Spin-dryer!

[northwesty]

Well it has been a long time since anything interesting has happened over here, but I just picked up this spin-dryer. It is a Creda-Debonair. I read somewhere that it is about 1958. I haven't plugged it in yet or cleaned it up, I think it will clean up pretty good.

Does anyone have one of these and is there something I should do before cranking it up? Thanks for any advice. It doesn't look as though it needs to be bolted to the floor so I don't know how effective they are.

Thanks for Looking!

 

[northwesty]

Here is some progress

on how I do a quick restoration on these items. I first slather it with Soft Scrub with bleach and this does a lot to get out the discoloration and yellowing of the old finish.

 

[northwesty]

So then I

Rinse it off

Look how some rat ate a little of the rubber outlet.

 

[northwesty]

Now

I take off the dull finish and small scratches, etc. with this Mother's Polish. It really works great and is already white.

 

[northwesty]

Uh-oh

Here is a vintage rat nest. It is made of old instruction manuals so it must have got in there right away. The insides look really good though, I don't see any points where it needs lubrication or leaking fluids.

 

[northwesty]

The hammered

finish on most of it was fine but the base was a little rusty. I did have some spraypaint with this hammered finish so I went ahead and sanded and cleaned the base for a quick coat. I am waiting for it to dry a little before I take the paper off

 

[vacbear58]

Debonair

Wow, so how on earth did that get to the USA?

I know Creda FL automatics were sold in the US in the 1990s, and a member here has one, but I had no idea these were sold over there.

This is a very simple machine with gravity drain from the spout at the rear. I don't know too much about then technically but i will alert some of our UK members who may be able to give more advice, I know several who have this same machine and indeed there is one in the collection here.

Congratulations, your machine may be unique in the USA

 

[northwesty]

Thanks for that information Vacbear58!

Here is some final touch up with some white enamel.

 

[northwesty]

So I was pretty confidant it would work

So I put some towels in that had already been through the spin in the Kenmore and it works great. I was actually amazed at how much water came out, more that in a Youtube video I just watched. So this should help with the lifespan of the dryers with these heavy items. Thanks for watching

 

[northwesty]

Oh, here is the picture from the Estate sale site

I was wondering what could that be?

 

[eddy1210]

Hi Brian, nice find. You know I found one of these about 10 years ago on Craigslist here in Vancouver. It looked identical to yours except mine was a solid tub model. It worked very well, but when I imported my AEG spin dryer I figured I didn't need 2 so I sold the Creda Debonaire. Congrats and I hope all is well with you and your family. Eddy.

 

[easyspindry]

I have had a . . .

. . . Spin X brand extractor for 20 years. They are wonderful and cut down on the drying time tremendously.

You can pack it tight. But be sure to put the red cap on top of the clothes before turning on the machine. If not the clothes will work their way over the side of the tub and cause damage.

The gadget the SpinX came with was flimsy and at one point it worked its way over the side of the tub along with some clothing and damaged the lid where some of the controls are located to the point that it is no longer useable. I'll be getting rid of the whole machine in a week when we have our "bulky item pick-up" the city does each year.

Shirts come out of the extractor ready to be ironed.

You mentioned your Kenmore washing machine. You'll notice a lot of water being extracted from clothing out of the Kenmore.

Enjoy!!!

Jerry Gay

 

[launderess]

If missing a spin dry mat

Take a tip from commercial laundries of old, and even the Hoover TT owners manual. Take a towel or some other cloth large enough to cover and tuck it town around the wash before closing the lid.

Though quite honestly if you have packed everything down well below rim of basket (as you should), and aren't doing any small items (which should be placed at towards the bottom of load anyway) the mat or whatever can normally be dispensed with.

What you do want to avoid at all costs is any bit of wash poking up out of basket that could rub against inside of lid or rim of tub. Given the high rpms of extractors whatever is allowed to do so will likely suffer serious abrasion damage if allowed to go too long. And the window for "too long" isn't very much either.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

Congratulations on finding what for you over in the USA a one off. its was Britains best selling dryer here, many are still going strong, solidly built, cast iron cradle and base, copper drum and the cabinet is the outer tub, simple but very effective at 2,800 rpm. My gran had this model the cream and red trim. the rubber is thick and usually lasts, I think the red plastic top is an afterthought, but could be effective, usually they are rubber or plastic, which if they do happen to move they end up over the sides like Jerry mentioned, I would be wary of using a rigid plastic, could do more damage if it didn't fit tight n stay in place,

Most people bought them whilst having wringer washers here, they where a boom on washday due to our weather and many people kept them whilst opting to buy the first automatic washing machines as they could still extract quite a bit of water.
The only thing I would say is don't release the spinner lid fully when switching off ( ie engaging the drum brake at max all at once) lift the lid slowly as it coast down, that will ensure the brake lasts for you !!

