What was YOUR first washing machine?

[aquacycle]

As everyone is always talking about "grannys old twin tub" and "Mums old Hotpoint", I thought it might be cool to start a thread on our first machines. 

 

I moved out of my Mums house in 2007 and into a shared flat with a friend. This Beko was in the flat. It's the basic 1000rpm machine. A great performer, but took hours to do a wash.

 

[ronhic]

My first machine was an Australian made Hoover Electra 550...in 1994

Fantastically reliable machine. A mate has just sent it to washer heaven as it developed a leak....which I think was from the pipe to the detergent drawer. Shame I hadn't known, I'd have had it back in a flash.

 

[cehalstead]

first washer

My first washer was a '69 GE Filter Flo, which I got from my Grandmother's house after she died in 1978. The first washer I bought was a 1980 Maytag. Wish I still had that one...the folks I gave it to in '97 are still using it....

 

[vintagekitchen]

Dont Have a pic of it, but..

It was a Norge twin tub, with an occasional slow leak, that would shock you every time you touched it, and God forbid you put your hands in the water while it was plugged in. I would fill it, put in the clothes and detergent, set the timer, and then plug it in. Then after it was done washing, I would unplug it, transfer the clothes to the spinner, set the timer, and plug it back in. So on and so forth. It was always a shocking experience when I would forget to unplug it before plunging my hands into the water, lol..

I sent it to washer heaven when a family friend heard about it and gave me a Maytag wringer.

Here is a pic of a Frigidaire Twin Tub identical to it, but mine said Norge instead.

 

[e2l-arry]

1st washer $ dryer

I lived in an apartment but wanted the at home washer dryer experience so I bought a portable Whirlpool washer and dryer at Polk Brothers. They were great! Held about 1/2 to 2/3rds of a full size but that just meant a few more loads a week. So even more fun! You rolled the washer up to the kitchen sink and attached it to the faucet, like a portable dishwasher. Then it drained into the sink with the same connection. You could vent the dryer outside or exhaust it into a water contraption that caught the lint. These sure beat trip to the Laundromat. I sold then with my condo when I moved to Colorado. I wished I'd have kept them. My first apartment in Denver had one of those Frigidaire stacked skinny mini's but that's another post. Hint: the Whirlpools worked better!

 

[autowasherfreak]

The first machine that I actually bought was a TOL Whirlpool set in Almond in the mid 80's. The first automatic washer that dad bought was in the early 70's Whirlpool in Harvest Gold, before that mom used a square tub Maytag wringer with a set of double rinse tubs.

 

[arbilab]

I've only OWNED 3 washers. The rest were in rent houses. First was a 1973 Panasonic twin I wish I still had.

 

[nurdlinger]

I bought my own house in 1978 after about six years of apartment living and I was determined to never see the inside of a public laundry facility again. I got a J.C. Penney washing machine which was a G.E. under the skin. It did not have the basket for small loads, but it did have the filter pan. I got it because it had three rinse temps, hot-warm-cold, and around then was the switch to only cold rinsing. I also got a Whirlpool dryer. No idea what the model was, but it was electric and had the hamper door. Got the Whirlpool because we had Whirlpool laundry machines installed in the place I lived while going to college and they never broke down.

Both of these machines lasted more than 26 years. I replaced them because I wanted to see what the fuss about front-loaders was all about.

I gave the old machines to the son of some friends of mine who had moved to a place with hookups and was tired of laundromats as well. In all the years with me the only service required was a pump replacement for the washer and a new idler pulley for the dryer.

 

[docker]

AN early 70's GE 660 FL which I got for free. This was a 6.6 kg washer with console on top at the back. The bearings were shot, so the noise on spin was heard throughout the house. As it only spun at the end of the cycle, I used that as an end of cycle buzzer! The door boot had a hole at the bottom, so I turned it 180 degees to stop the leak.

 

[qualin]

This depends..

The first automatic washer I ever used was my mothers 1964 vintage GE Filter-Flo. I have very fond memories of that machine.

The very first machines I ever purchased outright were a 1981 vintage Inglis Washer Dryer set, which was replaced with a 2004 vintage (Bought new) GE Washer/Dryer Set.

Had I known that the GE set had such poor washing performance in comparison to the Inglis, I probably would have just bought something else.

 

[roscoe62]

Kenmore

Mine was a Kenmore set that had recently started the Extra capacity tub.Five years later the motor died, and so on, and so on.

 

[countryguy]

I got my first washer, a Hoover twin tub, when I lived in an apt. in Toronto back in the early '80s. 

 

Gary

 

[logixx]

See my profile pic. The first one I remember was a Privileg/Zanussi, as can be seen in the video below.

 

[hotpointfan]

My 1st Collection machine

Was a Hoover Newwave Autowasher 1100. I had it of my auntie who was getting integrated appliances in her new kitchen. I had it for a month, it was a great machine - lovely spinwashes!

 

[whirlcool]

Our first machine was a 1975 GE Filter Flo
Second machine was a 1985 Maytag set. It was boring so we got rid of it.
Third and current machine is a 1993 Whirlpool Electronic set. Still churning along.

 

[haxisfan]

My landlady's Bendix!

After leaving home, the first washing machine I laid hands was an oldish Candy front loader (perhaps from early 90'), I can't remember the model's name, but I recall the funny mechanical 550/1100rpm spin it had... you could just switch it off during the slow spin and when you turned it back on it would mistakeably engage the faster gear and rump up to 1100! This was only for a short time while in my 1st rented flat.

I then went to another rented accommodation where I laid hands (literally) on an old 500rpm Bendix (maybe mid 80'). I said literally cos' when I moved into my own home, my ex-landlady decided to get a new washer and gave me her leaking Bendix which I personally fixed by replacing the seal. After a couple of years, I was given a Zanussi Nexus (from 1997) which was already a few years old and my very first brand new washing machine personally chosen and purchased was my current Hoover Nextra in 2004.

When I look back I think it's so strange that in spite of the fact that I've always been really passionate about appliances, and especially about front load washers, I didn't get my onw washing machine for 8 years :-O

 

[foraloysius]

Philips AWB119PH, an H-axis toploader.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Mine was

Also a Phillips Whirlpool 1100rpm spin, it was this machine but with a dark grey trim - variable time temp & spin speed ... pic courtesy of MatchboxPaul

 

[westie2]

Our first was a 1956 Maytag AMP without the water level was a
BOL for that year. Bought tit used for $30.00 in 1967. In 1972 bought a new Kenmore twin tub to go along with the washer as we still had no dryer. Then second set was a used RCA/Whirlpool from early 60's.