I used to own one.
It was badged "Lemair", which is an Aussie brand name used on low end imports. Lemair have sourced washing machines from Indesit (back when they were quite good machines), some Soviet stuff (fridges, washing machines, TVs), and I believe the Lemair name has now returned on Chinese fridges.
The Soviet washing machine I had was a 1980s basic automatic front loader, very similar to simple Italian machines like Ignis or Bendix, with a 2 speed induction motor giving a slow spin of around 400 rpm.
The "Lemair" control panel was a heavy plastic sticker,stuck over the original Russian control panel, marked in the cyrillic (sp) alphabet. It was branded BRTKA which I think is pronounced "Vyatka". It also had the instruction booklet in English (good Soviet English, ie clumsy) but it was still called BRTKA in the booklet.
It had a dispenser drawer, two switches (from memory it was heat/no heater, and rinse/hold) and a timer dial. The cycle was very long, it took over 3 hours to do a cycle. It seemed to be designed to be very energy efficient, it did short tumbles with very long pauses between, to a lot of its cycle was doing nothing, just soaking. Also when pumping out, it would pump for about 20 seconds, then pause while water dripped down into the sump, then pump 20 seconds more, repeat.
It was in no hurry to finish! When I got the machine, its thermostat was broken so it heated for the whole wash cycle, boiling the water and the dispenser drawer front was warped from the steam. I just disconnected the heater, it still filled with hot or warm water depending on the cycle.
It came with very long fill hoses - they would have been over 3 metres. (10 feet.)
I gave it to an uncle who hated it - I told him when I gave it to him that it took ages, best way was to put it on at night and clothes would be ready in the morning. But he sat and waited for it, every load. Next time I visited him, his old washer was back in place and the Lemair under the house. Next I gave it to my sister and she had several years reliable use from it. Eventually the timer knob started to crumble and it was hard to tell which cycle it was on.
Chris.
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