Thread Number: 73049
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Westinghouse slant-front machines |
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Post# 964880 , Reply# 1   10/29/2017 at 19:46 (2,364 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )   |   | |
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It was the tangling, But I still want one, my theory has always been, if the clothes are tangled up, you know for sure they have really been washed! |
Post# 964915 , Reply# 2   10/29/2017 at 22:55 (2,364 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Was the oft used nickname (others had much harsher bad words) for Westinghouse slant front loading washers.
This came from a tendency of the wash to emerge in one tangled mass of "rope" that had to be painstakingly undone before anything else could be done. When Maytag introduced their Neptune washing machines also with an inclined drum instant comparisons and much derision was made how results would mimic the Westinghouse slant front washers of old. Being as this may going back years there have been commercial H-Axis washing machines with tubs on various levels of incline. Reason is same pretty much as with the design of the Westinghouse and later Maytag washers; the incline makes for easier loading and unloading of laundry. There are other benefits of a slant tub; but let Miss. Betty Furness in all her girdled glory explain: |
Post# 964982 , Reply# 5   10/30/2017 at 11:34 (2,363 days old) by golittlesport (California)   |   | |
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I believe when Westinghouse changed from a slant-tub format in the late 50's it was a redesign that improved capacity and cleaning performance, and of course, tangled less. The slant tub design had the laundry sliding backwards in the tub as well as going round and dropping down onto the "scrubbing dome" of the washtub. Those textiles were going every which way!
Westinghouse probably kept the slanted cabinet (with less of a slant) for loading convenience and brand recognition. When they introduced their top load agitator washer about 1965, they switched their Laundromat to a flat front cabinet to match the companion dryer, which paired with both the front and top load washers. My mom had a 1957 Laundromat and she loved it. But I can remember her pulling tangled clothes out of it and unknotting them in the backyard as she hung them on a clothesline. My grandmother's 1955 Frigidaire produced the same results. As a kid I thought all automatic washing machines tangled clothes. |
Post# 965033 , Reply# 6   10/30/2017 at 17:53 (2,363 days old) by moparwash (Pittsburgh,PA )   |   | |
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In 1959, the tub was changed to an upright design, which lasted to the very end of production around 1988. The cabinet still 'slanted' from 1959-1963 until the introduction of the flat front in 1964. From what I can tell, the 1961 I have does not tangle any worse than my Maytag Neptune, as I found tangling depends on the load type..flat sheets with bath towels often need separating!
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Post# 965044 , Reply# 7   10/30/2017 at 19:29 (2,363 days old) by bendixmark (Winchester Mass)   |   | |
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The pair pictured is the pair my parents had when they bought our house in 1953.They got them used.My mother who is 89 now said that washer never tangled and she loved it.I can only assume then those who had tangle problems were somehow being boneheads with their machines. |
Post# 965052 , Reply# 8   10/30/2017 at 20:43 (2,363 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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The original machines were among the worst tangling automatics ever built, they tangled because the tub was tilted, ALL slanted tub FL washers that I have used tangle to a more or less degree depending on how slanted the tub is.
[ Ever wounder why no one ever built a clothes dryer with a slanted tub ? ] Well because it would tangle so badly that clothing would never dry evenly. John L. |