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roto204

roto204

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Feb 5, 2010
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Tucson, AZ
Ross and Roger came over Wednesday evening, and we did church linens in the '63 Kenmore. This was a fitting send-off to storage for the Kenmore, since, as you know, having a little holiness run through it is kind of like winterizing your machine. Good stuff. ;-)

First, Ross brings the linens and his patented mix of Viva and sodium tripolyphosphate, for that extra punch.

6-22-2007-22-58-39--roto204.jpg
 
Watch

Observe carefully, to watch that patented "lift and dip" Super Roto Swirl action.

Note the orange "Filtering" light, there to remind you that anything less-than-pious will be meticulously removed, and back-flushed down the drain.

I think our laundry was of the mostly pious sort, though, so the filter probably didn't snag much.

6-22-2007-23-02-51--roto204.jpg
 
Forceful fill

It's time for the rinse...the spray is so forceful that the linens start twirling around the tub before agitation begins.

This machine has no provision for cold rinses unless you use the "Cold Wash" program. It's all warm. As a bonus, you get hot water for whites, and the coveted medium setting for colored articles.

6-22-2007-23-06-2--roto204.jpg
 
Then...

...though it was tempting to use the SuperRotoTinkle sprinkler on the dryer, we skipped the drying and went straight to ironing. Roger, Ross, and I convened in the living room, with our curlers and mountain o' ironing to do.

Did I mention our diet pills were wearing off?

Please ignore the horrific example of "shabby chic" in the middle of the living room. The "glass looks great juxtaposed with wash-tubs" thing is something that I have not been able to rid the house of. Forgive me.

See the General Electric clock-radio with the semicircular jobby? That's more my speed.

6-22-2007-23-09-1--roto204.jpg
 
Ready for ironing

I have to say that no washer has produced linens so unready for ironing as that Kenmore. Good Lord, I had to run the iron over the board itself to rid the excess moisture. Ross says his '59 Kenmore isn't so bad for this, so it's probably due to the spirit of evil and malcontent that hangs over all my Sears products. (Why me?)

I told Roger that we needed a Unimatic on-premises to provide optimal, ready-to-iron clothes, but he noted that, in this case, the linens would actually be a little too dry. We want moist church linens, ready-to-iron--not Wash-'n-Pray.

No matter; the Filter-Flo is back in place now. Of course, it started leaking rather profusely the instant I put it back, so I had to patch it up. *sigh*

Never a dull moment with vintage appliances!

I'll be down by the creek if you want to find me, heaving my laundry against a rock, so that I can reconnect with my inner collector and redevelop my affection for OSTTOB (Old Stuff that Tends TO Break). Once my laundry chakra reopens, I should be fine.

In the meantime, we had a delightful evening, and the company was perfect.

I have to say, I love ironing church linens. Ironing them until dry--and wrinkle-free, and so crisp--is just the definition of satisfaction.

(Not that I'm going to get around to ironing the linen shirt I own--I can only handle so much satisfaction, mind you.)

:>

--Nate
 
Back in my Altar Boy Days.....

My mom used to sweat over getting those cassocks and surplus (I think those were the right terms?) looking right. If it wasn't the candle wax or soot, it was dealing with the effect of the numerous grubby little boys who wore the stuff.

It was her own fault, of course: She made the mistake of saying how ratty the altar boys vestments were, and the next thing she knew, she had been volunteered. I think she was relieved when I hung up my halo, as it were.

Nowadays the Altar Boys (and girls!!!) wear a sort of one-piece beigy thing with absolutely no pizzazz, but the dirt doesn't show.
 
Gang of Three

Nice work there boys, that bleachy bluey water looks just right for the job in hand...you do need a slow spin, as plenty of steam coming out of those Piety Cloths results in a good facial whilst ironing!!

Love the washtubs table, if all else fails you can thumper your washing with your feet whilst watching the telly...LOL

Enjoy, Mike

p.s. who`s the new svelt member of the gang in green...very impressive...need to know what vits you`ve been on!!!!
 
Great pics guys!

Looks like alot of fun, I'm not an ironer at all, but with you three around to share ti with I know it would be fun!

Thanks for sharing the pics Nate!
 
Hey Ross, Roger, Nate

What great pictures. And ironing as a group makes the time fly by.

Wish I'd been there with my Ironrite. We could've done them 2 at a time.

Thanks for posting.

Jerry Gay
 
Nate it sure looks like you guys had a wonderful time!! Sure wish I could have been there too. Those turquoise Kenmore's are just beautiful. Terry
 
LOL

Dan--That's fantastic. I love the automatic volunteering :-P

Darrel--How'd you know? ;-)

Mike--LOL!! You know, I hadn't thought of that about the wash-tubs, but that's a great idea :-D And yes, one's pores are remarkably fresh and clear after a good dose of piety ironing :-D

Yes, Ross is looking fantastic! I want to know what his secret is, too. Myself, I just opt for the control-top hose and call it a day.

Jeff--I'm not an ironer either, unless it's someone else's laundry or there are good friends around :-) Otherwise, I tend to shove wrinkled things back into the dryer and hope that the fifteen-minute setting does the trick :-P It would be a blast to iron all together! :-D Ironing party!!

