What happened to the suds return?

[frigilux]

Pierreandreply4--That's definitely a nice-looking Whirlpool set, but I only purchase appliances through local dealers. I don't have the tools or skills to maintain vintage appliances. For now, I use the Speed Queen's Normal Eco cycle whenever possible. That saves quite a bit of water.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Usually you can only order the machine in White, though my old long-departed Sears catalog from 1982, had the TOL Electronic-model available w/ it in White and Almond!

-- Dave

 

[circlew]

A lot of you "big city" people are missing the point of a suds-saver washer. When I was younger I knew a lot of people with them, and only one of them had city water. All the rest lived in homes with either a well, cistern or both. Especially during hot, dry weather they were afraid of running low on water. If on a well, they would have to wait until the water table got higher (or have a deeper well drilled), and if they had a cistern they would have to buy a truckload of water. At that time not many people out in the country had piped in water, as many do now.

 

[yogitunes]

Tom is correct.....

and a lot of country homes had septic systems, not designed for an automatic machine.....

many septic tanks were not designed to handle all the extra water from an automatic....one or two loads, may not be an issue, but try adding 4 or more loads, and that's a lot of water and chemical being disposed in there....

even today, most septic service guys will ask if you have your washing machine draining somewhere else.....

and fewer homes have a separate gray water setup for items like a washing machine, dishwasher, sinks and showers.....

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

'Course you have to have a tub or a vessel (my friend actually DIDN'T---just a stand pipe for draining, located behind the machine, which I was fascinated with) to hold the "saved" suds...

-- Dave

 

[wayupnorth]

I have the very last Sears Annual catalog from 1992-1993 and very retro now to look thru it. Cost $5 but if you ordered something you got your cash back. But there were NO washers with a suds-saver option offered. But you still could buy the nice sink, standpipe combo for $129.99 in either white or almond. Many country homes had a so called "french drain", to just take all the gray water that wont hurt anything away outside and keep just toilet stuff going in the septic to do what it has to do.

 

[rapunzel]

It is quite conceivable that eventually a suds re-use facility will be incorporated in front loading washers. Since they require a relatively small reservoir per fill. Dishwashers already store some rinse water to be re-used for the next load.

My Westinghouse Laundromat was a suds saver. It had two rubber hoses. One sat in the actual laundry tub, the other fit in the drain bypass at the back of the tub. The hose in the laundry tub would drain the suds into the tub and then siphon them back into the machine for the next load. The other hose allowed the rinse water to go directly down the drain. It was quite ingenious and using that facility required virtually no effort. I would absolutely consider suds saving if it was made an option again. However, as was mentioned above, most modern laundries don't have full-size laundry tubs anymore. Laundries have become quite dysfunctional; just like most modern home economists. They appear to be for show rather than real laundry work.

 

[passatdoc]

The house in which I grew up was built in 1935. No standpipe drain in the wall, since automatic machines did not yet exist. Huge porcelain laundry sink to the right of where our machines sat, and the washer exhaust hose was clamped to the side of the sink. My guess is that the sink facilitated the drainage of water from the original homeowner's wringer washer in 1935.

Every home that either my parents or I have occupied since then has been new-build (early 70s or later), always with a drain standpipe in the wall, and in my case there is no room to add a laundry sink, since my machines are hemmed in by the water heater on one side and the furnace/AC condenser on the other side (probably cut down on gas pipe costs by clustering most of the gas-using appliances in one place; gas range in kitchen shares a common wall with the aforementioned appliances).

So even if they'd owned a suds saver machine, when they downsized in 1972 to a brand new home, there would have been no way for them to use the feature. They had a 1958 GE (purchased new) without suds saver, then bought new WP for the 1972 house.

 

[launderess]

Those huge cast iron, porcelain, concrete, soap stone and whatever "utility" sinks (or tubs if you will) in laundry rooms/areas were a necessity back in the day. But yes, by the 1970's or so in various parts of the USA they started to be phased out of new construction. Floor drains as well also began to vanish but IIRC that happened sooner.

If it is draining you want, a standpipe will do. As laundry moved away from wringers/semi-automatics the need for tubs or sinks decreased if not totally vanished. Because American housewives largely went with top loading washers, you can soak in those machines as well, thus a sink for that purpose isn't really needed. However those wanting to soak or whatever could still buy separate tubs or "laundry sinks" if they wished.

The other thing is shifting washing machines/laundry out of basements or utility rooms into kitchens, bathrooms or whatever.

Many older homes one recall from back in the day where the washer was in the kitchen had huge porcelain sinks with a lid. Sometimes those lids had draining board lines, but they also had holes cut out at one corner; this was for the drain hose from washing machine.

Of course washing machines themselves helped replace the main reason for many of those old sinks; doing laundry by hand. One could have sinks made of various materials with "wash boards" carved/built into one side.

 

[yogitunes]

I consider a utility sink one of those things like a dishwasher/disposer/compactor, once you have one, you can't go without it....

I got to experience one at a BBQ, in helping clean up, this double tub was a godsend in scrubbing pots, pans, trays, etc.....

I knew from then on I was going to get one for myself.....as luck would have it, my first home I bought had one, that was an added bonus in my book...

I also put one in the garage....

JohnL has a double plastic one at the warehouse, in which they cut out the center partition, what a brilliant idea, a full open tub, that would come in handy for washing the dog, without stooping down over a regular tub....

