Oct 15, 2004 08:47 PM
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(Updated Oct 15, 2004 08:47 PM)
Indian market is a matured market now as far as washing machine is concerned. We have many brands, in top loading and front loading with varying price tag to suit everybody?s budget.
Ask any one about cleaning quality of their washing machine and most of them will be satisfied that their machine cleans well, it may be 7,000 rs machine or 30,000 rs.
The idea of my writing this review is to tell you about facts and then you take your purchase decisions.
I have been a seafarer, sailed on 26 ships by now. Each ship has about 4 to 5 washing machines. And I would have used at least 2 machines on each ship, that makes the experience of washing in at least 50 different machines ? top loading and front loading.
In Indian market, they do not provide you results of washing quality but it all goes by gullible advertisements. Now lets see the working of Top loading and Front loading washing machines.
In top loading water fills up to the required level and cloth is submerged into it. The central agitator gives water and cloth to and fro motion which gets the dirt out.
In front loading, water fills up to 1/3rd of the machine, cloth is soaked in water and due to tumble effect cloth keeps falling on to one another, being constantly dipped by soap water in lower drum which gets dirt out.
If you remember or seen a washer man (dhobi) cleaning cloth in village by river side or by pond side or if you remember how you used to clean cloth during your earlier days, you will notice that washer man and you were using some hard surface to agitate the soaked cloth. Agitating by hand in bucket full of water you never did. Rinsing cloth you did in bucket full of water.
You can see the cloth being washed in front loading washing machine due to glass door. Now watch your
cloth in top loading machine. Normally all top loading machine will have a system where if you lift the cover, machine will stop.
Just bypass that by removing the switch or cover or pressing that by hand, there will always be some method to do it depending on the make of your machine. You will clearly notice that the job machine does, agitating cloth in full water, with that much effort it will not clean your cloth effectively.
Whatever top loading machine manufactures may say, water force with full punch etc, you still have to wash your shirt?s collar for effective cleaning. The fact remains, best of the top loading machine cleans inferior than the worst of the front loading machine.
Following are the proven facts, you can check it out anywhere :
1) Front loading machine consumes 40% less water than top loading.
2) Front loading machine consumes 50 % less electricity than top loading
3) Front loading machine consumes less detergent than top loading
4) Front loading machine dries cloth better in spin cycle than top loading
5) Front loading machine COSTS MORE than top loading machine.
You might have doubt that front loading machine consumes more power as power rating you can see 2 Kw etc. The figure is for the same equivalence with top loading. If top loading machine is with heating facility, which is rare, it has to heat more water to achieve the desired temperature, so power consumption of top loading is more. Cleaning cloth in hot water will definitely clean better. Hot wash is a standard in front loading machines.
Front loading definitely costs more, but if you are paying for water, electricity and detergent, you save about Rs 3,000 a year for a family of 4.
