1974 Lady Kenmore Selective Dialing

[Chetlaham]

I'm a bit confused how this washer works so bare with me. Does anyone know the wash/rinse temps and motor speed combinations  for each cycle on the selective push cards?  What does the custom care cycle do/offer/modify? Why are Pre-Soak, Pre-wash, and Second Rinse labelled on the timer decal but not the other cycles? Does the timer automatically advance to the correct cycle position based on the push cards? Or is there a user prompt?

 

Does anyone have an excerpt from the owners/service/advertising litterateur? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marky_Mark]

His Chet.  Todd was kind enough to give me this exact 2-speed 1974 LK washer.

 

The Custom Care button reduces agitation speed from normal to gentle but leaves spin speed unaltered.  

 

When you turn the timer knob (when in the off position, i.e. pulled out) it will stop at the cycle that corresponds to the selection you've made on the piano keys.  If no piano keys are selected (which can be achieved by pressing selective dialling cancel) the timer will not stop anywhere and you can just keep turning it round and round.

 

If the timer is in the on position (pushed in) then you can turn the timer round and it will not stop anywhere.  So if you want a shorter wash, you can make your selection on the keys, then turn the dial and it will stop at the appropriate cycle, then push in the timer to start the washer and then turn the timer a few clicks further to shorten the wash.  The detergent dispenser runs for the first 4 minutes, so if you skip past that for a short wash, the detergent dispenser won't operate.

 

I don't know why pre-soak, pre-wash and second rinse are labelled, but perhaps they just wanted to make it clear for the user to see what stage the timer/cycle was up to, just as rinse and spin and wash time being labelled.  Maybe they didn't label the other cycle names because the idea what that you would turn the timer and it would then stop at the cycle you'd chosen on the piano keys, therefore negating the need to label the cycles around the timer itself.

 

If you don't select a piano key, I think it defaults to hot wash on the normal cycle.

 

[Chetlaham]

Awesome! Thank You! Thats so cool. If this site had Gold or coins I would have given your post some.

 

I'm surprised delicate and knits and warm/cold. I normally find them cold/cold on newer machines.

 

 

Last Question- how does sani rinse work? I know it involves bleach to sanitize fabrics, but where and what dispenser would it go into?  

 

 

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thank you, Chet!  The prewash/sani rinse does a warm prewash for 4 minutes, drains and spins, then proceeds into the normal cycle.  I'm not sure why they also added the name "sani rinse" to this prewash button but I seem to remember something about it being used to clean out the machine after washing laundry that was contaminated with nasty stuff.  Not sure really.  You would have to add your chemicals directly into the basket, as no dispensers are flushed during the prewash.

 

I made a video of mine:

 

 

[Chetlaham]

Thanks!

 

My best guess would be bleach is used as a sanitizer before the wash. Though there is no bleach dispenser on your machine... Interesting.

 

 

Either way, you are lucky to have this washer. Please keep it, its a nice concept. I'd give anything for a warm rinse option.

 

[Marky_Mark]

If you check out my video, you’ll see that I poured bleach into the bleach dispenser, which is flushed 4 minutes before the end of the main wash.

 

[Chetlaham]

Correction. Bleach dispenser for the pre-wash sanitation. My bad in wording it that way.

 

 

Thank you for your vids, they are the best!

 

[kd12]

Interesting that it calls for hot or warm wash for cottons, and nowadays cottons all seem to be cold-wash only.

 

[DADoES]

 
This machine is long before the push to cold-everything.

The timer mechanically has a rotating "program" plate with holes that correspond to the starting positions of the various selections.  An array of pins are linked to the selection buttons.  The pin for the selection presses against the plate when the timer is pulled out.  Turn the timer, the pin drops into the hole for the selected button which locks the timer from turning further.  Pushing the timer in releases the pin from the hole so the timer can advance through the cycle.  Selective Dialing/Cancel releases all the cycle buttons so the timer (when pulled out) can be rotated freely to any position.

This is a two-speed model.  I believe Custom Care forced Ex-Low agitation on earlier three-speed models.

 

[appnut]

nowadays cottons all seem to be cold-wash only.

Only because fabric producers are scared of legal lawsuits due to "damage" to fabrics washed in hot or warm. People have been brainwashed for decades and don't know how to properly do laundry. Brainwashed to wash everything in cold. AT worst I use cool wash temp. But I won't select cold. And I've nevre selected cold or cool for any load. My warm is 90F and I consider that a joke at times. My hot regulated to 112F. Another joke. I'm glad I've figured out how to get hot water temps of anywhere between 120F & 140F (if not hotter) on my LG front load. It's almost like I have a European front loader in my laundry room. I'm in control. Not the government.

 

[Chetlaham]

Bob, not saying you're wrong. But I missed the whole debacle of fabric producers, damage and lawsuits. I was always under the assumption it was because of energy savings.

 

 

I wish washers today had a cycle or naming convention like this:

 

 

 

White Cotton = hot/warm

 

Colored Cottons = warm/warm

 

Perm Whites = hot / cold

 

Perm Colors = warm / cold

 

Gentle = cold/cold

 

Wovens = cold / warm

 

 

Or another alternative I like to imagine:

 

 

Heavy Duty = hot / warm

 

Normal = warm / warm

 

Sheets = hot / cold

 

Casuals = warm / cold

 

Delicates = cold / cold

 

Knits = cold / warm  

 

[washerlover]

Mark, happy to see that you are still enjoying those LK's! So happy they landed in a good home and have been so lovingly restored more than where I got them to be. Next time I'm in SoCal (I don't get to Liverpool or Madrid very often!) would love to visit.

 

[Marky_Mark]

I'm delighted to have them, Todd!  Next time you're planning a trip to SoCal, let me know.  It will be great to see you and we can have a mini wash-in with all your trip's laundry!

 

[toploadloyalist]

Delicate/Knit/Washable Woolens selections

This was the last of the fabulous "piano key" models. This was a 2-speed model, thus there didn't seem to be much difference between the "Knitted Fabrics" and "Delicates-Washable Woolens" selections in terms of agitation speed, along with intermittent soak. The 3-speed models from 1966-73 had regular slow agitation for the upper row "Delicate Fabrics" key and extra-slow for the "Washable Woolens" lower row key, both with intermittent soak. The "Custom Care" selection also set it to extra-slow. In 1971, the upper key was renamed "Knitted Fabrics" (lower key was renamed "Delicates-Washable Woolens") and was advertised as if it were a whole new different cycle, but wasn't it about the same in terms of sequence? 2-speed "piano key" washers were first made around that same year, which lessened, if not eliminated those aforementioned differences.