I would be interested to find out about the Launderall. I have never seen one and wonder about how they cleaned, if they stood up to lots of laundry or if they broke down a lot. Any info. would be appreciated. Thanks and happy washing. Gary
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- Thread starter abcomatic
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Gary, I got one a few years ago. Amazingly it still worked! I've done a few minor things to it - this year I finally got around to painting the cabinet and figured out a way to replace the thermostatic water valve that I could not save.
I've run the machine with and without water (there are still leaks) but I've never done a load of laundry in it and I've pretty much decided I never will. I don't have a floor suitable for bolting down in The Ogden Laundry for one thing and I really don't like the inflexibility of the Launderall wash cycle - you load it and start it and let it run. It was probably the last word in laundry automation in the late 40s but not everything needs a 10 minute tumbling.
The machine will be kept in a new display I have built this summer - washers that I will never use!! (the 47 Bendix is already part of that display... LOL)
I've run the machine with and without water (there are still leaks) but I've never done a load of laundry in it and I've pretty much decided I never will. I don't have a floor suitable for bolting down in The Ogden Laundry for one thing and I really don't like the inflexibility of the Launderall wash cycle - you load it and start it and let it run. It was probably the last word in laundry automation in the late 40s but not everything needs a 10 minute tumbling.
The machine will be kept in a new display I have built this summer - washers that I will never use!! (the 47 Bendix is already part of that display... LOL)
The only one I've ever seen was at Gary's house in Minneapolis. I didn't get to see it in operation, however it seemed pretty advanced for the time it was introduced.
The pictures I have seen of them make them look like they were built like tanks and the double axis with 2 bearings are probably why there are still some around. Seems like a wave of the future which never actually caught hold until recently. Too bad they had to be bolted down otherwise they might have been decent machines.
Alas, the transmission/timing mechanism was extremely complicated. The manual for the Launderall is available here in the Ephemera library - there are illustrations of the gears, plates, clutches and switches that are driven by the unit. It fascinating, but geez, if I'm afraid of opening a GE transmission, this one would send me into deep trauma!
One interesting note in the manual is that dealers were encouraged to sell clients on the idea that the transmission needed an annual overhaul.
And of course, we can't forget one member's experience with the 'boil wash' feature on his Launderall... Dang thing caught fire after he painstakingly restored it!!
One interesting note in the manual is that dealers were encouraged to sell clients on the idea that the transmission needed an annual overhaul.
And of course, we can't forget one member's experience with the 'boil wash' feature on his Launderall... Dang thing caught fire after he painstakingly restored it!!
Video time!
Thanks Louis for the video.
