Washing Machine

I generally avoid hiring a maid and like to automate the daily chores to the maximum possible extent. The biggest investment in this direction was the washing machine. This was purchased with the marriage gift money given by my Aunt Suchitra (Mom's elder sister). After reading several reviews and comparing the different models of washing machines, we finally decided to go for Whirlpool ABM551 5.5 Kg front load fully automatic washing machine. Some of the things we considered before purchasing this are:

• Company - Not all brands are equally reputed. Some of them tend to be more popular than the others for washing machines. From what I had heard, Whirlpool, LG and Samsung are most reputed. Not that others brands are not good, but we chose to buy one from the regular brands.
• Front Load or Top Load - Front Load washing machines generally use lesser water and electricity and are more gentle on clothes than top load washing machines. For further differences and some technical explanation, you can refer http://housewares.about.com/lw/Home-Garden/Home-improvement-renovation/T... and http://ezinearticles.com/?Front-Load-vs-Top-Load-Washer---Which-One-To-C....
• Capacity - Washing machine capacity generally vary from 5 Kg to 7 Kg. 1 Kg can be considered to be equal to a pair of clothes (i.e. shirt + trouser / shalwar + kameez) or a single jeans (this is because jeans tend to be heavier than the regular cotton trousers). So 5.5 Kg meant we could wash upto 6 pairs of clothes at a time. As we are only two, we felt a 5.5 Kg capacity washing machine would suit our purpose better. For families of size greater than four, a 7 Kg washing machines might be better suited though.
• Half Load Cycle - Some of the washing machines also come with an option for half-load which means by setting it to half-load, you could wash half the number of clothes as its maximum capacity thereby using lesser water and energy. This might be a good option when you just have two or three paris of soiled clothes and you immediately need to use one among them.
• Semi-automatic vs. fully automatic - Semi-automatic washing machines have a separate washer and dryer. Once the washing of clothes is over, clothes have to be manually transferred from the washer to the dryer compartment. Having a fully automatic washing machine avoids this process.
• After sales support - One really important factor to consider which is often ignored is after sales support. A washing machine is a costly investment and good after sales support is a must for such a product.

While top-load semi automatic washing machines will be cheaper than front-load fully automatic washing machines, I'd highly recommend the latter because of its use of lesser resources and lesser manual intervention. Also, keep in mind that if you raise the temperature for washing highly soiled clothes, there is a chance that some of the clothes might get discoloured.

I hope this small guide will be useful when you consider buying a washing machine.