Why do we like washers so much?

[nickuk]

Dear friends,

So what's the psychology behind all this?

I am having one of those `soul searching' moments in my life, and I find myself wondering what it was that lead me to liking washers. Yeah, I like other appliances too - but automatic washing machines are my `thing'.

Background.. I was born in West Sussex, UK, in 1975 where I lived with my parents until 1995. I then moved into a flat, and from there quickly onto London with my first long term girlfriend.

Enough of the background and cut to the point.....

I wonder....could my fascination with washers be a result of something that happened in my childhood? If so, I don't remember what and my parents have never really spoken to me about it. They just say it's what I loved since I was two and they never knew why. I have liked washers since I could walk.

My parents were never all that supportive of my `hobby' and would mock me, during adolescence my mother often enquired as to whether I was `gay'...... and when I was at friends houses with my parents they told them of my hobby in a humorous way and they all ended up laughing at me. At home, whenever the washer was on, I wanted to stay with it and watch the cycle from start to finish but my parents either prevented me, or were so critical of it that I would just skulk back up to my room, sad. Our washing machine was in an outhouse attached to the rear of the hallway in our house. I used to leave the connecting door open as I studied / used the washer, and my father would always shout `shut that bloody door it's cold and I can't stand the noise...' I didn't really care about sitting in the cold but moreover I didn't much care for his attitude.

As a child of maybe 8 or 9, some friends of ours were chucking out an AEG Lavamat from the early seventies (bearing failure) and offered it to us (to me) to have in the garden to play with. I got what I wanted in the end, but it is fondly remembered as the first time I had a tantrum because my father didn't initially want it at the back of our large garden.

Just this weekend my parents visited and I had left the old machine I had just restored in the kitchen. My mother displayed a total lack of undestanding as to why I would want an `old' washer when the one I have works perfectly well...she even tried to make derisory `he's barking mad' eye contact with my wife who was having none of it.....

During a car journey this weekend my wife was asking me why I have this unusual interest and it just got me thinking. In short, she was suggesting that it maybe due to a lack of parental understanding and perhaps too much parental criticism which led me to bond with a form of machinery as opposed to human beings, perhaps because it was something in the house I could master, understand and be the `king' of - ie no matter what they said to me, I always knew that I would know more than them about washers.

Even now at age 31 I feel like a little bit of a freak for wanting to order old washers off ebay, and like I have something to aplogise for / be ashamed of. I almost feel like a child all over again, and I have to tell myself `I am an adult with my own wife, kid, home, job, mortgage, car (roughly in that order)...and I can do what the hell I like so long as I'm not hurting or being cruel to anyone'!

Excuse the long monologue, I just wondered if anyone else has been where I am right now, soul searching. I would also like to ask what other interests people on this site have, maybe there are other common links between us. I noticed an automotive thread recently put up in this `super' section, well, that's another of my `interests'. I also like putting compilation CDs together whereby I `mix' the songs together using a DJ package on the computer. I'm interested in TV and radio broadcast systems / antennas, regional networks etc. I am a very house proud and garden proud person and I like nothing more than waking early in the morning, looking after my son, house and garden...putting some washes on and getting them hanging out in the breeze early on. I am a shopoholic and I love buying stuff - I'm not great with money....

I love most music - mainly 70s - 90s power ballad type stuff. I'm not a very keen TV watcher, I don't much care for sitting around, but I like old movies, same period as the music. Fave music? Chicago / Peter Cetera. Fave movie? There are so many...Jack and Sarah....Dirty Dancing....Pretty in Pink...The Breakfast Club.....St Elmo's Fire.....Tootsie....Ghost.....Pretty Woman.....Top Gun....you get the idea.

My career is Secondary (High) School Teacher. At work I am deputy head of a year group,and well liked by students who come to me with their issues and want to be in my class. My lessons are extremely organised and I always support those students having difficulties. I am never sarcastic to pupils and always treat them with respect no matter how `difficult' they are. On the other hand, I am not massively popular with colleagues. What I mean is, I am not very social with them. I don't often just go and sit with them, I'd rather be busy somehow, or possibly helping a student...I guess it can make me look a little `aloof' to them. I get on with people fine but I don't have masses of close friends, I think perhaps I have issues with getting really close to people. I was the same as a child - I never had tons of friends and I wasn't ever friends with the `popular' kids, I usually just had one or two special friends, several of who I keep up with.

I'm just trying to paint a big picture of `me'.

Anyway, enough already.

As Paul Simon said on his fantastic `Hearts and Bones' album, `Maybe I think too much'.

