Have you seen these portable washing machines??

[bradfordwhite]

btw- the cost of doing a standard double load in a FL commercial washer is about $4

There are like 4 different machines, each about twice the capacity of the previous

A 4 load washer is about $7
A 6 load washer is about $11
and a 9 load washer is about $15

Then there is the use of the dryer if you so choose. Seems like it's about $1.25 for 10 minutes.
If you're lucky you may find a 'mat that takes debit cards directly in the machine.

 

[DADoES]

 
Member ThomasOrtega is a designer/engineer for The Laundry Alternative.  He has discussed that ability to spin entails engineering/design changes, safety requirements, and both manufacturing and shipping cost increases which pushes the product's price higher than target consumer market will accept.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Ohhhhhh! So the Niagra is Thomas Ortega? I remember him... In fact, now that I think about it, I remember him posting about this a long time ago.

I guess if it does 3 rinses that would be ok... It would be interesting to see how the Ninja spinner thing works... I can't believe the RPM's are that high..

 

[mark_wpduet]

I just found a video of someone who bought the Niagra and then the Ninja spinner...That thing sounds like it washes amazingly well...by the time the 3rd rinse was done - the water was clear...then he used the ninja to spin the entire load...This looks so much better than the TT's...because the washing/rinsing is automatic...then you just spin everything.. Less steps.

It would be so cool to see what's actually going on inside while it's doing it's thing... but that's impossible.

 

[bradfordwhite]

If you have a WP Duet.... it's got a SS tub too. No sharp edges.

Put the clothes in from the top instead of the front.
Put detergent on the top of the drum(not too much),
put vinegar (or whatever you want to use for the rinse agent) in the dispenser on the left side, close the lid, turn the dial,

the water valve activates and adds about 2 1/4 gallons of water,
then it turns the tub several revolutions(I'd say about five), stops,
reverses several revolutions, stops,
reverses again...... (repeat for all wash and rinse phases)
this is how it washes so the clothes don't get tangled. Just like a front load washer should do.

When done washing the tub stops, the drain pump comes on and it stays on extra long so it gets water that's dripping out of the clothes.

Then it fills with rinse water,
starts tumbling (and repeating above)
It does this for about 3-4 minutes for all three rinses
then it drains as above.

The only difference on the final rinse is the water is diverted into the dispenser which dilutes the rinse agent and adds it to the tub. Just like it would in a fully automatic front loader.

I don't think I've ever had problems with tangles.
I've washed shoes in mine, I will often prewash sheets and whites. Sometime I will reset the timer to add more wash time. I've never had issues with buttons coming off or tears.

------

Now on the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">twin tub</span>, it was kind of rough. There I started noticing tears in clothes and I lost a couple of buttons. There you have the laundry coming into direct contact with the wash plate that frankly has to spin quite rapidly. When I washed shoes I devised a rack to protect the shoes coming in contact with the impeller. I think the best way to use a wash plate washer is with some type of mesh screen over the blade to protect items ones washing but that's discussion for elsewhere.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Using the spinner

So I put it right next to the washer so I can take clothing out and maneuver them over and into the tub without dripping on the floor.  

try and keep them loose as possible so they can move around.  don't just throw balled up clothes in there. 

Then push the mass down and make sure the top is level.  If you can feel empty spots in the top of the mass it will not spin correct so reorganize the clothes now.  

 

Close the lid and turn the dial.  I hold the top of the machine to get it started with one hand.  It has thick rubber feet so it can sway a bit.

If you've loaded it correctly the tub will slowly start but then quickly speed up and the water will come gushing out the bottom into your pan.  Once it's going you just let it spin a few minutes.  It is self balancing.

 

I usually step away and do something else.

 

Then turn the knob to turn off the motor and let it coast to a stop or near stop.  Then use the knob to activate the brake, open the lid and remove the clothes.  

 

It extracts so much water, it doesn't take much time for clothes to dry.

 

[launderess]

"Not only that... but the mere fact that it doesn't spin means things may not get rinsed well... You really need to spin between wash/rinse... I mean, I guess if you have a spinner you can do the dance of washing, taking out, spinning yourself, returning to washer to rinse, then spin again. I'm exhausted just thinking about it."

No, not exactly....

Have said this before and am doing so again, washers back in day were just that far as industrial/commercial H-axis machines were concerned. That is they washed and rinsed only. Sopping wet laundry was then moved to an extractor for water removal.





Braun came out with first high volume washer/extractor in 1946 and it was off to races. By 1954 EDRO and others also followed introducing their own washer/extractors. https://www.edrocorp.com/history.html

Even after washer/extractors became the norm for industrial laundries there was (and still is) considerable debate regarding extraction after wash or even rinses.

Some laundrymen feel extracting after main wash and or before a few rinses pulls dirty water through wash. Thus textiles being laundered will act as a filter for said dirty water.

