Hey Si, a chunk of polystyrene sound like it would work a lot better, I'll have to start keeping an eye out for some!
Yeah, the Hoovermatic is my regular washing machine, and has been for a couple of years now - another member here (electron1100) offered me an 80s automatic, but various factors have prevented me collecting it (sorry Gary, if you're reading this!).
Think mine led a hard life, so it's been a bit of a rolling restoration - new heater, pulsator and housing, spinner bearings, pump valve and filling/emptying hoses have all been fitted since I got it in 2007, I like to tell my partner that with all those new bits it should last another 37 years
Usually do two washes a week, with 3-6 loads in each wash. I tend to stick with the same wash water, working on the logic that back in the day folk would wear clothes for longer and not necessarily bathe daily, and so the water would have gotten dirtier sooner.
I've had Hotpoint and Servis twinnies and Ariston and Hoover single tubs since my 20s, but always wanted a Hoovermatic as they're the ones I remembered the most from childhood, and it had to be a deluxe so there'd be no faffing around with manual rinsing. I swear it has a soul - the only time my ex used it (when the auto in our flat broke down) the heater developed a leak to earth and tripped the plug in circuit breaker - he was able finish the washing without it, but turned the machine on and off at the plug in case it zapped him