Kind regards,

NickUK

 

[brettsomers]

nick, you will find that the vacuum cleaner fanatics face many of the same hurdles you have faced. my mother was ALWAYS unsupportive of my vacuum activities. i dont know what she would say if i told her i traveled almost 1000 miles to look at vacuum cleaners. i bought my first vacuum cleaners with my allowance at around age 7. the way i see it, if a man can be obsessed with guns/automobiles/sports, why not washers/vacuums/blenders? sex roles and identity play a big role, of course, in the *taboo* factor. there was a thread few weeks back on *aspergers syndrome* that you may also find helpfull. i hope your post wasnt a sign of some kind of grief, there are enough things to be sorry for in life without worrying about *why i like appliances*. David

 

[westtexman]

Excellent Post, Nick . . .

Though I should be going to bed now, I couldn't help but respond to your post while it was fresh on my mind. I must say that I feel the exact same way you do about my fascination with washers and the response I've had from friends and family.

I have loved washers from the time I was very young (approximately 2 years old). I have very vivid memories of the machines and detergents we used when I was growing up. My mom even has pictures of me when I was about 2 1/2 years old, playing on a blanket on the living room floor surrounded by old detergent boxes and fabric softener bottles. I have always been very keen on the machines and products used by friends and family, and to this day I still like to peek into the laundry rooms of friends and family when I go to visit.

Though my parents were never "cruel" about it, they were not supportive of my "hobby" and at times would make derogatory comments, making me feel like a "freak". Therefore, like you, I feel kind of strange about my interest and do not like to discuss it with my family or friends. To be honest I'm almost "ashamed" of my interest, and feel a bit guilty when I participate in club-related activities.

My family lives in the same town I do, and for the most part we are pretty close. Even so, I don't tell them where I am going when I attend club-related activities. In fact, since joining this club, I have attended 2 wash-ins that were quite far from home (one was 520 miles away and the other was 750 miles from home), and when I left town I attributed those trips to "business" as to not face the embarrassment of talking about my hobby. I know that sounds bad, but it is much easier not to go into it all and have to try to explain my interest in washing machines. My girlfriend is pretty accepting, however. In fact, she recently surprised me by bringing me a bag of German Persil she bought while she was on an extended vacation with her family in Europe this summer.

I am now 29 years old, own my own home, have a successful business and have accomplished quite a bit in a short period of time. I pretty much do what I want, yet I still feel a bit weird when I go shopping on EBay for old machines.

Anyway, I don't necessarily think that there was one "event" that sparked my interest in machines. In fact, I believe it was partly my interest in this "hobby" that caused me to be somewhat introverted as a kid. In our society, having an interest in washing machines does not fit the male gender role, and so therefore it might be a bit "taboo" for a guy to like washers. For me, I believe that is where the embarrassment comes in.

As far as other interests are concerned, I do have a few. I am also fascinated with cars, and love to drive them. If I wasn't playing with washers as a kid, then I was playing with my Hot Wheels. Our kitchen floor was grooved into little squares, which to me resembled the grid of a city. I would run my Hot Wheels across the floors for hours. My best friend in second grade and I tried to build a car once. It worked out pretty well, other than the fact that we could not quite come up with a working system of steering the vehicle. LOL. I used to work on our family cars with my Dad every weekend, until he had to start working out of town and was gone almost every weekend for most of my adolescent years.

Through the course of my business and other activities, I have become a pretty extroverted person, but I have somewhat of a difficult time getting very close to many people. I suppose I am the type of person who would rather have a very deep friendship with a few special people as opposed to having a large group of friends with whom I could not experience a very deep and personal friendship.

Career wise, I own a healthcare consulting firm that I started about 3 years ago when I lost my job due to downsizing at a large hospital system here in town. I am very detail-oriented (quite anal to be honest), and I love to take things from a disorganized state and make them run more efficiently. As a Type-A personality, I have been known to be a bit of a control-freak at times, which has really helped me to be successful in my business. Essentially, I take disorganized and struggling healthcare businesses that are losing money on a monthly basis, and I reorganize them into profitable businesses. I am also fascinated with the business and accounting processes of these types of organizations, but I tend not to be so organized when it comes to my own personal finances. LOL. Though I really love my job, I am currently considering a career-change (more like a complete life-change), which will take me to Germany for a few years.

I love different languages and I love to study different cultures. Growing up I was enamored with television commercials, and actually obtained my degree in Marketing. In college, I had a strong desire to work for an advertising firm specifically targeting the Latin American community in the US and Mexico, but was not accepted for the job as I am not a native Spanish speaker. Right now I really want to go to Europe and eventually Australia.

As far as music and movies are concerned, I am a HUGE fan of the 80's. Some of my favorite movies are Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Nine to Five and a few others. Outside of 80's music, I am also a fan of country music and some classical.

