Gosh, I'm getting even older...
I remember when these machines were launched, exactly 20 years ago. Now, It sounds a little bit strange to me to post about this little "wonder" at the imperial Forum instead of the Deluxe forum, but here we go...
This is the little Brastemp Mondial a friend gave me for free. His mother used this machine every single day since it was purchased 20 years ago, to do the laundry of a family of 5.
It's a little interessing and intriguing how this machine was built. The world washer was a joint venture among Whirlpool, Brastemp and a few other manufacturers around the world and the idea was to create an only machine, suitable to many different countries, that's why it was called "World Washer".
Finally, it was launched simultaneously in Brazil, The U.S., Mexico, India and some other countries. But before launched, Brastemp decided to use some of the technology they didn't share with Whirlpool. While the World washer was a very good machine around the world (except in India where they forgot to match the machine with the local culture and it used to destroy the kind of clothes they use), here in Brazil it was an amazing machine, better than other versions of World Washer, and was the most significant modernization that happened during the last 40 years in our local market.
The machine was much cheaper to built, costed much cheaper to the final consumers, had an impressive and totally new suspension system that's used by most of the manufacturers today, washed really well, rinsed amazingly and the spin speed was a miracle if compared to the previous version. and the machine was really dependable and built to last more than 20 years (while the world washer would last 10 years or less).
In 1991 Brazil had a huge economical crisis. The president at that time (Mr. Fernando Collor de Melo) created an emergency plan, blocking all the bank accounts. Nobody could take their money out of the banks for a few months (to try to reduce inflation) and suddenly, overnight, even the richest people became poor for about 6 months. You can imagine how scary was having the money but be allowed to take only a small part of it every month.
While that, as life doesn't stop, machines continued to die in Brazil and people having to buy new machines. Brastemp Mondial was the best machine we had in Brazil at that time, but it was also very expensive if compared to other models.
In 1991/92 a small local manufacturer called Enxuta, beated the biggest appliances manufacturer. They sold MUCH MORE than Brastemp, and it was a PITA for them. Studying the Enxuta case, they discovered Enxuta could sell all that for two reasons. The enxuta front loader was very small (almost like an european Eudora), so it would fit kitchenettes and small apartments and it was also 60% cheaper than a Brastemp.
Brastemp decided to enter this segment and make a small washing machine. But they didn't have access to the money (blocked in banks) and also had no time to start a new project. The alternative they had was simply put all the projects in a copy machine and press the reduce button. Brastemp Baby Mondial was born. It wasn't a big success because a few months after it was launched, the government plan was cancelled and everybody (now with the money available again) would prefer to buy the standard size Mondial. The Baby mondial stayed on market for one or two years after that, only to match those consumers with low space.
It's an amazing machine. Very cute, specially if installed side by side with a standard Brastemp Mondial. (looks like the younger brother).
To keep price low, it had no water temperature selector, and it was so small that a water level selector was unnecessary.
The transmission and some other vital parts are exactly the same as in the standard machine, so you can guess it was overdesized to that tiny drum. virtually it was impossible to be overloaded as any overload wouldn't fit the drum. these machines tend to last much more than the bigger brother, that was already made to last a lot.
The only cons about this machine is that it's too small and light. Sometimes, depending on the load, it tend to jump. so i can't trust it to be running alone. I'm always in front of it when the spins are about to start. The motor is strong and it accelerates from 0 to 760 RPM in less than 4 seconds, even unbalanced. so you can guess the disaster it could be with an out of balance load. Even being tiny, that machine can easily handle 4 pairs of jeans (fat bear size)
About the size of the drum/load capacity... well, the machine is rated as 4kg capacity (the standard model was 5kg capacity) The drum is much smaller than the standard version, but again, the transmission and the strong motor could deal with it.
Proportionally, the agitator is much bigger than the standard version (comparing drum size vs agitator size), so this little baby has an impressive rollover and it cleans like a beast.
Other differences on the first baby mondial version are the 2 rinses (no spin between wash and 1st rinse) and it also doesn't have the spray rinse. the spin go straight to 760 rpm in only one ramp. (the standard version has the slow ramps to give time to drain the spun water and spin rinses).
the lint filter is a mesh cup in the center of the agitator and it also doesn't have softener dispenser as the machine was made to be as cheap as possible.
A few months later, a second version was launched with only one rinse, longer soak and longer wash to fill the void left by the second rinse on the dial.
As the machine has no dispenser softener and at that time softeners in Brazil were designed to be used after the clothes were rinsed (use only on second rinse), it was even better, as nobody would have to be waiting for the second rinse to add the softener. Just let the machine run the entire cycle and then reset the dial for a second rinse and add softener.
After the Brastemp Mondial and Baby Mondial, Brastemp launched Brastemp Clean. It was a little bit more fragile than the Mondials, but still wonderful dependable machines.
After the Brastemp Clean, Whirlpool corporation bought Brastemp and the disaster begun. Now Brastemp machines are just plain machines, still using the World washer mechanism made to last only a few years, like any other manufacturers. they only think about profit, profit and more profit. Major problems on modern "Braswhirltemp" are bearings, tub seal and electronic board. the same crap as any modern top loader.
Here goes the first video i've made using my cell phone. I'm sorry for making it only in portuguese. I promess the next will be made in english.
The load was:
1 king size sheet
1 queen size sheet
5 big pillowcases
2 standard size pillowcases
The machine was lightly overloaded. maybe one or two pillowcases less would be much better.
Detergent was Cheer Brightclean liquid
I ran the first wash, skip the 20 minute soak, main wash and then skip the first rinse to go straight to the interm. spin.
As soon as I can I'll make another video with the whole cycle removing lid so you can see the wash and the control panel at the same time.
