My grand kids are intrigued by a washing machine.

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
My daughter bought a new washing machine. She had a front loader which is all the kids remember.
She sent me a photo of them watching in fascination.
I can only imagine their reaction if they saw the old ringer style I grew up with..
At least it got them away from their computer games. lolwashing machine..jpg
 

LOL - reminds me of those videos of cats staring at a computer screen when the screen saver is fish swimming around.
When I was 4 or 5, the washing machine terrified me because the load was not balanced & it started walking across the floor. I thought it was alive & was trying to get me. :ROFLMAO:
 
Oh, I love it, Ruth!

Now if only your daughter can train them to start doing the laundry, she'll have it made! LOL!

Yes, I'll bet they'd be impressed with the operation of an old wringer washing machine!
 

@Chet, I had never seen one like that either. I think she bought it at Lowes. She said it is quiet and holds a lot of laundry. She also said I would not be happy with it. So many controls. Like getting ready to go into outer space. She knows me well. lol The younger generation thinks nothing of that. I'll take the old wringer any day. After the clothes got squished through that they were so dry you could almost wear them providing you could fluff them up. My dads long johns could stand on their own after going through the wringer. lol
 
@Chet, I had never seen one like that either. I think she bought it at Lowes. She said it is quiet and holds a lot of laundry. She also said I would not be happy with it. So many controls. Like getting ready to go into outer space. She knows me well. lol The younger generation thinks nothing of that. I'll take the old wringer any day. After the clothes got squished through that they were so dry you could almost wear them providing you could fluff them up. My dads long johns could stand on their own after going through the wringer. lol
ROFLMAO, Ruth! You nailed it with your entry related to programming ones spacecraft for an expedition into space. :giggle:

So true about the rollers squishing out nearly all water content to the point of washables being semi-dry before they were even pinned-up on the line!

I remember filling the laundry basket with baby siblings diapers fresh out of the rollers of moms wringer washing machine, and I could stack 5 dozen diapers in the basket with room to spare. Was like stacking sheets of paper!
 
@Lewkat yes, and lets not forget the wash board. The photo is oneView attachment 152853 made of glass. I think my mom had the more modern version which was metal. lol
My mom had the glass version, Ruth.

I often think what it would have been like. Not fun.

Just think about bedding. No running water, so those like my grandparents that lived in the country, the women had to gather up the bed sheets early in the morning, make their way to the creek, spend who knows how long scrubbing every square inch on the bedding over the glass or metal surface of the washboard, rinse well in the flowing creek water, wring all by-hand, then pin everything up on the clothesline to dry, and hope all was dry before nightfall.

That, or hang the sheets in close proximity to a fireplace or wood stove inside the home, and again, hope that bedding was dry in time to make the bed before the day was through.
 
I have one like this, bought it at Lowe’s as well. Bella likes the dryer and would stare at it for hours if I would let her. The towels go around and she sees her reflection in the glass front, it must be very confusing for her 😂.
 
Um . . . Ahem.
As a grown adult I remember when we were able to afford our first washing machine instead of having to go to the laundromat.
Now I’m not saying that I did this but . . . I may have lifted the lid and stuck my finger in the little thingy that tells the machine that the lid is closed just to watch it while it agitated my clothes because - new things!
But I definitely did not stick around to watch the spin cycle.
*cough*
Well, maaaybe, just a little bit.
wut?
Okay, I watched a complete cycle, I dunno why.
Then as an older adult I purchased a front loader with the glass window and I may have crouched down like a little kid to watch that machine do it’s thing too.
(On the inside, I’m secretly a 6-year-old.)
 
I used a wringer type washing machine during the time I took care off my 8-? year old grandson here. (He's now 35 yrs.) One day when he and I were waiting and watching the swirling clothes in the washing machine get clean, for fun I started swiftly grabbing at a red piece of cloth when it came to the top of the swirling water and then let go of it. He caught on to the challenge of who could grab the red cloth first and he started grabbing for it. :) Washing time ended, and so the game ended without a score. :)
 
My mom had the glass version, Ruth.

I often think what it would have been like. Not fun.

Just think about bedding. No running water, so those like my grandparents that lived in the country, the women had to gather up the bed sheets early in the morning, make their way to the creek, spend who knows how long scrubbing every square inch on the bedding over the glass or metal surface of the washboard, rinse well in the flowing creek water, wring all by-hand, then pin everything up on the clothesline to dry, and hope all was dry before nightfall.

That, or hang the sheets in close proximity to a fireplace or wood stove inside the home, and again, hope that bedding was dry in time to make the bed before the day was through.
@Aunt Marg the glass washboard was used here in Australia because they did not rust
Glass washboards were not quite as hard on the hands as the galvanised washboards were
 
Um . . . Ahem.
As a grown adult I remember when we were able to afford our first washing machine instead of having to go to the laundromat.
Now I’m not saying that I did this but . . . I may have lifted the lid and stuck my finger in the little thingy that tells the machine that the lid is closed just to watch it while it agitated my clothes because - new things!
But I definitely did not stick around to watch the spin cycle.
*cough*
Well, maaaybe, just a little bit.
wut?
Okay, I watched a complete cycle, I dunno why.
Then as an older adult I purchased a front loader with the glass window and I may have crouched down like a little kid to watch that machine do it’s thing too.
(On the inside, I’m secretly a 6-year-old.)
LOL!

Oh yes... when I got my brand spanking new front-loading washing machine, I spent many weeks after watching wash and spin cycles. :giggle:
 
I remember when I was a kid, my aunt had one of those roller types. I had never seen one like it before. I was there once when she was doing laundry, and I got to "help" feed the clothes through the ringer.
Now, it is pretty much. <I have to do laundry AGAIN???"
I grew up with a ringer washing machine always in house and being used constantly seeing we were so many. Just before I left home I bought my Mom and Dad their first washer and dryer but I never got to try it out as when I arrived in Germany, all they had was the good old ringer washing machine and of course 'no hot water tap' so back to heating water and hanging everything out on the clothes line. The good old days!
 
@Lewkat yes, and lets not forget the wash board. The photo is oneView attachment 152853 made of glass. I think my mom had the more modern version which was metal. lol
We had a small glass washboard that was designed for delicates and a larger zinc-coated metal one designed for heavier work clothes.

The washboards had been retired by the time I came along.

I remember using the old wringer washing machine. If you didn't fold the buttons on the shirt into the wet shirt they would pop off when you put the shirt through the wringer!
 
Like so many others around here, my father worked in the mines and my mother of course, had to wash his work clothes. In the cellar she had an old washing machine with a wringer for his work clothes. On the first floor was another washing machine for everything else.
 
Even though we had a washing machine, my grandmother would only use those old scrub boards with octagon soap. She maintained this was the only way to really remove stains. Of course she used to shred my mother's lace curtains which led to some lively discussions in our household.
 
Like so many others around here, my father worked in the mines and my mother of course, had to wash his work clothes. In the cellar she had an old washing machine with a wringer for his work clothes. On the first floor was another washing machine for everything else.
I can believe it.

I would suspect the same holds true for gas refinery workers, where laundering clothing in a family washing machine would surely taint and cause permanent odour to washables outside that of refinery coveralls, clothing, etc.
 


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