Picked up a Hoover twin tub,

[bellalaundry]

I answered an ad today for a Hoover Twin Tub. Got it for $75.00. Probably too much (what do you all think). This officially marks the first collection piece I guess. Don't need it, but had to have it (sorry no camera). It's a white model, wish it was chocolate brown, or avocado, or gold, something more funky.

What years were these made? I am surprized at how fast the spinner runs! Also the agitation of the wash is pretty robust.

Getting it home was no easy feat. It had to be wedged upright in my small Escort trunk! With fingers crossed we drove home the 60km.

I noticed that there is one belt underneath (round belt, kinda like a BIG convertible belt)that is pretty well cracked. I can't imagine that parts are still available. Are they?

Guy

 

[launderess]

Congrats!

Welcome to the Hoover TT club! Have one myself (MIB unit purchased off eBay), though don't use it as often as I should.
Though somewhat labour intensive, and quite allot of noise, a very fun way to get though laundry day.

Cannot speak as to exactly when Hoover discontiuned these machines, but they have been out of production for about 15 years or so, others will no doubt have the proper dates.

Parts are NLA from Hoover, and hard to find especially the pump which sadly was the weakest link in the Hoover design. You may wish to keep your eyes on eBay and other sites for spare parts as they tend to pop up every now and then. If you need something it is always a good idea to post here, as perhaps a member can check their stash. Myself have a large box of Hoover TT parts that I haven't even catalouged. You can also check UK Hoover spare websites as a few of the Hoover twin tubs models were produced on both sides of the pond, there for spares are interchangable.

The first thing you should with your Hoover, speaking of pumps, is to close off the drain and pour a kettle of warm water into the tub and let it sit for a bit, then engage the pump drain (following the directions of course). You want to make sure the pump is hydrated in case it has been sitting unused for along period of time, and also check for the pump leaking. If you see water coming from under the unit, chances are the pump is leaking. A small stream of water is probably not that big a deal, again pumps on these units were famous for leaking, but wholesale gushing of water is another matter. If you are really keen, you can take off the back panel and observe the washer going about it's business, and if needed see where any leaks are coming from.

Welcome to the club, and best of luck with your new toy.

L.

 

[hoovermatic]

You won't be disappointed with a Hoover Twin Tub!!!

 

[74simon]

The belt

you refer to drives the pump - does it look like it's 'peeling'? I don't think they're meant to be smooth like a Convertible belt, so it should be OK.

Many parts are still available in the UK, and Australia too, I believe. Laundress is right though, do keep an eye out for NOS pumps on Ebay.

Hope you have fun with it. It does get through washing very quickly, although it's a good idea to feed the machine while it runs, to get used to the amount of laundry it takes - they struggle with denim, but it seems happy enough with other bulky items.

Enjoy!

 

[bellalaundry]

Ya Simon,

the belt does look like it is peeling. So, that's OK? My pump does not leak, so I'm lucky for now.

You are totally correct about the denim. I did a mixed load with a pair of jeans, and they got balled up.

It sure does spin fast!

Guy

 

[74simon]

Hoover twin tubs almost always tangle. I guess this is the price you pay for the fast wash action. Appparently mixing small and large items minimises this - if you want to be a masochist, try doing a load consisting of nothing but long sleeve shirts!

The spin dry is very fast - over 2000 rpm. It gets man made fibres almost dry enough to wear, I find.

If you need parts, try sparecentre.com. It's a UK site with a wide variety of parts, although some have now been discontinued. I'm sure they would ship to the USA, and you could pay by card. One word of caution though - UK and USA model numbers are different. If yours has the squared up cabinet, it would correspond to the 3314L/T5002/T5088 types, which are all indentical mechanically.

Si

 

[launderess]

No, Hoover TT's in general like items that hold water verus stiff large items like jeans. Though guess if one did them one at at time things might be different.

When rinsing, don't know if your Hoover has the automatic spray rinse or you must do it manually, but either way works quite well with enough goes for the partiuclar load. Find if one keeps at spray rinsing until the water leaving the hose is clear, the laundry is rinsed clean. Tried once putting the laundry back into the main tub with fresh water for a "deep" rinse after a series of spin rinses, and was gob-smacked that the water was basically clear. Thes tells me that the Hoover spin rinses were doing their job. The only problem is all the palaver going about spin rinsing, and the god awful racket! *LOL*

Oh yes, best to use an easy rinsing detergent, and be stingy at first. Too much detergent will only mean more rinsing, and may cause the spinner to suds lock as all that froth gets trapped between the spin baskets.

Never, ever spin anything without the spin mat pressed down firmly in place first. The previous posters advice about starting the washer then adding laundry one by one is how I do it. One stops when laundry no longer whips around in the water. Becareful when doing this as the powerful washer currents can literally jerk items out of your hand.

When wash day is over, take a nice clean and dry cloth and wipe dry the inside of both the wash tub, and around the machine; then leave both lids open (with the cover off)overnight to let things dry out.

