structural:expansion, linguistic:translation
Wash cycles

The earliest washing machines simply carried out a washing action when loaded with clothes and soap, filled with hot water, and started. Over time machines became more and more automated, first with complex electromechanical controllers, then fully electronic controllers; users put clothes into the machine, select a suitable program via a switch, start the machine, and come back to remove clean and slightly damp clothes at the end of the cycle. The controller starts and stops many different processes including pumps and valves to fill and empty the drum with water, heating, and rotating at different speeds, with different combinations of settings for different fabrics.

Longer wash cycles can allow greater water and energy efficiency (with less water to heat up). For a 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) load, from 2011 to 2021, the average Australian washing machine cycle (including rinsing and spinning) has lengthened from 99 to 144 minutes for front-loaders, and 55 to 59 minutes for top-loaders.