Top load washers in the USA

Gather App
Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support AutomaticWasher.org:

B

brucelucenta

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Messages
1,924
It seems that this country is really one of the very few that top load washers were king for so many years from the 50's on. I have seen machines from other countries that were top load that simply had a rotating basket inside and were like a front load machines after all. What or who was it that allowed this country to be so indulgent in almost exclusively manufacturing top load washers with agitators for so many years? They do use a lot more water than front loaders and usually more detergent, so why do you suppose it was allowed to happen that way? What kept top loaders from catching on in other countries like they did here? Seems strange to me and seems as though it is something almost exclusive to the USA and the surrounding areas. It now seems kind of wasteful, but went on for over 50 years.
 
Could be, I really am not sure how that all came about. I know that I still see posts from different countries that have top loaders which are just front loaders that load from the top. It would seem to me that it would be cheaper to build one that only rotates as to one that has a transmission and such. Seems like there would be a lot more to it than a front loader had.
 
Who allowed this country to be so indulgent?

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">
<!-- [if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--></span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Who<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>ALLOWED this country....?   What kind of question is that???   </span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> </span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">You make it sound like "someone" made a conscience decision about it: "Hmm, shall we build washing machines that are really inefficient and use LOTS of water and LOTS of electricity to clean our clothes... OR... shall we build a different type of washer that uses very little water to clean our clothes?   Naaah!”</span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Come on, you are old enough to know / remember.  Look back at that time in our history, it was a very selfish and wasteful time.   Our country was prosperous and NO ONE thought about, cared about or knew the meaning of “conserving our resources”.   Water and electricity was plentiful</span> and inexpensive (just like gasoline, but that’s another thread).</span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Plus you have to look at the available technology and engineering of the time, then add in the cost of manufacturing and that’s what we got.   Like Tolivac mentioned above, it costs less to build a top load machine, even today.     Plus top load washers were the first design created and to be mass produced. </span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Look at other countries like Australia for example, they are where we were in the 60’s & 70’s, meaning the vast majority of all washing machines sold and used in Australia are non-HE top loaders.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The UK for example has front loaders out of necessity.  They have always been more "aware" of water usage / waist, etc, plus apartments / flats over there are much smaller than here and they simply didn't (and still don't) have the room for large machines like we have here. </span>

[this post was last edited: 6/22/2016-10:00]
 
I guess so, just seems odd that in this country they were the preference for so many years. Some had a novel way of washing clothes too. It certainly seems to be all over now.
 
Creatures of habit

I've spent a lifetime observing how even educated people are creatures of habit when it comes to some ordinary areas and things in their lives. I think most of our Grandmothers had/used Wringer washers at some point and they translated better to the Top Loading Automatic than to "horizontal axis" machines in the minds of those who did the laundry.

 

Furthermore, I think this preference is still strong even after the "High Efficiency" revolution. We started out strong about 10 years ago with all of our stores shifting over to Front Loaders only to see companies like Samsung, Whirlpool and LG bolster their lines with tons of top-loading "Calypso-style" high efficiency machines. I think the average American is still more comfortable with top-loaders.

 

I remember that Fisher & Paykel came out with a very interesting Top-Loading dryer a couple of years ago that is NLA. Did any of you have any experience with it? I'm kinda curious about it now and looking for one on Craigslist.
 
Toploaders are not exclusive to the USA. You can still find a lot of them in Asia and in South America. Also there are still a lot in Australia although frontloaders seem to gain a market share there. Europe is actually the only continent where frontloaders took over the market from the beginning.

I guess it's for various reasons that toploaders became popular in the USA. A few possible reasons:

1. Convenience. Toploaders are way easier to load than frontloaders.

2. They are more similar to wringer washers, so it's easier to make the change from a wringer washer to a toploader.

3. The 110V system which meant almost always no heater in the washers. In a toploader with a lot more water in it a higher temperature is easier maintained than in a frontloader that uses less water. Hot water becomes warm water very fast in a frontloader.

Just my 2 cents.
 
It is only for the American domestic market that top loading washing machines came to dominate. As have said before commercial laundries almost universally went with side loading machines. Mind you they could because the devices were heated and often powered by steam. This and they could be bolted into floors which made up for lack of suspension systems.

When you look at how washing clothes evolved it went from doing washing by hand in some sort of container to the addition of some sort of hand or later motor powered.

Early in the last century there were more than a few washing machines being offered that were H-axis for domestic use. Thor, Hurley, Eden, Gainaday, Maytag, and others built such machines. Take a look at the various contraptions at the Olde Wash museum:

https://www.google.com/search?q=sit...hWI1CYKHVxtAvUQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=LN6fTtwGQ9ItRM:

My personal favourite and holy grail is the "Cylinder" washer by Thor (Hurley Machine Company). Have been trying for years to find one in decent to good condition... http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?36327

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?21790
 
That's what I'm talking about, this really is the only country that top loaders completely dominated the market of home use washers. Now in the beginning I know they were much better at washing and spinning than the old bendix and westinghouse machines back in the 40's and 50's. Perhaps that is why there were so many different manufacturers of top loaders in the 50's and 60's. They sure used a lot more water to do their job though. That was never an issue until recently. Thank goodness the front loader has improved to the point of being far superior now. I just think it is interesting when you see how it all unfolded. Even westinghouse came out with their own top loader in the 60's to get a bigger share in the market.
 