I guess in the end, I am realizing that we are all very different and individual people with different desires, interests and life goals. Though some of our interests seem strange to others, our individuality is what makes us - well - individuals. One thing I will say is that it is very refreshing to have this group of people who not only understand my interest in washers, but who share the same interest as well. If nothing else, I can come online when I want to and discuss these things with others without embarrassment or fear of rejection.

Bryan

P.S. Nick, I'm very glad you posted this. While watching the videos of your machines the other day on You Tube, I heard your wife and son in the background a I remember wondering how supportive your wife must be to allow you to spend the time to pursue you hobby. She must be an amazing woman!

 

[whirlcool]

I have always been interested in how things work. It wasn't just washing machines and dryers for me. Anything that was mechanical attracted me like a lightning rod. I am interested in how the design and engineering is done to come up with the final product. Even the way the control panel was designed was of interest to me.
I remember when I was a teen and my mother was running a load of clothes in the Frigidair Jet Action washer, I had the lid open and would put my chin on the top of the machine and just watch the pulsator moving the water and the clothes going around and after the first spin when the rinse water started pouring in you got this smell that was a mixture of newness and fresh water and fresh clothing.
My parents didn's say anything as I was into cars at the time too. Other relatives had sons near my age that were "technically inclined" as my mother put it. So they thought nothing of it.

 

[DADoES]

My parents were actually mostly supportive of my washer fascination. My mother claims it started when my (paternal) grandmother was babysitting one day and held me to have a look at their washer (a late 1950s Whirlpool Imperial) while it was running. I don't know for sure if she is trying to "place the blame" there, or just relating an amusing bit of family history, LOL! I imagine they were a bit embarrassed of course at the peeping-at-everybody's-washer thing, but seemed to take it all in stride. Mom often referred to it as a case of "switchitis" -- fascination with things mechanical. She told that to my 7th grade shop-class teacher once during a school open-house. It embarrassed me, but I don't think she felt that way, being as she also mentioned to him the time I took apart a crank telephone when I was 6 years old or whatever was the age.

Anyway, throughout childhood I was given several old machines or parts thereof. I remember visiting the local trash dump with my dad, finding a Norge top/console and carrying it home. My mom and grandmother surprised me with a Kenmore compact wringer they found at a service station in a little town up the road. The mechanism was totally cratered but it held water. Dad fetched an old agitator (red straight vane) from the Whirlpool dealer so I could "wash" rags in it. An elderly neighbor (her daughters used to babysit us), gave her Maytag wringer to me when she bought a Whirpool automatic pair. It still worked, so that was a blast. Then there was granny's infamous Kelvinator, and I kept the 1962 Whirlpool for a while when the 1976 replacement arrived.

All the aunts & uncles and most of the "regular" family friends knew about it. When visting an aunt & uncle within the last 5 years or so, for one of their son's high school graduation, I was telling them about my F&P. My uncle called out "Rita (this is the aunt who had the Speed Queen), Glenn's still crazy about washing machines." So there's that.

A couple of the neighborhood kids/playfriends "tolerated" the insanity. Most didn't. No need to go there any further than that.

I'd sometimes ride my bicycle to visit (play with the machines on display) at the Whirlpool dealer. Then I worked there for a few years during high school. That would have been an interesting career path to follow! But there was some, uhhhh, friction, in the business between the owner & his son (and the son had other recurring personal issues). They parted ways for a while, things changed, which put me out of the picture.

At about age 20 the interest went "on the back burner" for a number of years. A bit dormant. I lost track of the changes in Whirlpool's and Kenmore's line-up. A highlight was when granny got the Design 2000. I bought my 1st house in 1991, and got the KA pair, then the Superba dishwasher. Then the F&P in 1999. Then I found the group on Yahoo. And it exploded again from there.

As for a specific answer to Nick's question of what/why is the interest and psychological angle ... who knows?? Washers pull together mechanics and automation, swirling/surging water action, interesting noises and sounds, and maybe some flashing lights, LOL! Geeeze, why *wouldn't* anybody be interested in that??!

