Whirlpool 9kg/6kg Washer Dryer Combo WFWDC96

Brilliant machine which does have an Achilles heel – This machine has some advantages over other front load combos but it also has an Achilles heel. It's lint collection is non-existent. No recirculation pump and no in wash filter except the obligatory drain filter. This lint filtration during washing only occurs in the very expensive models and even then in wash lint filtration isn't easily maintained which is a big oversight generally in my opinion.

That said I'm very impressed with this machine. It's particularly quiet during the drying cycle which uses a 1200 watt heater element and a cylindrical fan that accepts short squirts of inlet water to steam clean the clothes to keep them from wrinkling or smelling mouldy. That same steam keeps the clothes fresh for up to 6 hours after the wash and dry finishes.

The dryer section is so quiet that you have to go into the room to check it's working. It really is that quiet

The spin speed is selectable with a default temperature and spin speed suggestion for each cycle you select and can be as high as 1600rpm which is higher than most and probably contributes a lot to the fairly high efficiency of 4.5 and 4 respectively for wash and dry.

The direct drive is actually a belt drive but it has no gearing so it's direct in that way and the motor can measure the effort required to turn the drum. As you select the clothing material type by wash cycle it then can gauge the wash load by motor load and set the correct water and other settings to save you on energy...6th Sense.

This machine has an enormous range of wash times from 30 minutes for a super quick wash without a dry to a full 10+ hours yes that's ten hours for an eco cotton full wash and every duration in-between.

The idea of the long cycle is to trade off energy consumption for time of wash completion by washing and drying at a reduced rate and reduced temperature but for longer.

This is the best use of a combo because if you are out for the day and you arrive home to your clothes fully dry and clean, what do you care how long it ran for especially if it's longest part of the cycle is the quietest, the drying.

But if time is important then you can indeed play with the settings of spin speed, temperature and dryness to shorten the wash n dry time. Or simply select the 45 or the 90 minute wash and dry cycles for small loads.

This machine doesn't take too kindly to powders being used when the temperature isn't high enough to easily dissolve. Doing this coats the dryer chamber (not the wash drum) and blocks the condensation tube which ruins the dryer effectiveness and breaks the dryer heater element. So follow instructions and use liquid detergent when washing below 60°C. About that 60°C temp and above use either powder or liquid but don't overfill the machine with powder detergent or you'll ruin its drying as powdered deposits collect over time.

One sanitary feature of this machine is its hidden ability to do a 90°C wash, courtesy of its 1800 watt drum heating element, yes it's got two.. So while it doesn't have a "sanitary" cycle officially it can wash items in a sanitary way.

Well....aside from the stainless steel drum and the child lock and door lock and the ability to pause the wash and on many shorter cycles add items mid wash there's more surprises in store but do follow instructions and please don't overload it as the clothes need space to tumble. As a rough guide a standard oval laundry basket holds 3 kg of washing when not compressed.

Brilliant machine if treated correctly.

Download manual before you buy – The advantage is that it has a stainless steel drum and that it washes reasonably well. However Only one of the 12 washing programmes has 9/6 capacity according to the manual Whirlpool sent me. Download the manual and check the load capacity of each programme before you buy. Compare with the advertised 9/6 kg. I wrote to whirlpool and had them send me the link to the machine manual because the instructions that came with the machine gave such low load capacities that I thought it was sn error.

I Have written to Whirlpool and asked for the cycle durations as this does not appear in the manual. The synthetic wash dry cycle default is 7 hours 50 mins