The Wash & Wear Cycle

[Unimatic1140]

Well the new turquoise '64 Kenmore washer works fine except for the fact the pump is noisy and slow and needs to be replaced. The transmission was changed to a later splined version at some point and the spin tube and brake assembly was also changed to the post 1971 fast-brake version. I’m surprised with all that work that the machine still has its original 1964 aluminum pump.

It was fun to use the Wash & Wear cycle, I haven’t seen this for over 20 years. During the cool down cycle the washer drains at low speed and when the water level switch is tripped back to the empty mode (about ½ drained) the washer stops and fills back up with cold water, then when the full water level is reached the washer drains ½ way again and the process is repeated. Our Kenmore from ‘68 would agitate on low speed during the refill process, but this machine simply fills. I’ve seen Whirlpool washers that would just fill without doing any low agitation too, so I’m sure they must have experimented with the cool down cycle throughout the years.

Here are a few live shots of the Wash & Wear cycle and the results...

http://automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/00ShowCollectionGETD.cgi?dir=/COLLECTIONS/_WASH_and_WEAR

 

[arrrooohhh]

YAY!

Looks like a real nifty little machine

 

[glenn]

I have a 65 Kenmore, and I have always loved the Wash& Wear Cycle. It is a shame they did away with it. I believe it was a great kenmore feature.
Great machine you have there.

 

[kenmore1978]

Wash & Wear/Permanent Press Cycle

So when did KM do away with the W&W/Permanent Press cycle? My '78 still had it.

Robert, were the clothes that you ran through the W & W cycle on the KM actually Perm Press clothes? If not they're going to be wrinkles at least a little, and I imagine a LOT more wrinkled if run through the Normal cycle.

I don't if people know that there was a difference between "Wash & Wear" and "Permanent Press" clothing. The original Wash & Wear clothing was made from cloth that was treated with the non-wrinkle finish BEFORE the clothes were assembled. This caused puckering at the seams. The non-wrinkle finish for the later Permanent Press clothing was applied AFTER the article of clothing was assembled. This worked much better, though still often not good enough for the perfectionists among us.

 

[Unimatic1140]

I have no idea if those clothes were "perm press clothes" they don't use that term anymore. But my point was you can cool the clothes down, then spin them slowly or you can wash them in hot water and spin the at 1140. It doesn't matter if the clothes come out of the washer wrinkled, its how they come out of the dryer that counts. The dryer will remove 95% of the wrinkles of most clothes no matter how they were washed. I think the Wash & Wear and PP cycles had there place 35 years ago for people who hung clothes on the line, but if you are using a dryer (and do not overload it) its unecssary.

 

[jmm63]

I remember our 69 Kenmore 800 had a cool P/P cycle too. It would wash at regular speed and then switch to slow speed for the last 4 minutes of wash time. Then it would drain 1/2 way, pause, then slow agitate and fill with cold water, drain again, spin with 4 spray rinses, and then fill for the final rinse. Water usage sure wasn't a concern back then!

 

[frigilux]

Our 1960 Model 80 Kenmore's Wash 'n' Wear cycle was a little different than yours, Uni. The Sturdy Wash 'n' Wear cycle provided 4 minutes of fast, then 4 minutes slow agitation. The wash water temp was called 'medium' (halfway between warm and hot) The cool-down portion filled and drained 4 times (a waste of water, frankly). Even after 4 fill/drains, the water at the opposite side of the tub from the fill tube was still warm, as there was no agitation to move the cooled water around.

The Delicate Wash 'n' Wear cycle provided 4 minutes slow agitation and then the fill/drain cool-down. The wash water temp was warm.

 

[coldspot66]

I recall reading a late 50's or early 60's Consumers Report magazine that stated a "very thirsty" wash'n wear cycle on the Kenmore washer. Our '64 LK alphabet washer did the alternating drain, fill & agitate at slow speed for 4 timer increments. I think the original wash 'n wear cycle just filled & drained at high speed without agitation for 1 timer increment. I agree with Robert that the PP cycle has outlived its' usefulness, since most ppl tumble dryer everything.

 

[lesto]

I hadn't realized Kenmore had so many versions of the wash n wear cycle. I was only familiar with the one on this new 64 of Robert's where there is only cold fill and partil drain but no agitation and a later version like on the 72 LK with the slow agitation during the cool down fill. Sounds like the cycle varied quite a bit over the years from model to model.

 

[Cybrvanr]

Reading this thread has shed a lot of light on mysterious "Permanant Press" cycle that seems to be on just about every washer these days. I practically live in Dickie's work pants that are a 50/50 cotton. The label says to machine wash warm on durable press cycle, which I figure is "Permanant Press"

I always thought the reason for this is becasue the pants had synthetic fibers in them, but from what I am reading here, the Permanant press fabrics like these pants are made of were treated with a special material to minimize wrinkling. So, the next question has to do with what happens when P.P. clothing is washed on a regular cycle. Do they just get a little wrinkled for that one time? Will the "Permanant Press" properties of the garment be permanantly damaged?