 

[aquarius1984]

food for thought

Great thread Nick
been thinking along the same lines for a while now.
i know its your thread but if i may share some of my thoughts i would be grateful, i dont want to steal your thread in any way.

my childhood life was exactly the same as yours as far as the washers are concerned and parents and other people attitudes are displayed in a way that made me feel freakish but the top and bottom of it is WE ARE NOT FREAKS.

take the metal and the plastic off your washing machine and reform them into car parts. now give the parts to MR Mechanic im all man. watch him drool all over his macho car looking well sexy and tell him they used to be your washing machine! see where i am going? these are pieces of engineering that designers have made and all of them men i guess in the early days.

as i said this is not my thread but i also want to just say sorry if i have antagonised or pigged anybody off with some of the quite aggressive replies i have made on posts, without making excuses ive been going through a tough time at home with my folks (i have moved back home in march when my ex and i split up) and you can never go back home when you leave. its so hard.
and my ex fiancee who i was due to be married to on 12/08/06 has been pestering me about silly things to do with the house we bought together.

the relevence to this info is that my ex has cost me 90% of my friends who have taken her side and descovering this website just really got the excitement going. i find it overwhelming that there are guys like me in the uk who i can talk about this odd fascination. possibly great friendships where you dont have to talk about things you dont know about to other guys.

also a BIG UP to Lavamat Jon who has given me some great guidance in one of the most difficult times in my life. Cheers mate.

well anyway ive vented myself for now

Nick

 

[sudsman]

You are not alone We are not sick...

I too have always been quite amused with old vacs and washers. Over the years I was laughed at called so many names (I cant put here) even was taken to a doctor, I have had many older vacs and washers over the years and still love them. My brother loves old golf clubs.. and that was always ok.. but me ? no, no, My Grandparents always took up for me and ma said I was going to be a hell of a Maytag man.... Well it did not quite work that way ... I am a Certified Hospital Laundry Manager , and love my job and work. I contribute to the healing and well being of many, and have fun doing it, I dont make a lot of money but I learned many years ago Money is not every thing... If people can collect old stamps and pay thousands for 1 what is wrong saving our past.... If this is wrong then I don't want to be right, Sudsman

 

[brettsomers]

sudsman

its funny you mention seeing a "doctor". my mother always criticised when i did laundry. i started doing my own wash at about age 7, in our small-tub, two speed avocado-green Maytag. you reminded me JUST NOW of a time she approached me while i was doing my laundry. she had a very serious tone, and said that maybe i would want to see a therapist, or have an evaluation. i felt very hurt. if i only knew THEN what i know now.

 

[sudsman]

I got my butt spanked and grounded for 2 weeks

I got my butt spanked and grounded for 2 week when I told our neighbors off, She was bragging at the garden club meeting that she had just bought a new Catalina washer . I told her if she had bought a slant front Westinghouse she would have something to brag about,,,They all were not well for me..never liked Ms Bitch anyway Sudsman

 

[chestermikeuk]

Psychology!!!

Good question Nick....How did it all start, Hhmmm..

For me it was reading the Grattan, Trafford & Brian Mills catalogues that my grans used to have, seeing all those appliances!!!, the chance of visiting aunties & friends mums houses, offering to hang the coats up under the stairs because the Hoover was their, the big thrill at six when my uncle proudly sat me down at his table with everyone around and gave me a dead Morphy Richards Senior iron that was broken, (no plug on) with small screwdriver and said "See how it works" for myself...

My Dad taking us to the big department stores in Liverpool on the train and looking at the electrical displays in the windows...My Gran paying us a penny a sheet to catch the sheets coming out of the wringer of her big Hotpoint Empress, My Grandad passing me the new Hoover dirtsearcher 1354a asking me to clean the house before my nan came home from hospital...

Me leaving school after flunking all my exams from the top sets, should have gone to uni but hated school sooooo much after having a form teacher (who was a friend of the family, constantly telling me I`d never be as good as my dad , uncles & cousins playing cricket, rugby, athletics for the town & county!!!)so that was me at school "Billy no Mates" sneaking off with my addidas bag where I would beg borrow or steal money to buy boxes of cakes n stuff myself silly in the park, ending up 16 stones and miserable.....

I left school with a steely resolve, dropped the weight and started to work at "Trident Electrical" the biggest Independant electrical retailer, I started as warehouse/delivery boy then when having to cover the shop floor over dinnertime etc, ended up selling more machines than the sales staff... quickly rose to senior sales and manager, loved it, this was the best time to sell electricals...companies with big training budgets, fantastic dealer parties / training sessions, Hoover Electrons, Sensotronics, Lux 345`s, Servis Quartz, Philips 098`s, Siemens combis, AEG Lavamats n Miele`s ...In store demonstrators with American Tan, Max Factored to the hilt wearing Killer Heels, all using every trick in the book to sell sell sell, whisked off to Berlin with Siemens for fantastic product training and red light nights...

