What if I ask you to think of a life without a washing machine and do your laundry on your own. The answer is a complete no and it’s completely because of the benefit a washer provides in our day to day busy lives. Having a best washing machine is no more an extra thing to buy, it’s considered as one of the basic necessities to live an easy lifestyle with convenience. Now as this appliance is so crucial, it’s very obvious to get confused while choosing the best option among a range of brands and models built with variable technologies.
Briefly, there are two types of washing machines available in most of the developed and developing countries. One is Automatic Washing Machines and the second one is Semi-Automatic washing machines. Automatic variants are available in Top Load and Front Load Setup and Semi-Automatic washers are available only in Top Loading medium.
In this article, we are going to talk about the differences between an agitator and an impeller based washing machine. But before that, let’s just see what these terms mean and how by looking at the structure you can identify whether a washing machine is an agitator or an impeller washer by just looking at the structure of the tub.
If you see a tall vertical finned structure at the centre of the washing tub, that’s an agitator. On the other hand, if you see something like low profile cones or discs at the centre, that’s an impeller based washing machine. See the below visuals to clearly understand their structural appearance.
Agitator Washing Machine
Impeller Washing Machine
Please note, both agitators and impellers are available in only top load setup. So only consider reading this article, if you are interested in Top load washing machines.
Now, let’s just see some differences between these two and why we should consider one over the other.
Agitator |
Impeller |
| ● Agitators are the traditional styles you must have seen in most of the early washing machine models.
● Vertices spindles agitate in back and forth motion rubbing against clothes to get rid of sticky stains on the textile surface. ● Earlier, agitator based washers were harsher on the fabric but with advancements, agitators ensure that they can clean the hardest loads using multiple motions without being tough on the textile life. ● Wash basket focus is on hard hitting clean ● These machines provider shooter wash cycles ● Less space in the basket for the loads
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● Most of the new age washing machines are built on the concept of impellers.
● Impeller washing machines use discs like structure at the centre that rotates enabling clothes to rub against each other. ● Focus on using minimum motion and less water. ● More space for laundry to move from the outer space to centre with the use of water in the tub. ● Shorter dry times with rapid revolutions per minute ● The objective of impeller is to deep clean without leading any damage to garment fibres.
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Which one to choose?
To conclude, both of these washers are meant to be very effective in getting rid of sticky dirt, Stinking inners after tiring gym sessions or any other kind of spills. With upgrades in technology, major washing machines franchises are focusing on providing least harm to the garment being washed in an agitator based washing machine.
But if you ask me to recommend the best one, on the basis of our recent survey that happened in 2020, my answer is to go with an impeller based washer. As 700 impeller washing machines consumers out of 790 have given 4+ rating out of 5 after using the appliance for at least more than one year. It’s always the best to go with the data driven approach.
I hope this article helps.
