Customers want much faster washes

Mitsubishi have produced “the world’s quickest washing machine” (currently only available in Japan). Most people have reported it as the world’s “fastest” washing machine but to me the word “fast” relates to spin speed whereas this washing machine washes in world record time. It’s reported to be capable of washing nine kilograms (20 pounds) of clothes in just 35 minutes.

This reminds me of the frustration many customers have with the long length of time modern washing machines take to wash, which is an increasingly irritating issue for customers who these days have never been so short of time.

Why so impatient?

It’s not that washing machines take up more of our actual time, which is still restricted to loading, setting the programme and unloading. It’s that people are generally very busy, and don’t want to wait so long before they can get on with drying and ironing etc. My wife for example would love to hang the washing out before she sets off for work in the morning instead of having to either rely on me to get it out if I get chance (or even remember) or leave the washing getting more and more creased in the drum until she gets home several hours after.

My experience tells me that lots of people want washing machines that can wash really quickly, and that they are annoyed and frustrated by washing machines taking far too long to wash. I’ve explained the reasons for this modern-day frustration on Washerhelp’s washing machine forum Wash Times Too Long?, Reasons why. Plus how long does your washing machine take to wash? (also explains why even though washes are much longer they are actually more energy efficient).

However, understanding the reasons doesn’t detract from the annoyance. Many current quick wash options still don’t give a quick enough wash and they are only relatively quick. Compared with washing machines from the past a quick wash today is sometimes just a long wash – instead of a very long wash with the option unselected.

I have a feeling that a significant amount of customers would still favour a washing machine that washed in 45 mins and gave decent wash results to one that took nearly two hours but gave an A rated wash. They don’t expect the price to pay for A wash ratings is very long wash times – often around 2 hours.  As long as a washing machine is capable of giving A wash results when used “properly”, why not let people have the choice of accepting lower quality washes as a compromise for having them done in about 45 minutes with a genuinely quick, “quick wash”?

(Since writing this I’ve found something that may be on the right track - Quick wash options aren’t quick enough – let’s set the time ourselves)