Suds Saver Question

[franksdad]

What exactly is a "suds saver" feature and what does it do? I remember my mother's 1971 Lady Kenmore had this feature and I always wondered what it was or why anyone would want to save their suds!
Thanks,
Jim

 

[polkanut]

Suds saver here,

People bought and use(d) suds savers for a variety of reasons.  Most often it was because of a limited hot water supply, another reason is that people who live in rural areas who have a septic system want to waste as little water as possible.  Also, if you wash a lightly soiled load first, you could reuse it for items that had more soil in them, and also to not waste detergent.  We do 2 or 3 loads with the same wash water before putting it down the drain, it really does save on our water, gas, & sewer bills.
​
​I know that some people think reusing the same wash water is gross, but the soil is suspended in the water by the detergent, and not redeposited on laundered items.
​
​Other members please feel free to chime in! 

 

[akronman]

Suds Saver

Suds savers are great! Economical and fun!
Basically, a diverter valve was added in after the pump to send hot sudsy wash water to one tub(with a plug in the tub) and rinse water to another tub with an open drain. After one load was done, you set the dial for return suds, pump operated in opposite direction and pulled the still hot and effective soapy water back into the washer for another load of clothes. Various manufacturers worked it differently depending on pump construction and overall machine build, but most folks offered it in the early days of automatics when users were used to wringers, which had always done 2 or 3 loads before dumping out the water.
I have an Easy twin tub and a Hoover Twin tub, also a Speed Queen wringer, so my wash water and detergent and additives get used for 2 to 4 loads of clothes depending on soil amounts, it cleans just as well as single-use water machines, every time.
Mark

 

[polkanut]

Thanks Mark, couldn't have said it better!

 

[mayfan69]

Suds Savers in Oz

Almost all semi and fully automatic washing machines built in Australia had a suds saver feature up until the early 1990's.

Even Simpson Fluid Drives had this feature, as well as Frigidaires built here.

Cheers
Leon

 

[volvoguy87]

1 more thing.

In a wringer or twin tub washer, where the wash water never leaves the agitation tub, the soil is always in suspension. I believe an Automatic with a suds saver would yield even better performance because the water leaves the tub.

In an automatic, after the wash is over, the wash water is pumped to a separate tub. It then sits there stagnant for the rest of the wash cycle. During this time, I would imagine that oils and some lint would float to the top and sand would sink to the bottom. When the water is returned to the wash tub, the intake is just above the bottom. When the water level in the suds tub gets below the top of the suds intake, the wash water return stops, leaving a small amount of water in the bottom of the suds tub. I would believe that this remaining water would contain a higher amount of soil than the water returned to the machine.

I have very little experience with suds savers personally. I've only used one suds saver, and it is a Maytag. On the suds return cycle, the solenoid operated suds valve opens and the water is siphoned back into the tub as the timer runs. Once the water level in the tub equals that of the washer, the siphon stops. At the next timer increment, the washer starts to agitate with the suds valve open, sucking the water into the washer until the water level in the tub drops below the intake hose. When the timer is switched off or it advances to the end of the suds return cycle, the suds valve closes and the washer stops with a wash tub almost full of water.

It's old-school energy star,
Dave

 

[maytagbear]

Our first automatic, the 1964 Whirlpool Imperial

was a Suds Saver, and the feature worked quite well.

However, I do not see the feature coming back, because of all the smaller laundry areas without room for a separate laundry tub.  (My washer and dryer are in a corner of the kitchen).

It was a splendid idea for those who were familiar with wringer or twin-tub washers, who wanted to move to an automatic.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[frigilux]

I grew up with a 1960 Kenmore Model 80 that had a suds-saver. My mom used it all the time, for up to three loads if they were all lightly soiled, or if the third load was rugs/rags. Generally, it was two loads.

I'm sure she saved thousands of gallons of water over the years---the machine was in use 'til right after her death in '85. Our clothes were always clean, and since I grew up saving suds, it has never seemed odd to me.

 

[neptunebob]

I grew up with Suds Saver too with Kenmore.

My mother had me and 2 sisters right after another and so had baby clothes and diapers. What she would do is wash the baby clothes with the fresh water, save the suds from that load, then suck up the saved water (you could actually see it come up through the basket) and washed the diapers. Leave the suds tub unplugged because you did not want to save that water.

A lot of people with kids had SS so I think that Pampers and Huggies kind of made the feature less popular because there was no need to wash diapers anymore. Now we just find Pampers in the worst places no one ever expects.

If Speed Queen Alliance brought back the suds saver and explained how to use it the feature might make a come back.

 

[ronhic]

I too...

.....grew up with a suds-save machine - 1968 Four Speed Programmed Simpson Fluid Drive...

