Our little semi-scientific towel test!

[revvinkevin]

 

 

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 Frigidaire towel challenge"!

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-10:26]

 

[revvinkevin]

The contenders

 

 

The 1955 Frigidaire Unimatic and matching electric Filtrator dryer.....

 

[revvinkevin]

versus

 

 

The 2006 Frigidaire "square door" FL washer and gas dryer...

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-09:34]

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Rich had eight IDENTICAL towels.   We washed and dried four towels in each set of machines.

 

Here I am stuffing... er... loading four of the towels into the Unimatic.

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-10:29]

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

And Rich loading the other four towels into the FL.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

We add detergent and start each machine.   The FL washer was set to a quick cycle (32 mins). 

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

The beautiful Unimatic washing away!

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Once finished washing Rich loads the towels into the Filtrator dryer.......

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

... and I load into the 2006 dryer.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Once both sets of towels were dry, we bring them into the laundry room and Rich folds ALL the towels so they're folded the exact same way for consistency.

 

First the towels dried in the Filtrator.

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-09:46]

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Then the towels dried in the modern dryer.

 

[revvinkevin]

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

 

 

And the results speak LOUDLY!

 

The stack on the left were dried in the Filtrator, the stack on the right in the modern dryer.   We were both surprised by the results!

 

Measuring to the front edge nearest the measuring tape only, the stack of towels dried in the 1955 Filtrator was 1.5 inches taller then the stack dried in the modern dryer!

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-09:36]

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

9.5 inches high....

 

[revvinkevin]

versus

 

 

8 inches high!

 

This was a fun and interesting little challenge!

 

Makes me wish I had a Frigidaire Filtrator to dry MY towels!

 

Kevin

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-09:40]

 

[gansky1]

I wasn't too surprised. Between the pulsating action of the washer and the steamy drying in the Filtrator, GM Frigidaire excels at towels!

I typically don't ever wash towels in a front-loader, almost always in a Frigidaire unimatic or pulsamatic. Even dried in a standard airflow dryer, there's something about that pulsating wash & rinse that "fluffs" the fibers rather than mashing them down in a front loader. Vigorous shaking after washing and before drying helps somewhat, but it's still not the same.

Thanks for the test guys, very fun.

 

[marks]

That is a great post! Thanks for that!
Did you use softener in the wash? Nothing scientific here, but I've noticed that when I do a load in my Easy, and let it rince for a long period of time, the water will clear and the softener is absorbed into the materials. In the FL Kenmore (2010) the rince cycle is too short, and doesn't use enough water, so the clothes do not come out as fluffy as when done in the Easy.
Anyway, love the machines and the pics! Those GM Frigidaire's look like they borrowed some car grills. Love them!

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

No fabric softener used for either load.

 

A note on extraction rpm. 

The 1955 Frigidaire (as most of you already know) spins @ 1140 rpm and the 2006 FL washer spins @ 1000 rpm.

 

Kevin

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2013-10:24]

 

[Unimatic1140]

I also believe that the amount of water removed in the spin between the wash and rinse(s) as well as the overall rinsing ability is crucial to getting the towels as soft as possible. In my 17 years of owning and using vintage machines you simply can't beat a solid tub overflow rinse for the best rinsed clothes. I had a Duet for a while and I remember the strong detergent smell on the towels that I washed in that machine that was nearly absent with towels coming out of a Unimatic.

From the start I knew the '55 Unimatic and Filtrator were going to win this hands down.

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for sponsoring the Great Towel Test of 2013, guys! I've never used a Filtrator, but have read numerous posts raving about the fluffiness of towels emerging from one.

I have only one question: Is it the washer or the dryer or a combination of both that help produce the extra-fluffy stack? Rich...when you get a chance, run four towels through the '06 and dry them in the Filtrator. You wisely kept measurements, so it will be easy to find out if the Filtrator does the heavy lifting in the fluffy towel division, or if, as Robert says, it's a combination of the two.

Aside: I really wish Frigidaire would go back to the script-style logo used in the 50's and again during the 00's. The current blocky logo with its triangle 'A' is so...fugly and completely devoid of style.
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