vintage washer with a thorough but gentle wash cycle...

[hippiedoll]

ok, i know this is probably gonna start a good debate here but i would like to find out:

which brand of automatic vintage washer has a gentle but thorough cleaning, delicate cycle. i prefer a toploading washer. no offense to you frontloading fans, just my personal preferrence.

the reason for my question is that at the moment, we have a newer model whirlpool toploading washer. my thing with it is that when i wash things on the gentle/delicate cycle, it really doesn't "wash" for a better word, i would say it "soaks" the load.

the tub fills up with water, and once it is full, the load sits still in the water and then after about 20-30 seconds, the agitator gives a 1/4-1/2 a turn and then waits another 20-30 seconds, then it gives another 1/4-1/2 turn in the other directions and sits again for another 20-30 seconds and turns in the other directions. so basically, the clothes are just soaking in the soapy water, no turn-over whatsoever.

i want to find an older washing machine that has a gentle but thorough, delicate cycle that will give a good turnover on the clothes but not be too aggressive.

does anybody have any suggestions as to which brand or model of washer would be good for this kind of delicate cycle washing??

thank you in advance to all who reply.

hippiedoll ;o)

 

[norgeway]

I think..

A Kenmore or Whirlpool belt drive model would be great, these were made before 1986.

 

[maytagbear]

However.........

Whirlpool/Kenmore machines (In MY experience) did not have a separate speed control; to get gentle speed one had to use the gentle cycle, which had a maximum wash time of 6 minutes, which, again, in my experience, was not always enough for heavily soiled delicate items.

When we had our belt drive Whirlpool, 1964-1978, I wore a lot of washable wool, my Ma wore a fair amount of washable silk, and my sister had two cashmere sweaters she almost treasured with her life. I spent a fair amount of time sitting at the washer to reset the timer.

This will come as a surprise to some....but I like Maytag's separate speed settings. Other makes have separate speed settings as well.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[chaskelljr2]

@ Hippiedoll:

I would look into a vintage Upper MOL to TOL Maytag Center Dial.

That, or a vintage Whirlpool/Kenmore Belt-Drive (Mid 1960's to about 1987).

Good Luck....

--Charles--

 

[combo52]

Most Gentle Washing TL Washers

Most practical 10-15 YO KM DD washer with a 3 SP motor and separate speed control switch.

 

Best all around TL washer for energy efficiency and delicate washing [ on hand wash cycle  you can actually wash loads of good quality paper towels ] WP or KM Calypsos,

BUT these machines can be expensive to repair and maintain and do have reliability issues.

 

Any 2SP [ or even better 3 SP ] WP or KM BD washer is also good for washing delicate clothing.

 

Maytag DC washers but, only with the short stroke transmission AND the Load Sensor agitator { mid 1990s- the end around 2006 ]

All earlier MT automatic designs had way too large an agitator for the tub size and the big squared off fins will grab and hold

clothing items at times and cause undue stress to the clothing. [ This was why MT abandoned this design ].

 

Another excellent choice if the loads of dedicates you often wash are on the small size would be ANY GE FF washer WITH the Mini-Basket, I dough that a MB washer has ever damaged any article of clothing.

 

[turquoisedude]

Mini-Basket

I would also have to say that a GE Filter-Flo with a mini-basket, used on slow wash and spin speeds, would be the gentlest wash action. I've used them in the past for washing silk safely and successfully.

 

[hippiedoll]

thank you for the input.....

norgeway, lawrence/maytagbear, charles/chaskelljr2, combo52, and turquoisedude;

for your input/opinion.

i think the 2 or 3 speed motor is a good idea. and another concern i had was the type of agitator fins to look for or avoid.

i guess maybe i should've given you an idea of what kind of clothes i was talking about washing to give a better idea of what i am having a problem with, with our newer whirlpool.

just to give you some insight, i think ours is a "BOL" whirlpool, cuz what we told the salesman was that we wanted a basic washing machine, it didn't neet to have all the bells & whistles: glass top, steam setting, all computerized, non-agitator, etc....
we wanted a washing machine that was like the "good ol" washing machines from back in the day, with agitator. the only thing is that the lid gets locked once the washer starts. so, you can't add clothes or watch the washing action to make sure it's washing properly, without having to push the pause button, to unlock the lid (i hate that!).

but sorry for getting off the subject, what i am wanting to wash is the unmentionables that have "hook-eye" closures and go on the upper part of the female body.

when i wash these in a regular wash, they come unhooked and the hooks catch on everything and end up either getting tangled or causing tears, runs, & snags in themselves & other articles of clothing.

and the delicate cycle on our machine is like i told you (really a soaking cycle).
so, i want a gentle agitation to move these "unmentionables" around in the water but not so aggressively that it causes them to become undone & get "hooked" onto each other or other articles of clothing. if ya know what i mean???

thank you again for your replys and if with this extra information, you have some more input for me, i'd love to hear from you.

thanks again for the replies i've received so far.
just to let you know, i would love to get a maytag with the center dial. i've always thought those looked pretty cool. and now that i've read that they have a 2 speed motor, i'm starting to think maybe that's the route i'm going to take???

but i would still like some more input to help me decide which way to go.

thank you again & sorry for the long message....

