The most integral part of a washing machine is its drum. The drum comes in different materials, positioning and patterns. Mostly it is made from one of the three materials such as stainless steel, porcelain enamel or plastic. The washing machine, which features a stainless steel tub, is the most durable and expensive, and the one that features a porcelain enamel is least durable as they tend to chip resulting from wear and tear. The plastic tub is more durable than a porcelain drum and is inexpensive of all three materials.
Let us discuss all three washing machine drum materials in detail.
Stainless Steel Drum
The steel drum is the most premium of all the three materials and is found in both front load and top load washing machines. In order to ensure that the clothes are thoroughly cleaned and not damaged during the wash and spin cycles, the manufacturers provide unique designs for the drums.
For instance, Samsung uses Diamond Drum Technology in their washing machines, so the holes in the drum are 25% smaller and are located deep within a diamond-shaped depression to ensure that the fabrics do not stick out and prevent damages while washing. The embossed washboard surface proved helpful in tests to reduce the textile area exposed to harmful effects of washing by 34% than a conventional washing machine. Thus Samsung Diamond Drum Technology ensures gentle washing of clothes.
IFB washing machines come with a Crescent Moon Drum, where the inner surface of the washing drum comes with crescent moon-shaped groove lines. This unique designed drum provides a deep and gentle wash by preventing the clothes from getting damaged during the wash cycle. A gentle water cushion is created in the drum to help absorb the washing machine action so that the clothes do not hit against the wall of the steel drum and get damaged.
Bosch VarioDrum comes with a unique drum design that helps protect delicate and fine fabrics from any damages while washing. The VarioDrum comes with a paddle that has a flat side and a steep side. The flat side of the paddle ensures to provide a gentle clean to delicate laundry, and the steep side of the paddle ensures a deep clean by giving the required amount of scrubbing to heavily soiled laundry.
Plastic Drum
Plastic drums are the most economically priced drum type that you can get in the market. The biggest advantage of a plastic drum is that it does not rust with hard water and is much easier to clean and maintain. Plastic drums are mostly seen on top-load washing machines, both fully automatic and semi-automatic washing machines.
Porcelain Enamel Drum
Porcelain enamel drums are the least durable, and they are known to chip and wear away in the long run, exposing the steel underneath, making it rust and eventually weakening the drum and staining the clothes in the washing machine. Porcelain enamel drums may not last long as the rest of the washing machine. But porcelain enamel drums can be easily cleaned.
Horizontal Drum
A washing machine drum is placed differently in both front load washing machines and top load washing machines. In front-load, the drum spins around a horizontal axis. The water required for washing is much lower than the top load washing machine, and the spinning drum has a tumbling action. The front-load washing machine does not come with an agitator or impeller and are more gentle on clothes than a top load washing machine.
Vertical Drum
Vertical drums are placed vertically from the top in the washing machine, and the drum spins around a vertical axis. These washing machines are mostly equipped with agitators and impellers to move the clothes through the water and create turbulence in the water respectively while washing.