I said nothing about my passion for collecting etc until 5yrs ago when I went to a house sale looking for a log burner and coming away empty handed (burner sold)upon leaving near the door I saw a mega shiny Kirby Tradition vac, boxes n boxes of parts, shiny chrome along with instruction etc, so bought it and got onto the web searching for parts, came across the Yahoo club as was and started conversing with the guys...the 2001 convention was being planned, Robert mentioned why didnt I come over...I thought why not...so I checked out flights etc...I had said nothing to my partner about my new found old hobby and casually said one day "are you here to look after the dogs on this date...yes why...O`hh I`m going to Minneapolis for a convention....WHAT..."after explaining what the club was all about and how I`d found it (he was so amazed there was still stuff he didnt know after 16yrs...LOL)..." are you crazy, how can you be sure you know these people..Its a cult, its just a ruse to get you out there, drive you into the desert and tie you to a tree, you`ll never be seen again...He was really worried...

The rest is history, I flew in for the convention at Roberts, had a fantastic time, came back with a Lux XXX and a SweeperVac, and suddenly started collecting, having made a whole load of new friends etc...and more all the time!!!

I had a family do at the house recently, I couldnt get them out of the garage using the machines and vacs, and they where commenting on how I used to love the washers n vacs as a kid...BUT, the nieces n nephews n cousins where more amazed finding out what their mums had and the stories etc...

So. How did It All Start...Its in the Genes and the Stars I say!!!

Mike

 

[tolivac]

When I showed interest in washers vacuums and other machines people at work would rib me about it.Then they would ask-"What vacuum should I get"?"Is that brand of washer any good"?"Say my fridge isn't cooling--any ideas as to why"?"My airconditioner doesn't work--can you help"?When you give folks answers than they don't think your hobby is funny or silly.Whats also interesting is my workmates are techincaly inclined as I-but they just don't have the interest in appliances.

 

[hoover3060]

My fascination started like so many when I was a young child.I cant remember much before I was 7 but I do remember my mums old Hotpoint twin tub and have a picture of her standing over it washing away.In 1981 when I was 7 my mum took delivery of her first automatic machine which was a Bendix Autowasher De Luxe.It has a big square door which I loved.I remember rushing home from school as I knew it would be arriving that day.I still have the picture when I walked into the house.There was my mum unloading her first wash load......Knickers!!!!

From then on I would always watch my mum load the machine and put it on then I would sit in front of it through the whole programme until it was finished.My parents thought it was a bit strange but it kept me quiet for an hour so they were happy! I dont remember actually doing any loads myself but I do remember turning the wash programme dial etc so I guess I must have done. Unfortunately the fanatstic machine only lasted 4 years due to my misuse.I didnt think I was doing any harm but I would switch the spin switch from 800 back to 400 when it was on 800 spin.I would then switch it back to 800 because I wanted to watch it speed up again.This action caused the arms on the spinder pulley at the back to slowly brake one by one and in 1985 when my dad finally had a look at it there was only one arm remaining intact! My parents decided to change the machine rather than get it fixed (Have no idea why as it wouldnt have been a problem to get the pulley replaced).

Then my mum got another Hotpoint twin tub.By this time I was old enough to wash by myself and I dont think my mum ever washed a single load in that twin tub!I would do the whole families wash.I dont remember my parents asking me why I like washing machines and doing the washing so much they just seem to accept it.My mum was never interested in doing the washing so was quite happy for me to do it.I think I even chose the washing powder myself (as long as it wasent to expensive my mum would get my choice).

I was the same as a lot of the folks on this sight where whenever I went to someone elses house I would always see what washing machine and dryer they had.On a Friday night I would stay at my grans and on a Saturday morning out would come her Hoover T5004 twin tub.I would help her with the washing and now im older and know about the machine properly I now know that she never used to autorinse properly!

my mums 2nd twin tub only lasted 4 years also (My mum somehow has always had friday afternoon machines and has gone through so many machines) Because of her problems with machines she then decided to rent them from radio rentals and rented machines up until when I moved up to Scotland in 2003 when I gave her my Miele and so that is of course still going strong.I always did the washing for the whole family until I moved out in 1993 when I was 19.I rented a room at a work colleages house and she had a Hoover Electronic 1100 and I loved it.The family which lived 2 doors up the road from my mum and who she was friends with also had one and I would hope whenever I would go round it would be on. I would also do my sisters washing for her when I babysat. She was in a rented house and the washing machine in the kitchen was a Hoover twin tub T5054.Like my mum she was not interested in washing and especially because it was a twin tub.She would save up her washing and then ask me to babysit.Once she was gone I would immediately get out the 5054 and start to wash.It would usually take me all night and I would have to change the water 3 or 4 times because there was so much to wash.I remember hanging the washing out in the dark and squeezing everything onto the line.

I also didnt have many friends at school apart from a very select few that were kind to me.I was very much a loner and would come home from school and sit in my room all night.I suppose washing was my outlet and would enable me to feel powerful over something and it would be in my control as school I was made to feel useless and worthless by many bullies.It was something that I could really enjoy and was my only source of real happiness.

