Have you tried all the 60C cycles? I've just had a look a manual for a similar machine and it seems you can get a hot wash on Synthetics and even the Easy Iron cycle.

If you're just using Cottons at 60C it may be worthwhile trying Synthetics or Easy Iron. Maybe these run with higher water levels in the rinse? I'd bet the Easy Iron cycle also employs some kind of cool-down by way of top-up with cold, giving a higher level. A different cycle might resolve the problem by being less hard on the fabric.

It's worth checking what kind of fabric your bedding is made of: if it's the standard polyester/cotton blend, the Cottons cycle is really too harsh for it. High wash temperatures and fast spins won't do fabrics any favours when it comes to creasing, especially any kind of synthetic fibre which, essentially, is a kind of plastic and susceptible to damage by excessive heat - look what happens if you use an excessively hot iron on polyester or acrylic, for example! Most machines now also rely on a post-wash spin as part of the rinse: if you do that to hot synthetic fabric it will inevitably spin creases in.

From experience, I can tell you that my poly/cotton work shirts will iron easily if washed at 40C; washing at 60C turns it into a major performance of dampening fabric plus using steam!

Even if your bed linen is 100% cotton, a less intense cycle will pay dividends in terms of providing a less crinkled and ragged result.

The marks you're experiencing are very odd but if they rinse out it's a good sign it's nothing too terrible - not grease from dodgy bearings, for example! Do you use fabric conditioner? That can occasionally cause scummy marks. Quite the mystery...

Not all machines are the same. Not all Cottons 60C programmes are the same. Just like not all fabrics are the same, nor should they all be washed as cotton. There are a lot of people who don't understand this basic premise.

Machines are machines, not mind-readers. There's a limit to how much fancy sensor electronics can achieve in varying wash profiles.

If you can't adapt your laundry process to countenance using or trying a different programme, you'd better get looking for a machine with a different sort of Cottons 60C cycle!

Sorry if that sounds too blunt...

I fully understand the frustration of having a machine you don't really get along with. It's so difficult to pick a new machine that operates the way you'd like it to. There's always some kind of compromise to be made: a "good" washer can be endlessly reliable but do terrible things to your clothes or irritate the life out of you; likewise, a "bad" washer can produce fantastic washing but be a headache to keep running!

You'll have to start a list of how you want your new washer to wash, then somehow try and match a new purchase accordingly.

It's worth bearing in mind that Cottons 60C is going to be intense programme whatever machine you pick - after all, it's normally the cycle performance standards are measured against - so it may be wise to look for something that allows you to modify the cycle (e.g. run with higher level rinses, tone down the spin etc).

I wish I was in more of a position to chop and change (or even try) machines!

Of course, if you do fancy venturing into the realm of alternative programmes on the Zanussi, do let us know if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, you have further amunition to say the machine's a wrong'un and best avoided! Not that we're going to twist your arm or anything....