Indeed even well into 1980's and bit beyond h-axis washers sold in Europe or elsewhere for domestic use did not spin after main wash, nor until after two or three rinses (Normal/Cottons/Linens cycle). My Miele W1070 does not spin until after third rinse and even then it's only a short pulse.

Rinsing is a process of dilution. Differences between extracting after main wash and between rinses versus not largely come down to water usage. By not forcing out soapy/dirty water after wash or between rinses you need more rinsing to dilute said soils/muck/detergent etc...

Older front loaders from Miele, Asko, Bosch, and rest of European washers often had four, five or more changes of rinse baths with nary a full or perhaps just a pulse spin after first few, then a good extraction spin before final rinse.

By not extracting water between wash and subsequent cycles laundry will absorb less water at each next fill because it is already saturated. Modern domestic front loaders now often spin after main wash and subsequent rinse cycles (in some cases violently), but they use less water at rinse fills. More so if machine is using jet spray recirculation systems to saturate and help move water through load.

You can see from these videos washers that don't spin after main wash and or between rinses are perfectly capable of delivering acceptable results. Long as washer isn't overloaded and or too much chemicals are used in wash.





Laundry Alternative's "Niagara" washer teamed with a spin drier is just a new take on something old. Instead of a twin tub with teamed washer and extractor you've got two separate appliances. Washer that doesn't extract replaces doing job by hand then having to haul wet laundry to a spin drier.

 

[launderess]

Came across a few NIB Niagara washers over past few years (fleaPay, CL...), but never pulled the trigger.

Having Maytag wringer plus two vintage German wash possers and assorted wash tubs or buckets there wasn't anything yet another semi-automatic washer would do that one couldn't do already. Have two spin dryers, two mangles/wringers and of course the spin side of Hoover twin tub.



If machine had extraction capability that would have been something, but then the AEG Lavamat toplader dropped into my lap and that was that.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

With me having an H axis Machine where I have to move

Everything from the machine into a spin dryer/extractor when it’s done, I’ll admit I don’t mind it as I can see that the water is coming out clear with a gentle hint of fabric softener, and that’s even using American-style detergents that can have lots of suds, I just try to make sure that they’re not reaching 3/4 up the drum or coming out of the overflow pipe, just recently i used my nova wash with its “overflow rinse“ and after letting that run for 15 minutes(Three rinses from leaving the tap running continuously), there was not a trace of soap left on so continuous draining and filling can do a pretty good job of rinsing

 

[mrboilwash]

No spin

A lot of European washers did not spin at all before final spin.
I remember the BOL Bosch washers for example, IIRC those were still on the market in the mid to late 1980`s and they were popular.
Rinsing was quite good according to our consumer magazine, but they were waterhogs just like any American TL of that time.

5 times almost half way up the door water levels plus some pendulum rinsing. A low wash water level made them very energy efficient compared to a TL though.

I think the reason behind was to keep the inner to outer drum space as small as possible thus again saving on energy but it also meant lots of suds locking if a washer spun between rinsing.
So in the end those that spun between rinses had to use almost as much water to get the desired rinse results like washers that did not spin at all.

You could also use a less powerful and thus less noisy drain pump if a washer did not spin between rinses. Lots of apartment dwellers have their washers in kitchens or bathrooms so noise has always been an issue too.
Some had a more expensive timer that made pulse spins before each intermediate spin to limit suds locking.
Water use wasn`t such an issue back then but energy has always been expensive here.
Then came those noisy DC brush motors along with electronic suds lock control and water use decreased dramatically.

Personally I never liked the concept of a washer that does not spin between rinses.
No matter what Stiftung Warentest said back in the days I always had a feeling that soap does not get out as good from things like heavy hems.

I also don`t get the statement why extraction after main wash would pull dirty water through wash.
The whole point of a washing machine is to pull water through clothes. Washer pull dirty water through the fibers during the main wash already, don`t they?

 

[launderess]

Yes, but when washing detergent or soap and other chemicals keep soil and muck in suspension so it doesn't settle on wash. When extracting all that is gone for most part.

In old days of using soap one lifted items out of wash into mangle or another tub of water. Manuals and other advice strongly warned against allowing water to drain through wash because laundry will act like a sieve.

One reason gave away my Whirlpool compact top loader was didn't like how wash was covered in lint. Like all top loaders washer simply stopped and then began static draining of water. That allowed mucky water to be strained through was on it's way out of tub. Spray rinses were supposed to cope with this, but didn't see that much improvement.

Ironically if one choses "Sensitive" on my AEG front loader it will do two deep rinses before spinning after main wash. Almost same as my older Miele. This as opposed to doing a spin right after main wash.

There was always over flow rinsing which sent muck up and over rim of tub instead of draining it through fabrics.

 

[launderess]

Milnor "RinSave" is their way of having extraction after wash bath to cut back on one or more rinse cycles.