Washing Machine Buying Guide

Washing machine is becoming more and more a need with washing becoming weekly affair due to limited availability of time. You can select amongst a lot of washing machines available based on size of your family, type of machine and price you have in mind. Thankfully the categories aren't too tedious to choose from.

Your first decision will involve choosing between a semi-automatic and a fully automatic machine.

A semi-automatic, as the name suggests, will involve some manual work. For one thing these are top loading twin tub machines where the washer and the dryer are separate units. So you have the task of loading and unloading a couple of extra times. A fully automatic, on the other hand, can be either front or top loading and only requires you to load the dirty laundry and unload them after the wash. It goes without saying that a semi-automatic is cheaper than the fully automatic machine. Your usage pattern (how often you will use the machine and to wash what type of clothing) will determine the type of washing machine you should buy.

For instance, if you wash very often then a machine with a stainless steel drum is a good investment. These are slightly expensive but are more durable in the longer run. However, if you don't use the machine too often then the high-grade plastic tubs will do. These won't cost you as much. Also, if your wash includes a host of different materials then a machine with more wash programmes like soak, mild, delicate, wool, etc will be a worthy investment.

Of course, the prime criterion as always is the bite it will take out of your pocket. Here are some essential factors that affect your buying decision. You can buy a washing machine for as low as Rs 3,390 and as high as Rs 80,000. Of course, this is a wide range including semi-automatic and fully automatic - top as well as front-loading machines. The price is solely dependent on the capacity and features of the machine.

Typically a semi-automatic will cost you anywhere between Rs 3,900 to Rs 17,000 whereas a fully automatic has a much wider range; the top-loading ranging between Rs 8,490 to Rs 35,000 and the front-loading ranging Rs 12,500 to Rs 80,000. The wash load is the amount of clothes that the washing machine can handle at a time. It is the maximum weight (in Kilograms) of dry clothes the machine can hold in a single cycle.

Home-use washing machines in India have a range of 3 kgs to 10 kgs. For a family of two or those living alone, a 3 kg machine is more than sufficient, however, a bigger family will need a bigger capacity machine. Even a family of four, especially with small children will require a high-capacity washing machine as children go through several pairs of clothing in a single day. Here's a rough statistic for you: