What Is the Drum of a Washing Machine?

What is the drum of a washing machine? It’s essentially the appliance’s heart: It’s where you load and unload your laundry. The drum is more complex than it appears, with several different parts underneath the surface. Here’s a closer look at what the drum of a washer machine is and how it works to clean your clothes and linens.

What Is the Drum of a Washing Machine?

The drum in a washing machine is the container that holds your laundry. It's also referred to as a tub or wash basket. Washing machine drums are usually made of stainless steel or base metal, although budget washing machines may have plastic drums.

Drums come in different capacities that depend on the washing machine model and the household size it is marketed to. The larger the load capacity, the larger the drum. There is more to the drum of a washer machine than meets the eye: It contains and connects to multiple important washing machine parts.

Types of Washing Machine Drums

There are two chief types of washing machine drums: top-loading and front-loading. There are also inner and outer drums regardless of machine type. 

Top-Loading Drum

Top-loading drums are used in top-loading machines, like agitator washers, impeller washers, and newer combination washers that use smaller agitators. Top-loading drums stand upright and spin on a vertical axis.

Top-loading drums use an agitator or impeller. Agitators are large posts in the center of the drum that create friction with rapid movement to fight heavy stains, grime, and dirt. Top-loading drums with impellers have higher capacities because they don't have an agitator taking up room. A disc or plate at the bottom creates friction with the clothes themselves.

Front-Loading Drum

Front-loading drums are found in washing machines where the door is located on the front. These drums spin on a horizontal axis and rely on tumbling movement that results in gentler cleaning without sacrificing effectiveness, with the bonus of enhanced energy efficiency.

Unlike top-loading drums, front-loading drums don’t contain impellers or agitators. This leaves more room for a very full load, and there are fewer parts that could eventually malfunction.

Outer and Inner Tubs

The drum that you can easily see and touch is the inner tub. Drums also have an outer tub.

Depending on the model of washing machine, this outer tub could only serve to hold the inner drum in place, or it might also assist with drainage. Most homeowners today have fully automatic washing machines where the outer tub is only for support. Older semi-automatic washing machines have separate tubs for getting the clothes sudsy and for spinning them.

If you see water pooling around the washing machine, it's likely that the outer tub leaked; you should contact a local washing machine pro rather than try to fix this problem yourself.