My mom always used the wash water for several loads before draining it out. Start with white and lightly soiled clothes. This saves hot water and detergent.
Drew, Excellent advise. Starting with hot water and detergent the order of loads is clean white clothes, dirty white clothes, light colored clothes, dark colored clothes, and finally dirty soiled overalls and jeans. The same water is used for all of these loads and as the water cooled down, the final load is warm water. Very efficient use of water and detergent.
My mom told me my grandma would always start with the white blouses and such and then left my grandpas work clothes for last cause they were so dirty.... and the manually rinsed out their clothes in the rinse tub, instead of putting it back through into the wringer water like this lady did.
@@terrylynn9984 my friend manually rinces clothes as well she has a double tub set sideways in front of the washer and the wringer rotates away from the washer to allow the rinced clothes to go to the next wash basin.
Yes indeed! LOL. Although this looks like fun to me - I bought a cheap $80 plastic twin tub because I liked the idea of hands on washing process, but it did get old after a few weeks and I went back to my front loader.
Yes. My grandmother said her family had the same exact one when she was young. She then explained the process, and im now very grateful that the modern washing machine exists 😂
I would still be using a wringer washer to this day if you could still buy them. I also do not have a dryer, or a dishwasher, or a garbage disposal. What worked back then still works. Today's generation has gotten fat and lazy.
The kind grandmother isn't apparently old enough nor experienced enough to know how to wash clothes. You set the tubs perpendicular to the machine. You wash, then wring into rinse tub #1. Rinse by plunging up and down and then swing wringer around to rinse in tub #2. YOu then swing the wringer around to where you wring the clothes out into a basket. The way this granny does it she is wasting water and the tub set up makes absolutely no sense. The purpose of a wringer washer was so you could wash all your clothes in the same water and save soap and water. My mama has been washing on her wringer for sixty years.
Good point, eh. But we live up in the land of 10,000 lakes where "wasting water" ain't no thang, being that there is water literally everywhere. So long as the clothes come out cleaner than they were beforehand, then hey, they have been "properly" washed.
Exactly water was not to be wasted and my grandma would do several loads with the same water, white blouses went in first and the dirtiest clothes went in last, clothes were manually rinsed by hand like kneading dough up and down and then, put through the wringer and it went straight to the laundry basket to be hung up.
It wasn't about wasting water...it was about carrying water to the washer...that you had to heat. It was the labor that got saved not the danged water! You make it sound like everybody back in the day was a stingy tree hugging save the last drop and don't drown the fleas and ticks...hardly! If you didn't have electricity, the washer ran with a gas motor and you pulled the water up out of the well by hand, in a 2 gallon bucket. This got poured into a #3 wash tub and heated on a wood fired cook stove...or into an old time cast iron wash pot hung over a fire. That hot water came dear....and THAT'S why you didn't waste it. Soap was cheap....but you often made it too. Laundry day...if there was a big family of 12 or more...took all day...it seemed..and there were no cinderellas that changed clothes 3 or 4 times a day! Each family member was lucky to own 2 changes of clothes plus their Sunday best. You wore your work clothes for several days and yup....they were filthy by time you changed out of them. I was just a boy back in the early 60s when I watched all this take place and we had electricity...we filled the water tub with a hose from the well and heated water on a cook stove in the wash house. I can still smell those fresh clean clothes...and grandma would sometimes put a little ammonia in the wash water. She said bleach ate your clothes up!
I love this tutorial! I actually appreciate the imperfections in editing the video. It gives the video a certain charm I miss in my day to day life. I’ve heard the agitator referred to as “the gyrator” but I really like what granddaddy called it: “the dasher.” Thanks for sharing!
Great video. Brought back a lot of memories. This was a very energy efficient way of washing clothes. Also the wash and rinse water went back in the ground , not down the drain. Yes it was more physical work, but after doing a few loads of wash , you did not need to go to the gym. So no health club expenses.
God bless you for a great tutorial & your assistant helping you. I got tired of buying new washers that last only a few years and have bought a Maytag wringer washer that still works. Always heard my grandma talk about how nothing got clothes cleaner than a wringer washer. Looking forward to learning how to use it and your video was great help. Thank you!
Apparently no one ever told you that the thing in the middle of the tub in the middle of the blue thing that you pointed to it’s not called the ringer it’s called an agitator
I just got one and its a lot of fun. I recommend everyone get one, as they are actually easy to use and allow you to decide how long you want the clothes to agitate. If anything its a great companion to a modern washer and dryer.
My mom had one of these and she taught me me when I was around 11 or 12 do wash and how to use it. My Mom never liked the automatic. Thought they never washed well. But we had stationary tubs in our basement and used them to rinse them. Does this bring back memories! Thanks!😊
My mom washed several loads of clothes in same water. And thr rinse tub was the only rinse. The arm of the wringer could be repositioned so it could wring rinse to empty tub. I hated wash day becuz i had to take a bath in 1 of the tubs. Got my arm in the wringer too. M 67 and still hav scar on my arm.
