The Highly Functional and Indispensible Small Washing Machine
The small washing machine is considered the main appliance in most households of developing countries, especially in the Asian and African continents. These are highly valued by most homeowners there because the very presence will eliminate the need to hand wash all the clothes, linens, towels, even blankets which can be very heavy and place a physical strain on the women. Although heavy hand washing is a part of everyday life for these women, the presence of the small washing machine will be considered a valuable investment.
Traditionally, these women would take up their load of wash down to the river and join the countless other women who also go down to do some hand washing. They could spend several hours down there chatting or simply exchange the latest gossips with one another and leave their homes and the remaining housework to other members in their household. Then they would have to come back up with their clean wash and hang the items out to dry before they continue on with the rest of the housework. Most of these women only dream of having their own washing machines and look in envy at those whose husbands could finally afford to purchase one for their wives.
Most small households in these developing countries actually save up for several years just to get their washing machines. Although they are considered cheap, they also are considered a status symbol in some communities. The wife who has a machine is considered to be beloved by her husband who cares for her physical well being. So it is not beyond for anyone to conclude that love is part of the decision in purchasing this equipment.
The small washing machine comes in two types: the single tub and the dual tubs. The single tubs need to be loaded with water for each cycle and they cannot spin the clothes free of the water. The clothes that are taken out of the tubs have to be physically removed and wrung out several times by hand before they are hung out to dry under the sun. The dual tubs have the washing and the spinning capacities. The washing tub, however, does not rinse on its own. Again, they have to be loaded with water for every cycle, and then the wet clothes have to be manually transferred to the spinner. The damp items are then again hung out to dry under the sun.
Washing with fabric softeners are not as simple either. More people are familiar with the way the automatic washing machine works: simply load the soap, bleach and softener in their respective dispensers and then close the lid and leave the machine alone. With the small washing machine, the fabric softener has to be diluted in water before it can be manually poured into the washing tub, making sure that the softener does not touch the items or they will damage the fabric.
Although it is cheap, it is definitely time saving for the housewife and it definitely makes it easier for her to do other things around the house removing the need to look for the nearest laundry mat, or in rural settings, the nearest water source.
There are even some enterprising housewives in these developing countries that make use of their small washing machine as their main tool for a business. They go around their community and ask for laundry jobs which they do with speed using the machines, their services usually also include the ironing. This gives most of the smaller households extra income. It has been proven that those women who actually own the washing machines get their jobs done faster, thereby becoming very competent and competitive.
The capacity of the small washing machine cannot be compared to the industrial ones; they usually range from 2.5 kilo capacity to 6 kilo capacity. Smaller households can rely on the smaller machines if there are only one or two people using it. However, it would get overworked and may break down fast if it is used and treated like a large capacity machine. This will cause the motor to burn up fast and would need to be replaced.
But it is not only developing countries that use the small washing machine. Those living in small apartments in big cities or urban communities but are residing some distance away from the nearest laundry mat will find that the machine is very useful, the drying, however, will have to be dealt with. Items laundered in these machines are not spun to the specifications of dryers and may actually damage them.
These machines are not designed to have multiple functions, neither are they designed to automatically shift to different levels of water temperature, instead a water inlet hose is directly attached to the top portion of the machine and the water level supply can be controlled by opening or turning the faucet. There are some where the water level can be controlled with a lever in the tub. The draining of the water is also manually controlled. The user has to shift the knob on the control panel to release the release valve so water could drain through force of gravity. There is no pump that will force the water out like those of the automatic machines.
The centrifugal force that is utilized to wash the items in the tub does not vary, instead there is one set speed, so washing delicates from heavy duty clothes are not an option, although there are some models of some brands that do include these. These newer machines are actually closer in functions to the automatic ones, some even have digital control. However, these are more expensive and sometimes they do not react well with power fluctuations common in rural areas. The manual knobs are actually more efficient when it comes to these problems. The machine also comes with a filtering device which needs to be cleaned out after several washings, failure to clean out this filter will not really affect the washing of the items, however, it is still best to do so.
Despite its being a very basic machine, it is still a hot item to sell. Maybe it is the size or the price, the fact that it continues to be a hot seller has not affected the manufacturing companies from making more of these highly functional and indispensible machines.