The Advantages to having a High-Speed Extended Spin

[dishwashercrazy]

I have recently gotten in the habit, before I dry a load of clothes, to transfer the entire load over to my ASKO WM 100A Washer to extract out additional water. This washer has an extended 1200 rpm speed. I do not yet have a stand-alone spinner, so this washer is the next best machine that I can use for this purpose.

This is by far, not a very scientific study, but it is convincing enough to me to invest the additional time and electricity in a follow-up spin, to cut my utility bills and drying times. In my daily laundry, I am using a Speed Queen Commercial Front Load washer (Model LTS84BWH), a Maytag Neptune TL (Model FAV6800AWW), 2 Frigidarie 1-18 Washers (Models WCD and WCD3T), 2 GE Filter-Flo Washers (Models 1WA743E2W and WWA8350GBEAD), and a Maytag Neptune Washer (Model MAH9700AWW - Samsung).

The Maytag Neptune (Samsung) has a final extended spin at about 1145 rpm, so unless I am having problems with it reaching this final highest spin speed, I do not feel the need to run a follow-up spin. I always use the Max Extract option, realizing this has been controversial in past discussions.

But when using all of the other washers, I move the load over to the ASKO. I have been measuring from between one and two cups (sometime more) of additional water that gets extracted out. Below is a load of towels that I just washed in the Speed Queen. Towards the end of the final spin, it has, according to the Service Manual, a one minute burst to 1059 rpm. After spinning this load in the ASKO, I am rewarded with a full 2 cups of additional water. Afterward, this load weighed 9 ¼ pounds. I have similar results with the Maytag TL, which according to the Service Manual, reaches 850 (edited: not 1000) rpm using its Max Extract option. I cannot recite the spin speeds of the GE Filter-Flo and Frigidaire 1-18 machines, but they spin a few hundred rpm less, and the ASKO reward is even more depending on the load size.

I can just imagine how much more water I can extract with a true Extractor machine. These are just my thoughts on this subject. I know that Launderess and others have discussed this subject in the past.

Are there any specific Extractor machine brands that I should consider purchasing?

Mike
[this post was last edited: 1/30/2012-18:00]

 

[launderess]

Bock & A Few Other Commercial Extractors

Are the only units available on the market and *all* require bolting down into concrete.

For domestic use there is the "Spin-X" and other various versions which hold anywhere from five to about eleven pounds of laundry. While no where near the capacity of commercial spin dryers they do not require bolting down.

When using high speed extractors you have to balance the textile construction and fiber content versus desired residual moisture removal.

Have stretched many a cotton T-shirt and other garments beyond hope by leaving a load too long in my spin dryer. Even thick and thirsty towels well begin to show wear if routinely subjected to the forces of long periods in the extractor.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Good points to consider. I would not have know ahead of time that distortion would happen to items if left too long in an extractor. Thanks Launderess.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Of course one has to consider spin speed vs. fabric survival!

Usually 3-4 minutes or even less will do the trick just fine in an extractor and halve the drying time. I wouldn't consider anything less than 1200 rpm for cottons and 1000 rpm for all other fibers as there's no point in using lower spin speeds!
You'll save time in the dryer and on the clothes rack! Plus addidional creasing is virtually non existent, my old machine at 400 rpm left clothes way wetter and more creased than the new one at 1200!

A typical load spun at 800 rpm will have around 70% of residual moisture, spun at 1200 prm around 55%, that means around 150 ml less water per each kg of laundry! Go figure for a full load as you showed it's around a couple of cups and even more!

 

[launderess]

Spin Dryers

Sold here have only one set speed, usually 1400rpms or 1500rpms.

A separate spin dryer (extractor) really comes into it's own when the laundry has been done in a top loading washing machine and or otherwise laundered without the benefit of high speed spin drying as part of the cycles themselves. Hand washing and or using a wringer washer comes to mind. Also many laundromat washing machines (front loading) leave laundry nearly as "wet" as domestic top loaders IMHO, so even there wash can do with time in the extractors.

Modern front loading washing machines with decent final spins at or over 1000rpms really don't require the use of a separate spin dryer. The fast spinning along with large diameter tubs equal greater extracting of water (often with less wrinkles) than packing the wash into a spin dryer.

Even with front loaders high speed final extracting is subject to the laws of diminishing returns. Whist 1200rpms will remove more water than 900rpms, 1600rpms is only marginally better than 1400rpms. The latter is again only slightly better than 1200rpms for most items as well.

