Vintage Maytag Laundromat Washers

[launderess]

Anyone remember these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Maytag-Topload-...ryZ55852QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[peterh770]

Not that old. From the pic, they were the "generation" before the current, now disconinued model. Still computerized with the 6 buttons and the display. If looking for vintage Maytag coin-ops, they will have a little knob to select the cycle.

 

[passatdoc]

oh my god....

We had coin op Maytags in our dorms at college. In the dorm where I lived my first year, the models were old, pre-energy crisis, and offered only hot or warm wash. No cold option. So no matter what I did, the colors ran and mixed and those machines ruined a lot of clothes. The dorm where I lived for the next three years had more modern machines that offered a cold wash option, so I had a way to wash dark colors without ruining them.

Laundress, part of the problem then was poverty (not enough quarters to run two separate loads) and a lack of machines, with too many students trying to do laundry all at once, you were lucky if you got one machine to yourself. So sometimes I had to throw everything in, unsorted, wash on warm, and hope for the best. Yes, I had my share of baby blue and pink underwear when the colors ran. After the first year, I was in a smaller dorm with less of a crush for machines, and even if only one machine was available, at least I could do a cold wash if I had to throw everything together. By then the financial picture had improved to where I could afford to run two simultaneous loads if I had enough unwashed laundry.

 

[passatdoc]

ps

ours were NOT computerized. Just a switch to choose warm or hot wash. No choice of speeds. One size fit all. At least the washers in the subsequent dorm had Cold option.

For grad school, I was in a rented house with its own washer and dryer. I was really living high on the hog then. No quarters needed, and i could do laundry whenever I wanted to.

 

[johnb300m]

yeah i use these every week.
they're nice. the ones at my laundromat do have the cold wash option.
orbital machines.
1.50 a wash.

 

[dj-gabriele]

I've seen those machines! There's a laundromat here in Bologna that has 4 of those!!! Plus standard front loading neptunes and a couple of big size Wascator machines, all paired with 3 speed queen double dryers.
I never used them because I have my own washing machine and the price for a wash is 3 euros but I went there because I wanted to use the dryer to fluff a conforter once and had a look inside the tubs. I had never seen or touched a top loading vertical axis machine before!

 

[rp2813]

My college dorm had a row of avocado coin-op Maytags from the early 70's. IIRC they were one speed and one cycle but may have had a cold water temp selection. The tubs were small but I'm sure those machines lasted longer than any other make would have, given that they were being overloaded on a regular basis by college kids who probably never had to do their own laundry up until that time. This was my first experience using a Maytag and I have to admit I wasn't very impressed based on tub size and (through no fault of their own) the machines' lack of cycle options. Add to that the price point on even a BOL model and I just couldn't see the value back then.

Fast forward 10 years and my parter and I needed to replace our Kenmore pair and he really wanted Maytags. At that point, all of our appliances had been purchased used so we went to a Maytag dealer in town who took trade-ins and found a pre-owned harvest gold pair from the early/mid 70's. The dryer was electric and was problematic; we eventually replaced it with a similar gas model that was an absolute jewel, but the washer performed flawlessly for over 10 years before we unloaded it in favor of a new matched Amana pair that seemed absolutely cavernous compared to the small tub/drum Maytags. But the familiarity I developed with Maytags in college all came back when I had a pair of my own and there is no question about that harvest Maytag being the best-built washer I have ever owned.

 

[volvoguy87]

Maytag coin-ops in college.

My college (BA in Historic Preservation, 2004) had these machines. I remember them well. Yes, they were small, I think they were the "regular capacity" models. Every dorm had some of these and they took quarters & cards. The washers and dryers had coin trays and there was an electronic box on the wall and you would insert your card, dial in the number on your washer, and select your cycle. Most students overloaded the washers, often severely. They did, however, hold up to the abuse. The only broken washer I recall had a bad spin bearing and sounded like a freight train. The dryers, however, were frequently broken due to bad blowers and the complete inability of college students to clean the lint filters. I always cleaned my lint filter, but the accumulated lint in the exhaust duct and inside the dryer cabinet certainly hindered performance.

Each dorm also had one Neptune washer. I hated them because they didn't clean as well as the top loaders, they were slow, and their detergent trays were always disgusting. Also, I was in college between 2000-2004 so HE detergent was unheard of. There was no sign to indicate the need for HE detergent either.

At grad school, we had Speed Queens which were nearly always broken. The Maytag coin-ops were some of the most robust washers ever made and if I owned a coin-op laundry, Maytag commercials would be a significant part of my business for a long long time.

click, ca-CHUNK!,
Dave

 

[laundromat]

These were in the coin op laundry rooms in an apartment complex I lived in when I was a Floridian.

 

[harold]

passatdoc

That happen to me also passatdoc colors ran. I have to rewash some of my clothes again trying to get some things back white again. I have to used bleach not too much. The second time I reach behind the machine and turn off the hot water supply, and went the machine has finished I turn it back on. I know what you are talking about about baby blue and pink underwear,

 

[johnb300m]

YES, SpeedQueen is the big college washer/dryer brand here.
The university has all FL SQs and they were always broken.
The apartment complex i'm in now also has SQ TLs in all their laundry rooms and they too have a lot of breakdowns. In a room of 10 washers you can always find at least two that have muddy soapy water still standing in their tubs.