1952 Speed Queen Dryer
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I'm not experienced with wringer washers at all. How does one wash -- and rinse -- seven loads of laundry in a single tub of soapy water?
Hey Ralph,
It just says wash in one tub of hot water.
You wash the first load. Wring it into warm water in the first laundry tub, then wring it into cold water in the second tub, then wring dry.
So you can technically wash and rinse 7 loads with one tub of hotwater. You just may have a few more of warm and cold.
R
It just says wash in one tub of hot water.
You wash the first load. Wring it into warm water in the first laundry tub, then wring it into cold water in the second tub, then wring dry.
So you can technically wash and rinse 7 loads with one tub of hotwater. You just may have a few more of warm and cold.
R
Wringer washers can do that much laundry in that time but you have to be ready to wring the first load into the rinse tub then start the second load and repeat again.
one somewhat advantage Speed Queen offered was an insulated tub....so your hot water would stay hot a lot longer....
but lets do the math.....
7 loads in an hour....that would work out to just under 9 minutes to wash and wring a load....
lets just say Wash and Wring....most loads would take 10 minutes to wash, add in wringing time....depending on amount of garments, you can still only wring as fast as the machine will process them through...
somehow I picture a turbocharged version, clothes zipping through the wringer sailing out the back door...watch your head!
you can't start a new load until the current load is removed....granted you can rinse and wring again while the next load is washing....
granted I do have relatives who have this setup....Wringer washer and an automatic dryer.....never did make sense to me....
not that hanging out clothes to dry wasn't hard work......just seems the real drudgery was in soaking, pre-treating, washing, rinsing, beaching, bluing, fill the machine, empty the machine...and then piece by piece through the wringer...I think I would have rather had an automatic washer, and hung clothes out.....to each his own...
but lets do the math.....
7 loads in an hour....that would work out to just under 9 minutes to wash and wring a load....
lets just say Wash and Wring....most loads would take 10 minutes to wash, add in wringing time....depending on amount of garments, you can still only wring as fast as the machine will process them through...
somehow I picture a turbocharged version, clothes zipping through the wringer sailing out the back door...watch your head!
you can't start a new load until the current load is removed....granted you can rinse and wring again while the next load is washing....
granted I do have relatives who have this setup....Wringer washer and an automatic dryer.....never did make sense to me....
not that hanging out clothes to dry wasn't hard work......just seems the real drudgery was in soaking, pre-treating, washing, rinsing, beaching, bluing, fill the machine, empty the machine...and then piece by piece through the wringer...I think I would have rather had an automatic washer, and hung clothes out.....to each his own...
I cant be bothered with all that wringer washer stuff either, Martin. I would rather use my Maytag 511 and the clothes line any day. Unfortunately they dont always work out and its Maytag dryer day instead.
Thanks for the info. So a two-basin laundry sink is assumed.
I can't say I'd find that whole process attractive. At all. Ever.
And Martin is right, based on his description. Seven loads per hour was a highly exaggerated claim.
I'll take two loads per hour where all I have to do is set and forget -- with a traditional top-loading automatic, that is.
I can't say I'd find that whole process attractive. At all. Ever.
And Martin is right, based on his description. Seven loads per hour was a highly exaggerated claim.
I'll take two loads per hour where all I have to do is set and forget -- with a traditional top-loading automatic, that is.
I don't think I ever pulled 7 loads in an hour using 3 Maytag wringers at the same time (Wash/First Rinse/Final Rinse).
Wringers are fun to use for the occasional load or 2 but will drive a person bonkers in long term use.
[this post was last edited: 8/25/2021-00:20]
Wringers are fun to use for the occasional load or 2 but will drive a person bonkers in long term use.
[this post was last edited: 8/25/2021-00:20]
repairguy
Well-known member
Roger I don’t recall seeing one of these dryers but someone is bound to have one. That stainless top was probably heavy and durable.
Galvanized tubs were often used for rinsing instead of a sink.
In their defense, wringer washers did have their place and were beloved by many.
I remember as a kid, visiting more than a few family-friends and relatives on their farms that had wringer washers, not always by choice. Wells were expensive to drill, electricity was expensive to run the pump and it wasn't all that uncommon to have a well go dry in times of drought. Sometimes the water from the well was so unsuitable for general use that it was good for little more than flushing a toilet which made even a wringer washer seem like a luxury. Water was a precious commodity and still is for many even now. An automatic washer that used many gallons of water was a luxury that one only saw in magazines and in homes of the "town" relatives.
My grandmother had several automatic washers in her life but swore that her Maytag Gray Ghost washed better than any she'd used after. "Wish I'd kept that.."
All that being said, I've had a few wringers in my collection over the years and have let them all go. Too much work, too messy, too time consuming, the hands dry up and look like dehydrated claws, ugh!
Now, if a stainless tub SQ came rolling up the driveway, I wouldn't turn her away. Never used one of those.
If one is going to use a semi automatic washer such as wringer or twin tub as intended (reusing wash water a few times), yes that can get old fast.
Have never done so and from what one has read by 1940's or 1950's many housewives blessed with ample supplies of hot water didn't either. Greater boost came with advent of Tide and other modern detergents that were far superior to soap on wash day for most things. Advice was given to housewives that rinsing with the washer gave better results.
Mind you only use my Maytag for large bulky loads such as blankets or maybe heavy linen sheets. Wash, put things through wringer, drain tub, fill with rinse water, put things in to rinse, wring, then into spin drier. May add an extra rinse if think is wanted.
Had a vintage WP washer and fact it used the wash to strain water (as tub drained) just wasn't up my street. Things came out coated in lint, especially darker colored items. With a wringer since one is lifting wash out of water there isn't that same sort of problem.
Wash times....
Maytag and others advised very short wash times for most things. About six to ten minutes or maybe up to fifteen. That last bit was usually only for very sturdy items that could withstand such treatment.
www.automaticwasher.org
Have never done so and from what one has read by 1940's or 1950's many housewives blessed with ample supplies of hot water didn't either. Greater boost came with advent of Tide and other modern detergents that were far superior to soap on wash day for most things. Advice was given to housewives that rinsing with the washer gave better results.
Mind you only use my Maytag for large bulky loads such as blankets or maybe heavy linen sheets. Wash, put things through wringer, drain tub, fill with rinse water, put things in to rinse, wring, then into spin drier. May add an extra rinse if think is wanted.
Had a vintage WP washer and fact it used the wash to strain water (as tub drained) just wasn't up my street. Things came out coated in lint, especially darker colored items. With a wringer since one is lifting wash out of water there isn't that same sort of problem.
Wash times....
Maytag and others advised very short wash times for most things. About six to ten minutes or maybe up to fifteen. That last bit was usually only for very sturdy items that could withstand such treatment.
Maytag wringer and a huge wash today
I just thought I would post this. We did laundry today in my Maytag Master Wringer washer. Lots of whites and coloreds and finally blue jeans. We used Borax and Bubble Bandit detergent. I can't get over how much dirt was in those white clothes. We rinsed them twice and he said they are so much...
www.automaticwasher.org
That dryer door looks funny because the round knob unscrews to open up to access the lint screen, a big round red framed thing that filled the door opening. Because there was so much metal in the door, when consumer's testing magazines tested dryers, they noted that condensation dripped from the door of the Speed Queen.
Using a wringer was a lot of work and was better with at least two people instead of one so that someone could hang out a load that was ready for the line while someone else was rinsing the load that was just washed. If those operations could not be carried out while a load was washing, you lost a lot of time and the wash had to be hung out while the sun was high, preferably before lunch. It was a labor intensive operation, but far better than scrubbing clothes by hand on a wash board. That was why no matter how many comments about the mediocre performance of the Bendix Home Laundry made by the testing magazines, women flocked to them and the other automatics that followed.[this post was last edited: 8/25/2021-06:23]
Using a wringer was a lot of work and was better with at least two people instead of one so that someone could hang out a load that was ready for the line while someone else was rinsing the load that was just washed. If those operations could not be carried out while a load was washing, you lost a lot of time and the wash had to be hung out while the sun was high, preferably before lunch. It was a labor intensive operation, but far better than scrubbing clothes by hand on a wash board. That was why no matter how many comments about the mediocre performance of the Bendix Home Laundry made by the testing magazines, women flocked to them and the other automatics that followed.[this post was last edited: 8/25/2021-06:23]
golittlesport
Well-known member
time saver?
And of course, even IF you could run seven loads through the wringer washer in an hour, you'd have at least seven hours of drying time. Those clothes would be almost dripping wet, especially things like towels and jeans.
But back in the day, I remember several homes had a wringer washer paired with a dryer, including my family for years. First it was a wringer washer and clothesline, then the dryer was purchased, and the automatic washer was purchased several years after that.
And of course, even IF you could run seven loads through the wringer washer in an hour, you'd have at least seven hours of drying time. Those clothes would be almost dripping wet, especially things like towels and jeans.
But back in the day, I remember several homes had a wringer washer paired with a dryer, including my family for years. First it was a wringer washer and clothesline, then the dryer was purchased, and the automatic washer was purchased several years after that.
Dryers...
Early clothes dryers needed every bit of "broil" heat to bake all that water left by wringer washers out of laundry. *LOL*. It must have been very hard on those appliances having to cope with all that water. Then piled on top of that issue was high heat needed for doing so.... Even early automatic washers didn't provide very good final extraction so little relief came there anyway.
On matter of semi-automatic/wringer washers...
Read a report about the Canadian laundry appliance market post WWII. Wringer and semi-automatic washers survived as major part of laundry appliance market far longer up north than in USA. By 1960's and 1970's Canadian households were still buying wringers or other semi-automatics in decent numbers. This explains why you still see such machines (often in good to excellent condition) popping up for sale in Canada. It might go a long way to also explaining the odd few spin driers from Europe you see up north for sale as well.
FWIU by reading report many Canadian households (ok, housewives or whoever actually was charged with doing the wash) found modern automatic washing machines an anathema.
All that marketing about how wash water was pumped out after being used once, then one, two or more fresh water rinses was catnip to American housewives. But a good number of her Canadian sisters saw it as extremely wasteful.
This had much to do with fact that well into 1980's much of Canada was heavily rural. Women living in mining camps, on farms, and other out of the way areas often had same issues regarding indoor plumbing as we've all long heard.
To have a fully automatic washer you need a steady source of plumbed hot and cold water. Someone who has to fetch water by bucket full, then maybe heat it to get hot or boiling water wasn't about to just dump that wash water after being used just the once. Nor was she going to get rid of rinse water after just one load of use.
Such women wrote to the papers about it!
The other end of things had more to do with trade.
Wringer washers had long been state of the art. And Canada worked hard to get domestic production of all sorts of appliances done within its borders to avoid trade imbalances and providing other benefits. Large companies like GE, Whirlpool and others started separate divisions, licensed things or otherwise moved production up to Canada. Then you had Beatty, McClary, English Electric and other local concerns...
Bottom line was those factories long had been tooled for turning out wringer washers. As such they could make them all day long rather cheaply, and same for spares.
Automatic washing machines were something different entirely. Places would have to retool, and if didn't have access to local home grown patents, again same thing as before would have to occur; things would have to be sourced from USA.
John Inglis and Company was purchased by Whirlpool and is now "Whirlpool Canada". As the former Inglis was one of first in Canada to produce fully automatic washing machines.
It's worth noting that when Maytag stopped production of their famous wringer washer back in 1983, they laid in 25 years worth of spare parts before wrapping things up. This explains why you can still find so much NOS Maytag wringer washer parts lying about spare. Much to the happiness of many who own such machines.
What killed wringer and really semi-automatic washer sector in USA was rising tide of affluence.
Post WWII there was a huge push to build new housing that had all mod cons. Other things like push to bring utilities to rural or at least not urban areas meant homes had not only indoor plumbing, but the utilities needed for washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, etc...
By 1950's Whirlpool, General Electirc and other appliance makers were fully engaged in PR and marketing campaigns to get housewives out of what they considered the middle ages.
It didn't help that Consumer Reports and similar groups were damning wringer washers to Hades post WWII. They didn't see the point of them any longer now that fully automatic washing machines could replace what they considered a dangerous appliance.
Early clothes dryers needed every bit of "broil" heat to bake all that water left by wringer washers out of laundry. *LOL*. It must have been very hard on those appliances having to cope with all that water. Then piled on top of that issue was high heat needed for doing so.... Even early automatic washers didn't provide very good final extraction so little relief came there anyway.
On matter of semi-automatic/wringer washers...
Read a report about the Canadian laundry appliance market post WWII. Wringer and semi-automatic washers survived as major part of laundry appliance market far longer up north than in USA. By 1960's and 1970's Canadian households were still buying wringers or other semi-automatics in decent numbers. This explains why you still see such machines (often in good to excellent condition) popping up for sale in Canada. It might go a long way to also explaining the odd few spin driers from Europe you see up north for sale as well.
FWIU by reading report many Canadian households (ok, housewives or whoever actually was charged with doing the wash) found modern automatic washing machines an anathema.
All that marketing about how wash water was pumped out after being used once, then one, two or more fresh water rinses was catnip to American housewives. But a good number of her Canadian sisters saw it as extremely wasteful.
This had much to do with fact that well into 1980's much of Canada was heavily rural. Women living in mining camps, on farms, and other out of the way areas often had same issues regarding indoor plumbing as we've all long heard.
