Nice Early GE Portable Washer in Brooklyn

Different perceptions of a given item by various people can often be accounted for by the conditions and manner in which the items were used.

There are many variables, water chemistry (hard, soft), water temperature, load size, fabrics density and detergent quality, that may account for one person's perceptions of this little machine being different than another's. We have to be careful not to over generalize based only on our own particular conditions and circumstances.

The woman with the dirty jeans may have had a husband who worked as an auto mechanic and had grease on his clothes, or other equally difficult stains. She may have used a bargain brand detergent and not had her water heater set high enough to give proper washing results for the particular stained materials. She may have had hard water that reduced the detergent's washing ability. None of the above are the the machines' fault.

I can't speak for jeans, as I was a struggling graduate student, when I had the little GE, and didn't have time to do any activities requiring blue jeans, ha. But under my conditions it was a good little machine, washed things very cleanly but did not rinse as well as I liked. That was remedied easily with a couple extra rinses. I never encountered "suds lock" nor did I ever have to "prime" the pump. But yes I had to use multiple spins and rinses. But those were just my particular circumstances.

Once again hard water versus soft water may account for peoples various perceptions of rinsing ability, as well of water temp. and of course, the detergent itself.

I can't downgrade a portable for not handing "large" items because it is not meant to. It is a portable. That's like condemning a sedan car for not being able to handle a load of two by fours. It's not meant to. You use a truck. If you have "large items" and you have a small portable washer, you take them to the laundromat.

For someone who has little space for full sized washer or can't afford one. This little machine will serve them well with the obvious limitations.

Remember the operator of the machine has to have more intelligence than the machine to get good results. :)

Like John says its a "fun" little machine.

I enjoyed using it. (That was about my only entertainment that time in my life, ha.). It was fast, relatively quiet, and did a good job doing what it was designed to do. And with one or two extra rinses, I had very clean clothes.

The bottom line is we all see the world (and appliances) a little differently based on our own perceptions and conditions.


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Post# 1030043 4/16/2019 at 09:48 (1,830 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes This looks to be in nice shape and it's an early model as the balance ring at the top of the basket is all porcelain instead of the later plastic top balance ring. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Unimatic1140's LINK on eBay

Post# 1030047 , Reply# 1 4/16/2019 at 11:15 (1,830 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)
Checkrate/Likes *"Leaks when filling..." the seller says....* I had one of these for a while, neat little machine and was made by Hitachi. The one thing I didn't like about it is it doesn't spin between wash/rinses, only drain/fill. It did spin at the end of the cycle however. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 2 View Full Size

Post# 1030049 , Reply# 2 4/16/2019 at 11:23 (1,830 days old) by reactor (Oak Ridge, Tennessee-- )
Checkrate/Likes *nice machine* I had a 1979 model when I lived in a (very) small apartment. I just rolled it up to the kitchen sink when it came laundry time. I liked everything except the fact it didn't spin between the wash and rinse, there was just a drain then fill. Needless to say there was a lot of detergent in the rinse water. So I had to run the clothes through several rinses. Nevertheless, it was a cool little machine. Hope someone from the site grabs it.

Post# 1030050 , Reply# 3 4/16/2019 at 11:30 (1,830 days old) by reactor (Oak Ridge, Tennessee-- )
Checkrate/Likes *sorry for the repetition* Sorry Kevin, I didn't see your post until after I had written mine. Didn't mean to reiterate. But yes, that lack of spin between wash and rinse was a definite inconvenience. I knew it was Japanese made, but wasn't aware it was Hitachi. It was relatively quiet machine and I don't recall ever having any balance issues during the final spin. It extracted water well for a little portable.

Post# 1030051 , Reply# 4 4/16/2019 at 11:35 (1,830 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Must resist...husband will kill me...

Post# 1030102 , Reply# 5 4/17/2019 at 00:17 (1,829 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Se�ora de Los Angeles de Porci�ncula)
Checkrate/Likes I have a NIB Hotpoint version of this washer and I love it. I hate the lack of a spin but I can simply reset it to the final spin and then reset again to rinse. The basic difference is that mine has hot/cold fill and a goose neck. The wash action is quite interesting with that tiny impeller and it gets clothes really clean. I don't remember who said this washer is terrible and a friend had allergies because the water turbulence was not enough to rinse the detergent off the fabric fibers. That's the biggest BS I've ever listened, It rinses very well if you dose the detergent properly, even if you don't reset it to spin between rinses.

Post# 1030111 , Reply# 6 4/17/2019 at 06:19 (1,829 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Beg to differ, Thomas. Friend in college developed contact dermatitis and, per the Dr.'s orders, had to reset the machine for extra rinses. Granted he was not a "laundry queen" and probably could have learned where the second rinse was on the timer so that he could have repeated it with the spin instead of running the machine through another whole cycle, but that's the way life was in the 70s in a basement apartment in an Inman Park mansion in Atlanta. The reason for the lack of spins between the water changes was the propensity to suds lock. A newer model alternated the pump and the fill valve which admitted water through a little rectangular shower head during the spins which helped to knock down the suds.

Post# 1030114 , Reply# 7 4/17/2019 at 06:33 (1,829 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Se�ora de Los Angeles de Porci�ncula)
Checkrate/Likes That's very interesting information. thanks for sharing. I never had a suds lock problem... and probably everybody here knows I'm a suds queen. No matter how much detergent i put in the hotpoint, it NEVER suds locked. and my average minimum dose for everything is a full "PG" scoop. I always let it drain after the wash, then reset to spin, then reset to first rinse, reset to spin, then second rinse and let it continue until final spin (then i rinse the 3rd and 4th times repeating the process. Depending on what I wash I rinse only 4 times or 5. And final rinse always with a capful (or 2 or 3 depending on what I'm washing) of Downy.

