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Old 29th Dec 2018, 6:04 pm   #81
Lancs Lad
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

Loving your work, Croozer! That was fun.

But what happened next? Who was the mysterious young lady? I am agog to hear more of this steamy saga...
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Old 30th Dec 2018, 12:52 am   #82
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

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That's really nice, Sue.

Does it have a built in heater?
I don't think any of the Lightburns had heaters, and I don't remember seeing one with a timer either. They were sold on their simplicity and toughness. And they are bullet-proof, except for the thin galvanised iron spin tub which rusts out quickly.
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Old 30th Dec 2018, 5:27 am   #83
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

We used a Hoover with side pulsator for washing engine parts. The early model with a wringer rather than a side spin tub. So not a twin tub, just half of one.
Filled with Gunk, heated carefully, it would produce bright clean parts in a few minutes.
Left running overnight it would strip all paint and gasket compound too.

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Old 2nd Jan 2019, 5:20 pm   #84
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

All this brings back memories, firstly my nan had one of those Hoovermatic machines I only saw it used once or twice but having seen the picture of one I know that's what she had.

Mum had two Servis twin tubs, the first one we used until it was knackered. I remember it because when using the heater it would bite you if you touched any uncoated metal parts, although it stopped doing it when we moved house. The second one again lasted many years and I remember I did the washing for mum every Saturday. She would sort it into piles then I'd put it through the wash and spin cycles. One lot of hot water and soap would do for a couple of washes and we always washed the cleanest stuff first and the mankiest last.

The automatic I've got now can do a light wash in 30 minutes at 30 degrees centigrade which is usually good enough.

Finally my friend has one of those Burco boilers, his dad uses it to boil up crabs and other food that needs boiling. He told me that the element blew short circuit to earth. The replacement was rated at 4 kilowatts so has to be run from a 15 amp socket in his workshop. I assume the original element was a bit lower rated so could be run from a normal socket.
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Old 2nd Jan 2019, 10:49 pm   #85
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

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That's really nice, Sue.

Does it have a built in heater?
I don't think any of the Lightburns had heaters.......
Weren't they early adopters of cold water capable washing powder in Oz?
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Old 3rd Jan 2019, 4:00 am   #86
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

I think so. Cold Power laundry powder was being pushed hard on TV in the early 70s, as I remember. You can still get it. I usually wash in cold water with whatever powder's cheap, and only tip a bucket of hot in if the load is really dirty.
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Old 3rd Jan 2019, 5:22 am   #87
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

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Washing machine and spin dryer in separate tubs in a single outer casing is the Brit one....

You can still buy a brand new one if you wish.
Same as Australia, then, though they came many shapes and sizes. There was a really oddball Australian fibreglass bodied twin tub made by Lightburn that was based on the company's cement mixers!
I used a Lightburn in the late 1970s. The agitator was a paddle that went from side to side and threatened to slosh water all over the place if you over filled it.
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Old 4th Jan 2019, 12:55 pm   #88
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

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We used a Hoover with side pulsator for washing engine parts. The early model with a wringer rather than a side spin tub. So not a twin tub, just half of one.
We had one of those when first married (1965-ish). They were not, I think, produced in large numbers.
This was a good job, as my late wife leaned over towards the tub to get some washing out to mangle it, and the wet, rotating wringer roller grabbed her long-ish hair, and pulled a large clump of it out of her scalp. A visit to A&E was necessary as a result. It took monthes to grow back properly. There was a big red stop button on the front of the machine, but not accessible in those circumstances.
A twin-tub very rapidly replaced it. (I worked a a Hoover dealer's shop at the time, and got a good discount).
All gone now, got a Miele, had it twelve years so far, and not a single hiccup. Tony.
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Old 4th Jan 2019, 3:01 pm   #89
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

When in Canada with top loaders, apparently most folk used cold water detergent I have never seen it available here in UK or Europe. Do we actually need hot water to launder our clothes or is it manufactures hard sell.
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Old 4th Jan 2019, 4:09 pm   #90
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Default Re: Anyone still use a Twintub?

Certainly since the 1980s most laundry-detergents have been based on enzyme activity - that's the 'biological' bit - which digest dirt/stains, rather than the old soap/detergent which used 'polar' molecules, (and often some rather caustic components to saponify greasy stains).

Enzyme-based detergents are closer to biology than to chemistry - heat 'denatures' the enzymes and causes them to stop working (same idea as boiling an egg makes the white go hard). In a typical 'biological' laundry-detergent there will be several different enzymes to tackle the different stain-types; each will have its own preferred temperature-range.

To get the best out of these - irrespective of the kind of washing-machine - you start off cold, then gradually warm the washing water, so each part of the enzyme 'package' can spend a period at its optimum working temperature.

This is also one of the reasons you don't find 'hot-fill' automatic washers today - a hot-fill would deactivate the enzymes before they got to do their work.

So yes, if you're using a modern laundry-detergent, whatever style of washing-machine you use - automatic, twintub, agitator, washer/drier - the cold water will work - if you give it long enough. The enzymes still do their stuff, only slower at lower temperatures.
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