There are many, many washing machine brands available in the UK today. The two market leading brands in terms of volume are Bosch and Hotpoint. The majority of mid to low end washing machines are manufactured in the Czech Republic, Poland and India.

The majority of Bosch and Hotpoint’s washing machines are manufactured in various plants through Eastern Europe.

In terms of other brands, Beko entered the market about 10 years ago - all of their products are made in Turkey. High end brand Miele very high quality washing machine brand and along with Siemens all of their products are made in Germany to very high standards.

Samsung and LG's products are again, generally speaking, mid to high end products and are made in Korea. We also have other brands like Indesit and Hoover - who are also made in Eastern Europe with Candy and Sharp.

There is a wide range of brands and pricing and generally speaking you get what you pay for. The lower end, cheaper brands will be reasonably made products but they simply won't have long term components and they will not last a long time. These products tend to have no more than a one or two year warranty and that reflects the nature of the product and the fact that they won't last a long time.

When you look at the other end of the market brands like Millie and Siemens these are very well made machines to high standards made in Germany with high quality manufacturing conditions with top quality components and they will last a long time. They're durable robust and reliable. So although they are more expensive they will give greater value for money.

Whilst some brands are very well known – Hotpoint, Indesit, Beko, Hoover and Bosch have a great brand awareness – they no longer manufacture to the high quality standards they did in the past.

Hotpoint used to manufacture in the UK – now longer do. Hoover was an American brand but now outsources production to low cost base countries. Even Bosch - which was almost exclusively manufactured in Germany for many many years - now manufactures the majority of their washing machines in low cost countries like India, Czech Republic and other countries in Eastern Europe to reduce costs.

When we try to establish what the best washing machine brand is we would take the view that the best washing machine brand should offer a combination of great cleaning, great energy management and cleans your clothes very well. Is very economical and is easy to use and ultimately is very very reliable and lasts long time.

We believe that these are the most important factors when selecting what is the best brand. When you look at these factors we would suggest that you consider the higher quality brands like Ebac, LG, Samsung and Siemens and Miele. Although these brands are more expensive they offer greater value because they are more reliable, give a higher performance level for a longer period of time and will last many many years. They will outlive the cheaper brands many times over and that is better for the environment better for you economically. They save you money in the long run. Our device is that the best brands tend to be those higher priced ones but they deliver higher performance and give you greater value for money.