I moved back in with my parents for a short while and I would go out and look at washing machines all the time and my excuse to my mum was I was looking so I would be ready to buy one when I got my own place.She knew it was just because I like doing it but she never said.I would go round the second hand shops and look at all the great old machines but I never had the confidence to buy one as ive never had much confidence.I finally got the courage and bought a Hotpoint Microtronic 18880 and took it back to my parents house.I hadent told them I was going to buy one though. I couldnt belive my mums reaction (My dad tends to stay in the background and does as hes told by my mum).After her initial surprise she let me umplumb her machine and plumb the Hotpoint in and use it for a while.I guess I was very lucky.I also brought home a Bendix Dryer De Luxe which matched her old Bendix autowasher.She was great and I still think about it in amazement how she let me do all these things.

In 1996 I bought my own flat and so then my dreams could come true and I could buy any washing machine I wanted and could watch it whenever I wanted. I went through many new machines as I would want a change after about 6 months/1 year.I also bought a couple of second hand older machine which were a Servis Slimline 1000 and a Hoover twin tub 5054.My parents always thought I was a bit mad changing the machines so often but still didnt really give that much grief.My sister however has always and still does constantly takes the mickey out of me with regards to my washing machine interest.

Then it all changed for me in 2003 when I started speaking to my now partner. He is also a School teacher by the way Nick!
It was on a British yahoo group called Twin tub emporium.I had brought my gran a second hand Hoover twin tub model 5090 for her 90th birthday so I could get her T5004.Anyway it went wrong quite quickly as it wasent used to the amount of use it got with me. I happened to come across the website while looking for information about the 5004 and maybe how I could fix it.THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I REALISED THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE INTERESTED IN WASHING MACHINES AND IT WASNT JUST ME!!! I couldnt believe I wasnt the only one and I was ecstatic to say the least.I felt so much better that I wasnt the only one as like many others I felt a total freak by my interest and passion.I immediately told my parents and my sister and my 1 true best friend from school who im still in regular contact with.(He always took the mickey and still does but has never made me feel bad about it).They were amazed and and I said...see im not the only one!Well to cut a long story short Andrew came down to visit from Edinburgh down to Luton (Near London) to have a look at my twin tub for me and the rest as they say is history.We have been together 3 years now.Andrew is only interested in Twin tubs where I am interested in all the different types of laundry machines.I like front loading autos and top loading autos and tumble dryers and twin tubs and spinners also.It has been both a great thing that we are both interested in washing machines and also a bad thing.
There have been many arguments as ive seen an auto and he didnt want to get it etc.Also im very very particular with my washing and things have to be done a certain way even when it comes to hanging things on the line.Hes not interested in using an auto so I can do my own thing when it comes to them but we are both used to doing our own washing in the past and Andrew would do all his ex partners aswell.So when it came to him doing some washing in a twin tub and especially if he would do some of my items I have this habit of critisising him saying hes not doing it properly.Its all because hes not doing it the way I would do it. This can of course and does cause friction so im trying to very good now and not say a word.He dosent do any washing anymore as the twin tub is now in the garage with the other machines as we are packing up the house for a house move.He has no idea how to use the auto so Im now doing all the washing.

I dont work but stay at home as a Househusband and look after the house the dog and cat and Andrew so I can wash away to my hearts content doing it my way and totally enjoy it.

My parents are still supportive to this day and have even went to get and have stored a tumble dryer which I got off eBay until I picked it up when I went to visit.They also stored for me the other Hoover Electronic 1100 for 6 months until I could go and get it.It was stored under the stairs and I gave my mum intructions to open the door and keep it open and to open the powder drawer so it would get air circulating through it. I think she just thinks its my interest and brings me enjoyment so she likes to see me happy.Its a bit strange but different people collect different things.

Thats the way I like to see it in that we are all different human beings and are all interested in all kinds of different things so whats the problem?

Well I think id better stop the essay now.

Mark

 

[hoover3060]

Forgot to say that a sort of friend from high school knows about my washer interest from my True best friend and when I go back to visit my parents and if I see her she always without fail says to me........SO MARK... DO WASHING MACHINES REALLY LIVE LONGER WITH CALGON????

Just though I would put that in as although shes taking the mickey I do laugh when she asks me and it makes me smile when I think of it. It makes me feel that those 2 friends have accepted it as part of me and although they dont understand it they just accept it.

