Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK

A fairly cheap washing machine, the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK manages to get past its low price with a large 8kg drum and high spin speed. Low running costs and high cleaning capability help but this washing machine is relatively slow to get through a load, so if time is important, there are better options.

Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK – What you need to know

• General wash performance – Simple controls make it easy to get this washing machine running but it’s very slow.
• Stain removal – Tackles most stains with ease but left behind a sizeable chunk of our ketchup stain.
• Spin efficiency – A-rated with a 1600rpm spin, this washing machine gets lots of water out before you remove the water.
• Features and programmes – Covers all of the basics, but this washing machine is also Woolmark approved for delicates.
• Running costs – A+++ rated, this is a cheap washing machine to run, particularly if you can use it at full capacity.

Related: Best washing machine

Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK Design – Plain and simple

There’s nothing particularly to get excited about with the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK. It has a plain white finish all over, and it’s a bog-standard entry-level design here. That’s not to say that the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK is badly made (far from it), rather there’s nothing that particularly jumps out about this machine. Still, for all that, the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK is well built with a tough-feeling body and nice action on the door.

The control panel is simple, letting you choose any of the 16 washing cycles, which includes everything that you’d expect, plus a Woolmark approved wool-care wash, which is brilliant for anyone that has lots of delicate garments that they’re bored of washing by hand.

After you select each programme, you can override the temperature and spin speed using the controls under the simple LCD screen that shows you how long is left for the current cycle. And, there’s an extra option to give you a quicker wash and to use steam for additional hygiene. Of course, there’s a delay button if you don’t want to wash your clothes immediately.

There’s a decent-sized 8kg drum inside, which should suit most households, and the portal is large enough to make loading clothes easy. A standard detergent and softener drawer pulls out from the top and is easy to fill.

Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK Performance – A little slow and it didn’t cope well with our ketchup stain

I put the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK through the Trusted Reviews test wash cycles, using our test load out of clothes. I used our standard 30C cotton wash. This used a reasonable 0.4kWh of energy, although water usage of 51.5-litres of water was a little higher than on some other machines of a similar drum size.

Stain performance was generally very good. The red wine stain had faded a lot, while the vegetable oil stain had gone. There was quite a lot of the ketchup stain left, which was disappointing, although the orange juice and gravy stains were completely removed.

Cleaning test 30C: Dirty test strip (left) vs Clean test strip (right) – move slider to compare

Thanks to the A-rated spin cycle that runs at 1600rpm, our washing maintained 0.9kg of water, or a low 35.16% of the dry weight. That means that clothes removed from this washing machine have to be sat out for less time or require less time in the tumble dryer.

To test how much the washing machine would cost to run per year, I used the EU energy label on the front to work out the cost per cycle. I then worked out how much it would cost to run in the UK, assuming an average of 274 washes per year. I worked out a cost with high (6kg loads), medium (4.5kg) and low (3kg) usage, assuming that for each user a full load would be used, as that’s the most efficient (in other words an 8kg washing machine has to be used less to wash the same amount of clothes as a 5kg washing machine).

Based on this, the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK lived up to its A+++ rating, with running costs per annum of £53.39 for high users, £40.04 for medium users and £26.69 for low users. That’s fairly low costs per year, although I have seen other A+++ machines with lower costs.

This is a fairly quiet washing machine, too. During the wash, the machine mostly sits around 54.9dB, with the spin cycle jumping to 62.9dB; however, even on the maximum spin, the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK barely moved and there was little vibration through the case.

The countdown timer is a little off, with the washing machine adding some time as it approached the final spin. That’s on top of some quite slow washing cycles, which take on average close to three hours. If time is of the essence, there are faster washing machines.

Should you buy the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK?

With its low running costs, low price and a relatively large drum, the Hotpoint NSWM 863C W UK is great value, particularly as it is Woolmark approved. Stain removal was mostly very good, although the left-over ketchup was a shame.

There’s also no getting around the fact that this is a very slow washing machine, and there are quicker models. If you’re on a fairly tight budget, this is a good washing machine but the Candy Grand’O Vita GVS169DC3 costs a similar amount and cleans better, while the Hisense WFGA9014V costs a bit more but is much faster and also cleans better.

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