Thread Number: 1374
the GREATER agitator
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Post# 58105   2/23/2005 at 21:40 (6,972 days old) by mrcleanjeans (milwaukee wi)        

in your opinion ,what is the BEST agitator design ever, for each decade, the 40s-80s,and why?




Post# 58106 , Reply# 1   2/23/2005 at 21:42 (6,972 days old) by kenmore1978 ()        
agitator design

Are we talking about looks or effectiveness?

Post# 58109 , Reply# 2   2/23/2005 at 21:52 (6,972 days old) by mrcleanjeans (milwaukee wi)        
define the design

all aspects, looks, cleaning, everything

Post# 58130 , Reply# 3   2/24/2005 at 05:34 (6,972 days old) by kenmore1978 ()        
agitators

Looks, Kelvinator, effectiveness Frigidaire Jet Action

Post# 58132 , Reply# 4   2/24/2005 at 06:25 (6,972 days old) by Mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)        
Clothes and Frabric Anoying Tools

mayken4now's profile picture
Looks - Maytag (Turquoise/Black w/ Stainless Steel Lint/Fab. soft disp.) - Could be borderline boring, but always kept the same primary look 40-80. (Whirlpool always had that little twist thing going on, caught my attention even as a child)

Effectivness - Philco "Wonder Agitator" ya know the kind. That rubber thing that danced like a hoo la hoop. I guess that's why the POD the other day featured Miss America!!

Most Fun - By far the All the GM Frigidaire's. The old Lady Kenmore's were a lot of fun too l;ike 1956 - 1965, especially when the that tranny would kick into gear on the rinse, stand clear especially if was not a full load, say med. water level.

Best all time - sorry guys, have to give it to the front loaders for best all around cleaning, most fun, and resonably inexpensive to run!


Post# 58135 , Reply# 5   2/24/2005 at 06:50 (6,972 days old) by Gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)        

WoW! There are quite a few! The ones that stand out in my mind as being the most aggresive, creating strong roll-over without knotting or billowing the clothes, keeping ALL the water and clothing MOVING at all times: Whirlpool's "Surgilator", Maytags (Helical-Drive) "Gyratator" and "Power-Fin", GE's spiral "Activator", Westinghouse spiral. Philco's "Blades-O-Water".

Post# 58136 , Reply# 6   2/24/2005 at 07:09 (6,972 days old) by agiflow ()        

Most of these classic washers had great agitators,but my favorite would be the Whirlpool surgilator for looks,design and effective turnover along with all the splashing.

Post# 58137 , Reply# 7   2/24/2005 at 08:04 (6,972 days old) by gregm ()        
knmr rotoswirl or GE slant vane

I think the GE ramp or slant agitators worked very well, as well as the Kenmore roto-swirls. Both styles pull the clothes down vigorously to the bottom of the tub. Of course GM-Frigidaire is unique in its own right.

Post# 58142 , Reply# 8   2/24/2005 at 09:16 (6,972 days old) by jetaway ()        
Best Agitator

By far, it's Deep Action for me. That agitator looked like an Apollo Space Capsule ready to take off.

#2 Speed Queen....The High-Vaned Agitator with the little crown on the top. Powerful and simple.


Post# 58148 , Reply# 9   2/24/2005 at 10:30 (6,972 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        
Simple

Kenmore Roto Swirl

Post# 58149 , Reply# 10   2/24/2005 at 10:35 (6,972 days old) by Compwhiz ()        
Best

im not sure if this is from the 80's the dual action surgilator agitator

Post# 58153 , Reply# 11   2/24/2005 at 12:34 (6,972 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA)        

peterh770's profile picture
Easy Spiralator (not the Hotpoint version)
Speed Queen


Post# 58155 , Reply# 12   2/24/2005 at 12:56 (6,972 days old) by golittlesport (California)        

golittlesport's profile picture
I'll vote with Peter...I think the best oscillating agitator, and the most dramatic, was the Easy spiralator...the kind found in the Easy Spindrier. And I think the Frigidaire three-ring runs a very, very close second.

