The purpose of this paper is to obtain an accurate system model to test various control schemes for a motion control system that requires high speed, robustness and accuracy. A washing machine equipped with a universal motor is considered. The model of universal motor and its load (washing machine drum) based on the governing mathematical equations is developed in MATLAB-SIMULINK. Using the model, a PID and LQR controller to compensate the effects of disturbance without degrading tracking performance have been designed. In this experiment, it is not preferable for safety reasons to tune the controller online on the actual machinery. The aim of designing the mentioned controllers is rejection of unwanted disturbance caused by laundry position in washing machine; especially the major type of disturbance that occurs in transition mode. Finally, the simulation results of both controllers are compared.