycle is quite noisy - luckily our laundry was external in our old home - we are about to move to a new home with an internal laundry closer to the bedrooms so it will be interesting to see how much noisier it is when we use it at night. It is good that it spins to 1000rpm, but note this speed is only on certain cycles - the clothes do seem to dry a little quicker with the faster spin speeds in this machine (our old machine was probably 700-800rpm at best and used to wobble across the room).

I usually wash everything at around 30-40o but will occasionally put the bed linens or towels on a hot cycle (for hygiene), I don't know that they wash any better. It should be more environmentally friendly with the 4.5 star rating - depends on your level of usage I think. Cannot wash over 5.5kgs properly.