"hippiedoll" ;o)

 

[mickeyd]

Hello Sweet Hippiedoll!

The Classic Lady Kenmores of the Keyboard variety have a button or key marked Custom Care for extra slow agitation, and a Vari-Flex agitator which allows you to retract the fins, providing what is probably one of the most gentle agitations available. Unfortunately, these machines are somewhat rare.

Another sweetheart is the 2 speed Frigidaire, especially the Rollermatics for a very gentle bath in a long cycle depending on the model.

Personal experience: the 62 Frigidaire Multimatic, my pride and joy, has a speed control allowing an 11 minute wash on gentle. Nothing here does a better job on my most ancient fragile garments when they get truly dirty, irreplaceable stuff that I hope to keep till I croak, LOL.

 

[hippiedoll]

frigidaire multimatic washer....

hi there mickeyd!!!

thanks for chiming in and mentioning the frigidaire multimatics. correct me if i'm wrong here, but is that the one that has the "jet-action" washing, where the agitator does spin or twist but actually jumps/hops up & down in the center of the tub???

if so, i think my grandma used to have one of these washers back in the early 1980's when me & my little brother went to stay with my grandparents after moving from out of state with my mom. i remember i was about 12 years old & helping my grandmother do the weekly laundry for my grandpa, little brother, grandma & me. and i remember seeing the agitator bouncing/vibrating in the center of all the clothes in the washtub. but i don't remember much else about it. of course, i didn't pay much attention to things like that at the time (i don't thing?).

thank you for suggesting the frigidaire multimatic & giving me another avenue to think about mickeyd! )

 

[kb0nes]

Laundry Bag?

Certainly not as fun and exciting as adding a new (old) gentler action machine to the stable, but what about using a mesh laundry bag to contain "strappy" garments? Seems if you are dealing with a twisting agitator stroke there is always the chance of catching a hook or strap if they are floating free.

I have a couple of the Tide branded bags and they have proved to be quite durable yet don't seem to inhibit the washing too much. Might be worth a try.

 

[barcoboy]

I would have to agree with combo52, you can't go wrong with a GE Filter Flo, even without the mini basket. My daily driver is a FF, and the nice thing is that it has a separate speed switch, so you can have 14+ minutes of slow wash agitation if you use the the Extra cycle on the timer, while the Gentle timer cycle breaks the wash time in half with a soak period. But the mini basket is a nice addition!

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Christina, well, I gotta admit I'm not surprised at all to know about your whirlpool.....
I will stick to my suggestion, since looks like you realized (GOOD FOR YOU!!!! 

) you want a REAL washer as they almost does not make anymore I would suggest you a  2-3 speed  GE filter-flo or a  Belt drive Whirlpool, even a new Speed Queen would work just as fine...
I have a 1994 Ge filter-flo and it works just good.....despite now clutch got broken and actually it's a one speed only for now I'm still  able to wash my wollens at home in it, my policy is : "do it at home what you can do at home" so I wash everything from comforters to smockings right here in my house with impeccable results...
We alwasy washed tons of wollens, GE filter flo works very good like older belt drive whirlpools or Speed Queen does! I would take a video if I could....but as said now washes on one speed only so wouldn't have sense... I'm  still able to wash delicates in normal speed mode meanwhile  waiting for clutch to be fixed,  I pause machine often alternating 20 seconds of agitation every hour,  and then I  let to soak items, even overnight...and then give a final quick agitation, that  works  fine also,..it's no "automatic"  this way,  I gotta use it like a semi-automatic for delicates,  but anyway  better than washing them by hand in the tub or spending millions to dry cleaners while waiting the new clutch thing...
I link a video of a Speed Queen on gentle speed...
I would so like to find one of a Filter-flo or Whirpool on gentle speed cycle  but cannot find them....but I ensure you that with the suggestions I give you you'll never be disappointed.
Good luck Christina!
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ5bdNriAvE

[this post was last edited: 6/25/2013-19:55]

 

[kenmoreguy89]

P:S

regarding agitators.....
I suggest you to don't look for something looking like this:

http://www.partselect.com/PS350868-Whirlpool-3951744-Agitator.htm

Or any of the werid newer (actually it's many years now) configuarations of agitators like these with the swirly thingy supposed to push stuff down and so new machines working with faster speed and shorter strokes, IMO these agitators and fast short strokes machines may be just fine when you have to wash small loads on low water levels, but not large loads, their action is very weak and lazy in this case.

