Yippee A New Machine To Play With

[whirlcool]

I was down at the shelter today washing more laundry. I heard from one of the employees there that the washer "overflowed" the other day. It flooded the laundry room and the hallway directly outside. I asked what happened and they said all the water came out of the bottom of the machine while it was spinning. After interrogating several others it turns out that the "ditch" in the floor behind the washer (where the drain hose is bolted down to) overflowed due to lint & debris clogging the drain screen. So now there is a sign "Check the drain before each use".

I am just amazed at how clean everything comes out. No matter how poopy or stained items go into the washer, everything comes out smelling and looking like new. And it does it ALL in just 37 minutes.

One more question, we have cycles like Normal Wash, Stained Item Wash, Uniforms Wash, Delicate Wash and Stained Items Wash, and Heavy Soil Wash. What does "Visa Wash" do? I have never seen that one before. We usually use Heavy Soil or Stained Items wash, which are both HOT. When we open the door at the end of the cycle, the items washed are literally steaming hot. But there isn't any Rinse/Spin cycle. The other day one of the teenagers used Dawn dish detergent in the machine and they said suds were going everywhere!

I'll tell you, I really wonder about the mentality of some of these people working there. Today we washed and groomed dogs for our adoption center tomorrow and some of those ADULTS were using Dawn to wash dogs when there is a cabinet full of great Tearless Protien Shampoo for dogs in the grooming room.
No wonder some of the dogs I have seen have straw like coats and dandruff!

 

[supremewhirlpol]

I say that might be why the adoption center got those kind of machines, so they can stand up to the abuse of such incompetent ADULTS. LOL

 

[launderess]

Visa = Polyester

Visa as a grand name of polyester and or polyester/cotton blend fabric. Therefore one supposes a "Visa Cycle" is something along the lines of permanent press.

L.

 

[launderess]

More On Visa

Many hotels, restaurants, catering establishments, linen services and the rest use polyester or more often a polyester and cotton blend for table and even bed linens.

Called "no iron" or minimal iron, these linens in theory are supposed to be eaiser to launder and not require the heavy ironing of pure linen or cotton items.

Because they are "easy care" such linens supposedly spend less time at the laundry, and can be turned around faster.

L.

 

[whirlcool]

Ah, thank you Laundress. So the "Visa Wash" cycle is probably a short cycle or one with a cool down? That sounds about right.

I had never heard the term before, so now I know.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

The drain in the back is most likely a 'trench ' type drain.. they are no longer allowed in Ft Worth. but most other areas are still used.. The filter should be cleaned out 2X a day morning and noon. that should be enough to keep the level flowing well..
A bit more on VISA.
The Visa formula may NOT be a short formula. check the man. Some of them run as long as a regular formula then do a cool down. Or depending on the formula may stop and signal for starch .. A great deal of places now starch visa and iron it.Esp. napkins as it is the only way they can be folded to stand up.. Visa is flimsy and has very little body. Although it drapes very nice on tablecloths.. and wears like iron and colors stay bright and vivid for years.. also very expensive to buy.Most upscale places still demand pure cotton linen. Visa is used mostly by less demanding places and places that want to get by with laundring as cheap as possible.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

you most likely have 2 visa formulas on your machine. Are they # 9 & 10 ? Visa white or with bleach Visa color no bleach.. I have the programmed formulas if you would like them. Also they are in the manual labled" programming' they should have been 4 different manuals with the machine. Install, Operation, Programming. Parts & Service. The tumbler has 2 manuals . Any of the programs can be changed to do what ever you wish. A 37 min formula is standard for heavy soil.. My heavy soil which is the worse is Surgery and total on it is only 42.