To have a fully automatic washer you need a steady source of plumbed hot and cold water. Someone who has to fetch water by bucket full, then maybe heat it to get hot or boiling water wasn't about to just dump that wash water after being used just the once. Nor was she going to get rid of rinse water after just one load of use.
Such women wrote to the papers about it!
The other end of things had more to do with trade.
Wringer washers had long been state of the art. And Canada worked hard to get domestic production of all sorts of appliances done within its borders to avoid trade imbalances and providing other benefits. Large companies like GE, Whirlpool and others started separate divisions, licensed things or otherwise moved production up to Canada. Then you had Beatty, McClary, English Electric and other local concerns...
Bottom line was those factories long had been tooled for turning out wringer washers. As such they could make them all day long rather cheaply, and same for spares.
Automatic washing machines were something different entirely. Places would have to retool, and if didn't have access to local home grown patents, again same thing as before would have to occur; things would have to be sourced from USA.
John Inglis and Company was purchased by Whirlpool and is now "Whirlpool Canada". As the former Inglis was one of first in Canada to produce fully automatic washing machines.
It's worth noting that when Maytag stopped production of their famous wringer washer back in 1983, they laid in 25 years worth of spare parts before wrapping things up. This explains why you can still find so much NOS Maytag wringer washer parts lying about spare. Much to the happiness of many who own such machines.
What killed wringer and really semi-automatic washer sector in USA was rising tide of affluence.
Post WWII there was a huge push to build new housing that had all mod cons. Other things like push to bring utilities to rural or at least not urban areas meant homes had not only indoor plumbing, but the utilities needed for washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, etc...
By 1950's Whirlpool, General Electirc and other appliance makers were fully engaged in PR and marketing campaigns to get housewives out of what they considered the middle ages.
It didn't help that Consumer Reports and similar groups were damning wringer washers to Hades post WWII. They didn't see the point of them any longer now that fully automatic washing machines could replace what they considered a dangerous appliance.
jeb
Well-known member
One thing, aside from shorter wash times,was the invention of detergents. Not only did they clean better they were advertised as "no Rinse". I have seen many detergent adds that show clothes going from wringer to line with no rinse tubs. If you are standing there, waiting for a load to get done 5 minutes seems like a long time. A 5 minute wash would not be that uncommon. Remember early automatics generally only offered 10 minutes as the longest wash time and that was for heavy soil. What i remember reading about Maytag was they expected you to have your pre treating and soaking done before things were to be washed so 10 minutes was ample time. I remember Our sitter only had a wringer washer and did laundry for a family of 5 and started after breakfast and was done before lunch.
Those "no rinse" detergents (Tide among others joined that bandwagon), were a marketing joke, and didn't last. People came out in all sorts of rashes from wearing laundry not only loaded with detergent, but the muck hadn't been totally removed from textile fibers as well. Eventually you ended up with tattle-tale grey wash that developed a whiff I shouldn't wonder.
Not rinsing really was aimed at women who still used wringer or perhaps other semi-automatic washers like twin tubs. Theory sounded good on paper at least, saving time by merely washing, wringing, then bunging things onto line or into dryer. But again results were far from perfect.
Pre-treating heavily or even moderately soiled areas, and or those with marks was just part of washday when using top loaders of any sort. You did it with hand washing as well, but key there was since soap was being used back in day certain soils/marks had to be removed first. Otherwise coming into contact with soap would set and likely make certain marks very difficult to subsequently remove.
Enter Wisk liquid detergent! Hahaha!
H-Axis washers were another story. Once detergents came upon scene, then later improved with enzymes and whatever else pre-treating marks or soaking became less of an issue. True, many older European washing machines had a pre-wash as part of "Normal Cottons/Linens", but that began going by wayside as well.
Not rinsing really was aimed at women who still used wringer or perhaps other semi-automatic washers like twin tubs. Theory sounded good on paper at least, saving time by merely washing, wringing, then bunging things onto line or into dryer. But again results were far from perfect.
Pre-treating heavily or even moderately soiled areas, and or those with marks was just part of washday when using top loaders of any sort. You did it with hand washing as well, but key there was since soap was being used back in day certain soils/marks had to be removed first. Otherwise coming into contact with soap would set and likely make certain marks very difficult to subsequently remove.
Enter Wisk liquid detergent! Hahaha!
H-Axis washers were another story. Once detergents came upon scene, then later improved with enzymes and whatever else pre-treating marks or soaking became less of an issue. True, many older European washing machines had a pre-wash as part of "Normal Cottons/Linens", but that began going by wayside as well.
