Using a washing machine in Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday March 24, 2017 at 23:0:40:

One way modern day Nigerians are making life easier for themselves is by making use of a washing machine. For many Nigerians though, hand washing is still the norm but for a growing number of Nigerians who are mostly busy, middle class and live in the cities, using washing machines are what they are already used to. This is because washing machines make it easy for them to wash their clothes.

While growing up, I wasn't trained to use washing machines to do my washing as I was taught the traditional hand washing method which is commonly used by a majority of Nigerians. I did a lot of that from primary school to my university days. I only started using a washing machine after my Dad purchased it as one of his gifts to our family. It has changed our lives in such a way that my sisters are now so lazy to wash their clothes manually. The truth is that when you buy a washing machine for home use, it makes you lazy that it soon feels like you no longer know how to wash your clothes by hand.

As at 2017, there are still millions of Nigerians who don't use washing machines and even among the majority of those who do, they don't own one at home for themselves but mostly visit washing centers or a laundromat to pay to use them. The laundromat charges them a fee to use it depending on the weight of their clothes and they are mostly available at shopping malls in Nigeria.

I've been using a washing machine for a while but I don't use it most often. At times, I just prefer doing hand wash rather than using them and there are are couple of reasons why I do so.

One problem I've experienced with using a washing machine in Nigeria or would I say one reason why I avoid using them at times is because they take too much time. Why would I want to wash my clothes for almost 60 minutes? Personally, I grew up washing my clothes within minutes and that means I prefer washing my clothes within 15 minutes after soaking them in detergent or almost immediately if I was using a bar soap but for me to put my clothes into a washing machine and wait for almost an hour before taking them out to hang makes me feel that I'm wasting time. I wished they washed clothes much faster and I normally make use of Speed/Quick wash but it's still a lot of time.

Another problem I've noticed with using a washing machine is that they tend to increase wear and tear on my clothes. I've noticed that the more I use a washing machine to wash my clothes, the older the clothes get. It looses colour faster and tends to expand or shrink from it's normal size. I guess it has to do with the fact that it's mode of washing is too harsh on clothes which is quite different from what one gets by hand washing. They may be good for some clothes but for other clothes, you may need to wash them with a different type of setting else they may end up messed up. I don't get that if I was hand washing them.

Washing machines are a bit complex if you ask me. To wash your clothes effectively and without having problems, you need to really know how to set it up and for new users in Nigeria, adjusting controls to use cold wash, fast wash or warm wash as well as other custom setups can be a complex job as they'll prefer to press just one button with the hope that their clothes will be washed with care.

Another problem I've faced with using a washing machine in Nigeria is the lack of 24 hr electricity. Sure, you only need less than 2 hrs of electrical power to use a washing machine but in Nigeria, electricity supply is nor guaranteed even for 30 minutes and so I've ended up having to wait for the power company to bring the light and that mostly made my washing experience disappointing. It also made my clothes soaked detergent for a much longer than than I planned which made them fade faster. In fact, it's safer to power a washing machine with a power generator that you own than relying on the power company in Nigeria. Even dry cleaning businesses in Nigeria don't use washing machines most of the time as they still make use of hand washing employees.

Those are just some of the few problems I've noticed with using a washing machine in Nigeria and for me, I'm not totally hooked on to using washing machines to wash my clothes except for about 20% of times while I still hand wash them for about 80% of the time. Yes, even though though I now have a washing machine at home, I rarely use them except when I'm so tired to hand wash and I'm ready to wait for the whole day due to poor electricity supply.

Having a washing machine is a good thing but not every Nigerian family can afford it. It is normally imported and the price has gone up in 2017 from what it used to be 2 years ago due to the weaker Naira. The price of a good washing machine ranges from N80,000 to N200,000 and you can buy them from shopping sites and stores across Nigeria.

Some of the things one should consider before buying a washing machine are space, budget and design.

When I say Space, I'm referring to how much space you have at your home or office for it to be installed. You need to install it in a suitable space that is well ventilated and connected to water pipe. In terms of budget, it depends on how much you are willing to spend to acquire one. If you're rich enough and want the best, then you shouldn't mind spending up to N200k to get one since it would give you the best service available. In terms of design, it could be a Top loading or Front loading machine and it could also have a wide variety of functions or just a few which may exclude other services.

The one I use in my home is the LG Top Load Washer + Dryer F1252RD27 13kg/6.5kg 220V and it washes, rinses and dries my clothes after I've pressed the Power and Start button. There is also a know that allows me to choose settings on the type of wash I want to do such as heavy duty, sanitary, speed, dark or cold wash.