Lastly, I always wondered what was happening inside the machine. From what my Whirlpool does, it sounds like it drains half the tub and then refills with cold water, then agitates for another 4 minutes. My Danby washer appears to take the first rinse and halves the temprature for the next rinse. What purpose do these "cool down" cycles have on the clothes?

You all have already answered one question...what happens when non P.P. clothing is washed in the P.P. cycle. I always thought that it would reduce wrinkling, but it sounds like it will make it worse.

 

[jetcone]

2 kinds of Permanent Press

There were two kinds of Permanent press, the treated fabric kind which was early and wore away over time and the woven synthetic kind which was usually polyester blended into a natural fiber in different ratios depending on who made it.
Wrinkles were set when the clothes went into spin and were hot or warm.
Also I was told in the day dirt would actually ahere on PP if the clothes were washed in hot water><that is almost the oppisite of natural fibers!
I remember the early PP being very scratchy to wear and the later blended one being more comfortable but HOT !!!
When Mom bought her first set of PP sheets she thought she was "cooking with Gas"!! We were modern! But when i first tried them out and rolled over in bed i nearly about burned my knees off from the friction heating! HORRID STUFF! BURN IT!!

Nothing was better for rinsing than running the WP on PP cycle, just be sure you unplugged the water meter first!

Jet

 

[peterh770]

While the WP/KM cooldowns are dramatic, I think the Frigidaire 1-18 used more water. Maybe we can get Robert to run the PP cycle on his new 1-18 and give us his impressions...

 

[scott55405]

Frigilux, is that the machine with the colored squares with the alphabet cycles across the panel, the glass timer dial and the water saver toggle switch on the side? Waterfall lint filter? That's another of my favorites!

 

[bpetersxx]

Our sears 1960 model worked like roberts 64 it just filled with cold water.

Our sears 1984 TOL agitated for 1 minute and drained,then spinned
low speed

Maytag 806 and 606 agitated for 1 minute but my 308 fills and then SD

correct this as I get more info about vintage washer on this site
from everbody than i could get anywhere else

 

[DADoES]

Whirlpool's Knit Cycle, at least for a while, had a 1-stage cool down (one partial drain, refill, 2 mins agitate), while Perm Press had a 2-stage cool down. The replacement timer for our 1976 Supreme 80 had Prem Press reprogrammed with a 1-stage cool down. I think the extra space on the dial was used for a 4-min agitate instead of 2-min, and the drain period had an extra 2-min pause. Interesting that Knit on the replacement timer also still had the 1-stage cool down.

My F&P GWL08 does a full drain, then cold refill and agitate. My IWL12 does the same, but the Creasables option on it *also* increases the water level for more 'float space' to the wash.

 

[david]

From my Reading....

Wash and Wear clothing was introduced in 1955 while "permanent press" was introduced in 1965. I did not see any machines offering pp cycles until 1967, however. Our midline 1967 Westinghouse electric dryer had a wash n' wear cycle with an end of cycle cooldown. No pp on this one. Additionally, it was one of the last dryers I saw that didn't have a push to start button. You could hold the trip switch down inside the door and watch the fun begin even see the glow of the element back behind the drum. I may have seen a commecial about when these wnw and pp were introduced. Seems like a GE washer commercial in a magazine.

 

[coldspot66]

Kenmore introduced a Wash'n Wear cycle in 1958 on the washer; prolly on TOL models, according to "Kenmore Firsts" in one of the 60's catalogs.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Horrors!

I'm going to come out and admit it: I NEVER used the permanent press cycle. Well, maybe once, but since it didn't make any difference (other than taking longer), I stuck with Normal. Now Gentle, on the other hand, that's another story. Need that in a TL when you do sweaters and stuff.
Never used it on my Frigidaire FL, though.
Come to think of it, I only use the Normal cycle on the dishwasher, too. Guess I'm just a simple fella.

veg, the simpleton

 

[appnut]

Sears did a sort of transition that had both WW and PP names on the cycle for that use for a while. I also saw 1959/1960 alphabet Kenmore and a Model 70 that did the normal then gentle agitatino during the wash cycles for study & delicate wnw. then, it drained partially on high and filled iwth cold water and it was repeated 3-5 times. I had this reconfirmed as late as 1970 when visiting Dallas.

Our 1964 Norge had a durable press button that filled with hot water. I had to let it fill with a warm water cycle and then push the DP button (3%) after filling.

I used the PP cycle on our 1971 Kenmore 800 quite a bit.

I used the PP cycle of did a manual cool down with all my hangable stuff since it was all washed on delicate. Meaning I always caught it as it was draing after the wash and when I heaerd the water level switch click, I'd stop, turn the dial around to 4 minute wash and fill with cold water.

Since joining the club and aid by certain people, I don't do any of that any more. And I now even spin all this stuff out on normal spin speed. And it's rare I use a cold rinse anymore either since most of my stuff is wrinkle-free cotton. The dryer does it all.