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Drying My friends lived in Palm Springs, California in a house that is at least as old as your Kenmore. The back yard had a HUGE clothes line, as did most of the houses in the subdivision. The idea was to wash all of the clothes, then start hanging them. It is usualy hot and very dry there, and...

Went to one as a kid Near where we lived in San Diego was a Norge Village. They had a bank of dry cleaners, and an attendant who would press the clothes. My mom always went there when we had a lot of wash to do because the washers were so big. She said that she would rather spend the money at...

Parts There have been some excellent suggestions about locating parts. I have had good luck with Appliance Parts Center in National City, CA. It would be hard to recreate the 2 tone paint at home, unless you are good with a spray gun. Besides, you would have to sandblast the porcelain to get...

Inlet Valve You can also get a rebuild kit and replace the rubber pieces, springs and needle valve. In a pinch, try taking the valves apart, and clean them of minerals. Each diaphram has a small hole, not the big center hole. Make sure that the small hole is cleaned out. Best wishes

Rusty tub I have used epoxy to fix rust before, but that spin basket is in pretty bad shape. See if you can find a "moble junk dealer", and tell him that you will give $25 or so for a washer with the right spin basket. It's more than the scrap yard will give for it. You could keep the parts...

Spin bearing tools That's what they are. I still have mine from the early 80s, including the spring-loaded removal tool. I have a direct drive machine, so I have decided to keep them. I would go to "as-is" auctions and see people practicaly get into fights over belt drive Whirlpools, paying as...

Reply 40 The Kenmore DWs were D&M. I had one that was a super deluxe with a bunch of buttons. I rebuilt the pump (D&M parts) and put it in the apartment my dad and I lived in. I also rebuilt plenty of them with the rotating upper rack. It seems that this Whirlpool in the thread was really well...

Cold Water Recently, I have been only using cold water because the hot water pipe out to the garage was capped off due to a leak. The cold water has been 60 degrees or colder, I've been using regular liquid Tide and getting good results. I add all color bleach and recently Borax. I pretreat the...

Parts Try Appliance Parts Center, 222 East 8th Street, National City CA for parts. He may have repair manuals for your belt drive. Replacing the center post bearings is not too bad, particularly if you have the tools, but I've known many people who just use a big hammer and a piece of pipe to...

Thanks Enjoyed the pictures and ads. Thanks!!

Mom's Kenmore dryer My mom got a Kenmore dryer with "soft heat" and the little scent bottle. This was in 1966, and she got it at the Sears outlet store. It was probably returned. I remember removing the bottle and giving it a good sniff. It still had some liquid in it and it was STRONG. Later...

Power Shower If I remember right, the only ones with Power Shower on them had a spray arm in the lid. This was a more deluxe model. I sold a lot of these. They were popular with people who live in apartments and want to save on space. I liked them. I gave one to my mother. Her kitchen was so...

Bandini touch You have heard of the Midas Touch. I have the Bandini (a brand of fertilizer) touch today. I don't need a grenade, rock, or cinder block, just my presence. The compressor has probably bit the dust in my frig, my "old reliable" 84 Chevy just quit on me today, and my Ford Ranger...

Parentage? I don't remember seeing one like this, but I tried to buy smaller dishwashers for people who lived in smaller apartments. I had a Kenmore 18" machine and it saved a lot of space in my small house. The older GE Mobil Maid top loader was also popular with my customers. It says "Made in...

Yesterday, I went to one of my old haunts from when I was in the appliance business in the 1980s. It is Appliance Parts Center, and I saw the owner, John, and we talked about old times. They have lots of parts for new and older machines, and 4 locations. It was great seeing John again. If it...

Clutch and Brake Mineral spirits can leave an oily film. I used spray brake cleaner. It works great. The brake cam may have been sticking. It doesn't come with any lube, but if you want to lube it (not a bad idea) grease or oil is probably the wrong stuff. Spray dry silicone lube should work...

Yesterday, I went to one of my old haunts, Appliance Parts Center. I saw the owner, John, and we talked about when I was in the appliance business. He may be a good source for vintage parts, he was raised in the business, and his prices are reasonable. Of course, he also has parts for newer...

My Whirlpool set I bought a Whirlpool washer and dryer matching set in 2002 that is probably the same inside as this set. I have not repaired anything on either machine. The only thing I have done is when I moved to a house that did not have gas piped to it, I converted the dryer to propane and...

Washer Grunge Hard water and detergent, particularly that have fillers, leave grunge. I used an acid to clean washers. I tried CLR, Amway laundry whitener, and settled on Muriatic acid. I'd fill the washer with water, then add about 1 quart of acid. I'd let it wash for a while, then let it sit...

dryer element When I was in the business, you could get electric dryer elements that were not in a frame. I think they were made by GEM (Gemline). I used them a lot because they were cheap (and so am I). I used to buy them from Appliance Parts Center in National City, CA (near San Diego). As...