OT--Check Out This Maytag!

[Sixgun]

Yea guys, things in the old days were made to last. New washing machines built today last 5-7 years. These old wringers last, well, indefinitly, as long as you don't shoot 'em or through 'em over a cliff.

I use a wringer my mother gave me in the eighties that she bought new in the seventies. In the thirty years I have used this old wringer, I have gone through FOUR automatics. We use my Mom's wringer outside on the deck of the barn and the clothesline is a hop and a skip away.

Anyway, I was cruising through Craigslist last night and I saw this baby listed. ITS NEW WITH ALL DECALS. No water marks, perfect crispy decals, a new look on everything, even the motor looks like it was just taken out of a box..Maytag wringers have not been made since the early eighties. I e-mailed and met the nice people half way this morning. Don't know when it was made. As its the "safety model", I'm guessing it was made in the seventies.

You can wash a lot of clothes in short order with a wringer. First you wash the whites, wring 'em out and then use the same water for the darks. These washers can handle big horse blankets, comforters or anything else thats big that will not fit in the largest automatic.

This new/old Maytag is in the basement. I'm done buying washing machines for the rest of my life. To hel* with modern corporate junk. (yea, still gotta keep an automatic around for the better half. ---I do my own washing--my wife is Italian, you understand )

To me, this is as exciting as finding an 1886 that no one fired ---------------Sixgun

[kimwcook]

Cool find, but really, as cool as finding a pristine '86? Come on, Sixgun.

[Chas.]

I don't go along with your premise that automatic washers are junk. Our (wife and I) first automatic lasted from soon after we were married in 1971 until just a couple of years ago. That's better than 35 years. It washed for us and 2 kids most of it's life.

[FWiedner]

Did they sell you an apron, too?

[Cliff]

Great find. They will last forever. The last time I priced them new (a number of years back) they were pricey. I used one for a lot of years. You need a couple of side by side rinse tubes. Wash, wring, rinse in first tub, wring again, rinse in second tub. Hang to dry if you can or wish to. Great machines and do a great job. I always liked the fact you could put really dirty stuff into one and let it agitate for an hour or so. I started doing the family laundry back about 55 years ago, when my mother couldn't come into contact with laundry detergents and such. My ex always thought laundramats were suffiecent. Hope it works well for you. It is as good as an 1886 in my opinion. Good luck. ATB

[Mike D.]

We had a wringer washer from the 1930s that stood outside on our Sierra cabin deck until we stopped washing clothes up there. Minus the wringer assembly and motor, it now is used as a planter in my sister's yard. All we ever did was cover it with a tarp and it withstood many seasons of use and abuse. The old cloth wrapped cord was good until the end of it's use life.

[Doc Hudson]

I don't go along with your premise that automatic washers are junk. Our (wife and I) first automatic lasted from soon after we were married in 1971 until just a couple of years ago. That's better than 35 years. It washed for us and 2 kids most of it's life.

I'm with Chas!

In the last fifty years, my Mom has had two automatic washers. The current one is over twenty years old and her dryer is 26 years old and still going strong.

i don't think I've seen one of those wringer washers since the 1960's! i sure didn't know they were made into the 1980's.

I can remember helping wash clothes in an old wringer washer as a kid. I also remember seeing many pinched fingers from the wringers.

I'm not that hip on technology but I
ll stick with automatic washers while they last. For that matter I figure automatic washers will last as long as a reliable electrical source exists. When that goes, it will be back to wash pots and beating clothes on a rock or stump.

[O.S.O.K.]

[cas]

Our (wife and I) first automatic lasted from soon after we were married in 1971 until just a couple of years ago. That's better than 35 years.

Yeah, but it wasn't made "these days", it was made 35 years ago. That's just like the secret to growing to a ripe old age, is being born a long time ago.


On a related note, I'm 41 years old and have photos of me as an infant, sitting on the kitchen floor in front of the very same refrigerator I'm using to this day.

[KirkD]

Very nice find.

[wecsoger]

That unit is an OSHA nightmare and a trial lawyer's dream.

Did not realize we were living in such dangerous times, not so long ago.

[Sixgun]

Guys.
I should have clarified myself but CAS did it for me. (Thanks CAS---I'll bring you a case of 45's to our campout next month). The OLD automatics were good. Our Kenmore that we bought in '74 lasted 20+ years. Those old automatics were solid and heavy. New ones made in the last 15 years or so are JUNK. Even the salesman told me that last week.

Anyway, I fired that baby up tonight and did a few loads of clothes. Had to let it run for an hour before washing as everything was gummed up.

Yea, I am even getting some flak from family members. But............I paid for it and they will get over their misgivings.

Cliff, I see you know these machines well. So do I--thats why I bought it

Kimwcook---I still say its as exciting as an unfired '86---even one that was made before 1898. Its not the money thing--its the coolness --------------------Sixgun

[Rusty]

Well be warned DON'T BUY A NEW MAYTAG... THEY STINK!!!!!

When we moved into our new house 5 years ago the wife wanted a new washer and dryer to go in it. Our Maytag dryer has been nothing but trouble. it take 180 minutes to dry a load of towels. The thing is just a pain. No other word for it. Towels will actually dry faster outside on a breezy day than they will in the dryer.


One thing about your wringer Sixgun. For al those Green types that want to save the planet, an old wringer uses a lot less water than any automatic out there.

Congratulations.

[Mike D.]

