Indesit IWE91481ECO review

WASH PERFORMANCE

To discover the cleaning performance of the Indesit, we put it through a series of tests using our stain strips. View our gallery to see all of the cleaning examples: dirty cloth is at the top of each sample; the clean one is at the bottom.

Close inspection of the stain strips for both the 30C cotton wash and 40C cotton wash showed that the cleaning performance was better in the 40C cotton wash, as we’d expect. The stains were lighter and more evenly removed in the hotter cycle, particularly on the blood sample and combined blood, milk and ink sample.

Blood stain removal was better on the 40C Cotton cycle than at 30C Cotton

Red wine was also removed more efficiently in the 40C cotton wash, compared with the 30C.

We were impressed with the red-wine removal at 40C

The 40C synthetic cycle, however, was a different story – staining of blood was still visible, and the blood, milk and ink sample was still fairly dark. Again, red wine seemed to wash out quite well.

Using the 40C Synthetic cycle, the blood stain was still quite visible

The thing to bear in mind here is that this is a low-cost washing machine. While the performance doesn’t warrant a fanfare, and struggled to remove some stains, we couldn’t expect it to perform as well as those costing twice the price. For regular use of lightly soiled items and those that just need refreshing, this washing machine will probably do the job effectively enough.

EASE OF USE AND FEATURES

Although a mid-range washing machine, there’s a decent range of features. A digital screen tells you how long is left of the cycle. The Easy Iron function helps reduce creasing in garments, and it’s good to see here. There is no prewash on this machine, but there are plenty of different cycles, including those designed specifically for sports clothing, jeans and also wool. Refresh cycles are also available for items that don’t necessarily need an intense wash.

Build quality feels quite good for a washer of this price, and it’s simple to control and understand. The layout of the dials is good, and there are a few nice features thrown in for good measure. Noise was quite low and we found the washing machine generally unobtrusive. Overall, it’s an all-round decent washer for the price.

CONCLUSION

There’s no denying the price is good and running costs aren’t too bad, either. However, spend a little more on the Zanussi ZWJ14591W instead and you’ll get better wash performance and more consistent running costs.