Today's column will probably wake up a few long-dormant memory cells. In my case, it was my grandmother who had a wringer washer. But for many of you, it might have been dear old mom herself.
Keeping one's clothes clean has been a challenge since clothing itself began being worn. The wealthy would have servants do their laundry, or perhaps would take it to a laundry business to be picked up later. The rest of society used rocks at the creek, or perhaps a tub and a washboard.
But in 1907, Maytag began marketing the Pastime. It was a hand-cranked washer, equipped with a flywheel to aid in the agitation of the clothes, which featured a wringer at the top so that the wash water could be extracted before the clothes were fed into a rinsing tub.
The wringer washer was high-tech stuff. No more endless had-wringing of clothes! How much easier could life get?
Today, of course, wringer washers are largely unseen outside of antique shops. But it turns out that our grandmothers were actually green advocates before there even was such a movement. That's because wringer washers use a fraction of the water and electricity (or gasoline, in some cases) that modern multi-cycle washers do.
You see, grandma would fill the washer with water and finely-shaved Fels Naphtha soap, them agitate the mixture so the soap would dissolve. Then, she would put the whites in and agitate for ten minutes or so. If the home had electricity, the more well-to-do would have an electric motor to do the job. Out in the country, a gasoline motor did the work. Of course, the less affluent turned a crank on the side.
Once the whites were done, they were wrung out and dropped into the bluing tub. The bluing made them look whiter. Then, another wringing and into the rinse tub.
In the meantime, the lighter colored clothes were being agitated in the same water the whites used! And when they were done, the darker colors went in. That's three loads of clothing for the price of one load of soap and water!
The rinse water too was reused. So a family's entire week's worth of clothes could be laundered with the amount of water used to handle a single load in a modern washer.
No wonder some of our thrifty parents and grandparents were reluctant to give up their wringer washers.
By the 1960's, few homemakers still used wringers. But it seemed that many of them couldn't bear to throw away the reliable, economical devices either. Hence, the one I played with at my grandmother's house in Mason, Texas. And many of my friends had wringer washers stashed in outbuildings, garages, and sometimes sitting outside.
They were fun for a kid to play with, too, although you didn't want to get an arm caught in the rollers or you would get one ugly blister.
In researching this piece, I found a website (lehmans.com) that will sell you a Saudi Arabian made brand new wringer washer for about 900 bucks. It's an exact remake of the classic Speed Queen. They also sell reconditioned Maytags with electric or gasoline engines!
So Boomers, if you really want to go green, follow the example of your grandmother. And you'll have it much easier, too. Just pour in some liquid detergent. You won't have to shave that Fels Naphtha soap anymore!
Comments (8)
This reminds me of the "ironer." I'm not sure what the official name is, but my mother and grandmother each had one. It had a big cloth-covered rolling drum that would suck in the clothes while pressing them down on a metal plate. My mother tried to teach me how to use it when I was small, but I could never get the hang of it.
Posted by midlife mommy | January 25, 2008 3:43 PM
Posted on January 25, 2008 15:43
We may have had the same grandmother. Mine had one in the basement as well.
Posted by Wesley | January 26, 2008 1:03 AM
Posted on January 26, 2008 01:03
Here is an example
Posted by JULLO | January 26, 2008 1:40 AM
Posted on January 26, 2008 01:40
I dont remember the wringer washers but the fels naphtha soap saved me more than once from the ravages of poison ivy. Work up a lather and smear on the rash. The lye draws out the oil from the plant and kills the itching. Not as good as todays benydrel but back then I went through a few bars, I could get poison ivy just by looking at it.
Posted by Amy Chevalier | February 15, 2008 5:32 PM
Posted on February 15, 2008 17:32
Oh yes, I remember my Grandmother's wringer washer. I remember in the mid 1960's, my father saying that Grandmother's wringer washer was wore out and they needed to get a new washer. It was the family joke because my Grandfather went out and bought a brand new WRINGER WASHER, not a modern automatic washer. But that's what Grandmother had always known and yes, it was very efficient. When my older brother was staying with Grandmother at about age 6-7, he got his arm caught in the wringer. My Grandmother was in a panic and reversed the wringer. Fortunately nothing was broke or anything but it bruised. She is 91 now and laughs about that story but it was NO laughing matter when it happened. When she moved to town in 1983 and had an automatic washing machine and her first dryer, she was so overwhelmed, she loved it!!!!!!
Posted by Jeff | February 15, 2008 7:59 PM
Posted on February 15, 2008 19:59
Thank you for the article on the wringer washers.
My grandmother owned a laundry mat in a small town. I remember visiting at the age of about 6yrs. Of course I was warnend not to touch the
wringers. I am writing a short story for a class
about memories and needed some imformation on the
tubs. Mother told me her family purchased a new
iron. The iron was heated with gasoline. She was
scared of it. When it caught on fire she threw it
out the door. She refused to use it and used the
the iron heated on the stove. What great memories
we have.
Posted by Marilyn | March 23, 2008 8:56 PM
Posted on March 23, 2008 20:56
I took mom's ringer apart and made an electric go cart out of it. It could only go from one end of the celler to the other but it had reverse! All was fine until i ripped the wall outlet off the wall and blew all the fuses. The celler was the best place in the house. Brick walls with the musty smell of mortar.
Posted by David Chapman | June 14, 2009 10:17 PM
Posted on June 14, 2009 22:17
My parents had one of those huge wringer type washers briefly when I was about 3 in 62. We did not keep it very long. So it was not just grandma who maybe had one.
Interesting how styles got refined in washers, cars, everything. We got a Maytag in maybe 64 and didn't replace it till late 80s. But that Maytag still looked much like those of today in many ways. It seems like the 60s achieved a certain sense of style that has not changes as much in appliances.
Cars did continue to change but we still got some classic cars that never really stopped looking good. Corvette, Mustang Fastback, VW bug, maybe even the VW van, for starters.
But along the way, I wonder if we did not get carried away with style and started buying just for style rather than practicality and necessity due to wearing out. Things became easy and affordable. We could finally afford to become extravagant, regardless of whether it was good and right to do so.
So we upgraded and filled our junkyards with cars that could still run. We did it with appliances, too.
And to help it along, laws were passed to force you to drive a car with no flaws in appearance, no houses in bad appearance with zoning laws (comprehensive planning) in the early or mid 70s.
Just because we can do something, does not necessarily mean we should do something. I am perfectly capable of leaping from the top of a tall building, but I am told that it is not so good when you hit the bottom, so I avoid that.
Change in style and improvement in function are good. But maybe we do so too quickly and for the wrong reasons. Just a thought.
Posted by Scott Irv | July 13, 2009 11:20 PM
Posted on July 13, 2009 23:20