The LG FHB1209Z2M is the biggest of LG's three FHB12 series front loaders, and it exists for the loads the smaller machines cannot swallow. A 9 kg drum takes bedding, bath towels for the whole house, curtains, or a full week of family cottons in one cycle — the things that otherwise get carried out to a laundry.

Worth knowing before you buy: the rated 9 kg applies to the Cotton and Cotton+ programmes. The specialist cycles are deliberately smaller — Allergy Care and Mixed Fabric take up to 4 kg, Quick 30 and Activewear up to 2 kg, and Delicates up to 1.5 kg. Overloading a delicate cycle is the usual reason a wash disappoints. The cabinet is 600 mm wide, 850 mm tall and 550 mm deep, and you need to allow 1030 mm of clearance in front for the door to open fully — measure the doorway and the spot before it arrives.

The motor is LG's Inverter Direct Drive, which couples the drum straight to the motor rather than spinning it through a belt. Fewer moving parts means less noise, less vibration and one less thing to fail. On a machine that regularly spins heavy, wet, unevenly distributed loads like bedding, that matters more than it does on a small one. The direct coupling is also what makes 6 Motion Direct Drive possible: the drum can tumble, step, roll, swing, scrub and filter, and each programme chooses the motions suited to what is inside it.

Steam is on the Allergy Care programme, running at 60 °C to cut down the substances that set off allergic reactions — sensible for bedding, pillow covers and baby clothes. The machine feeds from a single cold inlet and heats the water itself, so every temperature from cold up to 95 °C is available without a hot water connection. Spin tops out at 1200 RPM, and with towels and sheets that top speed is the difference between a load that dries on the line and one that sits damp. There is also a Tub Clean programme at 60 °C — run it regularly and the drum stays fresh.

Two practical notes for installation day. The transit bolts must come out before the first wash, using the spanner in the box — running the machine with them still fitted will damage it. And the machine needs to sit properly level on all four feet or a heavy load will make it walk during the spin. The cold supply hose, spanner, hole caps and anti-rat cover are all in the box; the drain hose is already fitted at the rear.

The same machine is available as an 8 kg (FHB1208Z2M) and as a 7 kg (FHB1207Z2M), the latter in a slimmer 440 mm deep cabinet for tight spaces. In stock in Malé at Night Owl.