I hope you like it. Enjoy!
I remember when these machines were launched, exactly 20 years ago. Now, It sounds a little bit strange to me to post about this little "wonder" at the imperial Forum instead of the Deluxe forum, but here we go...
This is the little Brastemp Mondial a friend gave me for free. His mother used this machine every single day since it was purchased 20 years ago, to do the laundry of a family of 5.
It's a little interessing and intriguing how this machine was built. The world washer was a joint venture among Whirlpool, Brastemp and a few other manufacturers around the world and the idea was to create an only machine, suitable to many different countries, that's why it was called "World Washer".
Finally, it was launched simultaneously in Brazil, The U.S., Mexico, India and some other countries. But before launched, Brastemp decided to use some of the technology they didn't share with Whirlpool. While the World washer was a very good machine around the world (except in India where they forgot to match the machine with the local culture and it used to destroy the kind of clothes they use), here in Brazil it was an amazing machine, better than other versions of World Washer, and was the most significant modernization that happened during the last 40 years in our local market.
The machine was much cheaper to built, costed much cheaper to the final consumers, had an impressive and totally new suspension system that's used by most of the manufacturers today, washed really well, rinsed amazingly and the spin speed was a miracle if compared to the previous version. and the machine was really dependable and built to last more than 20 years (while the world washer would last 10 years or less).
In 1991 Brazil had a huge economical crisis. The president at that time (Mr. Fernando Collor de Melo) created an emergency plan, blocking all the bank accounts. Nobody could take their money out of the banks for a few months (to try to reduce inflation) and suddenly, overnight, even the richest people became poor for about 6 months. You can imagine how scary was having the money but be allowed to take only a small part of it every month.
While that, as life doesn't stop, machines continued to die in Brazil and people having to buy new machines. Brastemp Mondial was the best machine we had in Brazil at that time, but it was also very expensive if compared to other models.
In 1991/92 a small local manufacturer called Enxuta, beated the biggest appliances manufacturer. They sold MUCH MORE than Brastemp, and it was a PITA for them. Studying the Enxuta case, they discovered Enxuta could sell all that for two reasons. The enxuta front loader was very small (almost like an european Eudora), so it would fit kitchenettes and small apartments and it was also 60% cheaper than a Brastemp.
Brastemp decided to enter this segment and make a small washing machine. But they didn't have access to the money (blocked in banks) and also had no time to start a new project. The alternative they had was simply put all the projects in a copy machine and press the reduce button. Brastemp Baby Mondial was born. It wasn't a big success because a few months after it was launched, the government plan was cancelled and everybody (now with the money available again) would prefer to buy the standard size Mondial. The Baby mondial stayed on market for one or two years after that, only to match those consumers with low space.
It's an amazing machine. Very cute, specially if installed side by side with a standard Brastemp Mondial. (looks like the younger brother).
To keep price low, it had no water temperature selector, and it was so small that a water level selector was unnecessary.
The transmission and some other vital parts are exactly the same as in the standard machine, so you can guess it was overdesized to that tiny drum. virtually it was impossible to be overloaded as any overload wouldn't fit the drum. these machines tend to last much more than the bigger brother, that was already made to last a lot.
The only cons about this machine is that it's too small and light. Sometimes, depending on the load, it tend to jump. so i can't trust it to be running alone. I'm always in front of it when the spins are about to start. The motor is strong and it accelerates from 0 to 760 RPM in less than 4 seconds, even unbalanced. so you can guess the disaster it could be with an out of balance load. Even being tiny, that machine can easily handle 4 pairs of jeans (fat bear size)
About the size of the drum/load capacity... well, the machine is rated as 4kg capacity (the standard model was 5kg capacity) The drum is much smaller than the standard version, but again, the transmission and the strong motor could deal with it.
Proportionally, the agitator is much bigger than the standard version (comparing drum size vs agitator size), so this little baby has an impressive rollover and it cleans like a beast.
Other differences on the first baby mondial version are the 2 rinses (no spin between wash and 1st rinse) and it also doesn't have the spray rinse. the spin go straight to 760 rpm in only one ramp. (the standard version has the slow ramps to give time to drain the spun water and spin rinses).
the lint filter is a mesh cup in the center of the agitator and it also doesn't have softener dispenser as the machine was made to be as cheap as possible.
A few months later, a second version was launched with only one rinse, longer soak and longer wash to fill the void left by the second rinse on the dial.
As the machine has no dispenser softener and at that time softeners in Brazil were designed to be used after the clothes were rinsed (use only on second rinse), it was even better, as nobody would have to be waiting for the second rinse to add the softener. Just let the machine run the entire cycle and then reset the dial for a second rinse and add softener.
After the Brastemp Mondial and Baby Mondial, Brastemp launched Brastemp Clean. It was a little bit more fragile than the Mondials, but still wonderful dependable machines.
After the Brastemp Clean, Whirlpool corporation bought Brastemp and the disaster begun. Now Brastemp machines are just plain machines, still using the World washer mechanism made to last only a few years, like any other manufacturers. they only think about profit, profit and more profit. Major problems on modern "Braswhirltemp" are bearings, tub seal and electronic board. the same crap as any modern top loader.
Here goes the first video i've made using my cell phone. I'm sorry for making it only in portuguese. I promess the next will be made in english.
The load was:
1 king size sheet
1 queen size sheet
5 big pillowcases
2 standard size pillowcases
The machine was lightly overloaded. maybe one or two pillowcases less would be much better.
Detergent was Cheer Brightclean liquid
I ran the first wash, skip the 20 minute soak, main wash and then skip the first rinse to go straight to the interm. spin.
As soon as I can I'll make another video with the whole cycle removing lid so you can see the wash and the control panel at the same time.
I hope you like it. Enjoy!
