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Hey Randy,

Thanks for the info. I now know for sure ours was a '55. My parents were always careful with their money, so I imagine Dad got a good bargain on the previous model. I'm sure all my Mom cared about was that it washed well, and that she didn't have to do my diapers in a wringer machine any longer.
 
Here I sit at work reading this and tears are dripping down my face because these are my absolute favorites!! Our neighborhood had been building these in to the new homes and the newer homes got these DeLuxe models. The first,older model homes got the earlier Laundromat twins with the red bakeolite? dials.Most of them lasted until the newer 18 pound top loaders came out but,I do remember a few leaving their homes early and being sold second hand mostly to used appliance stores.Mrs.Kasey had one she sold for $20 and replaced it with a Frigidaire (WCI-58) in charcoal gray.The buyer said the timer on the Laundromat was stuck.I eventually got the gray Frigidaire years,decades ago and had it running (the capacitor had to be replaced) for years.
 
Are they really this quiet when running,

or was the microphone on Robert's camcorder having a coffee break? (No offense intended, Robert!) Thank you for the interesting video!

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Are they really this quiet when running?

Yes the Laundromat is a very quiet machine during wash and rinse. Spinning is a bit louder and the fill flume isn't the quietest either, but the speed change unit is very quiet during tumble.
 
Yes, even my basket case 1950-ish Laundromat was really quiet.

I have always loved these machines. If I had found a matching dryer for my washer I may have hung onto it, but it was much more of a restoration project than I knew I'd ever have time for.

The pair that got away was at an estate sale back in the mid 80's. It was a 1952 time capsule of a house, all original and everything spotless, but washer, dryer, and GE Combination fridge were all sold by the time I got there.
 
One thing on the quite running.........

I don't have my dream Laundromat (yet!) but the White-Westinghouse SpaceMates front loader that I do have is one of the quitest running machines I have ever had. Like Robert said - fill flume is somewhat noisy and the spin cycles are a little noisy and more so if the load is not balanced well in the basket when it starts but when in the wash or rinse modes you can hardly tell it's running. One other thing on the White-Westy - when that thing is leveled and on a concrete floor it won't move or walk even with a fairly out of balance load on spins..... sure it will knock around but the thing won't walk. I remember that about my grandmother's '56 Laundromat - it was quite for the most part but the spins could really knock around on occasion but it didn't walk.

Robert - on the roped towels..... now that's memories like Bob said. I can remember many times seeing my grandmother untangling bed sheets, throw rugs and towels. She had a weekly routine and the rugs usually came mid to late week and boy were those a beast to deal with. Interesting on the routine - usually she did work clothes, undies etc on Monday mornings, throw rugs and such on Wednesdays and the bed linens usually happed on Fridays and washing in the evenings/nights were a no-no. She line dried all the clothes on her covered back porch except during real cold winter weather or real damp rainy days - that's when the dryer got some use otherwise it sat unused, for the most part, from late winter through late fall. Nice memories!
 
Had to jump in here with a link to a video of my 'rebuilt from the ground up' 1950 Westy L5!
My early New Year's resolution is to make more of an effort to get the dead timer on my 1953 Canadian Westy washer fixed or replaced....

 
Greg is going to have to show me his in use. I absolutely love these little westys! Gorgeous machines. Probably my favorite early washer next to the Bendix combo of the same era.

Love the pictures and the videos!

At first I always thought these machines were huge beasts, but they are actually quite small! Would be easy to install in a hard-to-get-to space.
 
The Best Laid Plans

Yeah, I got my Laundromat as yet another checklist item for the ultimate getaway cabin that I figured I'd have someday. Already knew I'd eventually get my mom's '49 Westy range, the '49 Westy fridge was already relegated to the garage as a spare, so all I needed was a dryer and my vintage Westinghouse kitchen would be outfitted.

Well, I was barely able to afford a first home let alone a second one. The writing was on the wall, and none of those appliances are with me today. The fridge failed in a heat wave after 50+ years in continuous operation, bless it's stoic heart, the Laundromat went at the estate sale after sitting dormant for 25 years, and Greg in Sparta got the stove, which was never out of service and continues to happily crank out meals.

Maybe I can revive my plan and change the venue to my basement, at least where the laundry pair is concerned, if I win the Lotto.
 
Great videos!

Robert, I'm glad to see my machine isn't the only one to torque that rubber washer boot out of shape when there's a load of towels in the machine. It always makes me cringe to see it do that.

Since the dryer spins in the opposite direction, it'll usually untangle the clothes by the time they're dry.

Kinda cracks me up to see other's machines in use because we use ours almost daily.....so I take all of it's unique noises and movements for granted sometimes.
 
Love looking at the video.

Robert I did have two questions. When you see the machine running, it appears to be filled with water. However, when you opened the door, no water came out. It was as if the tub was tilted backwards.
And how did the mfg finally get around the problem with twisting of towels, etc. I have a Sears front load and still have this problems with sheets. Thanks,
John
 
see patent

Some westinghouse machines had a horizontal drum but the front was slanted

Tumbling apparatus

Complete Patent Searching Database and Patent Data Analytics Services.
www.freepatentsonline.com www.freepatentsonline.com
 
here is the 3 belt westinghouse patent granted in 1957

here is the 3 belt westinghouse patent with the by Osterhus that was filed in 1954 and granted in 1957.

This is the mechanism used on the Spacemates in 1955? and later until about 1988 with a mess of 3 belt models. 1/3 century worth of production with the same design is not bad. The tub/wash pulley became oval/potato somewhere in the design too.

 
When I was kid, one of the laundromats I hung out at was managed by a really nice guy, Gene. He had 20 slant fronts as well as two big front load commercial washers, two dryers, and a Bock extractor. With the slant fronts, he put the clothes in, threw a scoop of powder detergent on the clothes, closed the door, and started the machine.

Ross
 
POTATO PULLEY

Came out in 1959 on the full size slant machines. The three belt design did come out on the 25" compact models in 1955 and was then used on the full sized machines in 1957-8. All WH FLers went the the same basic design in 1964 when they went to the 27" cabinet.
 
I thought three belt systems...

... came out in 1953-54- it was used on the cheaper machines, like the LS-7- which I would love to find! I think that system was used interchangeably in a few other production runs- like the L104, the L102, LS8 & the L100- those used either the tranny, or three belts-But I forgot the pulley was used that early- neat!
 

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