Post# 58158 , Reply# 13   2/24/2005 at 13:42 (6,972 days old) by thirtyater ()        

My best cleaning machine was GE Filter Flo with ramped agitator. The poorest cleaning agitator I have had was a 1967 Kenmore. I had to stop a couple times during wash and push the clothes on top to bottom to get them clean. It just would not roll the load. I hated it at the time but sure wish I had it back now. And my GM Frigidaire with the up and down motion and that unusual roller transmission gets the prize for constant breakdowns. We junked it at seven years old. If only I had just put it in the barn!


Post# 58159 , Reply# 14   2/24/2005 at 13:48 (6,972 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
1. Frigidaire Deep Action---cool space capsule look
2. Kelvinator---alien fins from outer space (extra points for
uber-splashing)
3. No agitator at all! (Front loaders) Always fun to watch.


Post# 58161 , Reply# 15   2/24/2005 at 13:55 (6,972 days old) by peteski50 (New York)        
GREATER agitator

peteski50's profile picture
To me it will always be the Frigidaire 1/18 or a rapid dry. And a Kelvinator. Nothing else had such great rollover action,
even though others cleaned very well.
Peter


Post# 58171 , Reply# 16   2/24/2005 at 15:48 (6,972 days old) by westytoploader ()        

Best cleaning is the (large capacity) Maytag Power-Fin...no contest. Rolls wonderfully with the Orbital tranny. The Super Roto-Swirl also has my vote for #1. Splashy and sudsy on small loads and that counter-clockwise rotation/rolling movement can't be beat!

Both agitators also look great IMHO...Power-Fin is turquoise and Roto-Swirl is that great GOLD!!!

7 years of Dual-Action experience (both plastic GE and Kenmore DD) leads me to believe that they mangle your clothes and are both boring and ineffective at the same time...


Post# 58173 , Reply# 17   2/24/2005 at 16:02 (6,972 days old) by agiflow ()        

That's funny how people can have different experiences concerning the Dual-Action agitator.Not great on the drama side, but i would say a very effective cleaner nonetheless.

I much prefer a single action agitator though.


Post# 58183 , Reply# 18   2/24/2005 at 17:47 (6,972 days old) by rickr (.)        

rickr's profile picture
Surgilator

Post# 58187 , Reply# 19   2/24/2005 at 18:43 (6,971 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)        

jetaction's profile picture
I might as well add my two cents worth... The turnover is incredible with the Kenmore Super Roto Swirl, same with the Roto Swirl for that matter. The 67 Maytag really cleans well, although not as visually dramatic as others I own. Greg Nunn told me when I got those a year ago I would be very surprised at how well they clean-and he was right! Frigidaire is always so fun, in any of their pulsating variations! Another surprise I had was the rotoflex on my 65 LK. Not expecting much rollover, I was very surprised at how much there was. Those 6 fins really move clothes around. Just goes to show you, "You can't judge a fin by its size!"

Post# 58190 , Reply# 20   2/24/2005 at 19:30 (6,971 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

gansky1's profile picture
That huge agitator in the Norge solid-basket machines is pretty cool, and that burp-up filter gets very high marks for drama!

Oh, let's go watch the video again...


CLICK HERE TO GO TO gansky1's LINK


Post# 58192 , Reply# 21   2/24/2005 at 20:23 (6,971 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

I would vote for the WP Surgilator,the KN Roto-Swirl,and last but not least-the Norge Tall vane "Burp-I-Lator"a washer my mom had when I was very little had the Norge Agitator-it also had a shiny metal lint pan.

Post# 58193 , Reply# 22   2/24/2005 at 20:45 (6,971 days old) by angus (Fairfield, CT.)        

I have to agree with Greg - the Norge "Wave Agitation" was incredibly effective and didn't have to rely on "roll over".

