My gut tells me "clothes" would be allowed for "parts of a washing machine" in the 80s as well. That sort of clue doesn't violate the letter of the rules, so far as I can tell. It veers near that unwritten rule (but later written, as I understand it) where you couldn't get too "cute" for lack of a better term (see: Thomas for Things You Doubt). A lot of people go down this road of buzzing things that don't fit the spirit of the category, but if that were the case, the Why You/Might Say boxes wouldn't play well at all.
-Jason