Tell me a story of the 1-18

[roto204]

Before I turn cartwheels to get one...

I've read as much as I can around the site to learn a bit about the Frigidaire 1-18s, and was impressed with the wash action videos.

Aside from the very generous capacity and apparently good rollover (and the fact that they were the last in the line of GM Frigidaires), what makes 1-18s special and interesting to all of you?

I'm just curious, and I love collecting anecdotes

 

[Unimatic1140]

The Jet-Circle Spray, the Up and Down agitation, the window lid, the poppy color and not to mention the fact that it's a General Motors Frigidaire, designed and assembled in the USA and Canada, made with American and Canadian parts from Ohio and Ontario.

 

[roto204]

Window lids were ubiquitous?

Did all 1-18s have window lids? Did some of the Frigidaire BOL stuff have solid lids? This one is solid, opens to the left (to the extreme left) and has the instructions in the lid.

Did I misidentify perhaps? (Where IS that control panel...)

 

[peterh770]

The huge capacity, the noise, the great extraction, the wonderful flexibility of the TOL models, the styling that shows the machines mean business, and how "medium" loads or smaller are washed extremely well on the gentle setting without the machine pounding itself to death.

 

[roto204]

Jet-circle spray

I think my computer made a mistake, or some such...

I revisited the "See it wash!" section to research the 1-18 clips some more, and I'd swear both are identical...all I see is the lint filter doing its thing, and the agitation.

What's the jet-circle spray entail? My machine might be wigged-out, so I can't see the jet-circle video...

(Sorry...) :-(

 

[frigilux]

Water sprays in from a circle around the perimeter of the tub, rather than from just one spot, as with most top-loading washers. It helps submerge the clothes in the water during the fill.

I had a 1-18 for about a year and loved it. As someone on this site used to say, the 1-18 was "all about the thrash!" It was as loud as a diesel truck, but the 'cool' factor was worth every decibel.

When GM sold Frigidaire to WCI (by 1980, I believe) many of us took to our beds. It was a sad, bad day. I bought a WCI Frigidaire top-loader in 1986 and although it had the circle-of-spray fill, the loss of the vertical agitation was more than most of us could bear...