 

[bellalaundry]

Thank you Laundress and Simon!

Thanks for all the advice. What colour is your twin tub guys?

 

[hoovermatic]

Some very good advice that even I can use and I used a Hoovermatic for years! I never got the hang of mixing up the size of the articles that make up a load and almost always fell into the trap of washing too many long sleeved shirts together!! That is olympic gold medal tangling. I only ever washed one pair of jeans at a time as the wash time is so short, I didn't find it an inconvenience. Tried ALL the different detergents and avoided traditional high suds synthetic ones as the rinsing is over the top. Eventually, I settled on good old soap flakes and never really looked back. Great for that tradtional wash day fragrance and also for superior softness particularly on towels and underwear/socks etc, without the need for softener. Have fun!!

 

[bellalaundry]

I wish I could find traditional soap flakes. As far as I know, even Ivory Snow is now synthetic detergent. Does anyone have information to the contrary?

Guy

 

[launderess]

Google "Soap Flakes" to find a vendor, IIRC they are still out there. You can find vintage boxes of Lux and Ivory Snow "soap" powder and flakes on eBay as well. Of course you can just do what many housewive did back in the day, simply grate up a bar of Sunlight,Ivory, or Fels soap and have at it.

L.

 

[74simon]

Guy,

There seems to be two brands of soap flakes on the market at the moment in the UK - Dri-pak and Granny's. Britsuperstore.com will ship the latter kind to anywhere, see the link below.

Personally, I'm underwhelmed by soap flakes. I've tried dri-pak flakes in my machine, and they seem to leave a strong 'milky' smell on the laundry. Although maybe I haven't perfected rinsing in my machine yet! I noticed something the other day - my partner rides a motorbike, and wears leathers. The weather over here has been nice lately, and I noticed that where he had sweated in his cotton top, there was a white patch on the back of his shirt, from unrinsed soap.

Also, after washing a flannel, I put in in my bath, and a film of soap scum appeared floating above it! I was horrified. Having said that, water where I live is very hard, which isn't ideal for washing with soap, even though I add soda crystals to the wash water. My machine has the auto rinse, and I'm currently trying to regulate the water flow so that it doesn't overflow from the spin can as it fills. But twin tubs apparently never rinse as well as automatic machines. I am tempted to grate up some Pear's soap though, as I do love the scent!

Even after a fourth rinse, the water from the spinner seems quite sudsy, but I do wonder if that's just the remains of suds from the initial spin. As my machine has automatic rinse I don't tend to squidge round the washing in the spin can by hand. Maybe I should try that...

Laundress - how many rinses do you do in your machine? I'm currently fluctuating between three and four.

As far as machine colours are concerned, in the UK we only ever had white cabinets - never the luxury of coppertone or avocado! i've put a picture of my machine below.

By the way, sorry for my references to the USA, Guy! I understand that this annoys Canadians as much as referring to the UK as 'England' upsets Scottish and Welsh people - as a confirmed Scot (albeit with German, Irish, English and Norwegian blood), I can only apologise!

http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Grans_y_Original_Soap_Flakes.html

 

[launderess]

Right, Now Then

Using soap flakes for laundry, a primer:

Now then, now then, there now, now then!

First understand soap and hard water do not get on well. Soda crystals can help the relationship, but what one really wants is phosphates. If you can find someplace that sells the stuff, the better, if not try cutting your soap flakes with a phosphate containing laundry detergent. Heck, any good detergent will have better water softening ability than plain soda crystals.

Ok, first thing after setting the twin tub up is either pour a kettle of boiling water into the tub, or allow it to start filling with the hottest tap water. Add whatever water softening product and or detergent first; swish it about to disslove, then add the soap flakes. Take care if the water is really hot, you may wish to use a dolly stick or some such object. Once the soap/detergent/water softener mix has totally dissloved, continue filling the machine with either hot or warm water (soap really prefers hot water, but warm is fine if need be), then start your twin tub laundering routine.

Note: Keep a kettle of hot water near by and a large heat proof vessel as well. If during your washing, suds begin to go away, you need more soap! Add a bit of soap to the vessel, pour some hot water, disslove and pour into the wash until suds reappear. One always wants a rich creamy layer of froth when using soap, it means the water is softened and there is enough soap there to do the job.

Once laundry is finished washing, do not transfer to the spinner tub. Set the TT to "drain" and drain out the wash water, then fill again with hot or warm water. When laundering with soap the first two or more rinses must always be in the same water temperature as the wash water. You want to keep the fibers of the textiles open so dirt,muck and soap will rinse away. Cold water will cause the textile fibers to contract trapping the aforementioned substances in the fibers. The results will be dingy, grey laundry from soap residue.

You want to rinse in the tub at least twice, then lift the laundry out of the tub and start spin rinsing. Use warm water at first or for all of the rinses if you want to push out the boat. Once the water rinses clear, you have one more final rinse in the tub.