 

[whirlcool]

Update:

I checked in on the laundry room at the shelter today. It was so nice to see racks full of nice fresh and clean blankets and beds for the animals in the shelter. This washer really keeps up with the demand.
But I wish I had my camera with me. The entire top of the machine was covered with powdered laundry detergent (somebody can't aim for the proper detergent openings). The lint filter looked like it hadn't been cleaned in days.
One thing that concerned me is that they had the dryer set for a 60 minute drying cycle. Any load I have done before no matter how heavy will dry in 20-25 minutes. So I reset the dryer default to 23 minutes and once again instructed the teeny boppers(whom I have never seen before)in the laundry room the proper operation of the machines. One of them at least seemed interested and asked questions about what cycle to use and how much detergent to put in the machine (even though a sign on the wall tells them how much detergent to use).

But it never ceases to amaze me how clean those heavy, and I do mean HEAVILY soilded items come out. Not a spot on the items anywhere and they smell so clean.

What I am wondering is how can this machine clean 60 lbs of heavy clothes in just 37 minutes where our home front loaders can take hours?

 

[launderess]

Lots of water, plus good lift and drop action. To this add pumps or gravity drains that aren't bothered by tons of water pouring out at once, which means the machine will spin out dirty water between rinses.

IIRC, the Feds haven't gotten their mitts on commercial washing machines when it comes to energy and or water consumption, though local governments are another matter. This leaves commercial front loaders free to use enough water to get the job done. The only restrictions are perhaps by owners seeking to lower energy/water costs.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

A clogged lint screen on the tumbler will cause drying times to increase or even double and can be a fire hazard too. check the lint filters if the tumbler is not drying in the time it should. Another thing to check that will effect drying times greatly. Check to be sure they are running the right cycle # a different cycle may extract a shorter time and that can double drying times too. The tumbler you have could take 30 mins to dry a large load but should not take any longer. Also make sure the the tumbler is on Reverse for large items or they will "ball" up and increase drying times too.

 

[launderess]

Domestic Front Loader Cycle Times

Much time is spend in many models pfaffing around trying to balance a laod for spinning (or not), and so forth.

Commercial machines have none of that. With bearings, and heavy duty construction, they go into spins regardless and the pumps or dump drain can handle the water. As noted in my post above this means fouled water is spun out between rinses, and that means cleaner laundry.

Commercial laundries can't be bothered tying up machines for hours just to do one load. Time is money and fast through-put is the word de jour. However results matter as well, and a machine that can deliver clean washes (with proper loading, chemcials and so on), with one cycle, means less time spent re-washing.

As one has often said, while it is possible to build domestic front loaders to this standard, (Speen Queen already does), the cost is more than the average Amercian is willing to bear. Well that and because of water/energy restrictions.

L.

 

[whirlcool]

On the dryer the lint filter is underneath the tumbler and is positioned on the top of the cavity upside down. You can look at it an it can look clean, but it you run your finger along it you can see there is a heavy layer of lint on it. Sometimes the lint falls off and remains in the cavity of the dryer.
There is a decal in plain sight on that dryer that advises one to clean the lint filter frequently.

At least the shelter provides boxes of latex gloves for one to use while loading the nasty laundry into the washer....

As for cycles, we usually use HEAVY (HOT) or STAINED(HOT).

 

[sudsman]

Allen Something else to check

Some times contractors put a screen on the dryer vent outside. Check out side where the dryer vent is and see if there is a screen on it. It may also need cleaning. The screens are to keep rodents out of the machine itself. The lint screen on the tumbler is just a nylon screen the 'snaps in the grooves on the side , I have my washman take them out at aleast once a week and blow them off with the air hose of vacuum cleaner. Sometimes in very cold weather the lint will not drop on the floor off the screens as it should ,this is caused by static electricy, and we spray static guard on them about once a week to keep them working correctly. just a few hints..

 

[whirlcool]

OK, the lint is supposed to fall off the filter onto the floor of the lint screen chamber? I only saw evidence of this one time. Usually the screen is cleaned before that happens.
I'll check the exit of dryer vent as you suggested. I'll also spray the filter with anti-static spray.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

If it is cleaned befor that happens that is GREAT they are doing a good job.. The weight of the lint is what makes it drop off the screen onto the floor of the dryer. But static electricy will hamper this design. and make for a much longer drying time.