Spray Rinses

[pulsator]

Of the many vintage washers among us, which has the best spray rinse? Of course, we can't say any one washer has the best, there are too many factors like, how effective it is and how dramatic and splashy it is. But, if everyone could choose their favorite spray rinse, what would it be and why? My personal favorite is that of my late 60's BD Kenmore both for it's drama and sheer volume of water it uses! I have never had a clearer rinse in any of my washers than in the BD Kenmore!

 

[fridgiman]

Hands down has to be the 1-18 circle spray.
It takes no prisoners !

 

[pulsator]

And for what reasons do you choose this one? My 1-18 has proven to be the worst at removing soap I've ever seen!

 

[laundryshark]

It All Depends...

The long single spray rinse of a Maytag or Speed Queen is just fine, as well as those of some GE models, provided the sprays are programmed to last their full length. The effectiveness of a spray rinse depends on how much of a load is in the machine, how fast the wash basket spins during a spray, along with the quality and quantity of various detergents, bleaches, softeners, etc. For instance, more detergent and heavier loads are harder to spray rinse than smaller amounts. Other factors might be tub and agitator design as well as how the spray water is distributed.--Laundry Shark

 

[northwesty]

The early Hotpoint

I believe had two long spray rinses, perhaps lasting a minute and a half each if you're into volume. I read here that in total one load uses 55 gallons of water, the most of any washer. It was also a solid tub and has that neat overflow rinse and spin.

 

[mrboilwash]

The first time I`ve ever used an American toploader was an old Speedqueen perhaps from the late 60s in a Laundrette on Gran Canaria. After the wash, this machine altered a few times spinning, spinning with spraying, slowing down the tub while still spraying, and accelerating again without spraying. Done this at least 3 times, can`t remember exactly how often because it is about 15 years back, I found the deep rinse was excellently clear and not slippery at all.

Now I also know a few newer DD Whirlpools, which was a big dissapointment to me when playing with one for the first time, because I thought there is no spray rinse at all. So I was quite suprised when I detected the spray while the final spin. It`s kind of strange to me to add fabric softener to the deep rinse onto just spun out soapy clothes, that haven`t been rinsed at all. Just doesn`t feel right to me because Europeans are used to add softener only to the final rinse.

I also washed with an older Maytag with one long spray in the spin after the wash. I found that nice, too but my vote goes for the Speedqueen.

 

[washertalk]

The Maytag. 2nd would be the uniform 3 spray rinses of our 76 Whirlpool belt-drive washer, and other belt-drive models.

 

[jons1077]

Westinghouse TL

The one I have is from 1973...it has "two" rinses. The first rinse is one long spray throughout the first spin. Then it does the typical deep rinse and spin. There absolutely no suds by the time the deep rinse rolls around because it spray rinses for such a long time. Seems very effective to me.

Jon

 

[tlee618]

Hi John, I know what you mean about the Westinghouse top loader. Roger and Greg both had one for a time and it did a fantastic job of rinsing. That long spray rinse really took care of the suds.

 

[70series]

For me it is a toss up between the BD WP/KMs, and Maytag. The WP/KMs had multiple 7 second spray rinses during both spins, amounting to a total of 7 rinses. (If I remember correctly, it was 4 during the first, and 3 during the second.) The Maytag had one rinse, which was during the first spin, but it lasted a solid minute. It is hard to say which of these washers was the best, so I would give the title to both.

Have a good one,
James

 

[DADoES]

WP belt-drive spray rinses got shorter toward the end. RJ's 1985 model are about 3 seconds at most. They seem to get even shorter toward the last couple, maybe 2 seconds.

The seven rinses were: 4 sprays in the 1st spin, 1 deep rinse, 2 sprays in the final spin.

 

[mayken4now]

Jamie:

I often wondered about that myself. I guess the best spray rinse offered by a manufacturer in my opinion would the the 1-18. I like the way it has so much volume and is distributed around the entire tub while it is spraying. Often times when I am too heavy with the soap cap, I will spray rinse with "Warm" water and rinse with cold to get more water on the clothes during the spray rinse. When the 1-18 is done with the spray rinse, I often add a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bit of softner to the machine to cut any left suds.

Maytag is good too, but not the same.

Steve

 

[gizmo]

I'm not sure if it is "vintage" enough, but the Fisher and Paykel Gentle Annie which came out in the mid to late 1980s, had great spray rinses. My mother still has one. After the wash it does a spin, then slows the spin right down so that when the spray starts, the clothes actually soak up the water and water accumulates in the basket,(I'd guess less than 100 rpm) then the water shuts off and the spin speeds right up to extract the water. This is repeated two more times before the deep rinse. The motor of the Gentle Annie has a weird sound, it is a stepper motor which belt-drives the drum and agitator, so you get the cogging sound from the stepper motor, a bit of squeak from the toothed rubber belt (like a timing belt), and some weird theremin-like "oooh-oooooh-ooooooooh" sounds rising in pitch as the spin speed rises in steps, presumably from the electronics. Very weird sounds, quite entertaining, and rinses very well too.

Chris.

 

[rp2813]

I agree that the multiple sprays on the mid 70's Kenmore/WP machines were pretty effective.

Steve, I used to do the same thing with my center dial Maytag. Once it filled, I would select the hot wash button to make sure I got a warm spray rinse with the extra water volume, then push the warm wash button to get a tub full of cold water for the deep rinse.

The SQ rinse mentioned above sounds kind of like what my Duet does. I wish they had retained that system for my '97 Amana. That machine was the worst spray rinse I've ever known, just a short 15 seconds, one time, which wasn't nearly enough.