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Thread Number: 97917
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Betty Furness Introduces Frigidaire's Very First Automatic Washer with a Full Cycle Video! |
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Post# 1228705 4/13/2025 at 15:13 by Unimatic1140  (Minneapolis) |
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I've had numerous members over the years ask me to do a full cycle video of my 1947 Frigidaire Unimatic washer, the very first washer that GM Frigidaire ever produced.
Well I finally got around to doing this! The first 10 minutes of the video Betty helps me do a complete overview of the machine, how it works and its mechanical makeup. The rest of the video is a full cycle demonstration with 5 big bath towels. You can be sure if it's Frigidaire, built and backed by General Motors! | ||
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Post# 1228707 , Reply# 1 4/13/2025 at 15:32 by chestermikeuk (Rainhill *Home of the RailwayTrials* Merseyside,UK) |
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Unimatic By Name  | ||
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Post# 1228712 , Reply# 2 4/13/2025 at 16:11 by Marky_Mark (From Liverpool. Now living in Palm Springs and Madrid) |
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Sudscake Galore! There's nothing quite like watching "twenty-nine and one-half minutes" of Live-Water Action to brighten up your Sunday evening 🤩. Love it!
This has to take the prize for being the best washer explanation and demonstration video I've seen on YouTube.
I enjoy the drama of these machines while the spin ramps up, especially the imposing sound of raw power when the centrifugal switch is about to disconnect the start windings (not to mention breathing a sigh of relief when they do drop out, knowing everything is working correctly!). So cool to watch and listen to. Well done!
Question: how does the rinsing compare between Frigidaire 2-rinse machines and the 1-rinse-plus-overflow Unimatics?
Mark
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| Post# 1228719 , Reply# 3 4/13/2025 at 17:17 by agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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Always wondered how this machine performed and now we know ! Great job Robert, that was enjoyable. | ||
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Post# 1228721 , Reply# 4 4/13/2025 at 17:22 by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Question: how does the rinsing compare between Frigidaire 2-rinse machines and the 1-rinse-plus-overflow Unimatics?
Hi Mark, personally I prefer the over-flow rinse machines. While both designs are extremely effective at rinsing, some of the best rinsing I've ever experienced, the over-flow rinse machines take 26 minutes for a full cycle and use a few less gallons of water. When I was down in Florida for a few months this winter the place I was staying had an LG washer that is about 6 years old. Placing a quarter cup of bleach in the dispenser and even selecting 3 extra rinses I could still smell bleach in the towels when the load was completed. Using 3/4 cup of bleach on the same towels in any of my Unimatic washers there is simply no smell of bleach what so ever when the cycle is completed. | ||
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Post# 1228723 , Reply# 5 4/13/2025 at 17:49 by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK) |
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Unimatic | ||
| Post# 1228726 , Reply# 6 4/13/2025 at 18:34 by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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Post# 1228761 , Reply# 10 4/14/2025 at 05:12 by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 1228767 , Reply# 11 4/14/2025 at 07:20 by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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A friend's family had a 1957 control tower and his mother used a half cup of Tide in it.