 

[lederstiefel1]

I don't know either why I'm intersted in all that stuff of OLDE household-appliances (not only washers!) But also I'm interested in steam-engines, wind&water-mills, house-technique and stuff like that - to me it's because the olde machines have more charisma, there's more live in them. One can see the power working, doing things and also the design is more human to me, with corners and edges...
I first got interest in washers, or better the whole wash-process, when I was almost 2 years old. I liked the work in the laundry room with all that water, steam and working machines - fire under the boiler, steam in the whole room when the lid of it was lifted, the clacking of the hydaulic motor on top of the wringer-washers, going back and forth and the handle on top swung from left to right so you could imagine how the washing was moved in the woodden tub in the hot suds either. Or the humming of the electric motor underneath the white enammeled washers with the motor-driven wringers. The turning of the smooth rubber-rolls of the wringer, pressing the water out of the washing back into the tub, like a monster eating endless spaghetti dripping with sauce.... The smell of soap and lavender... the frantic revolves of the spinner, spitting out the water extracted from the washing.... the white items in the sunlight on the lines in the garden or on the grass for bleaching, too bright to look at without aching in the eyes .....and all that WORK that funny work that had to be done...
Well I'm gay but I'm sure it hasn't anything to do with that. Maybe it was just the first contact with the REAL LIVE - house-work..!!? And my mother let me "help" to do the hand-washing every week as we didn't have a washer at that time when I was two or three years old and my mother had to give the "big-washing" away to a laundrette, so I was introduced very early ! And it was so much fun for me splashing arround!
And every neighbour arround us was washing in the laundry-room in the cellar, and every neighbour also had a different type of machine to watch. Oooh it was sooo much fun and also sooo much exciting action to watch and to share as far as kids were aloud to do! Good ol' times! Gone for ever....

Still today old technique has my attention, more than many new ones have!
Ralf

 

[Kenmore62]

BLAMED FOR BROKEN WASHERS

HI
If somebody,s washer broke down it was automaticly implied that I broke it because I liked washers. Even if I was no where around when the machine broke it was figured I had done something to it the week before that caused it to break now!!! WHAT DESCRIMATION

View attachment 8-21-2006-07-48-55--KENMORE62.jpg

 

[gizmo]

I was fascinated with washing machines as long as I can remember. Vacs and other appliances too, but mainly washing machines. When I was a kid, maybe 5 or 6, my mother was quite unwell and had several long visits to hospital. I tended to do the washing for the family in our Hoover twinnie. The blue spin lid had broken off so you worked the spinner by lowering a silver lid hinge. The spinner was open! I remember at primary school a girl had her arm broken by putting it into a moving spinner on a twinnie. I also used to love vacuuming with our Hoover Convertible, first a 6525A then a 6525C. At school I hated sport and playground games, I spent every recess and lunch time in the library. We has a fabulous librarian called Mrs Tart, she used to let me vacuum the whole library with the Hoover Lark each morning. I was a "library monitor" with a brass badge with black lettering. We monitors would put returned books away, and log borrowed books in and out using a card system. I would have been 9 or 10 years old. Cassette recorders had just come in, replacing reel tapes, I got to set up listening booths in the library with cassette players and headphones at each booth, I also catalogued the cassettes and they were stored in a big steel cupboard. Mrs Tart was a good friend and support to me, more to tell there another day.
Later Mum's health improved, she started working and bought a Frigidaire TL auto. It washed every day for about seven or eight years, though it wasn't very reliable and was rebuilt once or twice in that time. It had trouble spinning, it seemed to always go off balance, it would shake the whole house and go "clunk clunk clunk" as it conked out. Often it would overheat and have to wait several minutes to be reset. I used that machine quite often but not as much as the twinnie. As it got older the pump broke and Frigidaire had departed from Australia (parts unavailable) so I fitted an old swimming pool circulating pump beside the washer at floor level, it was switched on as soon as the washer was on and ran constantly, when water was spun out (solid tub) it drained directly to the little pool pump and was pumped into the sink. As a teenager I had a part time job and saved up, bought a second hand GE Filter-flo (Aussie made, similar to US model with gold aluminium dashboard and brown buttons.) It flooded, I replaced the pressure switch for $15 and it washed for the family for years. It washed stronger and spun faster than the old Frigidaire.

after my Grandfather died, my Nan moved into a flat by herself and she bought a second hand Whirlpool TL from a dealer. It leaked badly, the dealer wouldn't take it back so my uncle read the riot act and she got a refund. She bought a new Hoover FL, a UK-made model with a black dashboard, orange A/B switch (model 455, very similar to the 3236H). A fabulous machine, she loved it though in the early days she was confused by the A/B switch and she had a service callout, thinking it was broken as it wouldn't spin. (A=Rinse Hold, B=Spin) I was fascinated by it.
When 17/18 years I was an exchange student to near Chicago, USA. The family I stayed with had a Frigidaire TL, from this group I now know it was a 1-18. The Mrs loved it but I wasn't allowed to touch it. The father worked for GM Electro-Motive (Trains) so got Frigidaire appliances at a discount. It was interesting in that it was so much like our old Frigidaire at home but worked so much better.
Not long after I returned, I moved out of home. I bought a small Citroen GS car (I'm a car nut too) and when I bought a second hand Hoover just like my Nan's one, it fitted EXACTLY into the boot of the Cit, lying on its back with not a millimetre to spare.
When I moved in with my current partner, he had a Hoover 720, one of the most indestructible machines ever made in AU. We had it for years though I modified his washing habits - cheapest soap powder and hottest wash changed to warm wash and better detergents. We have been together a few months short of 20 years and he is still not allowed to use the washing machines!