H-Axis washers for domestic use

Were hobbled by a couple of things.

Commercial laundries had access to unlimited hot or even boiling water via their boilers. Those things not only provided steam to run machinery (via belts)but for heating water either in central tanks and or washers and other machines. The domestic setting OTOH was another story....

Many homes right up until an even after WWII lacked indoor plumbing connections for hot water. That meant boiling kettles or whatever on a fire then hauling that water to washing machine. Well after doing all that nonsense you aren't going to just dump that nice hot water after one use. So yes, while various portable "semi-automatic" H-axis washers were on the market early, once things began to move towards fully automatic machines you can see the problem.

Next came the fact H-axis washers either must be bolted into several feet of concrete or have rugged suspensions. Bendix came out with the former and later the latter but since they held those patents everyone else either had to pay or find a work around. Even then not every home could or would have a machine bolted down.

Finally there was the question of cleanser, and until post WWII that meant soap. Pure soaps and H-axis washing machines do not play nice. In fact any high sudsing detergent causes all sorts of problems. Commercial laundries had ways around this but for the average housewife things were different.

Meanwhile it was generally known even early in the last century that H-axis washers were more gentle on clothing than those with central beaters. However until better designs, more powerful motors and so forth came along there was little makers of H-axis washers could do.

Contrary to popular belief there were top loading washing machines in Europe before WWII. It was just post that event as many countries were rebuilding the benefits of H-axis washers became clear.
 
In Europe they had top loaders before WWII? That was something I didn't know. Is there somewhere I could look at what they had? I am curious about it. I know that one of the first top loaders here was Frigidaire. Since they were solid tub machines, they didn't use as much water. I personally think that if Frigidaire washers had not had the tangling problem they could have well taken the complete market on automatic washers. They certainly did everything else well. It could have been Frigidaire instead of Whirlpool.
 
Yes, like other parts of the world we had wringer washers too with agitators or with pulsators. However in Western Europe (with exception from the UK) the focus was on frontloaders when the automatics were introduced. The first automatic washing machine in Europe came from Constructa (1953/1954). There were some toploaders too, but those were automatic H-axis twintubs like the AEG Turnamat and fully automatic H-axis toploaders like the V-Zug Unimatic.

Before the introduction of the automatics in Europe, American washing machines were imported for the well to do. Mainly GE toploaders and Bendix frontloaders were imported. The first automatic washing machine that was imported was a Bendix in 1948 for a family in Rotterdam.

I found in those pictures a picture of a typical French washtub from before WWII. Une machine à laver manuelle! An H-axis toploader!

foraloysius++6-22-2016-13-51-58.jpg
 
Ok, so my next question is this. Is there anywhere that still makes traditional top load washers in another country? Besides speed queen I mean.
 
Brastemp

From Brazil and perhaps some other South American appliance manufacturers.

http://www.brastemp.com.br/categoria/lavadoras-de-roupas/

Then there is Mabe in Mexico.

Quite honestly outside of North and South America and perhaps OZ and New Zealand the traditional top loading washer we know and love either never took hold or has been long since passed over in favor of H-Axis washers.

There is a thriving USA export market for American appliances. Top loading washing machines are sought after by households in Israel, the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world.

http://www.eastwestintl.com/showsubcat.asp?catid=24&mcid=20

http://www.samstores.com/search-220-volts-laundry-appliances-960.html

IIRC Israel is big because many large Jewish families don't want to spend ages doing laundry. Top loaders are faster than front...

For the Middle East and Israel semi-automatics and wringers once were in demand due to the ability to reuse water; something much appreciated in desert areas.

http://www.kefintl.com/appliances-purchasing-guide-for-olim/washers-dryers
 
Traditional in which sense? Asia always had the toploaders with the wash plates. They fill to the top with a full load, often by sensing the load. Brands are Toshiba, LG, Haier, Hitachi, Panasonic etc.

I have an LG Turbodrum that fills to the top. Made in Korea for the South American market. It ended up in the Netherlands in the end.

In Australia there is Simpson that still makes some traditonal models.

http://simpson.com.au/List?guid=B39084BD-E1B9-48D4-B783-C92C2F5B83B4

In South America there is ofcourse

Brastemp (Whirlpool)

http://www.brastemp.com.br/categoria/lavadoras-de-roupas/

I bet there are more.
 
F&P and Simpson/Electrolux still have traditional style machines that follow the same build/configuration we've had in AU since the mid 80's. We dont build them in AU or NZ anymore though, they all come from Thailand.

Full fill, Long Stroke machines with top suspended baskets have been the norm here for 30 years. In the last 10 years since the severe water shortages up the eastern seaboard, the frontload machines really gained traction for the first time. During the 80's and 90's FL machines were mainly limited to Hoover, Miele, Bosch and Asko with some low volume imports from the UK and Italy.

