How well does Denim handle in your Pulsators..full load

[mrsalvo]

That was sooo cool, throughly enjoyed the video. The Whirlpool
did seem rougher on the clothes though, I enjoyed the lint filter action though. My grandmother had a Frid. just like the one in the video and it was an awesome machine, but it could tangle clothes like speghetti! It was amazing in that it seemed no matter how many clothes you put in it, they all came out clean and very dry. That machine could handle anything. Thank-you for taking the time to put this together.
Oh yes, Roto-Flex agitator I think may be the worst agitator ever put out by Kenmore...I don't think it could ever handle that many jeans. Anyone's opinion??? Let's compare 2 more washers!

 

[gyrafoam]

Well since the jeans were not new and stiff (the way I like 'em)and ( honey puhleeeez sizes 33/32 and 31/30--you could put ten pair of those in the damn things) it was nearly a given the Frigidaire would have the best roll-over.

Nonetheless, that Surgilator is doing a great job of cleaning and will rinse better, except for the neutral drain/re-deposit part of the cycle all 'Kenmo's do.

Did it take you long to untangle the jeans from the Frigidaire?

 

[rickr]

.

Cool video Robert!

I would say the Frigidaire is not as rough on the material. Also did better on steady rollover.And I am sure the jeans would dry faster too. How about metal zippers and rivets? Was always afraid they would tear up the rubber rings, so have never washed jeans in my Frigidaire.

The Surgilator did fine, and I think if the jeans were REALLY dirty, it would have done a better job of cleaning. But only because it was more rough in the washing action. Usually most people don't get their clothes THAT dirty anymore. So the clothes would wear out faster if washed by the Surgilator.

BTW- Robert, at the risk of sounding as a broken record, I still say my WP/KM machines fill slightly higher than your 57 KM. The upper fins on my Surgilator are always under water, and never can be seen thrashing above the water level.
Have always thought that it is kinder on clothes if they can move more easily, instead of being thrashed back and forth. That is the reason I changed out the pressure switches on mine.

 

[tlee618]

Robert thanks so much for taking the time to do this little eperiment. The roll over in the Frigidaire was fantastic which I was sure it would be. It did not look to me like there was an tangling of the jeans.

 

[panthera]

no doubt in my mind

The pulsator is tops any day. Sure, they both would get things clean - especially using soap and borax and washing soada and and and...but the turquoise turnover had the thresher beat socks down.
Robert, thanks a million for filming this - wonderful fun.
Hmm, now what would really get me going would be a comparison between Frigidaire pulsators...

 

[golittlesport]

Thanks, Robert! What fun! The Frigidaire certainly rolled the load better, but the Kenmore sloshed the jeans back and forth. So I would think the Kenmore washed them about as clean, albiet a bit rougher. Then again, the Frigidaire has the upper hand on extraction, which removes more suds and dirt from the fabric. Hmmmm....what's next? A stain test?

 

[agiflow]

This was very entertaining Robert. That Frigidaire is no slouch...wow...a tough challenge for any machine. Such cool footage.

 

[mayfan69]

Cool Video!

Cool Video Robert,

The Frigidaire certainly copes much better!

Leon

 

[cleanteamofny]

I can say that both machine's did a fine job doing it thing,
but the Kenmore relies on the total movement of the agitator to clean the load from top to bottom which we see does that.
The Frigidaire pulsation is needed to constantly roll the clothes over in order to achieve the same cleaning performance of a standard agitator machine,
so water movement in that machine is outstanding!

OK........., now the rubber really meets the road.
If both machine were slightly overloaded, the Kenmore will win hands down because the clothes will rub against each other without the need of being stroked by the agitator.
The Frigidaire will not turn the load over and it relies on the water current to do the same thing but deep set in stains will not come out because of the lack of rollover........

So each machines has its pros and cons......

 

[sudsman]

You go Robert

neat neat I thought the Frigidaire would pull it out!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thanks, Robert! It looked like both machines were cleaning with full capacity loads. You really don't want too much roll over, especially in the Frigidaire because that means the clothes are flying through the water when what really does the cleaning in the Frigidaire is that big bottom Energy Ring pushing water through the fabrics. The vanes on the skirt of the Super Surgilator force water through the fabrics also. It is definitely a rougher action on a large load. It's just the sort of agitator, along with Maytag, that you want for breaking in brand new jeans.