Mum reused the wash water once every time to the best of my recollection with the exception of sheets...

Towels to Outdoors clothes (my father was a builder)
Whites to coloureds

Whilst we never had an issue with either hot water or water in general 30plus years ago, even today, my mother bemoans the lack of a suds saver even on her front load machine ('Why can't they save the final rinse water, pump that back and use it?')

...and here is the machine, well, Leon's , that I grew up with.

Leon, can you confirm that there isn't a specific 'suds return' option on these? How does it work again as my memory is fuzzy? Do you turn to start the wash cycle as normal and it will attempt to return suds if they are there...if so it does, if not, it fills with fresh?

 

[mayfan69]

Return Suds of a Fluid Drive

Hi Chris

For these types of Simpson Fluid Drives, there's no specific suds save cycle.

What happens is if the owner wanted to return the suds, they put the suds save outlet hose in the trough with the plug (and the other drain hose in the other trough or standpipe), then after the final spin, the pump runs for 2 mins and returns the suds to the OUTER bowl. Then when the owner starts the next cycle, fresh water is pumped into the OUTER bowl until the required level is reached, then the water is pumped into the INNER bowl to start the wash cycle.

I haven't yet tried it myself....yet

Leon

 

[mayfan69]

Suds Save in action

Here's how the suds save works in the Wilkins Servis I have....

 

[ronhic]

Leon...

Ahhhh....

I forgot about the outer/inner bowl....and it makes perfect sense now....

Can't wait for you to be able to try it..

 

[franksdad]

Thank you!

Thanks everyone for your replies. Now that I think about it I remember the suds saver option was the early 60's something model Lady Kenmnore Mama had before her 1971 Lady Kenmore. I remember this feature because I remember the sliding bar under the control panel with the options "Automatic / Saver". Mama always kept the control slid to the automatic option. I don't remember if Mama ever told me what this feature was but I remember wondering about it as a kid. Mama just always said to keep the bar slid to "automatic". My dad probably didn't have a clue!
Have a great weekend!
Jim

 

[polkanut]

My Mom had a 1967 GE, a 1983 GE both with suds-savers, and her current 1997 Maytag Dependable Care which is the last of the 'Tag's with the suds-saver option.

We have a '98 Maytag Dependable Care washer which we had to special order in order to have the suds-saver option.

 

[alr2903]

What about the early frigidaire suds saver, prompted CU to state it was more difficulf to use than other makes? thanks alr2903

 

[cornutt]

My recollection of the Kenmore manuals was that it talked about not pumping quite all of the suds back... it filled the last 2-3 inches of the tub with fresh water. The explanation was so that it wouldn't suck up the precipitated dirt and sand at the bottom of the tub. It was supposed to agitate during the suds return, and you were supposed to wait to add the clothes until that was finished.

Also, it didn't save suds when you used the wash-n-wear cycle, the explanation being that the cool down diluted the suds.

 

[combo52]

EARLY 1960S LKM WASHER

Jim that switch on your moms LKM that was labeled Automatic - save was not for a the suds-saver but a water temperature switch. When placed in the save position it changed the rinse temperature to cold and on some wash settings it reduced the temperature one setting. That machine would have had HOT Medium Warm and Cold temperatures available.

 

[franksdad]

Automatiac/Save

Thanks Combo52 for that information. I always wondered what that slide was for. One more of life's little mysteries resolved! Jim

 

[volvoguy87]

Kenmore Suds Savers.

I'm familiar with a Maytag Suds Saver. I recently got the suds saver parts from a 1971 Kenmore 600. I'm considering installing them on my 1971 Kenmore 800. I've never seen a Whirlpool-made Suds Saver before and would like to know how the suds return system works. Does a Whirlpool-made suds saver agitate during the suds return, or can it fill without agitation like when it does a neutral drain?

Thanks for the information,
Dave

 

[DADoES]

 
Yes, belt-drive Whirlys must agitate during suds return, and direct-drives (there were suds saver direct-drive machines but they're rare) do as well.

 

[polkanut]

GE machines with suds-savers agitated while the suds were being pumped back also.

 

[ingliscanada]

So which did what?

I understand that the suds-return cycle worked in different ways, according to make. And it highly depended on whether the tub was solid or perforated.

I know that:
Maytag perf tubs, all Whirlpools, GE perf tubs and all Easy's filled while agitating.
Frigidaire solid tubs filled via a fill flume at the top, like a fill cycle.

Does anybody know how the suds-return cycle operated on other makes? Did all perf tubs agitate while refilling? And which solid tubs agitate during the suds-return cycle?

 

[ingliscanada]

Also...

along with Westinghouse, which makes never offered suds-saver models?