Hoover Twin Tubs


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Thread Number: 2231
Hoover Twin Tubs

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Post# 68412 5/27/2005 at 15:11 (6,907 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes Can someone tell me the make and model years of Hoover twin tubs sold in the United States? Am curious about these little wonders but there seems to be little information out there. Spent half the night reading various posts on the Yahoo twin tub group, but seems they mostly deal with UK/European versions. For instance, heard that the SS tubs were inferior to the plastic ones. In FL and TL washers the reverse is true. Did the features change over the model years, was the extractor/washing speeds adjustable? Know parts are long since out of stock in the United States for these units, but it seems they are available in the UK/Europe. Are they interchangable? By that I mean would a pump from say a 1980's UK twinne work with a 1960's American version? Growing up a the woman next door had Hoover twinne, and I would go over to watch her baby so she could do the laundry. The smell of Ivory Snow still makes me think of her and that washer! I'm thinking about nabbing one of these to augment our rather small Miele for doing soaking and maybe washing woolies faster than the Miele. To me truly soaking requires more than what most modern water stingy front loaders have to offer. Putting a a top loader in is not an option even a small one. Besides, figure since Hoover twinnies do not have center agitators, can put more in. Most posts I've read about doing laundry in twin tubs stated all made a tangled mess of laundry, with Hoovers being the worst and Maytags (and other models not sold in the United States) that had reverse impellers were better. What was the capacity of the extactors? Did they hold as much as say a modern Spin X?. Thanks for all the replies, Launderess

Post# 68438 , Reply# 1 5/27/2005 at 21:13 (6,907 days old) by partscounterman (Cortez, Colorado)
Checkrate/Likes *I can't answer ALL your questions but* I do know there was no speed adjustment on the Hoovers at all. Wash and spin both single speed. I was not aware of a quality differnce between the plastic and SS tubs. I thought the action was more powerful in the SS model because its surface was "more slippery" and the plastic tub had more "drag" on the water and clothes. Tangling? Without a doubt! The Maytag version did tangle less as the impellers reversed every 30 seconds. The Maytag had two impellers to Hoovers one. The Hoover could only wash one pair of my jeans but the Maytag could handle two. So one the wash side, the Maytag ruled. Spin side was a different story- Maytags outer spin tub was too small, so sudlock was always a problem. Many Hoovers had a cool sprayer for spin rinsing your load. Maytag had no provision for spin rinsing. The Maytag instructions told you to drain the suds water from the wash tub and deep rinse in there, which I thought was a waste of water and time with a twin tub. Might as well go beat things with a rock in a stream for all that production.

Post# 68439 , Reply# 2 5/27/2005 at 21:26 (6,907 days old) by partscounterman (Cortez, Colorado)
Checkrate/Likes *a scan* Maytag Porta pair

Post# 68440 , Reply# 3 5/27/2005 at 21:30 (6,907 days old) by partscounterman (Cortez, Colorado)
Checkrate/Likes the details

Post# 68456 , Reply# 4 5/27/2005 at 22:48 (6,907 days old) by kenmore1978 ()
Checkrate/Likes *small washer* Laundress, I know you siad there's no room for even small TL, but what about one the size of Austin's portable GE? Then you'd at least have a fully automatic machine. or one of the WP/KM roll around portables. They're about the same size as a Twinnie.

Post# 68461 , Reply# 5 5/27/2005 at 23:04 (6,906 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes *Kenmore* Thanks for the idea! Really want the high speed extractor some twinnies offer. But if a vintage GE comes up will take a look. Partscounterman! Thank you for posting the Maytag Porta-Washer brochure! Launderess

Post# 68475 , Reply# 6 5/27/2005 at 23:56 (6,906 days old) by kenmore1978 ()
Checkrate/Likes *extractor* yeah, that 2000 rpm spin speed is hard to beat.

Post# 68479 , Reply# 7 5/28/2005 at 00:04 (6,906 days old) by alr2903 (TN)
Checkrate/Likes *hoover* I once had the hoover, the spinner is very loud keep the excedrin handy. Mine had a very annoying whine to it.

