Hope this helps - I nicked it from Ebay !!.........
Well on the front of the machine there are just four buttons, a large knob (ooer missus!) and a detergent drawer. Mind you we haven’t used three out of the four buttons yet.
The first button is the on / off switch, funnily enough that’s the one we have used! We have to remember to switch the machine off before turning the knob round to select the desired programme.
There is a button, which when depressed, gives the washing a ‘super rinse’. This is useful if you’re doing a load of very soiled washing and have used more detergent than usual.
There is a further button, which is called ‘creaseguard’ which is effectively a rinse hold by any other name! Basically if depressed it will stop the programme before the final rinse suspending the contents of the machine in the final load of water until such time as it is pressed again and the programme will restart. This means that the clothes will not be as creased as they would have been if the programme had finished completely and the clean but damp washing was lying on it’s own weight if you see what I mean.
The final button is the ‘intensive wash’ button which, when selected, allows you to wash at a constant temperature with a vigorous washing action, ideal for stubborn stains.
As I say I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of these three functions as we don’t have really dirty washing and there’s always someone in to empty the washer so we don’t need the rinse hold, but I have no reason to suppose that they would be any less impressive than the rest of the washing machine’s repertoire!
The pull out detergent drawer is split into three separate compartments, one for detergent used during the prewash function, one for detergent used for the main wash and the other one for the fabric softener. Pretty standard stuff here then.
The dial has numbers 1 to 10, the letter Q and various symbols set around the edge of it. These represent the various wash programmes from a 95-degree hot wash for soiled white cotton (number 1) to a 30-degree delicate wash for woollens (number 10). These wash programmes take from 2 hours for number 1 down to 40 minutes for number 10. This is based on the machine filling only with cold water, so it is actually quicker as the machine has hot and cold fill taps and takes hot water from the boiler, as well as cold water from the mains.
The letter Q on the dial is the setting for a quick wash programme taking just 32 minutes from start to finish, ideal if you’ve got a load of lightly soiled articles.
There are also various rinse cycles with short or long spins shown as ‘spray’ and ‘circle’ symbols on the dial. The 1300 in the name of the machine refers to its fastest spin speed.
The knob must only ever be turned clockwise and only then when the machine is switched off. So to wash a load of clothes it is just a matter of filling the machine, turning the knob to the relevant number corresponding to the programme you want to select and turning on the machine. The washing comes out clean and almost dry too - that 1300 spin speed is pretty damn good you know! It is also remarkably quiet too.
All the programmes are detailed on the front of the machine so you don’t have to keep getting the user manual out to see which wash programme you need to use.
These programme options are also listed in the user leaflet, which is excellent and all in English too. What I mean by that is that you don’t have to trawl through pages and pages of French, German, Spanish, Italian etc., looking for the right set of pages to read.
The leaflet explains exactly how to load the machine, what the various programmes mean and when to use them, the water and energy consumption of each programme, cleaning the machine and troubleshooting for any problems that you might have.
It is recommended that you clean the detergent drawer regularly and also check and clean the filter once a month. This is done by removing the kick plate at the base of the machine, unscrewing the filter, checking for any foreign bodies, cleaning the filter and then replacing it and the kick plate.
A bit of other information for you is that the machine is self balancing so if your washing load is not balanced correctly when the machine begins to spin, it will stop allow the washing to reposition itself and then begin to spin again. This means that the drum will not bang about within the machine and cause any damage.
The machine also decides automatically the optimum amount of water to use for the load being washed. This means that the less washing in the machine the less water it will use, which is great for the energy consumption, the environment and my bills as we’re on a metered supply!
The door will remain locked for two minutes after each washing cycle has finished.
A word of warning before I finish, when the washing machine is set to wash the clothes on the highest temperature the door becomes very hot, so if you have children, keep your eye on them!
Well, in conclusion, we are all very impressed with this machine and the washing is always extremely clean and you can’t ask for more than that can you?
Kwitderber, October 2007
