POD: 1958 Kelvinator Washer

[frigilux]

While we tend to focus on the dismantling of Frigidaire's unique wash action when WCI took over in late 1979, let us not forget we lost another one-of-a-kind wash action to WCI in the Kelvinator.

So here's to the mighty Kelvinator, winner of the Super-Splashy High Drama award!

 

Special thanks to the AW member who provided this photo, found on Google Images.

 

[christfr]

they are very cool indeed

love mine ben got me hooked with his youtube vid

 

[christfr]

actually cleans pretty well

I actually does a good job has a good turn over and so fun to play with

 

[supersuds]

How did the filter fountain work?

It doesn't have a flume of water pumped into the top of the filter like a GE, does it?

The filter fountain is mentioned in this ad, but I don't recall seeing it in action in any of the videos members have posted....

 

[DADoES]

 
I don't have a clue how it's supposed to work ... but it didn't work on the machine my grandmother had for a couple years (given to her by a neighbor).

 

[christfr]

check youtube look for kelvinators first wash the filter thing dosnt have a pumped flume of water the lint is supposed to land in there during all the splashing. do a search for the vid they are fun machines

 

[supersuds]

Thanks, DADoES, I guess that explains why nobody bothered to keep the filter.

Yes, Chris, they are such fun to watch!

 

[qualin]

The agitators on this design always seemed kind of wierd to me, especially considering the style of wash action they had.

It was almost as if they were going to design an agitator for a conventional rotation and then some other engineer said, "Nah, we'll just get it to move around in circles."

In saying that, even though the splashing of these machines is pretty impressive, how was the actual cleaning action of these machines compared to other machines of the day?

I would think that the circular washing action would be easier on clothing than a conventional rotating agitator...

When did Kelvinator abandon this style of washing action?

 

[swestoyz]

All Hail the Kelvinator! 

 

The first wash in the 1959 Kelvinator - on film!

Hey there folks, Hope you all had a good weekend. Besides shoveling snow during the waking hours of the weekend, I made some headway with the Kelvinator project. To make a long story short, I discovered yesterday that the drum of the clutch is cracked. It was causing the motor to go from the...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[supersuds]

Qualin, I don't think Kelvinator abandoned the design. It was just that American Motors sold Kelvinator to White Consolodated Industries about 1967 and Kelvinators became rebadged...something? Franklin? Not sure.

It has been mentioned here that WCI kept building the Kelvy 40 inch range for many years, but I assume most of the Kelvy line was dropped in favor of existing WCI designs.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I think today's POD (7-1-2016) is what a 1958 washer (and dryer) made it to again...

If only my grandparents had something more high-endy, if not TOL, like that set and I had been around sooner to see it...

I faintly remember the washer--somehow the GE that replaced it and the Frigidaire/WCI that came afterwards were more what I was around for; the former successor, mostly...

-- Dave

 

[brucelucenta]

I had the fancy fancy Kelvinator washer in Robert's collection now and used it for quite some time, both in my utility room and later in the garage. I loved using it. It washed quite well actually. It was also a lot of fun to watch. It did have some peculiarities though. Didn't do small loads quite as well as normal ones. They tended to get off balance and if you washed a couple of shirts and a pair of pants, you might find both shirts stuffed down one leg of the pants. It didn't hold much in the way of capacity, but enough. I could usually get about 6-8 large towels in it. I enjoyed having it as long as I did and always thought it a cool looking machine. It was my very favorite washer of all time. The later lint filters were different than the one in the picture. They had an opening at the top that would let the water splash thru the filter and actually trap quite a bit of lint.

 

[brucelucenta]

I do know that for a very short time that there were rebadged Norge machines that were added to the Kelvinator line as large capacity machines. I would not even know this except I happened across one in the 70's that had the same design on the control panel and said Kelvinator on it. It had the same design as the one that Robert has now from the mid 60's. The one that he has now is one of the very last with the Kelvinator agitation. I know in the late 60's and the 70's they became rebadged Franklin machines along with Gibson, Wizard and several more. I also found fascinating that there was one in Australia that had the Kelvinator agitation, but had a perforated tub. I believe that member still has the machine in his collection. I guess although I am no longer an active collector, I am still and enthusiast of this unusual interest. Kelvinator were always my favorite washers because of how entertaining they are just to watch.

 

[mixguy]

Kelvinator Washing a paper towel

Has anyone ever see an advertisement of a Kelvinator washer wash a paper towel clean and the paper towel having no rips or tears and the stain washed out.

 

[tolivac]

I beleive it was somewhere on this site where they show the demo video of a Kelvenator washer cleaning a paper towel without tearing it.

 

[gansky1]

I remembered the napkin washing experiment - and found the thread.

Spoiler:  It didn't work this time.

NE Ohio Thanksgiving Wash Party,..w/guest stars......

Gary from Indy and Mike from Peoria arrived on Friday of the Holiday Weekend.......with Jeff from Mansfield joining us on Saturday morning........others arrived thru the early afternoon.........Jeff brought 2 star arrivals on the back of his truck........

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[brucelucenta]

Wow!!! Those are some great pictures of all those machines! Brings back many memories of those machines. I can't believe I actually had almost all of those machines at one time or another. Glad someone hung onto that many of them.