My "New" Toy!

[tennblondie78]

Hi! This is my first post on Automatic Washer. I wanted to share some pictures of my "new" Hotpoint ironer and pick everyone's extremely knowledgeable brains. I met her online, and got lucky that she looked as good as her picture.

 After a cleaning and waxing she's looks as good as new. Even the cloth cord was in fabulous shape. I've ironed my husbands button up shirts, sheets, pillowcases, kitchen towels, t-shirts, pants... Pretty much everything I could get my hands on. I do have a couple questions, though. It seems as though the iron does not turn off when the dial is turned to the off position. The roll will still turn and it sounds like the motor gives a very short hum as soon as I plug it in. Any ideas on how to fix this? Also, I noticed when I use it that the base gets pretty hot. Is this normal? I thought it may be residual heat transfer, but I'm not sure. I haven't taken the base off yet to check the wiring. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[frigilux]

Welcome! I know nothing of ironers, but I do like the under-counter installation of your front-loading laundry pair. Any chance of getting a full photo of them?

Several people in the aw.org family use ironers; hopefully one of them will check out your thread and answer questions.

Calling Launderess! Your experience with ironers is needed.

 

[launderess]

"Off" For Vintage Ironers Like Yours

When part of the temperature dial means only the thermostat/heat is off. The motor will still come on once power from plugging into the outlet. If there is a switch that turns the power "off" (would be labeled "motor" or some such" and it still comes on then you have worries.

Many of these ironers predate modern safety standards so you have take certain things as you find and make allowances.

My small Ironrite portable does not have an "off/on" switch for the motor. It powers on soon as the cord in plugged in. However one has to turn the thermostat setting for it to heat up. Just in the odd case someone might play around or fool with it in my absence I always make sure to turn the heat selector dial to "off".

Yes, it is normal for the base and other metal parts to become warm to hot during operation. The longer you are at ironing the warmer things will get to a point. Again these machines predate many modern safety rules/precautions. Indeed the unit will remain hot for a long while after use. It is all that metal. Therefore it should not be left anywhere children, the infirm or anyone else can touch it by accident until it has cooled.

 

[tennblondie78]

Thanks, Laundress!!!

 

Thank you so much! I suspected the off switch only turned the thermostat off and the base heat was normal, but wanted to make entirely sure before I started using it on a regular basis. I have lurked around AW and the Laundry Room on GardenWeb for a long time, so I feel like I personally know a lot of people on these forums. I appreciate your knowledge, Laundress! 

 

Frigilux - Yes! I will post pics of my washer and dryer setup for you this evening when I get home. My husband built that counter top for me with some left over laminate we had; his hobby is woodworking. It made him really happy when I told him you requested pictures of the whole thing. He also made my shelf above the sink. The counter top is very handy to have, but now my ironer takes up most of it. I haven't found a good place to put that yet. 

 

[wiskybill]

I have the same ironer and Launderess is correct about
it's operation.

Mine is badged General Electric and not quite as pristine
as yours but works quite well. It makes no noise, no hum,
when plugged in, and the base doesn't heat up. I think the
switch that activates the motor may be in the base and may
need some adjustment on yours. I've never opened mine up so
this is only a guess on my part.

Hope you get a lot of use from your ironer and welcome!

Bill

 

[launderess]

and the base doesn't heat up

If one understood the OP's query it was that during the course of operation the base became warm to hot, not that it heated up on it's own.

The only heating elements are in the ironer's shoe. The motor is this only other electrical component of the ironer and is even remotely capable of generating any sort of heat. Given how close the base and indeed how compact the entire unit, it is not wonder after long periods of ironing heat would travel downwards. That and all the recently hot/ironed laundry falling upon.

Unlike the larger cabinet ironers the little portables don't have very much mass to dissipate heat. After awhile the heat from the shoe is going to radiate both up and down to start warming surfaces. Up is not much of a problem (unless one is leaning over the thing), as down.

 

[tennblondie78]

Frigilux wanted pictures...

Thanks for the welcome, Wiskybill! You have a nice ironer as well. I finally took some pictures of my laundry room, although I can't seem to figure out how to post more than one picture. Here's a pic of the whole washer/dryer setup with the counter top.

 

[tennblondie78]

Another pic

This shows the cabinets on top.

 

[tennblondie78]

My vintage ad artwork

I love old ads!

 

[tennblondie78]

The Fels-Naptha

I liked the yellow in this one. It's different.

 

[tennblondie78]

Last one, I promise!

I have a Tide ad from each year of my parent's birth. The Cheer ads are from the years of my husband's parent's birth. I didn't plan it that way, it just happened. I thought it was really neat.

 

[frigilux]

Stephanie-- Don't ever feel the need to apologize for posting photos; we love them! I thought that looked like a Frigidaire dryer (in your first post). I'm a fan of both Electrolux-made Frigidaire products (hence my screen name) and LG. Have you had good luck with the LG washer? They are listed as the most reliable front-loaders these days (by Consumer Reports), but earlier machines tended to be more problematic.

Your laundry room is beautiful, and it looks like you packed a lot of functionality into the space, as well. Two thumbs-up to your husband's woodworking skills!

You're a detergent connoisseur, too; Persil is excellent. I've used both the Henkel Persil (like yours) and the Unilever-made version (from the UK).

Wonderful, well-preserved ads! Thanks for sharing them with us.

By the way, you can only add one photo per post. I have a special photography app on my iPad that allows me to make photo frames with multiple photos, and I use that here, occasionally.

 

[tennblondie78]

Thank you

Frigilux, you are so nice! Since I am new here, I was afraid I was being annoying with the pictures. Glad to know they are always welcome. I love all old things, especially radios, appliances and cars. Sometime I will have to post a thread and show my collection of tube radios. You are right, I am a detergent connoisseur; it's amazing what you can notice in a picture. In addition to the Persil, the blue detergent in the canister on the counter top is Mexican Ariel. It works well, but I don't care for the smell of that one. Once it's gone I won't buy any more. 

You saw correctly, our dryer is a Frigidaire and it has been great so far. We bought it right before we got married; that was a year and a half ago now. The washer is a 2005 LG 1814CW. We got it for free from a guy we work with.  It was showing the LE error code and he had put it out for the junk guy to pick up. We got it and a $25 hall sensor fixed it right up.  It was stinky and moldy when I got it because they kept the door closed, but once it was cleaned up I have had no trouble with mold/stink at all. I leave the door and detergent drawer open when not in use. It has been a workhorse since we fixed it, not a bit of trouble. It is very noisy though, the spin sounds like a jet taking off and the drain pump sounds like a rock crusher, but from everything I have read it seems that is pretty normal for that machine. Most complaints for it were that it is extremely noisy. When it finally dies I'm leaning toward a Speed Queen FL...

 

[tennblondie78]

The part you can't see

of the laundry room is the bathroom portion. There's a toilet and clothes hanging area also that is out of view.

 

[behzad]

baby ironer,
it's rotary one.isn't it?

 

[behzad]

JUST BE A GOOD MOM!

HEY
it's a child ironer(old child),you should feed him,treat him well and raise him as good as possible to be a grown ironer
(I guess it will become Miele rotary iron when it got grown)

 

[tennblondie78]

Lol! Yes, it's a rotary and it wants to be a Miele ironer when it grows up!!!