Our little semi-scientific towel test... part deux!

[revvinkevin]

Yes ladies & gentlemen, you've waited patiently for 5 months and I'm here to tell you now, your wait is OVER!

It's finally time to revisit our little towel test and change things around a little.

So I again present to you the "1955 Frigidaire vs. 2006 Frigidaire towel challenge.... part deux"!

Here is the link to the original thread so you can reacquaint yourselves with "part une".

Our little semi-scientific towel test!

Or as scientific as we could get considering neither of us are scientists! I went over to Rich's (Golittlesport) house last weekend to visit and he wanted to do a test to see which dryer would produce more fluffy towels. So I present to you the "1955 Frigidaire vs. 2006...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[revvinkevin]

This time Rich (Golittlesport) and I decided to take the "washer" out of the equation by washing all 8 towels in the 2006 FL, as there is NO way the Unimatic could swallow all 8 of these towels at one time.

Here it is loaded and ready to start.

Regular cycle, hot water, normal soil, extra rinse and extended 1000 RPM spin (54 minutes). We then went to dinner.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Back from dinner and the 8 large bath towels are ready to go in the dryers.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

The 8 towels get divided, 4 into each dryer.

 

This dryer was set to the "towels cycle" (high heat) which initially showed 1 hour (estimated) until dry.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

The other 4 towels go into the '55 Filtrator and it too is set for the same 60 minutes.

[this post was last edited: 7/3/2013-01:05]

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

As there is no "safety switch" on the Filtrator, it will obviously keep running when you open the door.  (Make sure to keep the little kiddies away!)   

 

 

 

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

The towels are now dry and Rich is folding all, again for consistency.

 

FYI... the 2006 gas Frigidaire dryer finished it's 4 towels in about 40 minutes.  

 

The 220V Filtrator took about 10 minutes longer at 50 minutes.

 

[revvinkevin]

And the results are.......

 

 

Drum roll please...........

 

Filtrator dried towels on the left and 2006 vented dryer stack on the right.

 

Again the results speak volumes. 

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Approx 9.5 inches for the stack on the left and 8 inches for the stack on the right.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

So there you have it folks, we removed the variable of washing in different washers by washing all 8 towels in one load in one machine.

 

Condensing dryers are the way to go for fluffier towels.   Oh, BTW I also did the "touch test" rubbing my hand on each stack of towels.... and the stack dried in the 1955 Frigidaire Filtrator dryer did feel softer!

 

Rich also wanted to demonstrate just how much water was removed from the towels, even after a 1000 rpm spin.   He poured the water from the Filtrators drain pan (after this load of course) into the measuring cup.   Just over 1 cup!   Very cool!

 

I hope you enjoyed both part une and part deux of our little towel test!

 

Kevin

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Really cool!

Expect a call from Consumer's Reports really soon! LOL!

Actually, it's really neat to see the difference in the fluffiness between the two dryers. I'd still like to learn more about why the difference. I'd always been taught that gas dryers produce softer clothes due to the moist heat vs. a dry electric heat. Interesting.

RCD

 

[alr2903]

Thank You!!!

Kevin and Rich,  I really enjoy the "in  home" testing you share with us. Now I will be wishing for  "Filtrator towels" again.

Arthur

 

[bigalsf]

Dryer differences

Great test! I am curious to know if there is a big difference in the size of the dryer drums? And number of baffles? Could these differences (if they are significant) contribute to the difference in "fluffiness"? Or do you think it's mostly due to the evaporation process unique to the Filtrator?

 

[revvinkevin]

Personally I think it's due to the evaporation process in the filtrator, being that it's a condenser dryer.

Andy, as this dryer is not vented, everything is dried in the steam as the moisture evaporates from the clothing, I'm pretty sure this is why towels are more fluffy when dried in this dryer.

If you open the door and remove a towel midway through the drying process, it will be extremely hot and literally steaming.

If anyone else would like to explain further, please do.

Kevin

 

[jetcone]

Xlent Job

Boys!! really enjoyed this. Science comes to Laundry--- finally!! Holla!

 

But where did you go to dinner????????

 

 

 

 

[gorenje]

Interesting test and nice pair of laundry equipment you got

I think Kevin's theory is right.
When, in the midle of the cycle, you open a condenser dryer in which the internal circuit is closed a stream of steam comes out of the machine but also from every single garment.
The steam makes everything much more soft and fluffy than just hot air blown through the laundy.

That's my opinion

Ingemar

 

[philr]

Interesting results Kevin! I need to do similar tests with my vented and Filtrator dryers!

I'd be curious to compare my 1968 Frigidaire vented dryer against my 1965 Filtrator. But first, I'll need to get 8 new matching towels!

 

[sel8207]

don't understand;

I don't understand exactly; there is a dehumidifier inside the filtrator that removes the water?; if so why would they be steaming. Want to learn more about this method and there 's no mechanical esplanation of how it works; curious les.

 

[Unimatic1140]

is there is a dehumidifier inside the filtrator that removes the water

Yes Les, it's a similar process without using a compressor...

Great tests guys, I love our Filtrator because how wonderfully soft the clothes come out. At some point once the towels are dirty again you guys might want to redo the test now using the Unimatic as the washer (do two loads if necessary) to see if there is any difference in height.