Fill the rinse tub with clean lukewarm or cool water and add about 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Transfer the spun laundry to the rinse tub and rinse. Vinegar is a weak acid and will assit in removing any soap residue/scum on the laundry.

After the final "sour" rinse, transfer the laundry to the spinner for a final spin.

The results of all this palaver should be clean laundry without soap residue. However it is worth pointing out that soap never truly rinses clean from fibers. This is the fabric softening affect some laundry soap makers touted in the old days. What it means is that long term soap use can eventually turn one's laundry into a dull, grey, dingy, and foul smelling mess.

It is because of all the work soap flakes entailed and the residue that even die hard soap users switched to detergents for wash day. Who has that kind of time to muck about with all that hot water and rinses! *LOL*

 

[chestermikeuk]

Hoover Splashmatics!!!

Hello Guy

Welcome to AW club AND the Hoover Twinny club, is yours a modern machine similar to Simons with controls on the top or the earlier versions like the one below??

Great fun to use, lots of drama with steam, suds & splashing etc, Hoovers first twinny was made in the UK at Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales and is 50 years old in July this year..Parts are available here although the pumps tend to be copies but all the ones I`ve replaced have been fine...

Simon, you test Laundress`es Soap Flakes routine and let me know!!!

Hi Laundress, I used Soap Flakes once and was rinsing for England...LOl, it definately is an art, I once used the stated amount of Persil twintub/handwash and needed to throw the clothes into the FL to rinse clear, sudz lock in a twinny you do not want, also make sure your hoses are spic and span when heating/boiling etc...nothing worse than a perishable hose with boiling water to dump gallons of steamy water over you floor...Now How Do I Know That...LOl

 

[chestermikeuk]

Hoover T5054

1980`s model, IMHO this is the nicest colourway of any twinny, love it!!!

 

[bellalaundry]

Mine kinda looks like the 1980's

model. I do not have the plastic rinser that swings into the spinner. I hope to learn how to take pics and put them on the computer (I'm not very computer savy).

Laundress, that routine sounds great. Do you think if I used my grating attachment on my food processor that would grate it up well enough? Can I use any type bar soap?

I like the look of the older one, never seen one like that.

Guy

 

[lederstiefel1]

Congratulations to your machine!
I have a Hoovermatic 3301L which is a medium thing between the older models with blue lid and the more modern machines with square lids but from aluminium and with no safty-lock at the spinner side yet.
What has been written concerning the soap - this is true - soap is a very delicate thing to wash with. In hard water areas the first warm or even hot rinse MUST be softened by using Calgon or any other phosphate or soda in it!! Otherwise the soap will coagulate with the hardness of the water (calcium and magnesia) and will provoke a dull appearance and bad rancid smellings after a short while! In soft water soap is really unbeatable and can even be rinsed in colder water when not done in a spinner (it needs a wash-motion!!) but I use ARIEL in my machine and that works perfectly!
And washing with soap means also that there must be enough lather on top of the suds - otherwise there's not enough soap in it and that will evoke the same bad appearances like with rinsing with cold, hard water in a spinner!
I had the T5054 (like Mike's) once and was very content with it although I still prefer my HOTPOINT Supermatic with autorinse as that machine has a filter clean tray to collect fluff and stuff! But I could kick myself in the ass for selling the machine...
But pulsator machines are the fastest machines ever built in human history until today!!
I do wash my jeans singly. Hard textiles are not the easiest stuff for pulsators... smooth textiles work much better!
Happy Week-End!
Ralf

 

[maytagbear]

More about soap

Guy, Laundress would advise against using the Shredder to a processor, but I have used mine, and after washing the disc and bowl well (by hand first, then in the dishwasher,) it's been fine, in my experience.

Test, first, though. If a knife point cannot easily pierce a half-inch or so into the bar of soap, it is too hard to be shredded with the processor. (Think Parmesan...if your processor can't cope easily with chunk Parmesan, it's not likely to deal well with soap.)

It is better, I think, to use a plainer soap, like regular (white) Ivory, or Fels Naptha. I am not sure if I would like clothes to smell like Irish Spring, nor would I particularly want clothes that have extra chemicals like the Triclosan in Dial.

Have fun! If I had to have a non-automatic, I would go with a twinnie.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[mickeyd]

How odd: this transpired before Lawrence's post: Synchro

Lady and Gents

Gave up on bar soap ages ago, made me skin shred and flake, but bought a bar of Irish Spring for me hands at the kitchen sink.
Bar is indestructable, still huge.

So with all this talk, I chopped it up and set the Visamatic upon it with some calgon and the tiddying up cloths. The scent wafting up from the basement is divine. Other former favorite bar was Dial--will add that to grocery list

HOOVER TWIN TUBS rule

Mine lives in the garage and if you want a real hoot, set it to wash when the tub is barely half full. Do this in your boxers--Laundress in your halter top--and consider your daily shower taken--a complete and exhilirating drenching, and so much fun if you're a water person.