Mom had a Maytag exactly like the one in the video. When I grew older, I helped with the laundry chores on Mondays. It was my "job" to roll the washing machine over to the basement's floor drain to empty the machine. Then roll it back and refill it with hot water. Mom never rinsed clothes in the washer. We rinsed them in the tubs (large concrete sinks built into the north wall of the basement.) Sometimes I did all the laundry chores. I got my fingers caught in the wringer a couple of times, thank goodness for the safety release bars to hit in a panic if necessary.
Mom had this too, but the twin rinse tubs were perpendicular to the washer, so you can wring the clothes into the first tub, and then swing the wringer 90 degrees to wring into the next rinse tub, then move the wringer 45 degrees to wring them into a basket. The washer was in the basement and the drain was right below, so it was easy to dump all the water.
We never wasted the water and the soap, but washed several loads before draining it. You could use cold, warm, or hot...even boiling water, if you really wanted to. Mom used to do this when washing sickroom linens.
Thanks for the demonstration it was very well done. As a kid we had one and I got my self in real trouble putting on the wringer rollers and pushing the tip of my right hand fingers and pulling it back just as I felt it holding but after a few tries it grabbed my fingers and pulled it up to the wrist bone and so I bawled out and my mom came running and pulled out the electric cord and released the wringer rollers. The skin was gone and I to the hospital. Luckily no broken bones. Now I laugh but that was playing with real trouble. Luckily the rollers were rubber coated .
I have the same wash machine I use all the time. You’re doing it WRONG. The blue piece in the basin is not a plastic wringer it is the dasher or agitator. You do not put jeans through the wringer the way you did or you break zippers. Your rinse tubs are set up wrong. Put it away before you hurt yourself.
When I was a kid, a family of 7 kids. Mrs. L had a wringer washer for years. the way she had it set up, was after the wash phase, she would put the clothes through the wringer next to the first rinse tub. Then she would swing the wringer between the two rinse tubs and wring out the clothes into the other rinse tub for a second rinse. then she would put the clothes through the wringer one last time and then hang them out to dry. I live in Reading Pa. A very old city. 90% of the basements still have double basin sinks. I asked a buddy of mine if he knew why. He didn't until I brought it to his attention, that they were rinse tubs for doing laundry. He had no concept of the fact that automatic washers didn't hit the market till after WW2 because the companies, ie GE, Westinghouse, Maytag ect, were committed to the war effort. So most of the automatics didn't hit the stores till the mid to late 1940s.
I agree put it away. Dont make a tutorial on something u know nothing about...just because u are old doesnt make u an expert in old things. I could wash circles around this lady with this machine and do it properly and I'm only in my 30's.
Good tip there about not getting your fingers or hair caught in the rollers! My mom liked old school things like this. When I was about 6 yrs old in the 70s, she got a brand new one which my sister and I thought it was cool. Mom was napping on the couch one day so we decided to help with the laundry. Things were going well until my arm went through clear past my elbow. Mom ran in and unplugged it but she didn't know there was an emergency release so she reversed it back through and my father had to come home from work to take me to the hospital. They made me wear a sling for a few weeks and I couldn't do any school work because it was my writing arm but I did live and my arm recovered...and no it's not flat! Thank God!
Our house started with what was called The Copper in New Zealand. My mother lit a fire underneath a copper coloured vessel and the washing was done in that and there were some old wringers outside. later we had a machine similar to this. Even when I left home as a student the houses we rented had these . So I never used a digital machine til I was about 35 year old.
Ummm...I grew up washing clothes this way and hanging them to dry, either outside or in the basement of the house. Mom had three washtubs for rinsing, and used them all, one at a time, until the clothes were completely clean...if it was linen day, the last tub had bluing in it... The wringer head swivels so that you don't have to drain and reverse wringer. I absolutely love doing laundry in a wringer washer, because you can put exceptionally dirty laundry in and let it was all day if you want to. Nothing but nothing gets clothes cleaner, and it's a great way to spend a beautiful day outside, washing and hanging clothes on the line to dry in the fresh clean air. You might think that it takes forever to do your washing, but it's not true--you can have a load in washing, while you are rinsing at least two more loads. Saves time. As for me, I also use all biodegradeable soap--there are many different formulas out there on the Internet, some made with Fels Naptha or Zote.
Thanks but, Good Lord how long would it take to do a more than 6 pieces of clothing? I think its great that people like these old machines; but I have better things to do with my time. I'll take the automatic.
This is great! I was looking up information about old washers for a short story I'm writing, and this video really helped me to understand the process.