Dryers, did anyone mention dryers? We FINALLY got rid of our 1974 vintage Maytag "avocado green" dryer last year. It still worked fine, but was not energy efficient, so we bought a new Maytag(say Whirlpool) dryer. It has all the fancy electricity saving features, but takes twice as long to dry the clothes. What am I saving?

[Ysabel Kid]

That is very cool looking. Not sure I'm willing to give up the modern conveniences though - or rather, since I have no idea how to do laundry, I doubt Mrs. YK would be willing to "go back"!

Our first washing machine was a Kenmore back in 1989 and it lasted a good 15 years. It was still working when we sold it to upgrade.

Yep, buying something well-made first has its advantages. I've learned that lesson the hard way on some many things... including guns...

[Hawkeye2]

As its the "safety model", I'm guessing it was made in the seventies.

That one looks identical to one my mother got pre 1953 (don't remember exactly) except on hers the ringer release bars were red rather than green

[fatoldfool]

Mondays were wash day. Our (my brother and I) job was hauling water in buckets from the spring to the wood cook stove to heat. Summer lunch on washdays was always cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes and leftover from breakfast biscuits. Knobs and control was RED on our maytag.
Sixgun, that is a serious jeep. (is that a pirate sticker?)

[rjohns94]

Very kewl. I do alot of the laundry. recently went to front stuffers and I am well pleased. generally run three loads every other day, whites, darks, towells. I do the mule blankets out in town. nice find.

[stretch]

My grandmother used to have one of those.

I remember helping her with the laundry back in the
1960s and 1970s.

She got too old to handle hanging all of
the sheets and stuff outside, so she got
a "new-fangled" indoor washer and dryer.

That old wringer was the business, though!

-Stretch

[Blaine]

That is, of course, where the saying "Don't get your tit in the wringer" came from. I have a Maytag W&D that is going on 15 years, and it's ok...when they go, I'll get a set of the SamSung or LG......The trick to the dryer is the vent...it might be clogged if you are not drying very fast. I thought my dryer was no good, but when I moved five years ago, it started working fine...better vent

[Chas.]

Our (wife and I) first automatic lasted from soon after we were married in 1971 until just a couple of years ago. That's better than 35 years.

Yeah, but it wasn't made "these days", it was made 35 years ago. That's just like the secret to growing to a ripe old age, is being born a long time ago.


On a related note, I'm 41 years old and have photos of me as an infant, sitting on the kitchen floor in front of the very same refrigerator I'm using to this day.

35 years ago is "these days" to me, Grasshopper.

[BobM]

That's pretty cool! I remember my grandma having a wringer washer. I still have and use the top loading Maytag washer (harvest gold, I think it was called) her and grandpa bought in the mid 70s. I've had to replace belts (once), a hose, the injector (twice), and just recently the motor. I got it from them around 1990 and have used it since. She kept the matching dryer until she moved into an apartment about 3 years ago.
The guy I get parts from said those old Maytags are far far better than anything made recently.

[Sixgun]

This was a neat post. Thanks Sixgun! (patting myself on the back ) I enjoyed reading the responses and I have reached the conclusion that the "oldtimers" know their product. Younguns, like Ysabel Kid just don't know what they are missing. (sorry Kid, I still like you though )

This post has cultural overtones. (here I go again, over-analyzing with my psychotic mind) People in the old days wanted a product that would last. They did not mind taking the time to do something right. People today want cheap junk that works by itself so they can multi-task doing 14 things at the same time. Gads! How much do we have to accomplish in a life.

Gotta go and call the shrink -------Sixgun

[Ysabel Kid]

Younguns, like Ysabel Kid just don't know what they are missing. (sorry Kid, I still like you though )

Anymore Sixgun, I am plenty happy when someone mistakes me for being young!!!

It's not the years, its the mileage...

[olyinaz]

When I was growing up in farm country my mom had a Maytag automatic but many of our neighbors and my best buddy's mom had wringer models. I seem to recall that some of them were so old that they did not have any "safety" feature on the wringers and they'd hurt you but good if you got caught!

Have you ever seen one powered by a foot kick start gasoline motor? Now THAT'S old style!

I guess I'll have to pitch in with the defense of automatics also. We bought a Maytag Neptune front loader when they first came out about fifteen years ago (before Maytag stopped being Maytag...) and the pair is still going strong. My old man still uses my dear departed mom's Maytag top loader that is about 25 years old.

Sadly, I'm told that some of the Korean brands are best nowadays being better made than the often Chinese made American branded junk.

Best,
Oly

[Sixgun]

Have you ever seen one powered by a foot kick start gasoline motor? Now THAT'S old style!

My old man still uses my dear departed mom's Maytag top loader that is about 25 years old.

Chinese made American branded junk.

Oly, Yea! I saw one of those gas jobs on You Tube. Just go to You Tube and type in "gas powered Maytag"

Yep, the "OLD" Maytag automatics were great--They are junk now and like you said, "Chinese made American branded" Its hard to find anything of quality anymore. I used John Deere tractors for 35 years and when that old 400 went, I bought a Kubota in order to get quality.

This new/old Maytag cost me 4 C-notes but it will last me the rest of my days! --------Sixgun

[Barcelona Rick]

A buddy of mine restores the ones that use a gasoline engine for power (they have a neat little kick starter pedal)....very popular in the days before everyone had purchased power....

rick

[phc45-70]

I can tell you from experience you don't want to get your thumb caught in that wringer, It's kinda rough on buttons too.