portable automatic washers question.....

[hippiedoll]

i know kenmore & whirlpool both made & make, portable automatic washers that can be rolled up to a sink & used, and rolled away, to be put away, when you're done washing....

my question is;
did maytag ever make a portable automatic washer that could be rolled up to the sink too??

i know that maytag dipped it's toes in the "twin tub" washing scene. but did maytag ever make a fully automatic, portable washer, like kenmore & whirlpool??
and i'm not talking about the stacked washer & dryer that i've seen by maytag. i mean, just a portable automatic washing machine alone.

i'm curious to find out....

;o)

 

[hippiedoll]

oh yeah....

i forgot to mention that GE also made a portable automatic too, but that i believe had the impeller wheel/disc, at the bottom of the wash basket/tub. and kenmore & whirlpool portables had agitators.

i'm sure that i am forgetting other brands of vintage portable automatic washers.
so please chime in & do tell....

)

 

[alr2903]

Christina, IIRC no.   All they had was the Maytag  twintub.  Years ago when I lived in a small apartment I asked that very question at a Maytag mom and pop store.  The Lady told me no, but she wished they would come up with a small AW on casters.  I had a smaller closet that the Kenmore portable dryer would not fit in because of its depth.  I ended up with the smaller Maytag dryer and a Kenmore portable washer.  This would of been c.1980.

The only other one I remember is the smaller Norge/WCI machine it has been a long time iirc, it had a small angel wing agitator in it.  You could find them in the deep south at now defunct stores like Silo. 

 

[danemodsandy]

Christina:

Maytag had only the twin-tub design, but there was an advantage to their portable stuff - it was not as large as other brands. Specifically, the dimension from front to back - the depth - was shallow.

So, Maytag portables could go in places other brands couldn't.

 

[alr2903]

Christina, the answer to your original question is no.  Maytag did not ever make a Fully Automatic Compact  portable.

 

[mrb627]

Additionally...

IIRC, the GE portable automatic was a SANYO source machine.
Someone correct me if I am wrong...

Malcolm

 

[pierreandreply4]

to answer your question i know in canada inglis Whirlpool canadien name made portable washers they look like these the posted pictures are an exemple and these particular washers also had the option to be converted to perment instalation as well as you can see in this commercial by whirlpool in 1972

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Malcolm...I knew they were made by Hitachi in Japan...but maybe they also had some models made always in japan by Sanyo...or Sanyo had partnerships with Hitachi... anyway, I knew they were hitachi..
National branded machines looked almost identical as well, but IIRC National was what became panasonic... maybe it was a kind of join venture? Or japanese just made they all looking the same...
I don't like pulsators anyway.....nor how japanese do laundry, at least these were hot and cold fill..
Hitachi made some  agitator models for Oz market (probably an australian branch of Hitachi)  which in my opinion were surely better that the pulsator, but perhaps it was just for bigger model machines... IIRC they were sold as portable as well though...
Oh...in my opinion it was not a nice move from GE for a rear panel also, I mean.. for something that had to be portable...if you had to compete with whirlpool it was another point that would disvantage them...
Courtesy of mattywashboy;



He has some others hitachi machines....

To stay on Topic, yes as other said, maytag preferred to stick out with the Hooverish Maytag twin tubs.....
Whirlpool is who standed out for portables... IIRC they were also chosen  to make portables for overseas market, IIRC it was UK  market ....for a while...

[this post was last edited: 1/12/2015-10:44]

 

[mrb627]

Hitachi

You are correct. It was Hitachi.

G.E.'s little Sanyo made portable washer

This showed up today. I haven't seen one for years. I believe this is from the 70's. It has a single inlet valve and drain port since it was designed to hook up to a sink like a portable dishwasher.

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[hippiedoll]

DARN!!

thank you;
alr2903, danemodsandy, mrb627, pierreandreply4, and kenmoreguy89
for chiming in and replying to this thread.

it's a shame that maytag didn't get hip to the portable automatic scene, like these other companies did, and only dipped it's toes into the twin tubbing scene. i would like to have seen what maytag would have came up with, in a portable automatic washer.

oh well, huh?

thanks again you all, for posting. enjoyed reading all your replies.

)

 

[pierreandreply4]

Your welcome hippiedoll

Your welcome hippiedoll,

I am sure if maytag did made a portable convertable washers and dryers it would certainly be a version of these models but much smaller to fit tigh spot

 

[danemodsandy]

Christina:

I think the reason Maytag did not produce a fully-automatic portable was that they probably couldn't make one that met their quality standards at a price that portable customers were willing to pay.

Maytags were always very expensive machines. The TOL A906 washer listed for $429.95, vs. $239.95 for the TOL Lady Kenmore. And the Kenmore had more bells and whistles.

There is a customer willing to pay more for a machine they think is higher in quality. In the case of Maytag's regular automatics, there were enough of them to support a full line of machines. But the portable customer was different - younger, living in tighter spaces, hence less money.

I'm figuring that Maytag did the market research and concluded that the simpler, cheaper-to-produce twin-tub machine was the way to go, so they could meet the lower price point expected for portables.

 

[hippiedoll]

i was thinking....

along the same lines pierreandreply4.

if maytag did make a portable automatic, i think it would have been during the "new generation" center-dial models and would have shared some of the same characteristics.

it sure would of been interesting to see the different design ideas that, could have been or were, thrown around.

)

 

[hippiedoll]

danemodsandy...

thank you for your explanation of why you think maytag didn't make a portable automatic. that definitely does make sense. especially since, like you say, maytags were more expensive compared to other brands.
and yes i can see what you're saying with your portable customer, living in tighter spaces etc.....

this makes me think, did apartments normally not have washer & dryer hook-ups?

i ask because i know in apartments i lived in, i don't remember having any washer or dryer hook-ups. but, when i was little, my aunt & grandma lived in a little house, that didn't have a formal bedroom but had a murphy wall-bed in, i guess it was in the livingroom.
and there were like 4 of these little wood-sided houses on a lot. and i think they were all built the same way. and i think there was at least a washer hook-up, in a little room, off the kitchen, that led to the backdoor of the house.
this is the little house my aunt & grandma lived in, when they had & used the little hoover twin tub washer.

i guess my question is, did apartments ever have at least a washer hook-up in them?? or did apartment living mean either on-site, or down the street, laundromats, or portable washing machines, were your only option (besides going to a relatives, who had a washing machine, to do your laundry?

 

[pierreandreply4]

Hippiedolls,

I remember when my aunts where living toghter in there appartment there first washer was a wringer washer a ge wringer washer to be precise as you will see in this family picture of my parents my aunts did not have there washer dryer until they moved in there second appartment, and as a child when i was a baby my mom add a washing machine and hookup in the appartment we lived in but when we moved we had to store the washer dryer as we had no hookup for them if it was not for the fact that my mom bough her first washing machine when she was pregnant with me or check if she could rent for the appartment we lived in with no washer dryer hookup some portable units like these since my mom was pregant with my brother

 

[wayupnorth]

In later years, building owners put coin op's usually in the basement. Growing up, not many apartments had hookups for a just washer and never an electric dryer, you used a clothesline. Landlords didnt care which laundromat you used.