Beautiful Maytag with the baby blue GYRATOR agitator square tubes which gives a great rollover and in the corners massive water waves..if fully full which the Agitator is marked at the top where the vanes stop for full performance. The only thing about seeing these machines people discover is that many of the videos in this model which varies in color on the wringer part and knobs some are in red... Is they all use the wringer pretty much wrong for full compression IS THE LONG OVAL KNOB SWING WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO TWIST IN and the knob points to the person for true water EXTRACTION ! Most all of the videos with wringers unless the true washer Boys give the people a true way to use the wringer properly . Unless if it's shirts with buttons. All other regular Cotton's should have the top twist knob on top of the wringer turn in to point at you for again pressure for full water EXTRACTION.
@@TheItsmegp46 I'm useing one now and they do in fact get cloths cleaner partly be cause they have a much higher amount of turbulance then a modern automatic machine. Interestingly i also find they are easyer on cloths.
Crazycatlady, I agree you would really appreciate a Maytag wringer washer. It is difficult to find a good working wringer washer but not impossible. They are being thrown away and discarded on a daily basis in the US in spite of years of service still in them. "Throw out the good and buy new" seems to be the modern way.
My mother used one of those back in the 70s. I believe it was her mother's first. She would always tell me to keep my hands away from it when she was using it, then we'd go outside and hang everything out on the clothes line.
Yes. I have this same washer. It uses much less power and can run outside with a lawn mower engine. We have not used a mower engine, I just saw one on youtube, I think the guy said that the Awmish use it like that...
Are you trying to kid me? Are there actually people in this world that are too dumb to figure out how to work a wringer washer? I am a baby boomer (1947) and in Calgary, Alberta in the 1950's if you could afford a Maytag or GE washing machine your husband had to have a pretty good job. My mother had a Westinghouse with a 'safety sentinel' which saved my arm one day when I was careless. Ouch!!!
Found one that is brand new, never used. Used it for two years and loved it... especilly on hot days! Wish my new house was designed to use one of these!!! They are the best.
@@ipraybecauseitworks A museum, perhaps. I just by chance ran across one that had been put in a garage ~1946, covered up and never used. I bought it from a grandson of the original purchaser.
I remember those days. My MOM had one like that. I think MOM'S was round, but was the same thing. Wash / wringer and rinse / wringer. Yes water into the ground - sure brought up earth worms. I was going to 2nd grade at the time. Great memories of the days gones past. Lots of hard work in doing a wash back then - even today. Thank you for the memories when life was simple and a lot slower. GOD Bless
the cover make the best pan for putting on a grill cooking on i can fry anything in it (square ones) try it works great and cleans up great with out any trouble ( hash browns, bacon, eggs, fish ,pancakes , and any thing you want cook
Had one on the rigs in camp later ,we were allowed to use it for our own clothes if we asked the camp attendent and he was done with the camptowels and linnen. He said yes as long as you clean it out good once finished. Having one at home iwent right ahead washed everything including my felt linners and washed it out clean (spotless). I was happy to have clean clothes, and next day after work he came rushing into my room "you didn't clean out the machine all my towels are ruined and greassy" I said yes I did thinking it was some sort of rig joke and someone poured in smething or threw in a rig itemwith his wash. He said "did you you clen this out"showing me the screan under the agitator. I said yes then he twisted it and showed me underneath were the dirt and lint accumulates. Isaid i didnt know it came off and didnt know even though we had one at home, that didnt come with a manual or i never read it. After that i couldn't believe how much dirt accumulated under it. (Was lucky i didn't get skidded for that one either)
My mom had the same Maytag model. In 1955 dad bought mom a Kenmore automatic washer and dryer and gave the Maytag to my grandmother who used it well into the 1970s.
No problem I bet . You could save it and use it to water your garden. Back in the old days laundry soap had phosphorus in it and was bad for things. But, that was long ago.
To keep the agitator from floating up in the water. I use a round weight that goes on a baseball bat. Slide it over the top of the agitator. Works great
I remember my mom washing clothes on a wringer washer. However, the wringers stopped working. She would wring the clothes out by hand as much possible but would still often have to hang sopping wet clothes out on the clothes line. I still can remember water dripping from the clothes she would hang out there. Thanks for posting this video. It reminds me of an early part of my childhood.
We had one of these in a rental house when I was a child. The washing machine might have already been there when we moved in. I don’t recall it as being as complicated as what was shown in the video. The water drained into a laundry washtub, which was part of the basement. I don’t recall any removable tubs.
Learning as I go, The agitator action of the Maytag wringer washers are so efficient that shorter times are sufficient to clean clothes better than modern washers. Maytag used the phrase, "Gyrafoam action" to describe the cleaning action of their wringer washers. 3-5 minutes for regular loads and up to 10 minutes for dirty, soiled loads. Any longer and clothes are being worn out quicker.
Mom let the washing machine agitate the clothes for about half an hour. It gave her time to watch her favorite soap operas. (That's one reason they're called soap operas?) At the end of a show, she'd wring the washed clothes into the double laundry sink rinse water and load more dirty clothing into the washing machine.
