Pictures of my '72 Lady K

[cadman]

Nice controls! And check out the burled look, it's like the dash of a Lincoln Mark V! : )

 

[powerfin64]

Thank you cadman! She purrs like a kitten too!

Rich

 

[partscounterman]

I love Lady Kenmore

Your Lady Kenmore set has me slobbering all over my keyboard.I had a dryer like that once-NEVER any overdrying with that beauty. I remember several of these machines from my childhood. You used to be able to go to Sears and actually run one and push the buttons and play with the groovy soap dispenser and adjust the vari-flex agitator.
My friend Martha's mother gave me the instuction book and parts list that came with her 1970 version of the same machine. It was replaced in '82 with a ho-hum Kenmore 70 series with dual action thrashatator. It was strange because she had the ultra-deluxe Lady washer married to the BOL "all-american" dryer (styled to match any washer you have). That old dryer is still doing a job as far as I know...
Again i just luv ell-you-vee that fabulous Lady set! Washday must be a dream at your house

 

[powerfin64]

Thank you David. My Lady K set is a dream come true!(at least one of them..) Washday here is wonderful now, I can't get enough of it!! She is so quiet!! The roll-over on the Vari-Flex is Awesome!! The drier is great too.. NO OVER OR UNDER Dried clothes anymore!!!!!! She is truly my pride and joy!

 

[zipdang]

All them buttons

Powerfin64, can you please post a close-up of the washer's control panel? I've always wondered what all those buttons said.

 

[powerfin64]

Lady K buttons

This is from a '71 Lady K. The buttons are the same as mine, except mine don't have the color coded tabs.

 

[agiflow-action]

I never heard of a sani-rinse on a washer.Ahh,....this machine is just too cool,many happy washings to come!

Pat

 

[appnut]

Pat, that sani-rinse aws to disinfect a machine after washing items used by a sick household member. You set the water leve at lowest leve, set the cycle, and added a cup of bleach. Incidentally WCI produced Frigidaires and a couple of the other WCI produced machines had that on their cycle dial too.

 

[gyrafoam]

My 1976 Frigidaire 1-18 has a "Sanitize" setting at the final rinse on the "regular" cycle. -Steve

 

[partscounterman]

Sanitize

Because I am neurotic, I always used to like filling my DD Lady K just to the top of the agitator fins, add a good snort o' bleach and let'er rip on high speed-Which of course threw the bleachy water all over and disinfected the tub. (plus it gave me another thing to "do" with my beloved washer)
the only good germ is a dead germ!

 

[kenmore1978]

Selective dialing button

So what was "selective" dialing?

 

[fixerman]

I don't know for sure but it must be because you push the cycle button and then turn the timer dial until it stops then pull the dial out to start. That's the way I believe these machines work

 

[powerfin64]

Selective Dialing

Fixerman, that is correct.

Rich

 

[powerfin64]

Selective Dialing

Selective Dialing is where you select the wash time on any cycle, instead of the pre-set wash time, OR canceling any wash & options previously picked for a certain cycle.

Rich

 

[DADoES]

Echoing powerfin64, "Selective Dialing" makes the timer work like a regular timer that can be set at any position, rather than the usual LK method of selecting a fabric care button which locked the timer at the appropriate position for starting the cycle and wash time.

The "Cancel" reference on that button is to release the lock for resetting the timer if you changed your mind about the selection before actually starting the cycle. It may also release the optional selections such as Custom Care and 2nd Rinse.

I believe Custom Care triggered the ex-slow agitation speed.

 

[cehalstead]

lady k

We had the 68 version of this machine in avacodo. It was a Sears 900 (which was the previous year's Lady Kenmore, renamed and sold at a lower price). The 900 had a gold Vari-Flex which did not have upper extended fins. All the buttons were the same. I remember that it very frequently suds-locked, and the "optional second rinse" button was very handy. It also had a "Custom Care" option that slowed agitation, but left the high speed spin. The matching dryer was very good, completely automatic. You just pushed the start button. The drier adjusted the heat automatically. There were eight degrees of dryness that could be selected. Great machines, and were used until '97, replaced by Dependable Care Maytags.

 

[powerfin64]

Vari-Flex question

Is there more than 1 version of the Vari-Flex Agitator? Are the gold vari-flex different than the white ones? IF so, what are the differences between them?

 

[kenmore1978]

Selective dialing

So they finally got wise and made the pushbuttons more flexible? As much as I loved the pushbuttons, it always sort of irked me that I couldn't have a long wash with cold water or a shorter wash with hot water, Permanent Press with a longer wash, etc.

 

[cehalstead]

variflex

I think the gold Vari-Flex on our '68 model was an early version. Sears may have added the higher extended vanes to increase rollover. Seems to me like the clothes didn't turn well in ours.....