The interesting thing with each machine is what happens after the rinse fill. I noticed that you loaded the jeans in the Frigidaire so that either the waist or the legs were up; very smart to prevent air bubbles from keeping things afloat. With the WP Surgilator, the jeans were more or less laid in the tub sideways. I don't load any toploader by putting pants in sideways; always top to bottom for air release. When the super aerated rinse fill of the WP/KM blows bubbles into pants' legs(which is so easy when they are lying with a leg opening near the air-filled water stream) or under sheets, it can be tricky to get the air out during the short rinse agitation which leads to the chance of something not getting pulled under and actually rinsed. I like the fill and agitation of my KA much better, but it's 30+ years newer. So I think a truer test of the WP/KM would be if it were loaded like the Frigidaire and to let us see both machines during agitation after the rinse fill to see how quickly the agitation sorts the jeans into place so that they do a bit of rollover. It is much more difficult in cold water, especially during the months when the water is really cold, than in warm water.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Yes personally I don’t this is a clear winner or looser in this contest. Here are my observations and opinions from using both machines for years:

Cleaning ability:
For cleaning ability the Whirlpool has the edge, the clothes are really being cleaned well. Roll over is good, but it not essential to have it turn the load 30 or so times during the course of a wash cycle. The Frigidaire will get 99% of the jeans clean but might leave things like grass stains or other deep oily dirt if you don’t pre-treat.

Gentleness:
The Frigidaire wins hands down; the key here is to look at what happens as the clothes approach the agitator. Our jeans or anything else for that matter are rarely that dirty they need a rougher agitator treatment to come out 100% clean. Our clothes will definitely last longer out of a properly loaded Frigidaire.

Ease of Loading and Tangling:
The Kenmore wins here for sure as you can see when I loaded it I simply lay the jeans into the basket without thinking about it. With the Frigidaire I had to think about what I was doing as I was sure to load the jeans into five separate zones. If I didn’t do this, the turnover would have been the same, but they would have come out all tangled. As you can see when I unloaded the machine there was no tangling what so ever.

Rinsing and Spinning:
The Unimatic wins by a mile here as the overflow rinse and more than double spin speed removes move suds and wash water from the fabrics to begin with before the rinse even begins. The jean will dry in about half the amount of time it will take from the 525rpm spin of the Kenmore.

I uploaded separate videos in large format of each machine so you can really see what’s going on in each machine, here they are:
Kenmore
Frigidaire

 

[swestoyz]

Wow, what a great test! While it is difficult to conclude as to the absolute winner, I do like that you broke it down to the different principles of washing. I agree that the Kenmore will do a great job for heavily soiled items, and the Frigidiare has a wonderful rinse and extraction. Thanks for putting together this awesome display of truly vintage machines!

Ben

 

[Unimatic1140]

Oh I forgot to add in my post above, Mike the Pulsamatic style agitation will not be able to turn the wash load as well as the Unimatic/Multimatic style.

Rick I think reason there is a difference in the pressure switches could be because of the connection devices to the outer tub which were very different in the beginning. In the early pressure switch machines they used a rubber hose with a plastic nipple to connect the air pressure hose. In the 60's - 80's they used a plastic air dome assembly with a nipple molded into the dome to connect the air pressure hose. The reason I say this is because I have seen quite a few standard capacity Whirlpool washers from the 1970's with the white surgilator and I don't remember any of those machines having the water level actually rise up and above the top of the vanes. The water level rose up to reach about 1/4 of an inch away from the top of each vane, just like it does in my 1957 Kenmore. Of course there is always a chance that there is a difference in the height between the white plastic Surgilator and the black bakelite Surgilator agitators. I don't have a white one to compare with the bakelite one.

In the large capacity machines I seem to remember the water level did rise above the top of the vanes, but those agitators were slightly different.

 

[roto204]

Worthy of Consumers' Union

Very nicely done, Robert. It's very interesting to see that there's not so much competition between the two machines as there is an opportunity to see the different approaches they take to doing laundry.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!

 

[mixfinder]

Inside Tom Terrific's Mind

Tom,
I felt the exactly same thing about loading. What would the WP have done if 5 balls of pants were loaded instead of 5 ropes?
Kelly

 

[48bencix]

video genius

Robert,

What a way to start my Tuesday. Having the machines side-by-side in one frame was just so perfect. This was a very fun and educational experience.

And, as usual, it was fun to read what everyone thought about the test.

Thanks,

Martin

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thank you Kelly!
I remember too many years of the Pregnant Roto Swirl in both of mom's Kenmores not being able to tug a section of sheet under the rinse water because it was too full of air. The PRS would pull it side to side which, I guess, is where I got the imagery that is called to my mind when I see a HUGH JASS tugging a garment (needless to say stretched tight almost to the point of sudden, dangerous failure) back and forth with each step.

 

[surgilator]

Thank You Robert

Those video's were great! I loved seeing the different approaches each machine uses for washing clothes. While the Whirlpool is my personal favorite, I was very impressed with the Frigidaire! Its difficult to come up with one overall winner. I liked how Robert divided the results into categories it makes for a better comparison between the two machines.

 

[foraloysius]

Thanks Robert for doing these videos. Quite entertaining!