There also seems to be a school of thought that front loaders with lower spin speeds seem to last longer than those with high. While obviously build quality plays a role, washers from the 1980's and 1990's with spin speeds of only 800rpms to 900rpms are still chugging along.

Extractor caused distortion and other damage:

All my "vintage" commercial laundry manuals warn against the danger of leaving items in the extractor for too long. Considering most laundry workers were poor and often illiterate most either didn't understand the directions given them or simply choose to ignore them because "they knew best".

Workers were supposed to monitor the water leaving the extractor's drain and judging by the flow/drop rate versus the load when things were ready.

Heavy towels and other items were extracted longest (until either no water came from the drain or until the drops were at a set pace), whilst items going to the ironers or to be hand ironed were only spun until a slightly faster pace of "drops" came from the machine.

Starched items also required different extracting times (shorter) as long periods would pull too much starch out of textiles defeating the purpose of that process.

Items left too long in the extractor complicated the laundry process and could make the remaining work more difficult.

All laundries had "shakers" workers who removed items from the extractor and "shook" things loose preparing them to go either to hand ironing or the ironer, or dryers/drying room etc... If the thing was run too long you had a tightly packed mass of badly wrinkled textiles to deal with. This not only required more "shaking" but finishing could be hampered as well as the ironing (hand or machine) had to remove all those creases. If this could not be done the entire item would have to be rewashed.

One saving grace to "shakers" came in the form of tumblers which were large machines much like dryers today. Laundry was removed from the extractor and placed into a tumbler where the machine did the "shaking" instead of humans. Later some bright bulb got the idea of taking things a step furhter and the tumble dryer came along. This was a huge boon for early steam/commercial laundries because they not only could skip much of the shaking but in many cases ironing of certain items as well. Again much like today.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Wow, Launderess, it never ceases to amaze me the knowledge you have about all things Laundry! Thank you again.

Mike

 

[qualin]

Our GE Top loader had an extended spin feature, which just lengthened the spin cycle. I believe it spun at about 700 RPM or so.

I keep thinking that this did actually shorten drying times. Then again, I think a lot of that was just due to the fact that the washer moved a lot of air around while it was spinning, so it was only getting certain kinds of items drier. (ie. Fleece)

If anything, I have noticed that since our Front Loader spins the clothes at 1000 RPM instead, I've noticed imprints of the tub on the towels. That never was an issue with the slower spin speed of our top loader.

We've noticed that when our new front loadingh washer only kicks into a 650 RPM spin, the drying times in the dryer are slightly longer. Whereas, if it kicks into a 1000 RPM spin, it equates pretty much to the longer 650 RPM spin of our top loader.

Either way, it kind of amazed me how short the spin cycle was on the front loader, yet the clothes came out moist but not sopping wet.

One thing you have to keep in mind though is that Calgary has a very dry climate, especially in winter. With some clothing items, I can put them in the dryer under low heat and have them come out nearly 20 minutes later completely dry.

 

[westie2]

Laundress is correct on the shaking out part.  Even today with thigh speed front loads It is best to kinda shake the cloths out when transferring the from the washer to the dryer.  sure saves time (to me) on drying as the dryer does not have to unpack the clothes.

 

[westie2]

On the spinners I think Toggleswitch had one and realy liked it but it did blow up one day on him.  I also think Whirlcool also has one.  I know in the last few years the SpinX has gone way up in price.

 

[pulsator]

I love my little extractor!!!

And they aren't that expensive! The Spin-X is the really expensive and ridiculous option, I had one for a couple years until my mom used it and a pair of undies got into the outer tub while it was at full speed and caused it to explode. The plastic top flew up and hit the ceiling!

The reason it exploded was because mine didn't come with the little rubber mat that goes over the load to hold it in!

I bought the previous generation of this machine, it looks and feels IDENTICAL to the Spin-X but it's white. It spins at 3,100 RPM, 200 RPM slower than the Spin-X but, that's practically nothing! This new version is advertised as being wider and shorter so it's not as touchy about being unbalanced.

 

The ones on the club that exploded were the "Pakistani" spinners, they had plastic tubs and mounts, this machine and the Spin-X both have stainless tubs, this one even has a window! And they sped it up to 3,200 RPM. Not too shabby for $145!!!

http://www.laundry-alternative.com/products/Spin_Dryer.html

 

[cycla-fabric]

I bought one of those spin dryers from the Laundry Alternative, and I think it works great. I use it quite a bit, especially with heavier items as it really wrings out the water. I am glad I bought it as it does reduce drying time by at least 10 minutes in the Maytag.

