When is a washing machine not a washing machine?

When it is your friend. When it is on your side. When you no longer feel restricted to only using the one cycle that you understand. When it meets your every laundry need. When it feels like it has been built to be fully customisable for your own family. When you don't feel you can press the wrong button. When you no longer have to do handwashing (yay!). When laundry is no longer a chore. When laundry disasters are a thing of the past. When it can do practically everything save for telling you that you've left a tissue in the pocket!

Welcome to the world of the AEG L89499FL with OKOMix technology and Optisense features. Rated at A+++ - 50% (if like me numbers aren't your thing - in short, that is an excellent efficiency rating).

Gobbledy gook descriptions aside, this washing machine that we were sent to review courtesy of AEG and Mumsnet bloggers really feels like it has been designed with all the needs of my family in mind.

I need a massive drum - This machine has a 9kg washload AND it WEIGHS your washing as you put it in (just remember to switch it on before you start to load it).

I need wash cycles that can be made shorter when there's less washing - see above - it WEIGHS the washing and it's Optisense technology means that it can work out exactly how much water, energy and time to use. It even tells you how much detergent to use based on how much washing is in there - Mega cool!

Having kids ranging in age between 4 and 12, the kind of washing they generate varies. A lot. Miss T has just started school and so often comes home with school lunch down her white top. J is a sweaty nearly-teenager who needs his smelly bedding washed on a hot wash. D generally stays clean but then again loves art and so occasionally gets very mucky. Then there's work shirts that create an endless pile of washing and ironing. I have my own delicates that I have NEVER trusted a washing machine with (until now that is).

 I even entrusted my new delicate dresses to the new washing machine - Now that is trust!

So very varying needs. It seems crazy now to think that I stuck with the same wash cycle all these years being too afraid to change it because I wasn't sure how the washing machine would react.

The strange thing is, with the new AEG washing machine, there seem to be more options than ever with its digital control panel. And yet I feel so safe in its hands - trusting it completely with my washing. It almost feels like you really can't go wrong.

Yes those delicates have gone in and it has done a wonderful job with them.

Yes those work shirts have gone in using the steam function and come out not needing to be ironed.

After washing them, I put these shirts on a refresh steam cycle and now they won't need ironing! 

Yes I can set the temperature to a hotter wash for those smelly sheets and a cooler wash for everything else.

For the first time I can trust washing at 30C. I remember when the detergent adverts first tried to encourage us to reduce our washing temperature to 30C claiming it would wash as effectively. I soon realised that was not the case.

Yet with the AEG's OKOMix technology (which combines the detergent with water and then sprays it right into the heart of the washing), a 30 degree wash really does get clothes clean and smelling unbelievably fresh. The detergent goes in the drawer as normal and the washing machine does all the clever stuff inside.

The smell blew my mind. I could not understand how I was using the same detergent I always use and the washing was smelling and looking cleaner than ever - AND on a lower temperature wash.

AEG have made 4 very short videos that explain all this far better than I can and they're worth a watch because everything they say has proved to be true in our experience of this truly incredible machine!

Everything about what this machine can do has the wow factor. Let me tell you about when we read the instruction manual. Bear in mind that an instruction manual for an appliance is usually considered a boring read. Something to be quickly looked at and then shoved at the back of the drawer never to see the light of day again.

As we read about the features of the AEG L89499FL we were literally 'oohing' and 'ahhhing' in amazement. The more we read, the more excited we got. Yes I know! Excitement reading an instruction manual. I never thought it possible either!

When it comes to technology and appliances in particular, I'm usually wary of making recommendations about products because what suits one person may not suit another. But regarding this AEG washing machine, I have one thing to say...

When you need a new washing machine - Get one of these!

I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network Research Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product and have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.