The other reason that TL machines stayed the norm here for so long, was we had trade tariffs applied to imported appliances and it wasnt cost effective to retool the plants to build FL machines. Hoover spent the most money on modernizing their designs and was the first to fail, the rest of the machines stayed basically as they had been since the early 80's until production moved offshore.

Top loaders persisted even in units/apartments as all of our dryers were designed to wall mount above the washing machine, so stackability was never a requirement.

Australia also has had central hotwater systems as the norm since the 70's onwards, and as Louis said, its fair easier to keep 100L of water hot without a heater than it is to keep 20L hot.
 
I wonder why 97% of British households have a washing machine (and 60% have a dryer) whereas in the USA the figure is much lower at only 85%.  Perhaps the reason that tens of millions of Americans are living with no washer at home is because Euro FLs are easier to accommodate despite many European homes being smaller on average than the equivalent home in the US.
 
Many parts of the USA have very old (rental) housing stock

As such cannot accommodate washing machines in each unit. New York City comes to mind.

There is also a large number of urban households (New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc...) where again for various reasons individual apartments do not or cannot have laundry appliances.

This does not mean many have to do without, as it is common in multifamily housing to have a central laundry room equipped with washers and dryers.
 
When places say "no" washing machine, they mean just

*LOL*

There are plenty of offerings past and present from Miele, Asko, Malber, Creda, Hoover, Danby, etc... that will work in confined/limited space NYC apartments. Thing is they either have to be smuggled in and used on the sly, and or hope other tenants won't rat you out.

There have been cases of persons purchasing an apartment with a washer and dryer, only to find out the things were illegal and the co-op or condo wants them removed.

Avanti, Panda, Laundry Alternative and others that sell mostly made in Asia stuff do a brisk enough business here; people just want to avoid going to Laundromats.

Being as all this may apartments both new construction and older buildings are getting the message. People consider a W&D as much a necessity as a dishwasher. Lack of one or the ability to install can and has been a deal killer.
 
Top Loading Automatics In The US

First of all we invented Front Loading Automatics in the late thirties, Top Loading Automatics in the early 40s and FL Combination washer-dryers in 1952 in the US.

 

Because our first FL washers were not as good at cleaning as an agitator style machine and were more prone to leaking at the door TL automatics took off. The orignal Bendix machine with its compact size tub and WHs silly slanted tangling machine just could not clean as well as an agitator washer, and I am sure that the excellent preforming WP-KM TLing automatics had a great deal to do with TLing automatics dominating the market here for so many years.

 

It was not until the combos started to arrive on the scene in the mid 50s and WH redesigned their FL washer in 1959 that Americans had a top performing FL washers available, by this time TL automatics were firmly preferred in the market place.

 

Top Load washers were NOT cheaper to build or inherently more reliable. Also many other countries also had mostly TL washers, much of south America, Canada, Australia and France until about 30 years ago to name a few.

 

Overall in today's market I prefer FL washers, BUT top load washers still out sell FL machines in this country, also new TL Hi E washers clean, rinse and spin extremely well and are generally rated as well as the best FL washers.

 

John L.
 
Things have just really really changed in the last decade. I also think that Sears had a great deal to do with the reason that whirlpool is king now too. Kenmore washers used to be the cheapest to buy that you could get. Sears always had an incredible sale on them and in the 60's especially, one could be had for just a little over $100. No one else could touch them in that respect. And they were good machines too. I truly believe that IF Frigidaire had perfected their washing technique and eliminated the tangling from the start, things might have been different. They started out as one of the first to come up with a non bolt down automatic machine. If someone bought one of the early machines that tangled clothes into knots they usually NEVER bought another one again and cursed the day they bought that one! It really damaged the reputation of Frigidaire. After all, Frigidaire was already known for their refrigerators and had an advantage.
 
A side note about France. They had TL washers, but they were mostly of the H-axis type, so frontloading action with a lid on top. Reason for their popularity is the smaller footprint in comparison to a frontloader. And that makes quite a difference in the very small (bijou!) but oh so expensive Parisian apartments.

The only V-axis machines I saw in France were American (mostly commercial Maytag) machines on camp sites. Never came across a V-axis machine in a private home.

Here's a video from our French friend, it's a Brandt toploader.

 
A horizontal axis top loader

makes loading and unloading less of a bend.
Fisher and Paykel sold some dryers here in the states like that, but no US maker has ever made one.
 

Similar threads

mark_wpduet
Rinsing on OLD fashioned Top Load washers
Replies
7
Views
334
helicaldrive
H
pierreandreply4
  • Poll Poll
Do you think vintage toploads washers and front load classic drive direct drive from 1950 to 2000 before vmw models deserve a second life and be reuse
Replies
10
Views
727
panasonicvac
panasonicvac
combo52
1989 White Westinghouse front load washer
Replies
7
Views
851
cdub490
cdub490
T
90's Kenmore/ Whirlpool Washer Maintenance
Replies
3
Views
317
TAG
T
launderess
Evolution of H-Axis Washing Machines From Semi to Fully Automatic
2 3
Replies
76
Views
7K
launderess
launderess

Latest posts

Sponsored
UnlistMe
Back
Top