British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Hello Simon yes I think the British held on to their twinnys for a long time over the automatics, I think as well many people saw friends with the likes of Indesit & Zanny washers with slow spin speeds and complaining
especially with our weather.. so hung onto them !!

The Hoovermatic Washdog must have been one of the best sellers for Hoover at the time...great machine and with the autorinse. What Servis top loader was it the UK one with Blue agi & booster fin or the Canadian made Kenmore Whirlppol ?

 

[unclejohn]

Ah, yes, Chester Mike, the Simplicity twinnie has an two speed four-vane agitator, whereas most Speed Queen twin tubs are only 1 speed. Regarding the belt fitted to the Maytag motor-impellers, the original was indeed a round belt. However, the V belt described above fits like a glove and gives great washing power, as far as i'm concerned. The minor leakage excepted (from the top of the wash tub), this A50 is in excellent working order. Clothes get well washed, and barely damp after 3 min spin.

I 100% agree with you that the washdog (rinse-o-matic) is the 'Holy Grail' of Hoovers. And, yep, that sort of lint filter also gives pretty good results.

I, too, found that GEC washer fascinating and unusual to say the least.

 

[spinspeed]

Hi Mike, yes that is the one. Fantastic machine for its time. However, I was always jealous of people who had automatics. They were so cool but as you say had really slow spinspeed. I always used to buy Bold Automatic detergent even though we had a TT. I loved the smell if it.

The Service top loader was a very interesting machine. There is a thread on the very machine. It was cool if not a little slow, had no spray rinse and had thee deep rinses. Small capacity and was not best suited to British hot water systems of that day. Took forever to heat the wash water up.

Thanks for posting this Mike, excellent thread
Simon

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?52471

 

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Morning Simon, well I never, not like me to miss all things Servii haha, especially when Alans posts the holy grail of literature - then I checked the date, was moving home...

These where made for Servis UK by Whirlpool Kenmore but the Canadian design, I dont know if their model had a heater or it was made specifically for UK market. Hoping Guy (BellaLaundry) or Jean (UncleJohn) can help us ?

Oh yes Bold for colours Daz for whites and Lenor ha ha..This Hoovermatic was prob the best selling and almost semi automatic with the linked heater timer and the autorinse albeit you had to move the clothes between tubs !![this post was last edited: 3/23/2020-03:45]

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?52471#start_52471.1064239

 

[jetcone]

Mike what a great video

I love all the sloshing washing action!!! Getting extra enjoyment as my babies are currently snowballed in storage. 

 

 

 

[unclejohn]

Mike,

as far as i know, there were absolutely no heater models in the various twintubs right here in North America. [Only some of the models of UK or Australia ??]

That is probably one of the reasons we had some plastic (poly-) tubs models whereas in the UK there were none. That being said, i personally prefer ss, porcelain enamel or alum tubs in washing machines of any kind.

 

[alanlondon]

Super read Mike

thank you so much for taking the time to compile a list. My Mum had Hoover twin tub when I was growing up and I used to fill it for her and get it ready for use (aged probably about 6) and then stayed with her whist she did the laundry turning the knobs on instruction. I remember that the spinner would be left on whilst she hung out some clothes on the line which were finished, the loud high pitch deafening noise for ten minute or so would ring in my ears long after the washing had ended!

Also my mum would always lift the lid of the blue spinner and put her finger on top of the revolving clothes as it came to a stop in an impatient way, how her arm was never ripped off I'll never know!

It's worth remembering too that this was a time when we had two electrical sockets in the kitchen, so there was a long trailing wire to add to the excitement.

Happy memories.

Cheers, Alan

 

[alanlondon]

Instructions for my Mum’s Hoovermatic

Knew I had them somewhere!

 

[keymatic]

Hoovermatic 3334 - great machines
Cheers
Keith

 

[alanlondon]

Brochure from 1978

Think this was nearly the last re-incarnation of the Hoovermatic[this post was last edited: 3/24/2020-05:32]

 

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Morning Jon, glad you got to use our Hoover twinnys on your visit, they do speed through washday. Will you be able to bring your machines to where you are now ?

ps, Cant believe its 15 yrs since your visit !!

 

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Hello Jean (UncleJohn) yes I was surprised when I first saw the Washdog variations of US Hoovers with the one piece moulded tubs. Its the other way around here,only a few without heaters , saying that 95% of the time as a kid I saw twintubs used the heater wasnt, usually our hot water was from a back boiler over a coal fire or immersion tank heated by electricity or gas so the washer was filled up from the tap..

I do like a shiny tub but equally love the different colours of the vitreous enamel.

 

[foraloysius]

I love that 1978 Hoover with the orange accents. Many years ago there was one on a Dutch auction site. A daughter was selling it for her father so she could get him an automatic. In the end the father decided against the whole idea, so that was that. It was one of the few British style twintubs I came across in the NL. The other one was a later Hotpoint twintub. And then there was the twintub my mother had. The AEG Turnamat and similar machines caught on early in the NL, the British style ones didn't stand a chance against them.

 

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Great memories Alan but I bet many kids where deafened as we would have been ear height to the noise ha ha..the picture of long trailing flexes is familiar, my nan only had one 15 amp socket in the living room so it was my job to unhook the cable from where it hung, on a hook under a shelf in the under stairs pantry, it trailed from near the front door through the lounge, dining room and then into the leanto utility where it had a woolworths twin socket on the end, one plug for the Hoover single tub, the other the Spin a Rinse.

Next to the cable hook was a hook that held both those Hoover Instruction cards, I coveted them for years lol..

ps, Ive never seen the adendum note attached to the card about "Turning to Boil" I wonder if they had a load of broken thermostats etc and then issues it?

 

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Morning Louis, oh so near yet so far, as Alan said and in the brouchure this was the last style from the washdog era until they went full panel fascia on the front, and as always we can rely on Hoover for the colour - These seem to be the more rarer models, not usually many seen, it came with silver lids as well, the plug in rinse socket was problematic with the inner hose connection to the spray arm usually burst and was such a faff to repair..

I always remember as an alter boy (dont) the parish priest celebrated his 25th anniversary , the parish clubbed together and presented him with a cheque and he went and bought the above T5044 in white to use himself, often think was he a secret washer lover ?

 

[chestermikeuk]

British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

And now with all that washing done, in British tradition & fashion, " More Tea & Cake Vicar" lovely victoria sponge and decorated with the Hoover spin can mat !!

 

[unclejohn]

Like very much the display of colours of those various wash tubs !

: )

Here are pics of two my own machines: Canadian-made offsprings of UK Hoovermatics, models 0610 instructions brochure & 0632 rinse-o-matic 'washdog', auto rinse, metal tub

 

[keymatic]

Afternoon Jean,

Thanks for sharing the pic of the instruction card for the 0610, I have attached the card for the UK version 3304 / 3304E and my machine.

Cheers
Keith

 

[unclejohn]

Thank you, Keith, for sharing

Ah, yes, pretty much the same thing as ours--including the drain tube out from the rear of the machines instead of top.

 

[ozzie908]

@keymatic

I have one that looks identical to yours but also has a heater which is operated by turning the wash timer anti-clockwise from off. Its awaiting a respray but works perfectly.

Austin