The Washing Machine free essay sample

Laundering clothes manually involves the process of scrubbing and rinsing dry dirty clothes and other textiles. The entire process can be extremely tiring and time consuming. It can also lead to severe backaches for the washers. The electric washing machine has been a boon for housewives and house keepers as they have saved them not only a lot of time and effort from these this cumbersome chore but also contributed to their better health. The main parts of the washing machine are the agitator, inner and outer wash tub, electric motor and drain tube. It also has valves and switches. The function of the valves is to allow the hot and cold water in and out of the machine. First, the washing takes place in the inner tub. Here the water and detergent are mixed up with the clothes. The agitator then tumbles the clothes by moving them to all the sides. We will write a custom essay sample on The Washing Machine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The agitator is a plastic cylinder at the center of the inner tub. It’s function is to mix the clothing with the detergent. The inner tub moves along with the agitator. The inner tub has many holes and the centrifugal force drains out the water from the clothes and moves them into the outer tub through these holes. The water is then drained out through the tube. (Buzzle, 2009) http://home. howstuffworks. com/ how-to-repair-a-washingmachine. htm Image Source: (How Stuff Works, 2011) In the wash cycle, the agitator and inner tub are moved by a strong motor. After the water is drained out, the agitator works again to tumble the clothing. This is the second cycle called the rinse cycle. The aim of this cycle is to ensure that the detergent particles trapped in the washed fabric are removed. Once this is done, the machine again drains out water. The third cycle is the spin cycle. In this cycle as much water as possible is drained out of the wet clothes. This is done by the drain tubes. After the water is drained, another motor moves the inner tub at very high speed. This force drains the excess water from the fabric and moves it out via the drain tubes. The washing machine thus solves the problem of manually soaking, scrubbing, rinsing and beating the clothes in order to clean them and get rid of dirt particles stuck to them. It is all done easily by simply putting the clothes and some detergent into the washing machine and turning on the power. The process is usually over in just 30 minutes compared with the 60 minutes or more needed on average to wash them manually and with minimum effort. One bene? t the washing machine has is the timer function. With this function, housekeepers can program the machine to run the wash cycle at appropriate time. The machine will start and complete the cycle at the appointed time. This saves a lot of precious time as one can even be away from the house without worrying about the washing. Some cities have different tariffs at different times so one can program the machine to start working at the time when the tariff is lower. 8. 4 (T3) One limitation that the washing machine is that it needs a lot more water compared to hand washing and expensive detergent compared to a bar soap needed for hand washing. It also consumes a lot of electricity. It is also a lot more expensive because of all the water and electricity it consumes. The washing machine has had a big impact on society and economics. It has reduced the average time needed to do the laundry from 4 hours to 41 minutes. It has allowed the women to have more time to do other productive work instead included paid jobs. It has increased the participation of women in the workforce and allowed those economies to grow even faster. It is estimated that presently only 2 billion of the worlds’ 7 billion population have a washing machine. It is one of the top items on shopping lists of a new middle class rising in developing countries such as India, China and Brazil, who are yet to experience the economic and other bene? ts from the washing machines. (National Geographic, 2012) Washing machines have a considerably big impact on the environment too. They account for 14% of household water use (second only to the toilet). Washing machines can consume about 50 litres of water per wash. In cities where the household water comes from freshwater lakes and streams, this increased water consumption impacts the aquatic life. Washing machines require electricity and it is estimated that by keeping them running on fossil fuel supplied energy, about 160 pounds of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO? )is emitted per machine per year. Not only do they consume a lot of electricity but they also contribute to pollution. (Matt Wade, 2012)