This looks like a great machine.
1968 RCA Whirlpool washer in Spokane
- Thread starter jons1077
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Nice washer, decent price
bradfordwhite
Well-known member
Looks clean.
That looks like the hand-me-down washer my sister and brother-in-law received from an aunt after they bought a house in 1975. I always thought the warm/warm option was odd. Did the wash & wear cycle override that setting?
Mom's aunt, granny's sister, had a similar model, slightly older. IIRC it had Normal, Gentle, and Super Soak which was a truncated Super Wash prewash/soak ... not sure if it drained without spin, or ended the 2/4/6 agitation without draining ... I never saw it run or had opportunity to test it.
Ralph, most likely the user manual and/or lid instructions informed the user to change the temp selector to cold/cold after the wash fill for any reason wanting a cold rinse.
tasser
Member
I have the matching dryer. If I wasn’t all the way across the country I’d grab it!
The Wash 'n Wear cycle could have automatically provided a cold rinse just like in most WP-made products where the speed was built into the cycle with exceptions like the 1958 LK where the agitation speed could be set to either Normal or Gentle in the Normal and Wash 'n Wear cycles. Agitation and spin speeds were programmed to Gentle in the Delicate cycle. Later in one of the super duper deluxe WP Imperial machines, there were independent speed selections. I have seen Maytag machines where the operating instructions said to reset the water temperature from "warm" to "cold" after the wash fill was complete if a cold rinse was wanted when warm washes were followed by a warm rinse, but those were machines without a Permanent Press cycle.
Our 1962 WP didn't have a PP/WnW cycle. Hot/(Warm), Warm/(Warm), Cold/(Cold) temp choices. User guide advised for a cold rinse, set the temp control to Cold after the wash agitation begins.
The 1976 Supreme 80 had 5 temp choices. PP and Knit did not override a warm rinse selection to cold, the user was expected to know the correct choice. RJ's '85/'86 Imperial 70 (five temp pushbuttons) also doesn't override to cold rinse on PP AFAIK.
Glenn, was there anything underneath the lid in the operating instructions advising the switch for a cold rinse? Consumer Reports dinged Maytag in the mid 60s for being less convenient for laundering Permanent Press because of the warm/warm setting, but I don't recall anything similar being said about a Whirlpool. Thanks for the information.
On the '62? No.
Warm rinse likely was a concession to those who still stuck with soap on wash day. Ivory Snow and some other products were still out there in late 1960's that were pure or mostly soap.
Warm water does give slightly better rinsing (detergent or soap)and extraction, which is why commercial laundries rarely rinse in cold water.
Much would depend upon what temperature "cold" water is coming out of taps. During warmer months, especially hot summers around here tap water is around 85 or bit above degrees F. OTOH once temps drop and remain chilly tap water is quite cold indeed.
SQ washers at local laundromat take hot water into FS dispenser and maybe one side, with cold as balance. Know this because one sees steam wafting up from dispenser as machines fill for final rinse.
In any event warm rinses virtually vanished from domestic washing machines as energy crisis of 1970's rolled out.
Finally warm water final rinse does lessen energy used by tumble driers or ironing (by hand or machine), and or pressing. Federal government, Consumer Reports and others pushing "energy saving" use of cold water for rinsing admitted as much, but would go on to say amount of energy saved was "minimal" compared to what was used to heat water for warm water rinsing. In their considered opinion cold water rinsing was just as good.
Warm water does give slightly better rinsing (detergent or soap)and extraction, which is why commercial laundries rarely rinse in cold water.
Much would depend upon what temperature "cold" water is coming out of taps. During warmer months, especially hot summers around here tap water is around 85 or bit above degrees F. OTOH once temps drop and remain chilly tap water is quite cold indeed.
SQ washers at local laundromat take hot water into FS dispenser and maybe one side, with cold as balance. Know this because one sees steam wafting up from dispenser as machines fill for final rinse.
In any event warm rinses virtually vanished from domestic washing machines as energy crisis of 1970's rolled out.
Finally warm water final rinse does lessen energy used by tumble driers or ironing (by hand or machine), and or pressing. Federal government, Consumer Reports and others pushing "energy saving" use of cold water for rinsing admitted as much, but would go on to say amount of energy saved was "minimal" compared to what was used to heat water for warm water rinsing. In their considered opinion cold water rinsing was just as good.
I was hoping someone would save this washer…
…so I wouldn’t. Just shows what a sucker I am. New thread in the vintage washer section.
…so I wouldn’t. Just shows what a sucker I am. New thread in the vintage washer section.