 

[danelto]

Suds Saver Objection

I grew up with a Suds saver washer and I get a little irritated when people describe this method of cleaning clothes as reusing "filthy" wash water.

Dear God, we were the cleanest people you'd ever want to meet.

Living in a rural area, we lived on well water and were always conscious of water usage, as well as septic draining issues.

You could eat off our floors. And if you got a meal in our house, you were damned lucky: it was good.

Our whites were made whiter with bluing; they were starched, line-dried, and ironed.

Our colors were just as vibrant; and our blue jeans (at the end of the week) were just as dirty as anybody else's.

In my opinion, if you want to talk about filthy wash water, take a look at these water-saving front loaders that, after a few loads using a gallon or two of wash water, develop wash drums that begin to smell like egg salad flatulence.

Somebody on this site sold me a Kenmore suds saver washer years ago.

Picked it up in the Lancaster, PA area.

It still works well. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Dan

 

[thomasortega]

"develop wash drums that begin to smell like egg salad flatulence."

You took this straight from a Whirlpool's engineer "to-do" list, right?

 

[john116]

Doesn't the original load by the end of the wash cycle end up being in 'dirty' water. Not sure how using that water for a second load is any different to the first load being in 'dirty' water. Besides, the dirt is in suspension with the soap. And will do that for more dirt from the next load(s). Any of the suspended soap/dirt combo will get rinsed away in the rinse cycle.

 

[launderess]

Power of laundry detergent (or soap for that matter) to keep soils in suspension and away from textiles is not infinite.

Years ago when doing wash by hand or in semi-automatic washers whites and badly soiled things were pre-soaked or washed. They then went into main wash somewhat clean which kept that water cleaner as well. Idea then was one washed least dirty things first (table and bed linen, things lightly worn, etc...) first, then moving onto grossly soiled things last.

Many semi-automatic washers had various systems they touted as keeping wash water cleaner longer. Maytag wringer washers had a sediment trap under agitator which supposedly trapped dirt keeping wash water cleaner longer.

For suds-saving washers one part of theory worked that while water was sitting in tub waiting to be reused sediment, muck and soils would settle towards bottom. When sucked back into machine most systems (IIRC) stopped short of taking all water back into machine. Leaving bottom most muck laden water in suds saving tub. Not all housewives were swayed by that argument and thus the hate over "reusing" wash water.

When you read laundry detergent packets from days of semi-automatics and suds savers they all advised adding more product for each reuse of water. Am guessing many housewives or others doing wash figured "sod this". I mean if I have to add more detergent for each load what exactly am I saving? This assumes such persons had access to unlimited supply of water and weren't bothered by costs of heating it for hot or warm washes.

By post-war rise of overall affluence in American households saw vast swaths of housewives linking semi-automatic or any washing machine that reused water associated with poverty or hard times.

Consider also post WWII germs replaced Germans as the enemy. Housewives were charged in protecting all they held near and dear by keeping their homes sanitary and germ free (as if that was possible). Reusing wash water just seemed contrary to those purposes I assume.

 

[tomturbomatic]

My mother and my grandmothers and other relatives always added the half measure of detergent to subsequent loads whether in the wringer or suds saver washers. I still remember the delightful fragrance of Blue Cheer in my aunt's wash water that could last for a two or three hour wash day which was a race against time and falling water temperatures, another reason for boosting the detergent charge in the wash water.

I also remember my mother putting newspapers on the basement floor and sorting loads to be washed when we had the suds saver washer because it took discipline to move those loads through the process, especially in the summer when we would pull in from a trip on Friday, wash everything on Saturday, when it could be so hot that one load hung out was almost dry by the time the next one was ready for the lines. Daddy's dress shirts were taken to the cleaners and last week's shirts were picked up to be packed for our next trip. After the suds saver was gone, sometimes we would get a head start by washing a load on Friday night to hang it out extra early on Saturday and everything had to be done on Saturday because only the drug stores were open on Sundays and lawns were not mowed on Sundays, although the quieter forms of yard work could be done then.

Does anyone remember those boys' pants called sand pipers or clam diggers that came about 3/4 of the way down the leg and had a contrasting stripe on the outside of the leg? Ours were white with a black stripe that split into an upside down Y at the bottom of the leg and were 100% cotton. Those were washed and ironed before the next trip. My brother and I lived in swim suits and shorts during the day and changed into those before going to dinner. As soon as we got back to the motel room or apartment, we took them off and put them on hangers for the next wearing. We were very careful with our use of cloth napkins to keep them clean.

 

[bpetersxx]

actually I use ss water for floor rugs

not need to be sanitary too much

and get to have fun with the SS

 

[launderess]

Commercial/institutional laundries long have used various methods not just of water recovery but harvesting heat from same as well. Such systems are now trickling down to OPL and laundromats as well.

Of course many consumers aren't aware their laundry is done with water that may have been used twice or even thrice, but never the less...

Ick factor aside sooner or later one believes someone will bring back some sort of "suds saving" or water recovery system for domestic washing machines.



Tunnel washers are able to achieve remarkable low water to pound of laundry ratios in large part because they use various systems to recover and recycle water.

Of course drain water heat recovery systems for homes and other buildings have been around forever in one form or another.



Suppose such things for domestic use would come down to how many loads of wash one does per day.