We have discussed before how attractive suds saving systems were in the early years of automatic washers. For one thing, many old homes had set tubs in the basement or other designated laundry area because laundry areas were set up for wringer washer operation. Also because of wringer washers, the person doing the laundry was accustomed to reusing the water for multiple loads. Also many prospective purchasers of automatic washers were worried about the ability of their domestic hot water supply to keep up with the requirements of an automatic, especially when the cold water supply was frigid. Another factor was the fuel supply in the post WWII years. I was surprised to read about this in the late 1970s/early 1980s when we were dealing with our own energy crisis. Shelter magazines from the late 1940s and early 1950s were giving hints about how to save energy at the time that the Korean "police action" was making huge demands on our energy supply, not only to power munitions factories, but also to supply fuel for the armed forces engaged in combat. Many areas of the country, notably the northeast and parts of the south did not have natural gas service then and even here in the mid-Atlantic in the 1970s, there were moratoriums on adding gas service for new construction because the pipelines coming into Virginia were at full capacity. People were desperate for alternatives to fuel oil for heating their homes and hot water and electricity was an expensive alternative. The owners of heat pumps were rudely shocked in January of 1977 when the temperature did not rise high enough for their systems to come out of resistance back up heat for the whole month.
I remember the Sears catalogs showing those Mustee-made utility sinks that could enable the use of a suds-saver washer in homes without previously installed laundry tubs. When we moved to Georgia with our suds-saver Kenmore, Daddy bought a portable laundry tub from Sears because the sewer line went out too high in our basement to allow for a plumbed in tub. We were the only family I knew of with a suds saver washer and that was gone soon after because the suds valve went bad and with a gas water heater, the feature was not important anymore. I do remember when we lived in Illinois that our house had oil heat and the water heater was electric. I used to stand on a little stool in front of the washer and hold the cold water hose to add cold water to the washer as it filled for the rinse.