Post# 68500 , Reply# 8 5/28/2005 at 08:24 (6,906 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia)
Checkrate/Likes The Hoovers all have the "annoying whine" on spin. They also are prone to vibrating like mad when spinning - not faulty, that's just what they are like. The plastic tub has a different impeller mounting to the stainless steel tub models, which makes the impeller stick out into the tub a little more. That's why the plastic tub models cope with slight overloading a little better but it's pretty marginal. They need to be loaded VERY lightly to prevent tangling. If you overload even a little they tangle badly. The load really whizzes around fast if not overloaded. Because they need a full tub of water but can only handle a tiny load, they are pretty water-inefficient unless you save the water for subsequent loads and only do spray-rinses. They are too rough to wash woollens - they would be ruined. They are fun to play with but a chore to use regularly. Chris

Post# 68510 , Reply# 9 5/28/2005 at 14:28 (6,906 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks for all the replies! Wondering if these units are so difficult to work with, why all the fuss even to the extent of starting a collectors club? As for washing woolies, I mainly soak them after making sure the soap/detergent is properly dissloved. I like to use pure soap flakes sometimes for wool, and it it just causes too much suds in the Miele. Agian, the high speed spin on the extractor is the main tool here, as one can spin wool at very high speeds (it is a very elastic fiber), then lay it flat to dry. Wool dries much faster this way, and it is better than leaving a sopping wet item laying flat to dry for ages on towels. I'm also thinking it might be easier to do a large volume of small items like napkins in a twin tub/or any sort of top loader than in the Miele. In the Miele unless I add one or two larger items, the napkins tend to bunch and not wash/rinse well. However there are times when I have 24 or more napkins (say after a party),and no tablecloths. Mind you would only consider laundering sturdy items in a twinnie. The washing action seems a bit to rough for delicates, prolly shirts as well. Keep those suggestions/information coming! Launderess

Post# 68567 , Reply# 10 5/29/2005 at 08:49 (6,905 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia)
Checkrate/Likes "Wondering if these units are so difficult to work with,why all the fuss even to the point of starting a colllector's club..." The twinnies do have their good points too. I still have one (a Hoover) and am on the lookout for another (1960s Lightburn). They do spin fast and can be fun to use when you are in the mood. Many people here in Aus and in the UK grew up with them so using one is a trip down memory lane. They are still popular here for people with very limited water supply, as you can leave the water in the wash tub and only spray rinse, which is a way to save water. (I'd still bet that an efficient front loader saves even more water.) The spinners ("extractors") are small too - the Hoovers hold about 2kg of clothes in the wash and the same in the spinner. Two large or three regular size towels fill it up. The wash action on the Hoovers is very fast - the timer on Aus models only does 4 minutes, not sure about US models. So part of the appeal is very fast washing - you can wash, auto rinse and final spin two loads in about half an hour. But you will be there with the machine the whole time. I'd guess they are pretty cheap still in the US so you could always buy one and just see how you like it. But there are some real compromises, I like them for fun but not for practicality. Chris.

Post# 68572 , Reply# 11 5/29/2005 at 10:19 (6,905 days old) by neptune2000 ()
Checkrate/Likes *Twin Tub washer/spinners* Well, I've never owned a Hoover, but have used them some in both the spin rinse variety, and the non-spin rinse variety. My personal opinion is that the spin rinse feature is worth waiting for. I have however owned and used for many years the Penncrest variety from the '70s ( re-badged Panasonic I think )which didn't have the spin rinse either but had an overflow rinse option for the washer side that worked quite well. This was a single impeller model, which reversed ever 30 seconds or so. I wish I had never given it away. I currently have my second Maytag with the double impellers etc, which I picked up at a yard sale a year or so ago and have never gotten around to testing... could be leak city so I'd better do that outside. Two uses for any of this type small machine, that I haven't seen mentioned are: 1) It makes a GREAT final bluing/rinse so simple it's rediculous. ( For those of us who still use Blueing when we can find it, for Table Linens etc.) 2) Similarly, if one is a Starch using person - there are still a few of us around that don't use the stuff in spray cans - mixing the starch water in the wash side and then spinning it out and recycling it back to the wash tub, works just great, and you don't use as much starch as if you had to mix up a batch each time you need it because you can use just enough water to come up to the bottom of the impellers ( on the maytag ) I know this all sounds a bit crazy but it really works. Still Spinning...... Neptune2000

Post# 68624 , Reply# 12 5/30/2005 at 00:01 (6,904 days old) by kenmore1978 ()
Checkrate/Likes *Blueing* Mrs. Stewart's Blueing is alive and well in stores

