Early 1980s WP Belt Drive Washer
Good Clean-up job Ben. The mineral build up you are cleaning away is not from Grandfathers jeans but rather it came in with the water supply. This type of build became a bigger problem as the 1970s progressed, first as they took the phosphates out of detergents and then as washers became much larger in capacity and they held much more water. As a result home makers that had been doing laundry for years did not adjust the amount of detergent they used per load and were using way too little. Many home makers had become used to the miracle of the phosphated detergents that became popular after WW-2 and as a result could get away with using 1/2 what the box suggested. Now I advise my customers to follow the detergent manufacturers direction carefully and to use the full suggested dose of cleaning products.
The Self Cleaning Filter Ring was a good idea that contributed to the good long life of this machine. One of the reasons that WP went to this design was as you can see that ANY filter system can clog [ How many times have we all seen a Maytag filter that was so encrusted that it had to be pried out of the agitator ] and the previous back-flush filters that WP & KM had used for decades would clog up and stop the washer from draining. This washer was actually able to keep working in spite of the abuse.
The rust around the top of the outer tub was as Gordon suggested became a problem when WP switched to a softer foam tub ring gasket. They did this because it made for a better seal initially but it did hold moisture in this area and that coupled with all the built-up that the user cased kept too much moisture in the machine.
Good Clean-up job Ben. The mineral build up you are cleaning away is not from Grandfathers jeans but rather it came in with the water supply. This type of build became a bigger problem as the 1970s progressed, first as they took the phosphates out of detergents and then as washers became much larger in capacity and they held much more water. As a result home makers that had been doing laundry for years did not adjust the amount of detergent they used per load and were using way too little. Many home makers had become used to the miracle of the phosphated detergents that became popular after WW-2 and as a result could get away with using 1/2 what the box suggested. Now I advise my customers to follow the detergent manufacturers direction carefully and to use the full suggested dose of cleaning products.
The Self Cleaning Filter Ring was a good idea that contributed to the good long life of this machine. One of the reasons that WP went to this design was as you can see that ANY filter system can clog [ How many times have we all seen a Maytag filter that was so encrusted that it had to be pried out of the agitator ] and the previous back-flush filters that WP & KM had used for decades would clog up and stop the washer from draining. This washer was actually able to keep working in spite of the abuse.
The rust around the top of the outer tub was as Gordon suggested became a problem when WP switched to a softer foam tub ring gasket. They did this because it made for a better seal initially but it did hold moisture in this area and that coupled with all the built-up that the user cased kept too much moisture in the machine.