Hi Tom, the owners manual of both the '47 and '57 (and I assume all other Unimatic washers) says the following: High Sudsing Detergents: start with 1/2 cup. Shortly after washing action starts, check the suds level and add more detergent to maintain suds level of about two inches. My water is approx 7 grains of hardness right from the city so it takes a bit more detergent to maintain a 2" suds level. Oh and yes it sure does have the little vent leg on the lid to keep the lid up about 1" to let the machine dry out after washing. I don't quite understand how the water was expelled from the solid tub at the beginning of spin and then caught "in the cabinet" for the pump to then deal with in its own time. There must have been some other "tub" to catch this water. What dd it look like? Did it then have its own issues with rust/leakage over time? Hi Nick, yes the water is thrown into the cabinet and you can clearly hear this as it starts to spin. Betty forgot to mention (she's 109 years old now so I'll let that slide lol) that the entire washer cabinet, top, lid and tubs are finished in heavy duty porcelain so even after nearly 80 years rusting is very little in the outer cabinet that catches the water. In the images below you can see part of the outer cabinet and while there are a few minor rust spots but nothing concerning. | ||
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Post# 1228768 , Reply# 12 4/14/2025 at 07:29 by Pulsator (Saint Joseph, MI) |
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Post# 1228778 , Reply# 13 4/14/2025 at 09:50 by Chetlaham (United States) |
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Thank You!! | ||
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Post# 1228783 , Reply# 14 4/14/2025 at 10:24 by nashmaytagbear (Fairview, TN) |
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Post# 1228785 , Reply# 15 4/14/2025 at 10:37 by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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Post# 1228787 , Reply# 16 4/14/2025 at 11:15 by peteski50 (New York) |
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Frigidaire! | ||
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Post# 1228790 , Reply# 17 4/14/2025 at 11:19 by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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Post# 1228792 , Reply# 18 4/14/2025 at 12:11 by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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I always thought that Betty only advertised for westinghouse!
In case anyone is wondering how I convinced Betty to do a pitch for Frigidaire in my video, when she's obviously the Westinghouse lady, I had to make a phone call to a good friend of mine. You can hear what my friend said for yourself at the link below... CLICK HERE TO GO TO Unimatic1140's LINK | ||
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Post# 1228798 , Reply# 19 4/14/2025 at 12:28 by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 1228856 , Reply# 20 4/15/2025 at 00:25 by aussie-plugs (Melbourne, Australia) |
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Thanks for explaining the outer tub design ... ... and for letting us know who convinced Betty to switch teams for your videos! | ||
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Post# 1228864 , Reply# 21 4/15/2025 at 06:00 by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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| Post# 1228872 , Reply# 22 4/15/2025 at 08:54 by agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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I don't know but that part when Betty referenced about choking on suds cracked me up for some reason...lol | ||
| Post# 1228873 , Reply# 23 4/15/2025 at 09:29 by Golittlesport (California) | ||
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Post# 1228891 , Reply# 24 4/15/2025 at 12:18 by Helicaldrive (St. Louis) |
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WOW So much fun! Reminiscent of the days when we had fun and laughs here all the time. The script was amazing. And what technology did you use to mimic Betty’s voice and accent and prosody so perfectly? | ||
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Post# 1228893 , Reply# 25 4/15/2025 at 12:33 by Helicaldrive (St. Louis) |
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Ooops I see you already answered that question. Sorry. | ||
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Post# 1228925 , Reply# 26 4/15/2025 at 18:57 by cadman (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Only pure, rich, lively suds! LOL | ||
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Post# 1228956 , Reply# 27 4/16/2025 at 08:32 by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Post# 1229290 , Reply# 28 4/19/2025 at 18:57 by Stainfighter (Columbia, SC) |
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Re: friend, Gladys … | ||
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Post# 1229291 , Reply# 29 4/19/2025 at 19:04 by servis-dream (planet 90s, Hotpoint factory, Peterborough ) |
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Reply #29
i watched it all the way through, the tub's balancing springs genuinely seem to be very innovative, along with many other features such as the machine technically not having a true outer tub, all in all it's a very interesting machine
i suppose another thing you could do is film a vid of the Super Unimatic, as there's only one clipped video of it on YouTube, hopefully this can happen as I've seen a lot of it's progression in archived posts on here and wish to see what it can do hopefully this can be done :) Matthew | ||
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Post# 1229336 , Reply# 30 4/20/2025 at 11:55 by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Post# 1229513 , Reply# 31 4/21/2025 at 22:54 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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Betty Furness and Westinghouse Is this the same woman who promoted Westinghouse? Why with Frigidaire? | ||
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Post# 1229553 , Reply# 32 4/22/2025 at 12:51 by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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| Post# 1229565 , Reply# 33 4/22/2025 at 15:18 by agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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Reply #31 Welcome to the potentially scary world of AI.Jerome. | ||
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