Post# 68653 , Reply# 13 5/30/2005 at 10:21 (6,904 days old) by designgeek ()
Checkrate/Likes If anyone knows of one of those Maytags for sale, I'm interested, as a backup unit and for mechanical interests (geek factor:-). You can still get new twinnies in the USA: Danby and Haier. This year I got a Danby DTT-420 which is excellent. I haven't seen the Haier first hand. I also have a conventional Hotpoint TL, which came with the apartment. Both machines are useful; the Danby does most of my laundry and the Hotpoint does large and/or heavy/bulky items. Capacity: The Hotpoint TL is rated at 12#, but realistically holds 8 - 9 #. The Danby is rated at 10#, but realistically holds 5 - 6#. So, two loads in the Danby twin tub would be one load in the Hotpoint TL. (I can't see any way to design a compact washer to hold more than 5#.) Cycle time: The Hotpoint TL takes about an hour to do 8 - 9 #. The Danby twin tub takes 1/2 hour to do 4-1/2 to 5 #. In effect, the time is the same for 9# of laundry (one load in the Hotpoint, or two in the Danby). The faster cycle of the Danby lets me wash smaller loads more often, which is convenient for me given my schedule. Twin tub cycle: You can vary the wash/rinse and spin times to suit the conditions. What I've been doing lately is: Wash: 9 minutes; during the last 3 minutes I run water through the tub at about 1 gallon per minute, to provide a partial rinse that floats off the soap suds and soap scum and makes the actual rinse cycle go faster. Drain the washtub while transferring load to spinner (no lost time waiting for washtub to empty). Spin: 2 minutes, during which time I re-fill the wash tub with rinse water (also no lost time here). Rinse: 9 minute rinse in "overflow" mode with water at 1 gallon per minute. At the end of the rinse, the water in the tub is clean enough to save for the next wash. Transfer load to spinner, final spin 5 minutes. Done! After hanging up the laundry on the line, I go back and add a teaspoon or two (approx.) of bleach to the rinse water in the washtub to keep it sanitary, and leave it there for the next load to be washed in a couple days. This effectively gets my water consumption down to about the level of a front-loader (and yesterday's rinse water is more than clean enough to use as tomorrow's wash water). When I finsh installing the graywater reclamation system, my overall water consumption will drop further: the used washwater will go through a lint-screen and into a holding tank to be used for flushing the toilet during the week. Electric power consumption: I just measured this weekend using a clever KWH (kilowatt-hour) monitor which I'm using to check all my appliances' power consumption. Interestingly, the power consumption for each machine was half of what I had expected based on the rating plate on each machine. The Hotpoint TL uses only 0.26 KWH for 8 - 9 # of laundry. The Danby twin tub uses an amazingly small 0.06 (six one-hundredths!) of a KWH for 4 - 5 # of laundry: half as much energy consumption per pound. I suspect the lower power consumption on the twin-tub is due to a) the agitation action, which runs the motor intermittently, and b) the spin cycle does not have to rotate a large heavy tub full of water while getting up to speed. Agitation system: The Danby twin tub uses a conventional agitator, not a "pulsator" disc. Agitation is intermittent: "Gentle" mode: One second counterclockwise, one second pause, one second clockwise, one second pause, repeat until done. "Normal" mode: One-and-a-half seconds counterclockwise, one second pause, one second clockwise, one second pause, repeat until done. Yes, that extra half second counterclockwise in the "normal" mode does make for a darn vigorous washing action! And the gentle mode is gentle enough for most things, though I wouldn't go putting truly delicate items in any washer except possibly a modern FL. "Indigestion" threshold: Only once have I managed to put something in the Danby that gave it trouble. This was a load that included a full-size flannel sheet and two large bath towels. The wash motor made a funny noise that sounded like a cogged belt slipping, so I immediately removed the towels at the first sign of that noise, and washed them after I was done washing the sheet. No further trouble has occurred. Also once I tried pouring water through the spin tub whilst spinning, this caused it to bog down and I quickly stopped that experiment. No trouble with the spin tub since then, using it as it was designed (see below). Spin efficiency: This weekend I did a load in each machine, and after the Hotpoint was done with its load, I ran the same clothes through the Danby spinner. It spun out about another pint of water per each 4-1/2 # of laundry. So if you have "both" a conventional washer and a twinnie, you can shorten your drying times by using the twinnie's spinner after your conventional washer is done. Sound levels: The Danby is quiet enough in all modes, that the loudest sound I hear is the water splashing into the washtub