Let's Talk Lint Filters

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Unimatic1140

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Hi everyone, I recently received some documentation and that completely clears us the mystery of who invented and marketed the idea of lint filtering in an Automatic Washer.

As many of us know the “overflow rinse” was first seen in the 1947 in the Beam built AMC-Coronado which was a form of disposing lint by floating it over the top of the wash basket by overfilling its solid wash basket. But let’s talk about actual recirculating lint filters. Before I reveal the source of this information I thought it would be fun to pose these two questions to all of us here in Applianceville.

#1 Who invented and actually marketed the very first recirculation lint filter and what model year did it first show up in the marketplace?

#2 Who invented and actually marketed the very first self-cleaning recirculation style lint filter and what model year did that first show up in the marketplace?

If you are positive you know the exact answers to both of these question wait a few hours before posting your answers to give others a chance. If you think you know and/or would like to take a guess please do, it would be fun to see what people think.
 
I'm not sure... was #1 General Electric, in 1955 for their TOL model, and did the 1956 Lady Kenmore have a self-cleaning filter (#2)?

I'd be interested to know!
 
Well I for one certainly don't know, wouldn't have a clue but one thing I do know... there's gonna be a few folks out there in forum land squirming in their seats, arms raised and flailing, calling pick me pick me I know, I know,uh uh uh Every classroom had one LOL
 
I don't think a recirculating filter would be on a frontloader. The only way to get recirculation on a solid basket toploader is by enough of an overfill to afford a constant overflow. I would think it was GE, establishing FilterFlo as a recognized trademark for filtering. But I'm also thinking that's too obvious an answer. It could have been Kenmore/Whirlpool, but I think GE had FilterFlo-ing earlier than KM/WP added their first cartridge filters. I'm vaguely recalling a Blackstone ad that showed a filter pan mounted to the lid, but seems like that was after GE FilterFlo.

Hmmmm. Does recirculation by definition require actively moving water with a pump? Or could it also be passive by agitation, like Maytag or a Philco Automagic? If so, that opens up more possibilities.

Self-cleaning recirculation, seems likely to be Kenmore, in the late 1950s, maybe 1959? It was self-cleaning, but still waterfalled back into the basket as did the cartridge method. But that also seems too obvious.
 
My guess is....

I will go with KM/WP for the first recirculating lint filter,and also the same for the first self cleaning recirculating lint filter.
 
Didn't the very first GE automatic (1947) have a recirulating, self cleaning lint filter...operating along the lines of the later Hotpoint "filter ring" concept at the top of the tub? It also had a 1140 spin, among other neat features.
 
Ding-Ding-Ding

Rich-Golittlesport is right, the correct answer to both questions is the 1947 General Electric AW6 Washer, it has a recirculating lint filter that cleans itself!

Thanks Rich!

There is a good reason why I posted this, stay tuned, and check for a new thread.
 
GE I believe was the first to introduce the circulating, manual clean lint filter. Then every other company followed suit. Because of patent laws,each brand had to find a different design. They were a great selling point. But over the years, they found it really didn't make that much of a difference because clothes always generate lint. Also it was a way to cut costs by elimanating the lint filters and mini wash devices altogether.
 
The self-cleaning filter on my '59 Lady K was an interesting design. A bunch of 'marbles' were stacked up inside a little globe-like container. Water was run through it during the wash cycle and lint was caught between the pile of marbles. During the neutral drain, water entered it from the bottom, which made the marbles fly around inside the globe, releasing the lint. You could hear the marbles fly around at the beginning of each drain period.

I believe this explanation is correct; if not, Uni, please take the honors...
 
When I was a little kid we had a GE Filter Flo. I vaguely recall being home on a washday and helping my mom with the laundry, which included measuring detergent into the filter-flo device, watching as the little fuzzballs accumulated during the cycle, and plucking them out at the end. I get the impression that this was a regular routine on wash days when I was home, as my brother & I also routinely helped with house cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, using the floor scrubber/polisher, emptying all the indoor waste baskets, etc.).

IMHO that was a really clever filter design, specifically because a) it let the detergent enter the wash water slowly, and b) the lint came out as little fuzzballs which were easy to remove rather than a film or carpet of lint that you'd have to scrape out at the end as we had for the dryer.
 
I always thought the Filter-Flo was cool, too. And it recirculated a lot of water in a wash cycle, unlike my mid 80's Frigidaire TL, which recirculated...well, not very much at all. However, the Filter-Flo blocked a close-up view of clothes turnover...
 
Eugene, that's exactly how it was explained to me by John LeFever at the 2002 convention when I saw a 1959 or 1960 with SC filter.
 
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