Well, turns out that Maxine, Matey's owner, was happy to hand her down to the newcomers in the 'hood. We were delighted to discover that Matey is in relatively good working condition, save for the crusty, extremely leaky, deteriorated intake/drain hose, which Jay quickly replaced.
I scrubbed down the whole machine with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (an indispensable tool, I tell ya), but the paint is flaking off to some degree, so I plan to lightly sand the body down and spray a light coat of bright white spray paint on it. Really though, it's not hard to avoid getting the flaking paint on the clothes I put in it.
The agitator pull at the front of the washer doesn't work, so the agitator always spins as long as it's plugged in (there's no on/off switch either, so it's' either plugged in or not), and the wringer doesn't exactly get the clothes wrung out completely (I found myself doing a lot of hand wringing), but I figure it costs us 15 to 20 bucks for each laundromat run (including gas), so if I just do a load every other day or so before the laundry gets totally out of control, we'll be saving a bit of dinero.
Besides, standing out in the sun doing laundry the old-fashioned way (at least mid-century old-fashioned), breathing in the crisp fall air, the breeze rustling the surrounding foliage, and feeling the fabric getting clean between my fingers is a lost and quite pleasurable art in my book.
Come winter, I might be making more runs to the laundromat than I originally envisioned, but I plan to use this baby as much as I can before my fingers start freezing off.
I love our wringer washer. :-) Here are some unsolicited tips --- feel free to ignore them....
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that the clothes get a lot cleaner if I put in few enough that I can get the water level to stay above the clothes level even when the agitator is going. (I don't always bother --- we're generally washing farm clothes, but you seem more dirt-conscious than I am.)
Also, I don't know if your wringer works like mine does, but if I turn the thing on the top (not the thing that makes the wringer go, but the one in the middle) and hold it in place at a nearly 90 degree angle, things get wrung much better. I've been told that's because my wringer is broken, though, so that might not work for you.
Final note --- my mom taught me to have a galvanized wash basin on the side. You wash the clothes in the washer, wring them out into the wash basin of clean water, swish with your hands for a second to rinse, then wring them through the wringer into your laundry basket. It does seem to work better than the method I'd been using where I just let the wash water drain out the hose, then refilled with plain water to rinse.
You can read my wringer washer tips here --- http://www.waldeneffect.org/20081216wringerwasher/. Something else might jump out at you. (By the way, I now put the rinse tub up on two tiers of cinderblocks, which saves my back.)
Thanks so much for the tips! Yea, that thing on top won't turn at all, and I think you're right in that it increases the pressure in the wringer itself. I think it's rusted shut, so might just need to take a hammer whack at it. The agitator tends to pop off if I don't have enough clothes in there, so I figured out that somewhere between a small and medium sized load is perfect. It's funny how both our pictures of the clothes swishing around in there are almost identical!
DeleteI do remember how wringer washer and put rubber diapers through that wringer diapers and explodes and I ruined a couple of shirts.
ReplyDeleteDid you jams and untangling clothes or ruined a couple of shirts?
Haven't had any jams so far, but give me enough time, and I'll probably ruin something sooner or later. ;)
DeleteSo, do you still plan to paint it bright red? I like that skeleton head peering out from the wash tub! A friend perhaps? Hee hee! Your Ma
ReplyDeleteI was going to and still might eventually, but I just happen to have some nice white spray paint on hand, so I'll probably use that for now to get it spiffied up. I actually like the aged look of it, but I don't really want paint flakes in my clean laundry. ;)
DeleteI bow to your determination!
ReplyDeleteWe were considering going without an electric laundry machine, but in the end I figured that women before me have died doing the laundry, I can afford this extravagance. It's not like I have a fridge, microwave, dryer or anything like that after all. ;)
Maybe we'll reach your level of determination eventually. Let us know how you get on with it!
If you don't let the laundry pile up, it's actually pretty easy. That being said, I did let the laundry pile up and am slowly making my way through it all. Now living without a fridge or microwave... THAT is hardcore! ;)
DeleteWe're not that hardcore, alas. We just ordered a box freezer (one of those A++ ones that cost less than $3 per month to run). There's only so much canning and drying you (I) can do, plus I'm an ice cream fanatic and make my own several times per week every summer! :)
Delete