as it fills. When the spinner gets going it sounds like a quiet version of a jet engine winding up, which is kinda' cool. If you load the spinner off-balance, it will vibrate and you'll definitely hear that. If you hear the spinner vibrating heavily, open the lid to stop it and re-load it. This is a minor inconvenience and you'll pretty quickly get the hang of loading it so it's properly balanced. Comparison of rinse methods: From what I've read, standard practice with twinnies in the UK is to use a "spray/extract rinse" where water is run through the spin tub as it's spinning. The UK machines, notably the old Hoovermatic, were designed to spin at 3,000 rpm, which may have something to do with this. The Danby isn't designed to do that. Spin speed is about 1,600 rpm., which produces a G-force that's slightly more than a larger-diameter TL or FL running at 800 to 1,000 rpm. As per above, if you try to get a flow-through rinse/extract (by sticking a plastic hose under the spin tub lid) you'll strain the spin motor (with the result that the spin tub runs slow and should be shut down and allowed to rest for about ten minutes). Instead, it uses the overflow rinse method, which I understand is fairly standard on Asian machines. Fill up the washtub, put in your clothes, turn on the agitator, run water through while it's going. The efficiency of this method depends on a) how much detergent you've used, and b) how much you've turned up the water from the faucet. This is an incentive to be conscientious about not overdosing on detergent during the wash cycle; when you get the dosage right, it won't take excessive water to rinse out. Using the overflow method, I've found that it's possible -without using excessive amounts of water- to rinse out all of the detergent, so my clothes come out without even the slightest hint of detergent smell. Usually I rinse to a level where I can just barely smell the slight citrus smell of my detergent, since it's basically harmless and most people are used to having a slight detergent smell as an indication of clean clothes. What else...? Weighs 70 lbs., has casters, easy to move around. Comes with a nifty quick-connect for your kitchen sink faucet. One modification you might want to do. From the factory, the rear panel on the Danby is attached with screws to the rear of the metal housing of the machine. When it's running, this rear panel can be a source of vibration noise. What I did was unscrew the rear panel and run duct-tape around its entire perimeter, and fold the duct tape over so it covers both sides. (For example, if you have 2" wide duct tape, run it around at 1" from the edge, so the front edge has 1" of coverage, and an additional 1" of duct tape is exposed; then fold over that extra 1" so it covers an inch of the backside of the panel.) This also safely covers the otherwise somewhat sharp edges of this metal panel. Then I screwed the panel back on, and the duct-tape worked as planned: it provides a slight but sufficient layer between the removable panel and the metal housing, thereby eliminating that vibration noise. (You can make jokes about duct tape, but in this case it works wonders and doesn't look objectionable.) Another thing you might want to try: If you discharge wash water into the sink, try putting the discharge hose over a fine-mesh strainer (same mesh as a tea strainer, but a full-size one). This will catch lint that would otherwise go into the sink. Last but not least, get a decent measuring cup for detergent. I use something that looks like a "shot glass" that people use for drinking distilled spirits, except this one is calibrated in various units of measure: teaspoons, millilitres, ounces, etc. Keep track of your detergent usage and you'll find the right amount to get everything clean without overdosing, and thereby be able to keep the rinse cycles short and water usage efficient. I think it's likely that twinnies will make a comeback in the US. Water and energy efficiency similar to a front-loader, at about half the price (the Danby unit goes for $250 - $300 depending on where you buy it), and without the well-known vibration issues of front-loaders. The latter point also makes it a good bet for apartment dwellers, since it won't disturb the neighbors. The internal layout looks clean enough that repairs should be fairly easy, and the mechanism is so simple that it should last as long as a more heavily-built machine.

Post# 68811 , Reply# 14 5/31/2005 at 19:04 (6,903 days old) by bpetersxx (laf in on the banks of the Wabash River)
Checkrate/Likes *danby twin tub* control panel Would u pay this CLICK HERE TO GO TO bpetersxx's LINK on eBay

Post# 68812 , Reply# 15 5/31/2005 at 19:18 (6,903 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes *Interesting* But for some reason find the vintage twinnes more interesting. Thanks for the heads up! DesignGeek What a great post, but got tired just reading how you do laundry with your Danby! LOL. Launderess

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