Danby Twin Tub Laundry

by Danby

Product Features

• Energy efficient full length agitator
• Rust resistant galvanized steel cabinet
• Lint filter
• Safety lid spinning stops when open

Product Details

• Item Weight: 86 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 94 pounds
• ASIN: B000N29VGY
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,607 in Appliances (See Top 100 in Appliances)
  • #94 in Appliances > Washers & Dryers > Washers

Product Description

The Danby washer has a 10lb (4. 5kg) capacity washer, Energy efficient full length agitator, 2 wash options (normal & gentle), Rust resistant galvanized steel cabinet, Lint filter, 1600 RPM spin dry cycle, Safety lid - spinning stops when open, Built-in castors for easy movement, and a Quiet operation. The washer dimensions are 28 15/16 x 17 2/16 x 36 4/16.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars save money, do smaller loads, air dry, do as the Asians and Europeans do, September 13, 2009

By 

Beatrice Izzey "Nanny Dog" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Danby Twin Tub Laundry

I love this machine and would recommend it to people who understand and appreciate the below points.

If you have lived in Asia or Europe, you have seen some version of this machine before, on peoples' porches and patios.

One powerful idea is you control how many times you want to rinse (I love double and triple rinsing my clothes - get the dirt AND the detergent out!). You control how many minutes to agitate. You can customize how you want to do your clothes. It's super for soaking and gentle-agitating your fine washables - use a mesh laundry bag! Soak as long as you like - it's not the laundromat!

The best idea is the super efficient centrifuge like spinner. Yes, it's the flap side on the right, yes, you have to load that side separately. However, the spinner is so fast, faster than the spin mechanism in ANY other type of washing machine, that your clothes are just moist, not sopping wet when they come out. This means your clothes will air dry pretty fast! I would guess that not even the best conventional washing machines spin clothes as well as this spinner.

That's why the spinner in this machine is separate - it's a completely different function.

This design is why they don't use clothes dryers in Asia and Europe - because of the centrifuge spinner.

As for load size, I do laundry for two adults and one 5 year old every couple of days - I hate letting a week of dirty stuff pile up. It would be hell to air dry a week's worth of wet clothes. However, doing smaller loads more frequently allows you to avoid using the clothes dryer. You can have fewer clothes, too. Another $$ saver. (Having more underwear and socks is NOT the answer!)

The dryer not only costs $$ and is ecologically incorrect, it destroys and shortens the life of your textiles so you do want to avoid using it anyway, right?

The small footprint means it fits nicely in our small Manhattan apartment's half bathroom. I doubt any other machine would fit in there. No installation is necessary - you just need a sink. The casters make moving it around easy. It's pretty lightweight - I am a petite woman and I can move it myself. In our prior apartment, it slid around nicely in our small kitchen.

For the best reviews, see [...]- there are like forty reviews there, more fair and comprehensive than the two here.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One and a half years, going strong!, April 3, 2010

By 

M.W. (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Danby Twin Tub Laundry

This is my original review of this washing machine, posted shortly after I received it:

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This washing machine is both unusual and very fantastic. It gives you much more control over your washing process, as well as your water usage. This is important if you are trying to cut down your water bill, or if you are merely trying to be ecologically responsible like I am.

The "twin-tub" washing machine model was popular in the U.S. in the 1940's and 50's; they are still very popular in the UK, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia. It's really cool Danby makes a model for the U.S. market.

You control how much water you fill the tub with - the input hose connects straight to the tap, and you adjust the heat and pressure of the water, etc, directly from your faucet. This is a good feature as it means the hose does not need to be pressurized, which means you are less likely to have leaks. Since the washing tub and most of the rest of the washer is plastic you can not use water over 120 degrees. But not washing clothes with piping hot water will also conserve energy, and the washer only weighs about 65 to 70 lbs due to its mostly plastic composition. (The washer is on casters which roll back and forth - it'd be nice if they rolled side to side too, but since the washer is so light-weight, it's not hard to slide sideways.)

There is a low, medium, and high water setting - the highest setting holds about 15 gallons. The tub holds a surprising amount of clothing (about 6 to 7 lbs, although it says 10 lbs): I can do a week's worth of my laundry in here easily in one load (e.g. several shirts, a few dresses, several pairs of tights, a few pairs long underwear, several pairs of socks all at once). I can also wash a queen size flannel sheet set (fitted sheet, regular sheet, and 2 pillow cases) in one wash, with room for more.

The washer has an intermittent agitation method, and 2 wash settings (gentle and normal) - I've found it gets my clothes very clean. It is somewhat inconvenient that the spinner only holds about half of what the washing tub holds, but I can deal with that. The good thing is that the spinner spins at 1400 to 1600 rpms and gets one's clothes half dry just from the spin. Clothes dry within several hours, or overnight, on a drying rack after a wash.

You control the number of washes and rinses manually just by repeating either or both yourself. You can set a wash/rinse cycle from 1 to 15 minutes. A spin cycle can be set from 1 to 5 minutes. If you need an extra wash or soak, just fill the tub with water and detergent and let your clothes soak before setting and starting the wash cycle.

This washer is not very loud, but it's not entirely silent either. If you are worried about it being heard by neighbors I think it very likely any sounds can be effectively masked by playing music. I cannot hear it running inside when I go outside my apartment and listen.

You save on energy and water use with this washer; the compromise is you put more manual energy into the process - switching your clothing from the wash tub to the spinner, and back again, etc (you will want to invest in a pair of rubber dish-washing gloves, otherwise you'll have to get your hands very wet). So, it's not for everyone. But there's lots of room for ingenuity, e.g. re-using the wash and rinse water for multiple loads if you'd like and conserving water this way.

Overall, I love this washer. It is very liberating to not have to go to the laundromat anymore, and I like the control I have over the wash process and my resource consumption with this. I would give it 10 stars if I could!
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One and a half years, and many loads later, I am happy to say it is still working wonderfully. I have had no problems with any of the motors (agitator, spinner, or pump), and virtually no problems with leakage.

One minor issue: I have found that the area where the hose from the faucet connects with the machine can leak a little bit if the hose isn't positioned _just right_ and although it hasn't caused any major problems, I will probably look into sealing up that connection in the future.

The only other issue I had was with the faucet adapter that comes with the washer - about 8 months into its use it somehow became stripped and wouldn't screw onto the faucet anymore. I had to order a new one from Danby (in fact I ordered two in case I had similar issues with the new one too), and customer service was very friendly and efficient, the replacements arriving quickly. I have not yet had problems with the second adapter; I'm being very careful to avoid damaging its delicate threads.

I would also like to slightly amend my assessment of its noise level: Although I *have* actually been able to hear the machine running outside my apartment now, I still think the machine's noise could be effectively masked with music or a loud movie if you're worried about a landlord or a tattling neighbor.

All in all, I'm still really really happy with this purchase!

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good & reliable, January 9, 2007

By 

Narcisa Bernier (Palmdale, Ca.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

We had problems with a longer delvery time than initially promised. Company took an interest in resolving this problem.
The unit is reliable and cleans nicely. It is very easy to use and is lightweight.
We do have an issue with the spinner "rattling" and making noise.
With 2 babies in the household, we save money by not using a laundromat.

Quite a satisfactory product.