Best washer for towels/cleaning cloths

[khodabear]

I want to set up a second W/D for car towels...cleaning cloths etc. Not for clothes.
I could rework a Neptune - but is that the best choice for this type of laundry? Would an older TL that uses a larger fill be better?

Thanks for your thoughts

Peter
in Denver

 

[gansky1]

Depending on the source of the soiling on the towels/rags, you probably want to stick with something that does use a decent amount of water and has a spin-drain, IMO. A vintage Maytag washer would be fun looking and reliable for garage use.

 

[mayken4now]

Maytag.

 

[danemodsandy]

Maytag.

 

[khodabear]

Well that was easy :~)

 

[spinout]

A real GE Filter Flo. A lot more fun than the esteemed but boring Maytag.

 

[trainguy]

What Else, But A......

Frigidaire 1-18

 

[christfr]

id vote for a tag in the garage they just go and go and go

 

[launderess]

If you don't mind a little work, a Hoover twin tub.

Wash action is though and the spin rinses do a very good job. Final spin/extraction leaves towels and rags almost bone dry.

L.

 

[sillysuds]

Kenmore/Whirlpool.

 

[charbee]

Get an old Maytag!

The beat-up old A407 we found for twenty bucks cleans towels (and everything else) better than anything we've had in the last five years. Even the old "dog towels" we use to clean the mud off the dog's feet look brighter than they used to!

 

[panthera]

Any "real" Frigidaire

That is, a thumper. Preferably a Unimatic. Or a vintage Maytag.
A FL would do a much better job on sand, of course.
I can not for the life of me imagine why anyone would use a modern Whirlpool or Kenmore for this purpose...the vintage machines are cool, but cleaning real dirt day in day out?
Nee, that takes a serious washer, none of the sh** they all build today.
A spin dryer (mine here in Germany does 2800rpm) is a very good idea. Not only does it dry clothes well, but also removes a lot of residue. So, yeah - a good twinny would do ya proud.
Of course, how you get the oil and gunk out is also a factor of the chemicals you use. What works best on motor oil and stuff in the US?

 

[danemodsandy]

Panthera:

For getting grease out of fabrics, it's hard to beat an American hand cleaner called "Goop". Goop looks like cold cream; you rub it into your greasy hands and then wash them with soap and water. Goop dissolves the grease so that the soap can wash it away.

It can be used for fabrics by rubbing it into the stain, then allowing the fabric to sit for about ten minutes before laundering in the hottest water the fabric will accept. I have used it with great success on dinner napkins stained with lipstick worn by female guests. And, in a positive Goop triumph, I used it to get tar out of the carpeting of my Volvo 240. First I used Goop, then I scrubbed with hot water, detergent, and washing soda. I finished up with a steam-cleaning of the carpet, and you can NOT tell where the tar was at all.

 

[jetcone]

Panthera

Have you tried Persil yet? It gets things really clean I buy the German brand here through Amazon.

My best degreaser, I use Shout right in the oily stain with heaps of Persil.

Warm prewash then recharge the machine and clothes and hit hot wash.

 

[launderess]

Oil/Grease Stains? One Word

"Fels" as in Fels Naptha Soap, preferably the vintage sort with naptha solvent.

L.

 

[brettsomers]

Laundress is a smart one. a vintage Hoover twin tub would be ideal, easy to clean, spins very well. the fels-naptha soap, for spots, is much more thrifty than fancy sprays.

ge filter-flo...IMO, uses too much water,and as result, too much detergent.

whirlpool/kenmores neutral drain will settle the grease ONTO the load.

the vintage figidaire would be a washer project, not a rag washer.

you will hot water (in the garage hookup) if the rags are greasy.

 

[spinout]

Spin drains....

We all know that oils and other light soils will float up on the water. Now you guys that advocate spin drains must consider, that when things start spinning, you have nothing more than a centrifuge. So what happens to the lighter matter in a centrifuge? Well, it moves to the inside--the center. As do the light soils and oil, so they actually end up being drawn through the side of the clothes as they spin out. In reality, there is no advantage to a spin drain over a neutral drain in a perf tub machine.

A solid tub spin drain has a bit of an advantage in this area, as much (but not all) of the fill will quickly travel up and over the clothes during drain taking some of the lighter soils with it. Remember that a perf tubs' spin drain doesn't work like that and will spin the lighter soils to the center until it's drained. Bet you never read that in the sales literature. An overflow wash period would also be an excellent way to handle lots of oily residue.

If your garage towels are anything like mine--or most garage towels, you'll have a lot of lint coming off of them. A machine with a real lint filter is beneficial.

A good rinser will be beneficial as well.

For popular washers, I'm still with the Filter Flo or Belt drive WP or Kenmore with the waterfall or a self-cleaning filter. Both of these are also good with sand and heavy soils too. Forget the 'tag, it's a wimp.

 

[brettsomers]

let the washer battles begin!

i agree, a solid-tub machine that throws the water would do best with oil.

about spin-drain vs neutral drain... the water action of the spin drain keeps the oil broken-up and emulsified. a still-drain allows the oil to pool and come together.

too bad the center-dial Maytags dont offer an automatic second rinse.

lint comes out in the dryer.

sure other makes make more water noise and lots of splash, but Maytag knows you dont need that to get clean. mine was a Maytag family, and those classic Powerfin agitators do their job well with out cheap theatrics.!

 

[panthera]

saponification

You are right about oil floating. I should think, however, that either being "caught" in the detergent/soaps molecules or having, itself, become soap through the saponification process, that it would flush up and out with the water and not lie as scum on the clothes.
At least this has been my observation when spin drying clothes that had been truly filthy dirty.
I do believe there were pictures up on our forum at one time or other showing the difference in visible residue between neutral drains, solid tubs and hole-y tubs, were there not?
Jon, I do know Persil. It is one of the most effective detergents for dirty clothes I have ever used.
Shout gives me a very bad headache.
I confess to using WD-40 (outside) liberally on bad fat and oil-based stains. Seems easier to remove its residues than fight the heavier oils. Got a lot of transmission oil on my favorite jeans last year taking a Frigidaire TL (not a real one, sh** by White) apart. Couldn't use anything but what was under the kitchen sink. The enzyme based automatic dishwasher detergent and two trips through the Frigimore FL did the trick. Would not do that with this machine too often - too much aluminum exposed (spider).
Hmm, anybody have a machine which would stand up to a strong lye solution?