How to Purchase a Washing Machine?

Agreed, it can be one hell of a task to select one perfect washer! Especially in this competitive tech world, where every product is good, prices are damn competitive, variants, finance options are excessive….it becomes a daunting task to select one. 

To add on to the grief, let us tell you one more thing, it’s not just about brands, size, and price. There are various other factors too that make this tough task a mammoth one. So, let’s discover the factors which if considered can make the buy easy.

The budget

As you will enter the store, you will be flooded with washing machines in all ranges. From as low as 5K to as high as Rs 80,000, the machines are priced depending on size, features, capacity, loading capacity, semi-automation/fully automation and top load/front load etc. If you know what feature you aspire for along with the budget then the decision will become easy. 

For the uninitiated, semi-automatic machines are the ones that contain two tubs - one for washing, another for drying. These machines are called semi-automatic as human intervention and manual work is required (The clothes have to be shifted from one tub to another. As a suggestion, if you are a patient of back aches then this machine is not advisable) Because of the human intervention, these machines costs somewhere between Rs 5000 to Rs 17,000.

Coming to fully automatic ones, these machines involve nominal human intervention.  All you need is to put the clothes and start the machine, that’s it.  No need to pour, rinse, move clothes from one tub to another. One only needs to take the clothes out after the cycle starts. Since these machines are powered by more functions and eases the washer from work, they are costly. They cost anywhere between Rs 13,000 to Rs 80,000.

Top load washing machine 

As the name suggests, in this machine the clothes are loaded from the top into the tub. Since there is single tub, there is no need for one to shift the clothes. The top loading washing machine is connected to inlet tap that controls the minimum water level in the machine. This kind of machine has fewer wash programs as compared to counterpart and hence they are economical.

Front load washing machine

In these kinds of machines the clothes are loaded from the front side. Usually these machines have cutting edge features, Timer, stop machine, hot water supply, child lock thereby making it an expensive buy. These machines are best for families where there are kids or more family members. 

3. The capacity of the machine  

The capacity of washing machine’s tub is measured in kilograms. It is directly linked to the number of clothes to be washed in kilograms. Hence, more the family member, more the number of clothes and more the capacity will be required.  Plus, some clothes are light weight, but they take up more space (like blankets, bed sheets) whereas some clothes look small but are heavy (like denims). In such cases, the buyer of the family has to decide the machine very thoughtfully.

4. Lifestyle

Buying a washing machine is a long time investment, so one really needs to be clear about questions like ‘how often clothes have to be washed, what will be the frequency of washing? Is the laundry heavily soiled? Any specific feature? etc. A bit of research on these topics will make the buying decision easy and less stressful. Moreover, the size of the family also plays an important role. More the members more should be the capacity of the tub. Infact, more the member, more automated the machine should be as it makes the job of washer easy and less time-consuming.

5. The frequency

As said before frequency also plays a major role in deciding the machine. Wondering how? Well, if you have a house full of people and wish to wash clothes once or twice a week, in that case large capacity washing machines are needed. Whereas for people who wish to wash frequently, medium size washing machine will suffice. Remember, big family doesn’t mean expensive machine with more capacity. One can always divide the clothes in simple wash cycles. Only thing is, it will take more time to wash all the clothes.

6. Some extra features

Now maximum number of people prefers machines that have mere functions like washing and drying. But these days some top washing machine brands offer more features. For instance,

Temperature control- There are clothes that need to be washed in hot water. Infact, mothers usually prefer washing uniforms in hot water. Reason, it cleans the dirt more easily. This reason makes temperature control a desirable feature.

The spin cycle of the machine- Spin cycle is attached in drying drums and it refers to the revolutions taken to dry the cloth. Here a list of best washing machines that offer a constant spin cycle; however, there are few that offer spin cycles of varying RPMs. For frail clothes, the advisable frill cycle is 300-500 rpm and for tough clothes like jeans, it’s 1000 RPM. 

Soak options- Some people like to soak clothes before washing. This feature allows the machine to set the time and washes clothes on it own. In certain washing machines, the amount of water, detergent, time...everything is decided by the machine.

Coming to the bottom line, deciding a washing machine is a daunting task but smart decisions, planning and a bit of calculation will help one to win this problem. 

Remember, to save yourself from saying OOPS by simply considering these factors.