Drum capacity is first on the list when looking for a new washing machine. When the ‘newness’ of wears off, however, things start getting pretty routine of just to throwing in a load when the laundry basket is full, choose the cotton cycle and hit start.
A better way of doing laundry would involve knowing how and how much to load your washing machine. We’re not suggesting you weigh your laundry before every wash, of course but, how much you load your washing machine has a big impact on performance.
Overloading your washing machine will reduce cleaning performance while increasing energy consumption while underloading it is a very inefficient way of using your appliance.
Pay attention to drum size
Drum capacities (given in kg) are a somewhat useful indicator of how much laundry you can put in your washing machine, but it’s enough of a chore already without having to get the scales out! This table below will give you a rough indication of how much laundry you should be putting in you machines at a variety of capacities for a standard cotton load.
6 kg drum
5x small towels
6x t-shirts
2x jeans/trousers
10x underwear/pairs of socks
2x bedsheets
2x pillowcases
or
A single duvet
7 kg drum
5x small towels
10x t-shirts
4x jeans/trousers
20x underwear/pairs of socks
2x bedsheets
2x pillowcases
or
A double duvet
9 kg drum
6x small towels
12x t-shirts
5x jeans/trousers
22x underwear/pairs of socks
2x bedsheets
2x pillowcases
or
A medium king size duvet
12 kg drum
8x small towels
15x t-shirts
5x jeans/trousers
30x underwear/pairs of socks
2x bedsheets
2x pillowcases
or
A heavy king-size duvet
Of course, this is simply a guide, so you’ll have to use your judgement when swapping out items from the list above. A useful rule of thumb is that, for a standard cotton cycle, you should fill the drum around 80%, without really compacting down the laundry.
Not all materials are created equal
If you’re making use of material-specific cycles like a delicates or outwear programme, then the optimal load weight will vary. The best advice we can give here is to check you washing machine’s user manual for exactly how much laundry you should be putting in for these cycles.
If you’re a Beko owner, you can download your user manual with your product number. Oh and one more thing. Don’t put sopping wet laundry into the washing machine. Wet clothes are heavier so will throw out any estimations we’ve made above.
So, it’s far from an exact science, but the guidelines above are a good place to start for a standard cotton wash.