POD 5/20/21 - Bendix super fast dryer

Early tumble dryers were often matched with automatic washing machines that had relatively low final extraction, and or worse, semi automatic washers like wringers. Either way you ended up with laundry that could be rather if not comparatively sopping wet.

High heat allowed these early dryers to bake all that water out of washing quickly. This was important I suppose to housewives doing more than one load of wash per day and wanted to get things over with.

For many years laundromat dryers in USA ran rather hot also because in part top or even front loaders didn't have the high speed final extraction found today.

To avoid customers backed up there is usually a fixed ratio between washers and dryers for laundromats. This of course goes out the window when customers either pay for far more time than a load needs to dry, thus tying up a machine for longer than it should. That and or leaving the place with load in dryer and not returning until some time after it has stopped. For the latter don't be surprised if wash has been removed from dryer, put in cart and shoved off to the side somewhere.


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Post# 1117758 5/20/2021 at 08:03 (1,065 days old) by henene4 (Heidenheim a.d. Brenz (Germany))
Checkrate/Likes So, the add says it was 32" wide. Was the drum extra wide then too? Could have been about 30" wide drum with that cabinet...

Post# 1117821 , Reply# 1 5/20/2021 at 16:36 (1,065 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes The drum was very wide with a totally perforated back and the heat inlet was the full width of the drum. The gas dryer was so powerful that it damaged or could damage fabrics. Dryers in the field had the BTU ratings of the burners lowered and later models were built with less powerful burners. Maybe they originally designed them to be used with the Economat. washers.

Post# 1117832 , Reply# 2 5/20/2021 at 18:45 (1,065 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)
Checkrate/Likes We had a gas Bendix dryer with no window as a kid. It was super fast and broiled a load in less than 30 minutes that was so hot taking laundry out of it that it almost burned you. Replaced with a Kenmore 70. My aunt gave it to us when she replaced her Economat with a TOL Kenmore pair in coppertone.

Post# 1117843 , Reply# 3 5/20/2021 at 20:29 (1,065 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There�s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes Early tumble dryers were often matched with automatic washing machines that had relatively low final extraction, and or worse, semi automatic washers like wringers. Either way you ended up with laundry that could be rather if not comparatively sopping wet. High heat allowed these early dryers to bake all that water out of washing quickly. This was important I suppose to housewives doing more than one load of wash per day and wanted to get things over with. For many years laundromat dryers in USA ran rather hot also because in part top or even front loaders didn't have the high speed final extraction found today. To avoid customers backed up there is usually a fixed ratio between washers and dryers for laundromats. This of course goes out the window when customers either pay for far more time than a load needs to dry, thus tying up a machine for longer than it should. That and or leaving the place with load in dryer and not returning until some time after it has stopped. For the latter don't be surprised if wash has been removed from dryer, put in cart and shoved off to the side somewhere.

Post# 1117845 , Reply# 4 5/20/2021 at 20:34 (1,065 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There�s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes 2 There's an old Peanuts comic strip showing Lucy fetching her bother Linus's favorite blanket out of dryer with a long stick. She goes to her brother saying "here I've washed your blanket...." Poor Linus totally clueless thanks his sister as she flings that red hot blanket his way with that stick. Final scene is Linus yelping in pain and jumping after touching that hot blanket. LOL Those with cats know a basket of warm laundry out of dryer is "catnip" to felines. If you leave it unattended for long don't be surprised to find the cat curled up in that freshly laundered wash all but daring you to chuck him out.

Post# 1117850 , Reply# 5 5/20/2021 at 21:18 (1,065 days old) by seedub (South Texas Hill Country)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Schultz did a good job drawing the Van Pelts' washer dryer set in that cartoon. I took said dryer to be a Speed Queen, as it had a foot pedal operated door latch. At eight years old, I was unsophisticated in the number of other mfg who used foot pedals.

Post# 1117859 , Reply# 6 5/20/2021 at 23:31 (1,065 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There�s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes 4 Found it! www.artnet.com/artists/charles-m-...

Post# 1117864 , Reply# 7 5/21/2021 at 00:28 (1,065 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes Launderess, thank you so very much!!!