New clothes every day, or some one who can wash my clothes, without making me realize how dirty they are and why they were dirty???? ---- former is not possible but later is and the answer is WASHING MACHINE.
I am lucky enough (and most of us from this generation) that I had never, hand washed my clothes, which I know is a mess and most of the females would agree to this, as washing machine is now a common appliance found like Gas stove / television / Refrigerator here in India.
Smaller metro’s like Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Nagpur, Raipur, Chandigarh, Jaipur etc etc, which are small with population but penetration of washing machine is equally proportionate to the number of houses with average house hold income of more than a lakh per year as before said that "this appliance is now a necessity".
Why Washing machine
This was the question asked by mother in law and Grand ma up till last decade, why do we require a washing machine, if our daughter in law, and daughter can do the same, but later they realized that its a time saver machine, which saves not only time, but energy and could wash clothes in bulk, and from there this question is now a past, and today this is the most common appliance that we would find that same daughter in law gifting it to her daughter on her marriage, and their is no
resistance to this.
Who is the audience
wives, mother in law, singles, live in, father, brother.... almost every one, as its easy to operate, however it requires bulk of clothes to be washed, that is min 10 clothes, hence to buy this machine, wardrobe should have more than 10 clothes, hence its justified that washing machine is a common name for a house whose average income is more than a lakh per year.
*Why to spend energy on this!!!
*Since its an investment that would be done for next 5 years, I believe it requires a proper brain storming and one should not go on discounts or by word of mouth, problem actually comes in when we go to market to buy washing machine, a salesman, who is not aware of wash machine but is selling those, would ask you first thing "Fully Automatic or Semi Automatic" and the next question that you throw is "PRICE", and from there you start thinking of brand names like Godrej, Whirlpool, BPL, Onida etc etc etc.... however concern to clean clothes efficiently, maintenance and the budget is always on toss.
Few important things which I strongly believe should be kept in mind before buying a Washing machine are:-
1. Budget:- one big thing is money, how would you go for it, a personal loan, cash deal, credit card, installments etc etc their are many ways where a dealer would present to you, always take a plus and a minus on it, as later, once the deal is done, there would some add on’s like trolleys. Annual Maintenance Contract, shipping and handling etc etc.
Draft a proper budget, since any washing machine in India would be starting from 4 figures, hence how much impact on daily expenses will it give, and what benefit will you drive out of it, after buying it.
For e.g.:- Front loader washing machine’s are expensive, but good for those who have more than 5 family members, and can afford special detergent, and are willing to change their machine after 5 years, on other hand a simple Top loader without a dryer is okay for a family of two or three, where clothes would be washed either once or twice a week, and hence a family of three or two may not require front loader as its an added liability, but for working couples its quite handy, however a fully
automatic top loader with dryer, would be another good option for them.
Their could be lot of permutation and combination on this.
2. Space:- This is most ignored thing, but trust me if you decide where would the washing machine be kept, then mom / wife are in peace. I think most of us may not like our washing machine to be in Drawing room / guest room, hence either its in bathroom / laundry room or in Balcony, hence careful observation on this could be quite help full. Couples who move around quite frequently, I mean transfer cases, from one city to another like defense personal or any similar nature profile, their belongings are always handy and packed, hence a bigger washing machine would later be a
trouble for them.
3. Power & Water:- Two most important thing, how much power a machine would pull with dryer and without dryer although it does not make sense to most of the people, but if carefully observed from model to model it varies. Smaller metros have power issues, as frequent power cut down could actually screw their machine, (prominent in fully automatic), on other hand semi automatic without dryer or with dryer would be of great help. Same goes with water consumption, a fully automatic / front loader requires a dedicated water supply, on other hand semi automatic / Top loader would not require a dedicated water supply. A machine without a dryer will not spill water, hence would not create noise, and would consume less power.
Again a wise thinking would help you lot on this.
4. Usage & Capacity:- This point was touched before, as to what would be the frequency of usage, once a week, thrice a week, or daily, and how many clothes, and hence would shoot the capacity and the requirement for dryer, along with semi / fully automatic.
5. Maintenance :- Every company here in India, who would be selling washing machine would offer you 1 year maintenance, check for the prices for annual maintenance after 1 year, compare it with others, parts availability, For E.g.:- Getting parts for IFB washing machine is a week long time or may be more than that ( I know it because I own it)
There are few more options in machine like, semi automatic / fully automatic and front loader and top loader, which I believe could be understood later once the mind is set on above 5 points.
To know more about them, I would suggest you to read their individual section drafted in Mouthshut.
Comments are awaited
Chill
Zeeshan