Post# 1030115 , Reply# 8 4/17/2019 at 06:36 (1,829 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Se�ora de Los Angeles de Porci�ncula)
Checkrate/Likes note to add... even if you pour a whole box of detergent in that washer, as the agitation doesn't cause much turbulence on the water surface, it won't foam up like crazy. Eventually the pump needs to be primed. i just slap the dial and pull it back 1 second later and that's enough to resume draining. It drains reasonably fast.

Post# 1030125 , Reply# 9 4/17/2019 at 11:34 (1,829 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *A washing machine worthy of Anime* When I visited Japan several years ago, these were the standard household clothes washer. There's even an animated rendition of one in Miyazaki's "The Secret World of Arietty" Can't say I take these machines seriously. Used one in the Hotel guests laundry room. Slightly better than stinky clothes.They're more of a toy than an appliance but I suppose if you live in cramped spaces and your other option is going to the local stream with rocks it's ok.

Post# 1030243 , Reply# 13 4/19/2019 at 01:54 (1,827 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Se�ora de Los Angeles de Porci�ncula)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I totally agree with every word Reactor said above. What I refer as suds lock is, after seeing so many people saying this little machine is a Suds Lock Queen, I INTENTIONALLY tried to cause a suds lock (full load of towels and 4 full scoops of tide and nothing happened. During the agitation, it creates no bubbles (other washers do with a similar load, so fabric softener residue isn't a factor to consider) When it starts spinning, of course lots of water will come out and be "whisked" by the spinning drum. However, the tub is so deep that the water can't reach the drum. It accelerates to top speed (900 rpm?), the pump continues pumping tons of water, but nope, no suds lock... nothing... zit.. nada! Rinsing performance, without the spin is below mediocre. And of course, the capacity is VERY small. It's a PORTABLE WASHER, not a full size washer. just look at that tiny drum (super well designed by the way but the hole pattern could be better) and it will be obvious that it can NOT handle big loads. If you don't expect much from that washer, it will surprise you. Given all the limitations, the performance is surprisingly good. I usually use mine for blacks or a couple of sweatpants that are never too dirty but must be washed separately because of the lint. Tonight I realized I was using it for too long without a real hot wash and decided to wash a load of cleaning rags, super hot water... The rags came out perfectly clean. Tomorrow i'll wash my bed sheets and pillowcases in it just to have a full load of whites. It's far from being a fantastic washer, but it's really fun to use. I'll make a video this weekend.

Post# 1030150 , Reply# 10 4/17/2019 at 20:10 (1,828 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Cool Little GE Hitachi Built Washer* These are fun but do not clean large items evenly, I remember being at a customers house fixing the dryer that went with this washer and the Wife pulled her husbands work pants out of the machine and they were only clean in spots, she only had one pair of jeans in it and two work tee shirts. She said it did this all the time and often had to wash his clothes twice if they looked too bad after the first time through. John

Post# 1030176 , Reply# 11 4/18/2019 at 05:46 (1,828 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 The suds locking did not occur during agitation, but during spin with the water rushing between the two tubs. Your heavy use of fabric softener could be the reason that you do not have sudsing problems. The softener that remains in the fabrics will suppress suds in the next washing.

Post# 1030194 , Reply# 12 4/18/2019 at 09:42 (1,828 days old) by reactor (Oak Ridge, Tennessee-- )
Checkrate/Likes 2 *perceptions* Different perceptions of a given item by various people can often be accounted for by the conditions and manner in which the items were used. There are many variables, water chemistry (hard, soft), water temperature, load size, fabrics density and detergent quality, that may account for one person's perceptions of this little machine being different than another's. We have to be careful not to over generalize based only on our own particular conditions and circumstances. The woman with the dirty jeans may have had a husband who worked as an auto mechanic and had grease on his clothes, or other equally difficult stains. She may have used a bargain brand detergent and not had her water heater set high enough to give proper washing results for the particular stained materials. She may have had hard water that reduced the detergent's washing ability. None of the above are the the machines' fault. I can't speak for jeans, as I was a struggling graduate student, when I had the little GE, and didn't have time to do any activities requiring blue jeans, ha. But under my conditions it was a good little machine, washed things very cleanly but did not rinse as well as I liked. That was remedied easily with a couple extra rinses. I never encountered "suds lock" nor did I ever have to "prime" the pump. But yes I had to use multiple spins and rinses. But those were just my particular circumstances. Once again hard water versus soft water may account for peoples various perceptions of rinsing ability, as well of water temp. and of course, the detergent itself. I can't downgrade a portable for not handing "large" items because it is not meant to. It is a portable. That's like condemning a sedan car for not being able to handle a load of two by fours. It's not meant to. You use a truck. If you have "large items" and you have a small portable washer, you take them to the laundromat. For someone who has little space for full sized washer or can't afford one. This little machine will serve them well with the obvious limitations. Remember the operator of the machine has to have more intelligence than the machine to get good results. :) Like John says its a "fun" little machine. I enjoyed using it. (That was about my only entertainment that time in my life, ha.). It was fast, relatively quiet, and did a good job doing what it was designed to do. And with one or two extra rinses, I had very clean clothes. The bottom line is we all see the world (and appliances) a little differently based on our own perceptions and conditions.