I live in Lynn, Mass. about 10 miles North of Boston. I am looking to buy a Bendix Front Loading Automatic Washer from the 40's or 50's that would be reasonably serviceable in light usage. ( I live alone and do about 3 loads of wash a week). I am not a collector nor Am I adept at making major repairs myself. We had one at home when I was growing up and it was a really good machine. The new front loaders are very expensive and are cheaply made...plastic parts abound. If somebody has a good Bendix for sale not 300 miles from here I would be interested.
Bendix Home Laundry Wanted
- Thread starter jbuscemi
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Bendix...
Welcome to AW.org.
They are a lot of fun, but aren't that great for a daily driver. Their extraction is poor, their capacity is small, they aren't that great at cleaning, replacement parts are EXTREMELY difficult to find, and service companies are unfamiliar and untrained on that brand and vintage. You would have to complete any and all repairs yourself (with help from AW.org of course), and you would have to find parts yourself.
I admire people who use vintage machines every day, but if that's what you want to do, you ought to have several in case one or two are inoperative and awaiting parts/repair.
Good luck,
Dave
Welcome to AW.org.
They are a lot of fun, but aren't that great for a daily driver. Their extraction is poor, their capacity is small, they aren't that great at cleaning, replacement parts are EXTREMELY difficult to find, and service companies are unfamiliar and untrained on that brand and vintage. You would have to complete any and all repairs yourself (with help from AW.org of course), and you would have to find parts yourself.
I admire people who use vintage machines every day, but if that's what you want to do, you ought to have several in case one or two are inoperative and awaiting parts/repair.
Good luck,
Dave
Yikes. That's disappointing. 
I also harbored hopes to get a Duomatic at some point. Poor cleaning, poor capacity, poor extraction? Why does anyone bother with them, then?
I also harbored hopes to get a Duomatic at some point. Poor cleaning, poor capacity, poor extraction? Why does anyone bother with them, then?
mrcleanjeans
New member
The DuoMatic was very good at cleaning letting the clothes drop two feet in tumbling and extracted @ 505 RPM which was at least as good as an average top loader.The older Bendix had 1/3 that spin speed thus were poor @ extracting ,but their cleaning would be at least good with today's detergents vs. the soap they were used to dealing with when they 1st appeared.
huh?
The Duomatic was by far the best of the Philco/Bendix front loaders in terms of both cleaning ability and extraction, especially the earlier wider models.
It was pretty damn good actually. If you have parts and the knowledge to keep it running it would make for a great "daily driver".
The Duomatic was by far the best of the Philco/Bendix front loaders in terms of both cleaning ability and extraction, especially the earlier wider models.
It was pretty damn good actually. If you have parts and the knowledge to keep it running it would make for a great "daily driver".
yay! You go Robert!
I use 3 Duomatics regularly and they clean as good as my Neptune.
And the 1956 model Gyramatic is an excellent washer as well!
I use 3 Duomatics regularly and they clean as good as my Neptune.
And the 1956 model Gyramatic is an excellent washer as well!
Phew
Good to hear...the dream lives on.
Good to hear...the dream lives on.
Another thing about the Automatic Home Laundry, which I guess you know from growing up with one, is that it is going to have to be bolted down. If you do not have a concrete floor, the machine has to be aligned over the floor beams, holes drilled through the beams for the bolts and a heavy steel plate slightly larger than the area delineated by the bolts goes under the beams. The bolts go through the plate, the beam and the floor to hold the machine in place. I was in a neighbor's kitchen when their Automatic Home Laundry, installed like that, went into spin and knocked the crockery cookie jar off the counter. It ended up like Humpty Dumpty. Also with it, you will be doing about double your three loads a week.
The Duomatic cannot in anyway be put in the same class as this machine. The first Duomatic, when tested by CU, ranked just below the check-rated Whirlpool in washing performance and was actually well rated when compared with other condenser dryers of the time. When I found and bought my original Duomatic, I had to keep it at the house of the family who helped me survive my late teens. The father was a doctor and his wife a nurse. I remember her remarking that my machine removed stains from her uniforms that had not been removed by their GE; saying that it looked the best it had since it was new. The uniform was permanent press, yet went through warm rinses and the 505 rpm spin and emerged from the dryer without a wrinkle. Permanent press items always came out of my 58 Custom Imperial pair looking fine too, so, unless permanent press items are not dryer dried, slow spin just wastes energy.
The Duomatic cannot in anyway be put in the same class as this machine. The first Duomatic, when tested by CU, ranked just below the check-rated Whirlpool in washing performance and was actually well rated when compared with other condenser dryers of the time. When I found and bought my original Duomatic, I had to keep it at the house of the family who helped me survive my late teens. The father was a doctor and his wife a nurse. I remember her remarking that my machine removed stains from her uniforms that had not been removed by their GE; saying that it looked the best it had since it was new. The uniform was permanent press, yet went through warm rinses and the 505 rpm spin and emerged from the dryer without a wrinkle. Permanent press items always came out of my 58 Custom Imperial pair looking fine too, so, unless permanent press items are not dryer dried, slow spin just wastes energy.
