1961 GE filter flow washer picture of the day

[combo52]

Curious, does anybody have this original smaller mini basket that the first filter flow Mini basket machines had?

I have never used the original smaller mini basket in one of these machines. It was certainly an interesting and useful feature when it came out.

My old bosses wife, Audrey had a GE filter flow with a mini basket that she loved so much she did all her sweaters and such in it, when her husband went into the Appliance business and became a Maytag dealer he bought her a Maytag K906 and the washer was OK but She said she had to start hand washing all her sweaters because it just ruined her sweaters even on the wool cycle. It was just too hard on them and used way too much water she said.

John

 

[maytag85]

If that Maytag K906 ruined those wool sweaters, it was probably jammed full. Also didn’t help the 906 wasn’t as flexible as the 806, only 2 water levels I believe in those machines. Always use the gentle wash fast spin speed on my 806 since there’s no real reason to have it go 90 MPH for every load that’s done.

 

[bajaespuma]

Now that you mention it...

I have the original Mini-Basket and I've used it a bunch of times. Worked fine, wastes lots of water, great for someone like me who has no interest in hand-washing in a sink.

 

Consumer Reports assessment of the GE Mini-Basket (as compared to the Hotpoint Duo-Load Basket {which I've never had the good fortune to try}) is spot-on, but, hey, if AW folks aren't for the bells and whistles, who is? 

 

BTW, speaking of Maytags ruining sweaters, when I was using a "Power-fin" Maytag as my daily driver I noticed a lot more small rips and holes in my laundry than I had ever seen with other machines, mostly FF's. I always wondered if clothing got caught in the gap between the flexing agitator fins and the base. I also wondered if the molded edges on those polypropylene agitators weren't smoothed/sanded sufficiently after manufacture. In contrast, all the older Maytag and GE Bakelite agitator fins had smooth edges.

 

Thanks to Filter-Flo for the picture

 

[tomturbomatic]

We had that first mini mini basket in our beautiful next to the TOL 1961 GE V12 and used it several times for mom's nylons and such but it was a horrible waste of water. I found that even though GE said not to, it was possible to use the mini basket with the water level for 1-6 pounds so that a small load could be washed in the main tub and ultra delicates washed in the mini basket at the same time and not waste as much water.

The poor ill-fated machine died early. There was a flaw in the porcelain top and we came home after we had left it running and there was a black area about the size of a 50 cent piece on the right front corner of the top of the cabinet and all of these little shards of white porcelain on the floor. It was decided not to replace the whole top but to do touch up paint instead. The clutch went under warranty and was replaced. Shortly after that the seal on the transmission went and all of the brown oil came out one night while we were asleep. My father of blessed memory had painted the basement floor with beautiful green paint for concrete and the oil took it up in rolls as we cleaned it. Rich's Department Store took her away. It was sad. She was our last washer with a fluorescent light.

 

[qsd-dan]

Overloading causes items to get caught between the fin(s) and base on Powerfin agitators.

These washers aren't for stuffers.

 

[maytag85]

No machine was designed to be stuffed full, some people give me a hard time about loading my machines loosely, but want the machine to operate at its fullest potential.

Here’s a video clip of my Whirlpool loaded loosely with shirts. If you pay close enough attention to the red shirt, it’s been turned over 13 times a minute.

 

[combo52]

Washing wool sweaters in a 906 washer

Hi Sean, Audrey told me she never washed more than two or three sweaters at once and the 9064 studio use a full 19 gallons of water on the cycle. There was no water level selection.

In your video with the shirt turning over so often other than being a huge waste of water you really don’t get good cleaning with that Much turnover, I suppose if you were using a suds saver, you could justify washing like that. It also doesn’t look like you have enough detergent unless you were using something that’s very low sudsing but with that much activity, there should be a little bit more suds one of the other problems with top loading washers is people seldom use enough detergent in them.

John

 

[maytag85]

Reply #6

Probably was using a low sudsing detergent when I recorded this video clip back in 2020, may have been Tide liquid if I remember correctly. Was hooked up to cold water which could be another reason why it wasn’t generating much suds, this was long before it was put into service.

Btw, do you have the parts timer? Just wondering since I might try a few more repair attempts to see if I can get it up and running again.

 

[pulltostart]

Just for the record

GE introduced their Mini-Basket/Mini-Wash system with the 1962 models.  Today's P.O.D. features the 1963 TOL machine.

 

lawrence

 

[qsd-dan]

"Audrey told me she never washed more than two or three sweaters at once and the 906 use a full 19 gallons of water on the cycle."

Odd. I wore sweaters until around 2000 and I got too hot in them after 10-11 Am. It can get cold at night during the winter months in the Bay Area but it warms up pretty quick mid day.

I washed all of my sweaters in a fabricmatic washer and used the regular cycle. Full tub of water mixed in with other items but slightly underloaded. They were never damaged.

Loading techniques can be tricky and vary from each machine and the fabrics being washed. Too much underloading can cause rapid movement of items and damage/wear them out prematurely. It can also cause things to vaguely swim or just float at the top and never get pulled down and roll over. 2-3 sweaters in a full 19 gallon tub is definitely way too underloaded. More sweaters or other items added would have slowed down the roll over but not to the point of getting caught in the agitator fins, especially on the slower agitation speed of the 906.

Washing/loading techniques can be very scientific at times. Bypassing the lid switche and watching the magic unfold helps the learning curve.

 

[bajaespuma]

I didn't overload my Maytag. I tend not to overload machines for many reasons, not getting a thorough rinse being most important to me.

 

[qsd-dan]

I've been using these machines for 37 years and still wear clothes going back to 1992. No holes in any of them.