Hertz or Hz stands for cycles per second - AC power in the USA is 60Hz and in most of the rest of the world it's 50Hz.
Most AC devices will cope with either frequency 50Hz / 60Hz no problem - some AC motors rotate at a speed proportional to the supply frequency - this is not usually the case with washing machine motors. Speed control is often achieved by quickly switching full power on and off to vary the power given to the motor.
This unit of frequency is named after the German physicist Heinrich Hertz.
AC motors are inductive by definition - they often require an external motor start/run capacitor - it's unlikely that you need to buy an inductor.