Post# 58196 , Reply# 23   2/24/2005 at 21:01 (6,971 days old) by mrmaytag (Tennessee)        

For me, the best is the Surgilator. As was stated previously, it's quite splashy, especially in the earlier Whirlpools. When that transmission kicks in on a low fill rinse, you better make sure that lid is closed before the first agitation stroke, or you'll be soaked.

I may have the nickname of "MrMaytag", but my favorite machines are BD Whirlpool machines.


Post# 58271 , Reply# 24   2/25/2005 at 21:08 (6,970 days old) by doityrselfguy ()        

Speaking of the Kenmore six vane Roto-Flex with no skirt, I remember a neighbor had a gold one when I was a kid, but I've never seen one on this site. Anyone have a picture?

Post# 58287 , Reply# 25   2/26/2005 at 04:28 (6,970 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)        
Confession

foraloysius's profile picture
I have a confession to make. At the convention Robert's Norge was my least favourite machine. I really liked the design of the machine but I found it really loud. I was also a fast learner and found that a good rollover is part of the fun of a toploader and the Norge didn't have that.

Until now my favourites are

1. Solid tub Speed Queens agitators (I haven't seen a working perforated SQ seen yet). That agitator sure knows how to move the clothes.

2. The three ring agitator in the Unimatics and Multimatics (the 1959 Multimatic is my favourite).

3. The Kenmore Super Roto Swirl. I used a Kenmore machine in a hotel and was impressed by the action it caused. Together with Tide it really cleaned the laundry.


Post# 58325 , Reply# 26   2/26/2005 at 14:21 (6,970 days old) by rickr (.)        
Surgilator

rickr's profile picture
For the best turnover I have seen. Machine was on spin when Bethann took this picture. Her camera is v.g.
Rick


Post# 58345 , Reply# 27   2/26/2005 at 17:45 (6,970 days old) by agiflow ()        

This style chrome agitator i think looks so much cooler than the ones they used in the sixties,though they were nice also.

Rick,what is the difference between this surgilator and the super surgilator WP used in the early to mid sixties?They're both bakelite and the design looks exactly the same.


Post# 58352 , Reply# 28   2/26/2005 at 18:06 (6,970 days old) by westytoploader ()        

"At the convention Robert's Norge was my least favourite machine"

When I first saw the Norge videos, I thought the fact that it was unusually loud during agitation meant that it had something terribly wrong with it (which wasn't true)! That and the gurgling sound it made at the beginning of agitation, when all of the water was being pumped out of the outer tub, was very strange!

I always wondered why it was top-rated by CR in 1954 since there was no turnover until Robert explained that it cleans by "dragging" the clothes, not rolling them.

I also noticed that the tub didn't seem very deep; maybe that's why there's so little rollover action. However, the lint filter-agitator is an improvement, IMHO, and stirs things around.


Post# 58360 , Reply# 29   2/26/2005 at 19:47 (6,969 days old) by agiflow ()        
Norge effects

The Fedders Norge my family owned in the seventies and early eighties was definitely a good cleaner. As has been stated previously in older posts,rollover does not necessarily mean good cleaning.

It is all in the design of the agitator.That straight vane the Norge used sloshed the WHOLE load back and forth.

Maytag machines were another example of sloshing the whole load back and forth,granted if it was a large load.

I have only used Maytag machines in commercial use and i thought they had pretty powerful agitation,like a wave effect.

The Frigidaires agitation,...well we know they are in a class all to their lonesome ;-)



Post# 59146 , Reply# 30   3/5/2005 at 19:55 (6,962 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i)        
Burp Up

washerlover's profile picture
Let's not forget about Norge and Hotpoint's burp-up agitators with lint filters! Both effective agitation and lint removal, in addition to great sound effects and wonderful visual entertainment!

Post# 59381 , Reply# 31   3/7/2005 at 20:54 (6,960 days old) by Mrsalvo (New Braunfels Texas)        

Any agitator that doesn't wear out the clothes and CLEANS
them well...stain removal.



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