Regarding this Speed Queen automatic, of what material is the agitator made?  Is it a polished aluminum?  In the photo it is as shiny as the stainless steel wash basket.

lawrence

In ‘62 we moved into a home that had a SQ just like this one.  The agitator had some areas where the shiny coating was peeling off, so my guess is that it was coated with chrome. The areas underneath the chipping looked like the agitator could have been aluminum.  My Mom hated that washer and dryer set BTW.  Within a month they were replaced with new Whirlpools.

Eddie

Tom my Mom didn’t like that the capacity was smaller than the ‘58 GE FF we had in our previous home and that the agitator had rough chips on the surface that snagged her undergarments.  It also was terrible at removing sand, grit and dog hair from the laundry.  Plus there was no lint filter and the clothes were always covered with lots of lint.

The dryer was as hot as the bowels of hell, and had only one heat, on fire or air, no in between.  I can remember taking a finished load out and was burned by a zipper badly enough that it left a red mark.

I remember that my parents were excited about the Speed Queens before we moved in, they thought they were top of the line.  After a few weeks of use their opinion changed.

I too used SQ’s at the laundromat in my early 20’s a few times, they were late 60’s early 70’s models and they cleaned as well as any TL laundromat machine did then.  But given a choice I would always go to a laundromat with Bendix FL’s, I liked watching them and they cleaned just fine, plus the laundromat I went to with the Bendix machines were only 20 cents to wash, all the others were 30 to 35 cents a load.  Making $39.90 a week net every cent mattered.  Seems funny to look at a 10 to 15 cents saving as meaning anything today, but this was ‘70-‘71, the world was a whole lot different.

Eddie

Here's my 54 SQ, the agitator is cast aluminum.  It was probably bright and polished when new, but they likely embellished it in the POD ad illustration, have never seen one that shiny.  I used a metal cleaner/polish on my aluminum Philco agitator, just for kicks, but the meager shine I was able to get didn't last through the first wash.

In the third pic, you can see the top of the SQ agitator in too-close detail, that's it's normal state with use.  This is soap residue - I like using real soap in towels now and then.