What Washing Machine?

A free article on Home and Family

By: Steve Gee

We've all been there haven't we? Your old washing machine has just broken down and flooded the floor for the third time this month and the repair guy has sucked in his breath or just laughed out loud, when you suggested that he might like to fix it! So, you decide that you will buy another one instead but what washing machine are you going to go for? Choosing a new washing machine can't be that hard can it? Let's run down to the washing machine store quickly and buy one before the dirty washing engulfs the whole house.

A little while later and you are looking at rows and rows of gleaming new machines. You are wondering which washing machine is going to be the best one for you. The salesman can smell the desperation in you and you know he is about to try and sell you the most expensive one there in the shop. What can you do to avoid this situation? I've put together a few suggestions to help you to think about what washing machine might suit you before you go to the store. You probably have a good idea about how much you want to spend so the next thing to think about is what other options do you want?

How many washes do you do each week?

Sounds like a simple question, but it could make quite a difference to the questions that might follow on. To take an example, if you do a lot of washes every week then you ought to think about getting a washing machine that is going to be reliable instead of one that will do everything you could imagine. However, if you only do a few washes each week or you live somewhere that has no place where you can dry laundry, you might want to consider getting a combined washer and drier. The more expensive the machine the more program options they seem to have, but do you need them?

Are you worried about the environment?

There are many washing machines available now that will do quick washes or short cycle washes. Some machines will allow you to select a half wash, which will use only half the amount of water than normal. These options are designed to save energy and water and are therefore kinder to the environment. Environmental issues apart, I find that the short half-hour quick wash on my washing machine is absolutely wonderful. I can get all my weeks washing done in a matter of a few short hours even if there are many machine loads to do. This only works however if you're clothes don't get too dirty. If you have an office job like mine then this isn't a problem, you can use the quick was to freshen them up and make them smell nice. Unfortunately if your clothes do get dirty or you have kids then you may need to use the longer wash programmes occasionally.

Are you looking for an economical machine?

Washing machines in the stores today generally have an energy rating where 'A' is the most efficient to run in terms of using less energy. The further down the alphabet you go the more energy it needs and therefore it will be more costly to use. Be careful though, the energy ratings may not tell you the whole story. Washing machine manufacturers are trying their best to design machines to allow them to put the most economical possible rating on it but how do they do this? I don't know exactly what tricks they use but one possible way to improve the efficiency of a machine is to regulate how quickly the water is heated to the required temperature. The longer it takes to get to temperature the less energy it will need. If they use this to lower the running cost then you might find that the wash cycles are longer because the clothes wouldn't get washed as clean otherwise. The manufacturer must come to the best possible compromise they can between efficiency, cycle time and cleaning ability but it will be a compromise. You might find that the most economic machines don't have a quick wash programme, something you might regret not having.

The bottom line is that you should think about these questions and others that you might think of, before going shopping. Don't forget to think about the answers too, you need to have a good idea of what washing machine you are looking for before you hit the store.