Springtime means that clothes can go straight from the washing machine onto your washing line.

On a blowy day, this can be a very quick way to get your laundry dry and, of course, it won’t cost you a penny. But how quickly your clothes dry on the washing line will be directly influenced by how well your washing machine spins them.

In our lab tests, we’ve found massive differences in how washing machines spin clothes dry between the best and the worst washing machines.

The best washing machines we’ve tested will remove around 63% of the wash water from the clothes during the spin phase. This means the clothes will be wet, but not sopping wet.

The worst washing machines we’ve seen only manage to remove around 28% of the water by the time the buzzer sounds. This means the clothes will feel soggy.

Why washing machine spin speeds can be misleading

You might think that the revolutions per minute (rpm) advertised is a sure-fire indication of how well a washing machine spins water away, but that isn’t always the case. Our investigations have found some 1200rpm spin-speed washing machines that do a better job of removing water than 1400rpm machines. We’ve also seen 1400rpm machines that can beat 1600rpm machines in terms of water spun away from the load.

That’s where our reviews come in. When you see a washing machine we’ve rated five stars for spinning, you’ll know that it did a great job in our lab tests, regardless of the spin speed advertised.

Best washing machines for spinning

We’ve just posted new reviews for 10 of the latest, most popular washing machines, from top brands including AEG, Beko, Bosch, Hoover and Whirlpool.

One of the new washing machines tested did so well that we’ve made it a Best Buy. It aced our tests to score a hugely impressive 76%.

But one machine was so poor that it scored just 36% in our tests and we’ve made it a Don’t Buy.

Of those 10 washing machines we’ve just tested, five machines have been awarded a full five stars for spinning prowess.

To discover those that were also good enough at washing and rinsing, compare our washing machine reviews.

Which? washing machines: latest reviews

Beko WMI71442 £369
Bush WMNSX1016W £329
Candy GV169TW3W £270
Hoover DXOC47C3 £276
Hoover DXOC68C3B £299
Montpellier MW1012P £299
Whirlpool DLCE71469 £329
Whirlpool DLCE91469 £379
AEG L68480FL £389
Bosch WAQ284S0GB £449

How we test washing machines for spinning

We stop washing machines straight after the rinse phase to weigh the clothes in the load. We then complete the cycle, including the spin, and weigh the clothes again.

Washing machines that remove more water receive higher scores from us for spinning and will leave you with clothes that are quicker to dry on the line or in a tumble dryer.

The Vax Blade 32V Pro cordless vacuum cleaner is a follow up to the popular Vax Cordless Slimvac, which was the first Vax model to adopt a Dyson-style stick design. Vax claims that it’s ideal for floor-to-ceiling cleaning, so you can tackle everything from crumbs to cobwebs. We took it for a spin to bring you our first impressions.

The most striking difference you’ll notice with this vacuum is the dust container, which has been flipped on its side, creating ‘a direct air path from floorhead to cyclone’. This is claimed to improve its cleaning abilities, which Vax says are comparable to a plug-in vacuum.

The Blade follows the general trend in cordless vacuums to align more closely with the Dyson-led design of a small vacuum body with interchangeable handheld and floor-cleaning accessories.

It’s launch price was £300, but we’ve seen it on offer for £180, which makes it cheaper than some big-name rivals.

Read the full Vax Blade 32V Pro first look review to find out what we thought of this vacuum cleaner.

Vax Blade 32V Pro vs Dyson cordless vacs

The Vax Blade cordless aims to stand out in a crowded market with its ‘direct helix technology’. This redesigned airflow system is meant to optimise suction power, whatever angle you’re cleaning at. The longer handle on the front is also intended to help you comfortably switch between different cleaning positions.

The claimed 45-minute runtime is pretty good compared with Dyson cordless models. It should give you enough time to get around the house, provided you don’t overdo it in Boost mode (which drains the battery more quickly). There is also a ‘smart control’ dial that lights up to let you know how much charge you have left and whether the Boost mode or brush bar are activated.

If you buy it on offer, it’s a relatively affordable price for a cordless vacuum cleaner, comparable to entry-level Dyson models such as the Dyson V6. There is also a cheaper version available – the Vax Blade 24V. This has a shorter 35-minute runtime and costs around £30 less than the 32V version. We’ll get our full lab results back for the Vax Blade Pro in June.

If you simply want a tried-and-tested cordless model, head to our round-up of the best cordless vacuum cleaners to see the models we recommend.

Cordless vacuum cleaners reviewed for 2017

We have fully lab-tested reviews of all of the major players in the cordless vacuum cleaner market, including Bosch Athlet models, the Dyson cordless range, Gtech Air Ram vacuums, and cordless options from floorcare heavyweights Hoover and Vax.

The best are almost as good as our top plug-in vacuum cleaners, but we’ve also encountered plenty of cordless vacuum cleaners that are truly terrible at cleaning, particularly for tougher tasks such as sucking up pet hair and cleaning carpets.

If you’re keen to go cordless, make sure you get a vacuum cleaner that will help rather than hinder you by checking our cordless vacuum cleaner reviews.