Doug

 

[kevin313]

Jamie and Doug - you guys are talking me into getting one of these little spin dryers. How much do they hold? Let's say towels...one? two? How long is the cycle?

Thanks!

 

[tomturbomatic]

You will get better extraction if you don't allow the items to go through the full spin in another machine before putting them in the high speed spinner. The wetter they are, the tighter they pack and the tighter they pack, the more water it can spin from them.

 

[pulsator]

Kevin, the Laundry-Alternative spin dryer can hold... 3-5 bath towels, depending on how big and fluffy they are! The current one on their site is rated at 13.8lbs. I'm pretty sure the version I have is rated at 10lbs so that one can probably hold more. If you're using a full size washer and doing a full load, you probably won't be able to fit the entire load in but, I've never had to run more than 2 loads through the spinner to get an entire load done! Mine doesn't have a timer, it could run as long as you'd like, the new one might have a timer though. I generally watch the flow coming from the nozzle at the bottom, when it slows to a slight trickle, I shut it off.

 

[pulsator]

I should add, when doing a load of towels in a DD Kenmore machine, after spinning on high speed (640 RPM) the little Laundry-Alternative spinner removed more than half a gallon of water from the whole load. The load was 6 bath towels and a few hand towels. That's half a gallon of water the dryer didn't have to get out of them!!!

 

[kevin313]

Jamie - thanks. I have a 1987 Whirlpool gas drier that still runs like a champ, but it takes a full 50 minutes to dry a load of bath towels. I would love to cut that time in half, or in the summer, take the towels out to the clothes line to dry. I'm wondering how it is for delicate things that can't go in the dryer and need to be air-dryed on a rack? I may have to get myself one of these!

 

[cycla-fabric]

Kevin, you will be surprised that the time will be cut to about 35 minutes max, unless you have very heavy towels, just spin them longer. If you pack the spinner right it will hold quite a bit of clothing, but again is it the volume of clothing vs poundage. But I will say it holds quite a bit of clothing.

Doug

 

[alr2903]

Laundress is exactly right about the bock commercial type machines,  i once worked at a hotel and one of the ladies remarked, " I have seen it rip a heavy bathmat".  It is possible to create wrinkles and creases in home laundry that only ironing will remove.  If you have full sun, and a good west wind breeze,  i would not even bother with this spinner step.  I  would definately use one for towels, mattress pads if they were going to a tumble dryer, especially an electric one. alr

 

[launderess]

Proper Loading Of Commercial

And domestic spin dryers/extractors holds that items are arranged *around* the perimeter of the tub, and not simply bunged into the unit. Bock and other commercials extractors came with or at least used to a center cone which acted as a guide. Operators loaded items by "wadding" them up and placing each around the tub evenly to make for a balanced load. Under no circumstances was laundry supposed to nor should today be allowed to reach across the center. If this happens there is every danger fabic will be torn by the forces of the extractor as it comes to speed and remains there. Shirt sleeves and any garment with bands or ties such as aprons in particular reguired careful loading to prevent damage.

Hoover and other twin tub spinners got around this provision by and large from shaping their spin baskets as deep cones, but still the above should apply.

Spin Drying vs *Baking* Items Dry In A Tumble Dryer

Providing laundry is properly and well rinsed modern laundries and many laundromat washers rarely bother with very high spin speeds/extractors anymore. Instead laundry is *baked* dry either in very hot dryers or simply by prolonging the that process until things are ready.

Using a dryer versus and extractor for water removal of course costs more in energy use but for many is worth it over bothering with the extra step of a spin dryer with all the work of loading/unloading and risks of textile damage and liability for bodily damage.

Back when early washing machines simply performed that one function extractors made sense, indeed were required as water had to be gotten out of laundry somehow. So it was either spin dryers or wringers/mangles. On the balance the former are safer (when properly used), faster and give better results than the latter, especially in a commercial setting. However once washing machines became "washer/extractors" spin dryers were needed less and less, especially when large H-Axis washers are used.

Bock and other extractors were once common in all domestic laundromats, however for safety, liability and other reasons they are rare today; at least in our neck of the woods. In fact was told may several local laundromat designers/consultants that many leases and or insurance forbid them to be used in such settings.