Jerry--Oooh, that'd be fun!!! I still have yet to see an Ironrite go in-person, it sounds like fun...and what would be better suited to the task than an Ironrite and a bunch of lovely square linens? :-D

I still want to see someone do a little girl's pleated dress on an Ironrite, like they did in Mike (ironrite)'s video. A neurosurgeon has nothing on that woman :-)

Terry--*taps foot* Well, you'll just have to come down sometime with your iron in one hand, and your hamper-ful of laundry in the other! ;-) We'll toss some loads in the washer and restore crispness and proper pleats to the world :-D

Jonathan--We miss you too!! We'll have to stay locked in mutual admiration, because I love that Westinghouse set you have!! :-D What say we meet-up, and put the linens in the little Lady K, and put the regular duds in the Westy? ;-)

Greg--Thank you very much!! :-D You aren't kidding about those clean-as-a whistle drains at Ross', either--I tried some of his Viva/STPP mix on some towels that had, at one time or another, sneaked into a load that received a healthy dose of Downy. Since I abhor greasy, nonabsorbent towels, I rewashed them in hot water and our Arm & Hammer Essentials detergent (read: soap), but they never "let go" of the softener. The Viva with STPP that Ross cooked up sure did the trick, though, and stripped 'em clean! Now the towels almost suck the moisture out of the air!

Louis--You're absolutely right!! Silly me--no wonder we couldn't use the dryer! :-P

Veg--ROTF ;-)
 
Nate the machines do look beautiful! I never tire of looking at turquoise. Where is this set in the house, it almost looks like a basement?

And I do like the washtubs for a coffee table. I once saw a coffee table made out of a Kenmore washer basket with a round piece of glass on top (I think this was at Jeff Lefever’s house, but I can't remember now). He put in a light bulb inside the tub so the effect of the light coming through all of the perforations was very cool!
 
:-D

Nate the machines do look beautiful! I never tire of looking at turquoise. Where is this set in the house, it almost looks like a basement?

Hi Robert! Thank you!! I love the turquoise, too. It's such a nice, cool color, and it really goes well in an Arizona laundry room :-P

A basement? Oh, were it so! They're actually just around the corner from our dining room. That's where the laundry room/water-heater area is. I learned the hard way not to do laundry when we had dinner guests over, since I had the 1-18 back there at the time, and it would be pounding away quite audibly through the wall as people were trying to talk and eat :-P Oops.

I once saw a coffee table made out of a Kenmore washer basket with a round piece of glass on top

That's a fantastic idea! I like that. I could also use a DD Kenmore basket and make it into a breakfast bar ;-)
 
Heaven.....I'm in heaven

Love it so much when we all go holy roller.

Didn't know bluing was still available. You've given me a delightfully wicked idea for the next batch of water-current photos. Thanks.

What a wonderful smile!!! :-D

Would you name the linens you were laundering?

Is there anything more satisfying than Kenmore washing, especially when you're line drying and weight of the extra water helps smoothe the wrinkles.
 
Thanks for inviting us to share in your ablutions. I have just 4 questions:
Why did you use a whole tub of water to wash such a small load?

What is the container with the light brown cap in the blue dishwashing container?

Has there been a formulation change with the bluing? I was taught that mixing bleach and bluing in the same water rendered the bluing useless because the bleach did not allow the tint to be deposited on the fabrics. I thought that if you bleached in the wash, you added bluing to the rinse; no?

What would happen if the cold water button were pushed when the warm rinse fill began in the normal cycle? Would the water temperature change or not? Isn't there a manual button under the timer dial that lets the dial turn freely? I thought that the washers that had that feature gave cold rinses when that button was engaged or is that a feature not yet available in 63? Sorry for my ignorance. By 1963, the only Kenmore appliances that held any interest for me were the combinations.
Tom
 
Hi Tom :-)

Ross tends to like lots of water and fewer articles when laundering these items, and his bleach/bluing mix is his own creation...it would seem counterintuitive, but it does work surprisingly well. I'll let him address those further, though :-) You're right; the bleach probably does attenuate the bluing's tinting ability, but we have had occasional wash-loads where we ended up with lovely teal laundry, so it does still work.

If I'm seeing what you're seeing, the container with the light-brown cap is a bottle of Arm & Hammer Essentials detergent.

I've not tried using the cold wash/rinse button while in the Regular cycle; assuming that the cold wash/rinse locks the dial into the same area of the timer, then yes, that should allow you to override a cold rinse if you were there to intercept it prior to rinsing (no cold-water washing for me, though ;-) ). There is not a "Custom Care" button or its equivalent on this machine as there was on the '71 that would let you spin the timer freely--every button locks you into a position on the timer. By pushing in, rotating slightly, and pulling back out again, you can dodge the detent that locks the dial and wander off into other portions of the cycle and/or reduce the time. You can't jump into another cycle, though, because there is a second detent that stops the dial at the end of the selected cycle.

Nor, for that matter, is there a second-rinse option--a feature I rather miss :-|
 
Hi Tom. My old recipe for whites is:

Hot Water
Clorox or Mexican bleach called Chloralex
Mrs.Stewart's Bluing (back in New York City I used Bluette)
Viva Detergent (Mexican) spiked with additional phosphates.

Seems to work great. The whites in my parish glisten.

Ross
 

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