1600 vs 1400 vs 1200 rpm washing machine

I got this question before – and now I bought one, I hope I can help you choosing the right washing machine.

You might have read other answers on the Internet – and yes most of them are saying a 1200 rpm washing machine is just as good as a 1600 rpm one, in term of the dryness of the clothes.

Wrong!

That might be true with synthetic clothes – which are the easiest ones to dry. But for cotton, it’s a big different. I tried same clothes with both 1400 rpm and 1600 rpm and my clothes are noticeable drier when it comes out of 1600 rpm mode. 1200 rpm, of course, is not even close.

My washing machine, a “high-end” model from Bosch has common presets:

• 1600 rpm for cotton
• 1200 rpm for synthetic
• 1400 rpm for the mix of two above.

And for me, that totally makes senses. I noticed this kind of setting across many manufacturer – the cotton preset is always the one with fastest rotation available.

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That means the time you need to dry it, as well as the consumption of the dryer, will be less.

And to endure 1600 rpm spinning speed, the washing machine must be sturdier and more balanced. In other words, it must be built better – so you can expect it to last longer, at least for the motor part. You can see that in same series, the higher model which supports 1600 rpm is always heavier than the lower end models. Yes – it’s to support and withstand the faster rotation.

An example is a 1400 rpm machine from Bosch, series 6 WAT2869MSN, only weighs 72 kg

https://www.bosch-home.se/produktlista/tvattmaskiner-och-torktumlare/tvattmaskiner/frontmatade-tvattmaskiner/WAT2869MSN 

A series 8, (which supports 1600rpm) WAWH26M9SN, weighs 81 kg

https://www.bosch-home.se/produktlista/tvattmaskiner-och-torktumlare/tvattmaskiner/frontmatade-tvattmaskiner/WAWH26M9SN

Given they have fairly same size, and fairly equivalent features, the difference in weight, of course, have to come from inside. The higher model has more weight to make sure it is stable with the rotation of 1600 rounds per minute.

So if you have cotton clothes – which I suppose you do – and if you can afford it, I would suggest to go to 1600 rpm one. It’s nice to have the option, it is nice to have drier (cotton) clothes, and it’s nice to have a washing machine that lasts longer.