Posted 6 years ago
fortapache
(3406 items)
Got this back in November but it took a few months to get it up here and then a couple more before I got around to taking photos. The poor thing has to sit outside and I had to take photos during daylight hours.
This washer was made from 1945-1983. Not quite sure who would want one after the spin cycle was invented but apparently someone did. There do not seem to be any controls on this looks like I will need to find a manual which should be easy to find online. Oh look there is a video showing how to use it. Still not sure why anyone would want to use this in 1963 let alone 1983. That is unless you are like me and just want to do it for fun.
The wringer swings out which I am certain serves a purpose. The washer is in excellent condition and should be functional. First the oil must be drained and new oil added. We shall see how that goes. In the meantime an exciting video in the comment section.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM6z3Af94JU
My mom had on of these.
Mine did too hunter, she loved the Maytag brand - a nice blast from the past here fort!
Surprised they were still making those in the 80s. Good luck getting it running
Thank you very much hunter. Looks like they were popular.
Thank you very much Newfld. Apparently it is a good brand.
Thank you very much elanski. I need to clean out the oil reservoir and it should be ready to go.
Thank you very much Thomas. Yes the roller looks mean.
Thank you very much keramikos. Looks like mine on the left.
Thank you
Watchsearcher
fattytail
Newfld
Rulandma
EZa
Brunswick
officialfuel
Irishcollector
iggy
AnythingObscure
yougottahavestuff
Mrstyndall
aura
ttomtucker
vetraio50
My grandmother had one and let us little children help feed wet clothes in the wringer. My sister get her hand caught in the wringer - it was such a big deal, the family never stopped mentioning it, even decades later! No lasting injury but lots of shrieking and tears from my sister!
The wringer swings out so you can position it over tubs of rinse water.
You wrung the soapy water out and it ran back in the washer, the clothes then went into a washtub of plain water. The clothes got wrung out a second time, then put into wash tub # 2 of plain water for a second rinse. From there, they got wrung out a third time and then you would be ready to carry the basket of flat clothes outside. Each piece got a good shake, then attached to the clothesline with clothespins to dry.
After some length of time, they would be dry from the wind and sun so you could go back out and collect them in a basket, go back inside and begin ironing each piece.
Monday was the usual washing day for some reason. It was an all day affair even if you had a fine washing machine such as this one.
The fill hose and the drain hose were moveable so you could fill and drain the washer and the wash tubs.
One other labor intensive job of wash day was inserting pants stretchers into the legs of men’s pants while they were wet. You hung them in the line with the metal adjustable frames in place. The stretchers were a pain to insert because the fabric was wet, then a pain to remove when the pants were dry because the fabric would shrink and tighten on the stretchers as it dried.
The stretchers were to prevent shrinkage and help the fabric keep it’s shape and reduce wrinkles.
It would really be entertaining if you would wash a load of clothes in your machine and report your experience here!
One last remembrance of clothes washing: wet clothes are heavy so you would have to put a prop or two under the clothes line to keep it from sagging too low and risk the clothes touching the ground and getting dirty.
And don’t hang the undies in a conspicuous place; if you had multiple clothes lines, you did not put the undies on the first line! That’s just not socially acceptable!
My grandmother got one of these right after WWII it was the only washer she ever owned and she used it right up until she died in the late 1980's. She claimed it did a better job than those new fangled ones.
Thank you very much Watchsearcher. Excellent description of how these were used. I have one washtub will need one more. Also a five gallon bucket although I could cheat and use a hose.
Thank you very much fhrjr2. Explains why they were made so long.
Thank you very much keramikos. Comment deleted per your request. Looks like these were rather versatile with butter churning and meat grinder. I have a washboard and manual wringer. That would be a real chore. Don't recall seeing a wringer at a pool, we had to hand wring them.
Our neighbor in KS had one of these when I was 5 yrs old...1961. On wash day, I would go over to her house to watch her do laundry on her screened in porch while my Mom was hanging out clothes on the clothesline. It was fun being a kid back then.
You could get by with just one wash tub of rinse water if you are careful with the detergent. ;-)
Thank you very much highlander56. The old days when we rode bikes all over with no helmets. My grandmother always used a clothesline.
We'll see Watchsearcher. I wonder if Tide Pods willwork.
Thank you
PhilDMorris
blunderbuss2
fhrjr2
valentino97
ttomtucker
Broochman
Vynil33rpm
highlander56
Thank you
Trey
Manikan
SEAN68
Why do I find myself giggling slightly at the whole idea of using "Tide Pods" in a wringer wash machine...?? ;-) :-)
AnythingO perhaps Tide Pods would work work with a washboard.
Got my arm caught and rolled up past my elbow in one of these! I'm with you, why would anyone want one up into the 80's!? I had no idea they were made then still.
Getting your hand/arm in the wringer was a constant fear even for adults so that’s probably why Maytag colored the wringer release button red and made it so big. It would disengage the wringer in case something jammed it or if it was swallowing your arm!
Thank you very much MsCrystalShip. I shall indeed be careful. That sounds like it would hurt a lot.
Also shareurpassion and Watchsearcher. I shall keep a finger near the disengage button.
Thank you
shareurpassion
mikelv85
Ms.CrystalShip
Thank you Vynil33rpm.
2 to go for 30!
my Mom had one of these and i remember sticking my fingers in the rollers at about 2 years old... i've never forgotten it..(still have my fingers tho ^^)
Thank you very muchGregMillerscollection. Glad you still have your fingers.
Thank you SEAN68.
1 to go for 30!
I haven't seen one of these in quite some time. My Grandmother had one of these when I was a little kid. I remember she kept it on the back porch of their house.
Thank you very much Scott. I keep mine by the front porch.
Yay hit 30!
We bought an E2L model from an Iowa collector/restorer of wringer washers about 10 years ago. It worked perfectly and we enjoyed using it but gravitated back to one of those newfangled machines about 10 years ago. The newfangled machines last on average...10 years. They cost a fortune to fix if they are repairable due to the electronics and the mother boards that help you make wash selections via soft buttons and intricate door locks that wear out with time. Our modern machine began leaking a few weeks ago then stopped spinning and draining all together. The lid lock would lock and unlock repeatedly on its own. In a word, it was TOAST. So....out came the Maytag wringer machine and we have been using it since. The clothes are noticeably cleaner and the time it takes to wash, wring, rinse and run them through the wringer again is often faster than it takes a modern machine to weigh the clothes, calibrate the load, agitate, spin, stop and rest, rinse and spin once again. Will we return to a modern machine? Probably. But for now our trusty Maytag wringer washer is saving the day!