I remember to have seen a washing machine, in Delhi, a long time ago. It was a crude looking crude device. But might have served the purpose or some purpose, I do not know because I never operated or got to see the results. It was a single vertical tub about a foot in diameter and 2 to 2and a half feet in height. It had a small motor which rotated a ball like attachment in the tub. It worked on electricity. After that we saw Racold brand washing machine which appeared to be one to be capable of washing clothes. It was rather expensive, Racold appliances tend to be so. But the market for washing machine really started developing, when the Japanese goods started flooding the Indian market in a big way. Initially the goods were all smuggled or custom seized but one could get in the market, particularly watches and electronic goods. Then Indian companies collaborated with Japanese companies. Initially machines would be imported/brought into India in a knocked down condition and assembled here and sold. Slowly the manufacturing would also start. National’s was a pioneering effort in this direction. One could see a number of National products into the market. A relatively new Indian company named Videocon started doing this in a big way. They imported the National Washing machine, put Videocon tag and sold. Even the PVC tubing for water inlet was of the original imported machine and such that it would not fit the Indian taps. We bought a National twin tub washing machine soon after it appeared in the market way back in the late eighties. Initially we were very happy with this and it served our purpose well. Slightly different versions of the machine with touch button operation and fuzzy logic were introduced.
Of all the so called white goods, my experience tells me that the refrigerator and the washing machine are the most useful. The former for its preservative value, more so in the climatic conditions available in India. The latter for the ease of accomplishing a difficult task saving time and material. I say material because the soap used id much less and is economical even if one uses the expensive ---matic soaps powder or liquid. These washing machine are quite efficient in cleaning and wringing out the water by spin drying. The clothes are still not completely dry and have to be put on the clothesline but for a short time. The washing is efficient and clean.
We first bought a National twin tub washing machine as soon as it was in the market. It was put on a trolley and could be moved about. It served our washing needs for well over a decade. It was good but needed attention. After the washing the clothes require rinsing, is not it? So one has to drain the soap water out and fill the tub with water again and again at least a couple of times usually more. So one has to do that manually. Once washed the clean clothes are put in the other tub to spin out the water and have moist clothes ready for drying on the clothes line. In the meantime we saw our friends, who had not yet gone for the washing machine buying the fully automatic machines. In these machines, one puts the clothes and soap in a single operation and gets the moist water drained clothes ready for drying on the clothes line. It is much more convenient and time saving. You feed the machine everything and forget it for the duration of the cycle which may vary from one hour to two hours. It is so much more convenient and time saving. There are two types of such machines; top loading and front loading, meaning that the provision for putting your wash is either from the top or from the front side of the machine. There are several makes and brands in the market and one has to really survey and choose to suit one’s liking. There are India makes and imported brands. The process of globalization has made available a number of products of the same type and is inflicting a body blow on smuggling. Not only that even the local manufacturers are forced to improve the quality of their products to remain viable in the market place. Also often times one comes across exchange schemes under which one is able to get rid off or dispose the old stuff and thus avoid the burden of the old machine. We could do this both while buying a new refrigerator and the washing machine. We had good experience with our old Kelvinator refrigerator. Electrolux and Kelvinator are in some kind of partnership if not the same. So we decided to go for the Electrolux front loading millennium model washing machine. It saves us time, lots of it. In the two tub national we had to spend at least two hours attending to it. Now we just shove the clothes and put the soap and set the cycle and forget. While the National had cost us about a decade ago about Rs. 7000.00, this machine has cost us about Rs. 15000.00 . It requires separate plumbing arrangement for water inlet and outlet. . Fully automatic washing machine is a great boon of technology and we must make use of it. People are doing that.