[abdullahkhalids]

Extremely simple washing machines already exist, and I suspect on the order of 30-40 dollars. They are top-loading. No pumps. Turn one dial to let water in through the inlet. Turn another dial to let water out through the outlet valve. All manual, no pumps. Then flip switch to start spinning with electric motor, flip it back to stop spinning (no timers).

What you do is fill it with water. Add soap. Then put in first load of clothes and run it for 15 minutes. Then take out the clothes and put them in a tub. Repeat with second load of clothes in same soapy water. Once, all loads are done, then put in fresh water. Run all loads through it to get the soap out. You are done.

(Relatively) richer people might have another machine that acts as a spinner. Otherwise, you just hang up the wet clothes outside.

[codedokode]

That sounds like Soviet washing machine to me. However, they had a mechanical timer.

[ErroneousBosh]

> (no timers).

The automatic timer part is almost certainly the cheapest part of any washing machine.

[blacksmith_tb]

Likely just to keep the device simpler - on/off switches should last for lots of duty cycles, timers introduce another point of failure.

[ErroneousBosh]

Of the stuff I've repaired recently it's been mechanical switches that have caused problems, where a microcontroller and bloody great MOSFET would have kept on forever.

[20after4]

Like the cursed lid lock safety switch?

[ErroneousBosh]

Hey, you've got to have a wear part somewhere otherwise how do you get people to buy a new one every five years?