British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

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Thanks! You're not the only one, I've been searching for it too - for absolute yonks.

I only found it because I followed your link to the ACME Challenge. A bit of a recursive loop!

Speaking of ACME - the ACME Automatic... what are your thoughts, to my thinking which I posted in the following thread...?

 
T5090

Hi Anthony.

Were the fascias glued on, double sided taped on, or held on with tabs?

Not au fait with adhesives I am afraid - would a thick, double sided and waterproof tape do the trick?
Paul
 
Hi all.
Methinks a screen grab of the ACME Challenge from the advert warrants a post of its own!

Thanks for the link Keith.

I can recommend that website as well - there are a number of really good adverts on there, all free to search and view - search for the likes of 'Persil' and 'Midlands Electricity Board' etc (good one for Persil and the Hotpoint 1600 Automatic, as well as one with the Hoover 3236H - I digress).

Paul

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Hoovermatic

Great job on the restoration Stephen, once used never forgotten, the spinner lid section is different to ours in the UK , does this have the pinch pump like the US or chamber pot like the UK models ?

Have got a later 3309 that is ready for a respray and revamp if we can ever get to them this year after lockdown !!

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Hi Mike,
Always loved the 3309L, mum’s first twin tub in 1968 after the burco went. Nice charcoal lines :)

My 3304E is going off this coming Wednesday to be sprayed, it’s not too bad just a needs a once all over in off-white and the base trim in light grey.

Cheers
Keith

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Hoovermatic 3309L

Hi keith yes have always like the charcoal effect range, my Gran had the single tub after the Empress and a lovely black bridging unit that was never gonna fit a Creda debonair spinner lol..

So did your mum have a Burco twintub or wringer / boiler ? I was amazed to learn mum only had a burco boiler and stand wringer until I was 2 when my sister was born and in came the new Servis Supertwin MK2 in 1963.

Look forward to seeing pics n vids of the 3304 after its repaint, just noticing the pitting on the spinner lid inside ridge, ours rotted through with holes after contact with the caustic powder of the time.

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Hi Mike,

Mum had a square Burco boiler (F44 - i think :) with a fleetway wringer from 66-68, then got the 3309L. When all of us (4) moved to my nan’s two-up, two-down in 77, while our house was being built mum gave nan the twintub as the new house had the 1509 & liberator dryer.

That twinny went on till 1990, 22yrs !!

Im only having the exterior painted on Wednesday, i need to clean the spinner lid bracket up at some point. If he does a good job the 3334 is going next. Is £70 expensive for a full paint & possibly a bit of shot blasting and treating ?

I will post when its back

Cheers
Keith
 
British Twintub Washing Machines 1959 - 1990

Morning Keith, its amazing to think in our lifetime our mums didnt have the luxury of "Washday, Just Forget It" but they were not on their own, how technology has moved on rapidly from 1957 with the first Hoover twinny to 3 yrs later with the Hoover automated Keymatic etc..

Mum had the baby burco from 1960 till 1963 when the Servis Supertwin MK2 appeared and then 1978 the Servis Slimline 850 appeared. Mum actually hated the auto at first as " The wash basket was never cleared" on any given day, there would always be one item then needed others for a full load etc, unlike a twinny where you could race through a family wash in a couple of hours. Mum actually took to the dishwasher quicker than the auto ha ha..The grandkids just look at you daft when I point out how their gran used the twinny and same with great grans with wringers / washboilers etc !!

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that's a story repeated

over and over Mike, Robs mum, 5 kids and her parents, told of how you couldn't see the kitchen floor for piles of washing, sorted in loads for the hotpoint twinny, plus the whites boiling in the copper. Seems like madness to us, but it was all done in one morning, and being the 60's/70's having that spin performance in a 2 up 2 down with no central heating you can see the benefits over an indesit auto at least in the winter. She told me once the wash stopped working, called the shop to bring a motor and it was back up and running to finish the wash. She of course did take to the automatic as the family moved away, but in my view, never got away from the size loads washed in the twin tub, so always seemed to under load the automatic.

Another I'd heard of, the husband had thought not to repair the twin tub, so had an auto plumbed in, after one load,she had the shop deliver another hoovermatic and husband came home to see the automatic on the drive awaiting collection, `I can't be waiting all that time for one load' So whilst we may not understand it ourselves, not all housewives were slaves to the twin tub.
 
Hi Mike,

It is amazing how the technological advances in washing machines seemed to jump in leaps and bounds in the early 60's - within 5 years we had gone from Single tub with wringer to Twin tub then to Automatic, I guess if the demand is there that fuels to desire to have the next best product !!

On another note the 3304E went off to the powder coating sprayers yesterday in the delightful pouring rain, this is a new company I am trying so we will see how that turns out, the guy seemed very interested in the machine but didn't understand how you used it albeit he was in his 50's and I would have thought he would have seen a twinny before !! lol - I will keep you posted.

Austin, the freedom to choose to have the odd play with a vintage machine is ideal, I like many others on here have had to do weeks / months of twin tub washing when I have moved house etc and whilst I didn't mind doing it, typically on a Saturday morning it can be a bit of a chore as opposed to just chucking it in and letting the machine do the whole cycle while you get on and do other things..as Mike said "Washday - just forget it"

Cheers
Keith
 
Twinny Washday

Great stories Mathew, yes stepping over piles of laundry , saying that with kids in school & hubby at work most of the family never saw what went on unless mum was working and it was done at night or the weekend.

Another benefit of twinny washing was even after multiple washloads and top ups the water was always used to wash the floor down and the kitchen was gleaming, a process that judging by many ebay pics of washers being sold is not carried out much these days !!

And the housewife always had the final say ha ha, have heard that story so often from older repair men, if the husband bought the washer the wife didnt like - "It went out and what she wanted came in " lol..

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British Twintub Washing Machines 1957- 1990

Thats a good price for a spray job on the Hoovermatic Keith, last another 50yrs !! and yes when you think just how much in washing machines has changed, now we seem to have hit a peak with same old same old.

Funnily enough I spoke to Aunty Mags earlier, she said "How do You Remember All These Details", turns out her twinny was the 3304 with heater as she always boiled the whites in it, small amount of water with Persil then filled up to wash !! I remember the round badge, 2 controls, hose out the back but never sure heater or not, now we know...[this post was last edited: 7/5/2020-03:12]

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British Twintub Washing Machines 1957 - 1990

Looking through Chris Parkers catalogue thread (Reply #160 ) it shows the Frigidaire twinny that is the Philips 3202 from 1969 with agitator ??

Ps, I cant believe this threads been going months and no one has mentioned the glaring typo ? Im only human and head like a sieve sometimes !! ha ha...

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