Just look for the "normal" ones that always been since old days including  Typical GE activator, straight vane or Kenmore SV, spiral ones,  Dual action  etc, substantially.... the typical ones ... and so look for machines with  what I call "normal agitation" and not for short fast strokes machines having the kind of agitator I mentioned above, In my opinion simply are no as  good.
Also frigidaires Mickey suggested are very good!
I open a note about Kenmore's to not confuse with others about the  Dual action agitator,  Dual action  do also have the whirly thing supposed to push stuff down...but the dual action agitator is totally another thing than the newers  with this similar device, despite it does have this similar thing also it's a totally different configuarion , it does have a good washing, as you can see the washing action is still made with the "old" normal agitation....

Newer agitator,  Kenmore machine with fast and shorter strokes:


Kenmore Dual action :



Others may agree or disagree with what I wrote about agitators or machines.....that's not to be meant a debate to which rebut...everyone's free to post his opinion, this is mine...

[this post was last edited: 6/25/2013-20:06]

 

[barcoboy]

That Dual Action Kenmore is one of the machines I'd love to get someday. Love the look of the control panel. Just saw one a couple of hours away from me that was similar to this one, except it was an 8 program model instead of 10, along with its matching dryer, listed for free pickup. If circumstances were different right now, I'd have driven out and picked them up. The other Kenmore I'd like to own someday is an older 70s model with a Roto Swirl agitator.

 

[mickeyd]

"Hops and jumps" LOL

Thai's a Frigidaire, indeed, Hippiedoll! The jet-action model had 4 open ports in the column to shoot water out, (hence, jets) and is pretty cool to watch. The older pulsator didn't have the ports, but you could take the lid off the top of the pulsator and have some fun watching it juggle columns of water.

 

[hippiedoll]

more thank you's for input added....

thank you:

kb0nes, barcoboy, kenmoreguy89, & mickeyd,

for chiming in and giving me your suggestions. i really do appreciate all of your inputs, opinions, & suggestions. i just wish it wasn't so hard to decide which way to go??? i wish i had someone with more expertise & experience (than me) that lived closer to me, so that they could help me in my search.

thank you again everybody, i will keep in mind what you have all suggested & will probably come back often to read everything again & see if i find anything from your suggestions, for sale locally.

thank you so much. i really do appreciate all of your inputs & opinions.

with much love,
hippiedoll ;o)
peace...

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Christina.....looks like down there in Tucson there is not much choiche by looking on-line...

If you'd like I came across this ad (it looks a 3 speedFilter-flo, anyway it's a 2 speed for sure). This VTG set is quite pricey but looks well taken..the seller can also deliver and install, I think that's a great occasion considering that VTG machines looks hard to be found in Tucson and they can also serve you an installation so it's proven they work as they can show it in front of you at your home.
If you think you may go for these ask if lint filter pan, softener dispenser  and mini basket is present, for istance I post a video of my GE filter-flo washing with mini-basket (I don't actually never used  it  infact I sold it now).
Good luck !

Washer on sale link:

http://forsale.oodle.com/detail/general-electric-beige-color-gas-dryer-perfect-working-condition/3408459405-tucson-az/?cm_mmc=OODLE_PREVIEW-_-www-_-NA-_-NA

 

 

Video:

 

[barcoboy]

Unfortunately Kenmoreguy89, it looks like the ad you posted is for the dryer only. Nice machines though.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

 

S**T! ....Todd  I think you're damn right! I just don't know how the hell I could not notice it was for dryer only!!! Heck that's written clearly!
Now that I think of it better.....
I cannot even figure out how I came across a dryer advert when I did tipe washer.....also why the hell did  they post a photo of a set if they can't sell it???
BTW Looks like the same people have another ad there with the pic of the  same dryer alone....as you can see description is the same so I'm 99% sure is the same person and so dryer, open link on the bottom.
Anyway, I'm sure a washer for Christina will come along very soon! Good luck!

http://forsale.oodle.com/detail/general-electric-beige-color-gas-dryer-perfect-working-free-delivery/3404191441-tucson-az/?cm_mmc=OODLE_PREVIEW-_-www-_-NA-_-NA