My mild interest in WMs increased when I became very interested in Solar Power. At the time WMs were one of the "problem loads" for solar power systems and I decided to try to develop the perfect washer for solar - low overall power consumption and low peak amps. To do this I would regularly bring home old washing machines from hard rubbish collections and recycle centres. My partner tolerated it and even enjoyed it to a degree but when I had 14 washing machines in our tiny inner city back yard it was getting a bit much for him. I would occasionally drag him out to witness what I was working on. I developed a 12 volt conversion for a Hoover twin tub which was printed in the book "Do It Yourself - Green Technology" by the Alternative Technology Association. I even sold one converted machine to a lady who lived on a remote commune in northern New South Wales, over 1000km from here. Later we bought some land near a very small town and planned to build a house there. We decided to go solar power so I messed around with more washing machines, batteries and DC motors. I made up a Whirlpool washer with all the original controls, but a DC motor from an old computer tape drive - the real old computers that took up a whole room and had big spools of magnetic tape - they had beautiful low voltage DC motors that are really efficient. The wires removed from the old washing machine motor went to a transformer that output 60 volts Dc which went through a bridge rectifier to the DC motor. It washed and spun better than original but used less than one third the power.
We now have a more powerful solar power setup that allows us to run an Asko FL, slightly modified, and I have a collection of about 12 to 15 washers,in various states of disrepair, awaiting when our new house is finally finished ( only a few weeks now) so I can start some restorations!
My partner doesn't share my enthusiasm but he doesn't give me any grief over it either. It's just part of who I am. In this small country town I am now the person everyone turns to when an appliance is on the blink, as professional repairers are over one hour drive away. So my "weird" interest has helped make me a valued member of this little commmunity.

The huge number of members of this group should allay any unease you feel about your interest in washing machines. There are LOTS of us and that's great.

Sorry this is such a long post, but that's just me too.

Chris.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Nick, What a great tread!

I didn't have the time to read everyones reply so I may be repeating myself...sorry if I am.

Collecting is as much a part of us as our arms and legs. I will tell you the same thing that I told my parents when they wanted to take me to a "shrink" to cure my being gay..."When you look for a cure then you are looking for a disease and I'M NOT SICK"

Nick, Don't look for a cause....just enjoy your individuality!!

Rich

 

[bajaespuma]

Boys like toys

I'm going to have a lot more to contribute to this wonderful and thoughtful thread, but here's something that I come back to over and over when I question my fascination with these appliances: Does anyone question a young or adult male's fascination with automobile's models and engines??? Does anyone denigrate them when they collect them? What is the difference between an object fashioned from steel, rubber, plastic, glass, engines and wheels that is fashioned to wash clothes and one made for transportation other than obsolete societally-preordained relevance to the respective sexes?

I'll never forget a neanderthal acquaintance of mine observing that it was "okay for men to sew if they're fixing something, but NOT for MAKING anything".

My Mother, who was and is a small-minded person, was openly hostile to my fascination with appliances. My Father, who was much more intellectually curious and questing than Mom, was conflicted: I think he saw the value in my fascination as it applied to electricity, mechanics, play and art, but was at moments apalled by the psychosexual ramifications.

I know many heterosexual males who are deeply attached to their clothes irons and their vacuum cleaners. I still remember a "Peanuts" cartoon that featured a young Linus whose favorite toy, according to sister Lucy, was "still the vacuum cleaner" (an upright that resembled a Hoover, to be precise).

The main reason I'm grateful to this site is to find out that, again, I'm not alone. Thank you all.

 

[frigilux]

Interesting how many similarities there are in our backgrounds---and in the way our parents reacted to our interests. My parents weren't exactly supportive and it was embarrassing for them when I'd immediately head for the laundry room when we went to visit other people. But they never suggested therapy, either, so I guess I'm blessed, LOL! I was born in 1959, so I got to see a lot of classic machines in action---when they were new, even.

I think people freak a bit about male washer enthusiasts because washers are seen as boring machines which take care of a (traditionally, at least) very female-identified task.