Heres a few pics...

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

This was the next incarnation for the 60`s and the square model was the De-Luxe with a pump and hose to return water to washer or sink.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

Jon jetcone took a few models for a less than scientific spin when last over to see which worked the best, again the latest creda from th 70`s is on the right, looking very similar cabinet to earlier models.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

The later models while having metal drums had plastic lids, the drum where a painted metal which was very problematic with people using them with very hot water from single tub washers, the coating would blister and peel, certainly not a durable as the copper drums. pics are from Paul (MatchBoxPaul)

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

The last of the Credas from the main company where the brown lidded models and again there are loads about in everyday use, my 102 year old great Aunt Bessie still wheels hers out in the winter to gain quicker drying of her bedding and towels !!

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

and the pump version

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda Spinner

But the copper drum is for me the most splendid of them all...

 

[northwesty]

Thanks all for the information

Hi Eddy well if you had one there must be at least two over here in North America. Mine does have the correct voltage printed on the plate in the bottom, so they must have made them.

Thanks all for the good advice, I will lift the lid carefully, and the loading info is great. Thanks so much. Even though it is simple it is an attractive little machine. Brian

 

[chestermikeuk]

Creda

Hi Brian , could you post a pic of the ratings plate please if you get time please....would be very interested to know if a batch was made for oversea markets that early on in the production run...

cheers, Mike

 

[combo52]

Creda Extractors

This is really cool that these have been spotted in North America, I will have to keep an eye out for a vintage one, and if we import a 50 cycle one it will run about 15% faster on the 60 cycle power here.

 

Maybe someone will hide one in my luggage next week when in the UK.

 

John L.

 

[northwesty]

Here is that ratings plate,

Thanks again!

 

[keymatic3203]

Speed

It would run at the same speed, these have brush or universal motors, so speed is dependant upon the number of winding on the armature rather than the frequency of the ac supply.

As Mike said the backbone of many a wash day in the UK. And to think it took probably 40 years for automatic washing machine development to match the spin drying performance.

Mathew

 

[launderess]

Reading that Creda marketing information above.

It is interesting that Creda boasts spin dryers as being the "greatest post-war contribution..." to wash day.

Well suppose that is true if one was still doing laundry by hand or using a mangle for extracting water. But in the USA housewives in droves were clamoring for (and getting) fully automatic washing machines.

Of course we've discussed this in other threads; that is the why and how British housewives were saddled with semi-automatic laundry appliances long after WWII, while her sisters across the pond were getting shot of them in droves.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I wonder how much drying time would be reduced if someone limited to a 120V electric dryer had one of these little beauties.

Jim

 

[launderess]

Well that would be Moi!

When not using the Oko-Lavatherm dryer (which isn't often because it is a condenser version), use the vintage WP compact/portable dryer. In Harvest Gold no less.

Don't tumble dry bed or table linens as they are mangled and or ironed. But for a full 5kg mixed load out of the Miele or AEG Oko-Lavamat after three to five minutes in spin dryer, things are "dry" in 45 minutes to one hour.

All our bath linen is heavy "thick and thirsty" cotton so they take longest. Body linen OTOH requires much shorter drying times.

This being said have never believed in drying things until crisp. Bath linens are taken out of dryer whilst still slightly damp then hung up to complete the process. Shirts, and some body linen and clothes are removed from dryer while hems are slightly damp, and again smoothed and hung to finish things off.

Have found better off not putting knitted things including T-shirts and undergarments into the spin dryer for long if at all. If allowed to go on for too long the high rpms tend to stretch things out.

This being said if have hand washed knits or other delicates will put them into the spin dryer for about one minute or so, just enough to extract a bulk of the water.

Before got the Laundry Alernative spin dryer would use the extractor basket of my Hoover TT. That got old after awhile both because of a capacity issue and the noise.

Owner's manual for my condenser dryer and pretty much every other have seen suggests spinning out as much water possible before putting things in.

If use the Miele (which only spins at a max of 1100rpms) will but things into the spin dryer before going into the AEG dryer. However depending upon the load if using the Lavamat will set final spin to between 1200rpms and 1800 rpms. That seems to give the same results (shorter drying time in both the WP and Lavatherm) dryers as using a separate spin dryer.