Milnor Retires Vintage Washer

By Planet Laundry staff | Nov 06, 2009

A Kansas laundry with a 45-year-old washer has been named the winner of the Milnor Triple-Loader Retirement Contest, according to the company.

The vintage unit was shipped from the Milnor factory on June 8, 1964, and has been in continuous use since it was installed that year in the Lenexa Coin Laundry in Lenexa, Kan.

Pellerin Milnor Corp. manufactured its first industrial washers for the coin laundry market in 1959. These machines are still offered today as classic-style C4E units. Milnor also offers a newer line of cabinet-style washers to reach out to a broader segment of the self-service laundry industry.

The winning laundry owners – Brad and Karen Griggs – have owned the business for the last six years and said that the durability of all of their vintage Milnor machines is the result of a series of involved owners who have cared for the business.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to Lenexa Coin Laundry founders, Virgil and Josie Hutsler, for choosing to install the original in 1964 and subsequent Milnor triple-loaders thereafter,” Brad said. “Thanks also to former owners Glen and Sheri Quackenbush (1984-2001) and Mark and Teresa Freeman (2001-2003) for performing the routine maintenance required to prolong the life of all our Milnor triple-loaders.”

He also credited their local dealer – Loomis Brothers Equipment Co. – with entering them into the contest and helping ensure that their store’s machinery is running in top condition.
The winning unit will be removed from the store and replaced with a new Milnor coin-operated washer. The store has five other vintage Milnor machines from the 1960s – all in good operating condition – that are also being considered for replacement with new equipment.

The contest ran from January 1 through September 30. The first five runners-up washers in the contest were constructed between 1964 and 1966. Each of these laundry owners was awarded a $1,000 manufacturer credit toward the purchase of a new Milnor washer.

Also, more than two dozen machines entered in the contest were produced before 1970.

In all, 45 contestants entered 72 individual machines.

The winning washer in Lenexa had a retail list price in 1964 of approximately $850, according to Gary Gauthier, national sales manager for vended laundries at Milnor. He added that this single washer could have generated in the neighborhood of $90,000 for its collective owners over the last 45 years.