Best detergent/soap for wringer washers

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mom11

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Feb 13, 2014
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Dundee, MI
Hi, I've gotten my Speed Queen wringer out and run a load after getting the pump running again. I don't have a owner's manual for my model (fw9093). Found tons of great info by searching the threads on so many topics but it's been spotty trying to put it all together. Soooo....few questions:
1) Does anyone have an owner's manual for my make and model (or even similar)?

2) Opinions on best (currently available) detergent or soap for wringers.
I used my cheapo Arm and Hammer liquid but then I read something about
certain detergents causing staining in aluminum tubs. Mine has one.
Someone suggested "Tide Regular" was safe for those tubs. I searched for
regular tide. Couldn't find the powder at all but found "Tide Original" in
liquid to I picked up that. But I am afraid to use anything until I hear back from y'all that it is safe. I also have Felsnaptha and Zote I can try, as well as washing soda and borax. Are there other favorites? Feel free to direct me to a previous post about this.

Thanks, again, from all this amazing help. you all have amazing with all my dumb questions.
 
Hi Lisa

Don't know to much about Speed Queen Wringers... I thought Speed Queen use stainless steel?
The Maytag E models were aluminum (I have one)
Some detergents (mostly powders, and chlorine bleach) darken the aluminum. This doesn't seem to affect the fabrics being washed, just darkens the tub.
If yours is in fact aluminum, and you don't want it to darken, then if it were me, I'd stay with the liquid detergents.

HTH
 
tub metal in Speed Queen

You know, Stan, I was wondering about the tub on my SQ. I thought it was stainless steal until I read here somewhere that the tubs were aluminum. I may have heard that about the Maytags and thought it was true of mine as well. I really don't know. Maybe someone with a SQ will chime in.

Hmmm...must get to the bottom of this mystery.

Oh, also, is adding tsp going to hurt my wringer washer if i add it to the phosphate free stuff? Should I just used a soap based mix like the homemade stuff that has as ingredients Fels Naptha, Washing Soda, and borax, with perhaps the addition of a bit of TSP? It seems it would work best to use the detergent or soap that they were intended to be used with at the time.

Thanks so much, for the help, Stan.
 
Don't use TSP in your washing machine. TSP is used to take the gloss off of painted walls before repainting them. It's much too harsh to use on your clothing.

What you want is STTP. Usually you have to mail order it. It's called "sodium tripolyphosphate". I buy mine from the chemistrystore.com. You can use it in your laundry (1 tbsp) or dishwasher(1 tsp)in the wash cycle. It's also safe for aluminum or SS tubs. It may seem expensive, but it lasts a long time (provided you keep moisture out of it) and a little goes a long way. You clothes come out so much cleaner and whiter using it.

We had some white cotton sheer curtains from our den that we washed and they always looked dingy no matter what we did to them. After washing them as normal with some good detergent and STTP they came out looking like they were new again!
The wash water turned brown during the process. The STTP released all the old worn in dirt.
 
It's actually STPP... Lisa, are you originally from MI? I was curious since you used y'all in a sentence. Being from Tennessee and now living in Kentucky, I have always caught heck for using that word in Michigan.
 
SQ - stainless steel tub...

Indeed, the Speed Queen wringers had both stainless steel (Model A91) and porcelain (Model 80) tubs. I have never heard of a SQ having an aluminum tub. I've attached a couple of photos from an old brochure. Sorry, can't remember where I found the pics - probably just doing a Google search. It may have been an auction on ebay.

bradross-2014092321401904349_1.jpg

bradross-2014092321401904349_2.jpg

bradross-2014092321401904349_3.jpg
 
Stainless steel tub

Thank you so much, bradross, for the info about the speedqueen. And thank you for the lit. I have been trying to find a manual for mine but it doesn't seem to be in the files. I know mine is newer because it doesn't have those cool graphics. I love that chromey front plate with the timer.

It does seem, though, that the design of my wringer has not changed substantially from the earlier models. Mine's just not as, for lack of a better word, sexy. I wish I could post a pic of mine but I don't have a camera and even if I did uploading it would be a new skill for me.

Blondie, I am from Michigan but we spent 5 years down in North Carolina and sometime find myself using, y'all, because it is just so gosh darn handy. Especially when you are talking to a mixed group "you guys" just falls woefully short. :)
 
Tide liquid "original"

Btw, I ran 3 loads in the wringer with the Tide "original" (Not Ultra w/ "original scent) and they came out great! Especially the towels. I did need to do a double rinse on the towels, blankets, and jeans because it was quite sudsy.

Anyway, it work much better in the wringer than my Arm and Hammer cheapo liquid. Until I find a better detergent for the wringer I'll be using the Tide "original" (whatever "original" means?)
 
My first washer was a used Maytag wringer, the square porcelain tub model. This was in 1972, I used Fels Naptha granulated soap, which is not made anymore. That washer and the Fels gave the most pristine laundry that I have ever washed. I didn't have a laundry tub for rinsing, so I used to fill the ball and claw foot bathtub with cold water and wring the clothes into the tub, swirl them around with a broom handle and the run them back through the wringer. If I had the room for a wringer washer again I'd have another in a hot second. IMO nothing else does a better job of cleaning. If I was going to recommend a detergent for today I would suggest Original Tide powder.[this post was last edited: 9/25/2014-02:06]
 
Pump fix

Gary, I 1st checked to make sure there wasn't any blockage in the drain hose by emptying by gravity. Lowering the hose to the ground and collecting the water in a dish pan. I was afraid of what I would find there because I found a dead mouse and tons of mouse poopie under the agitator from being stored in the garage for awhile when we moved. So no Mr. Mousies in my hose.

Then I went searching on this site. Found a thread where someone suggested to put a cup or 2 of very hot water through the drain. So I nuked a few cups of water, ran it down, and I could begin to hear that sucking sound. I threw more pots of water in after the hot. It did pump and drain but it still was a lazy going drain.

So then I took apart the pump (just a little bit, not all the way). There is a thumb screw holding a bracket onto the pump. When I took that cover off, I could see that the impeller was kinda crusty with some kind of deposit. So I scraped it a little. Cleaned it up, Twirled it, sprayed it a few times with WD40. I stuck a drinking straw (yeah, I don't have real tools for that here) down the drain from up and up the pump drain from down. Just a few scrapes of mineral deposits. So I really don't think that was it.

So after I got the cover back on (there is a black ring seal that needs to fit well in the pump cover over the impeller) I screwed it in and let 'er rip. ..but she really didn't "rip." Faster but still lazy. So I just let it run and run for several minutes, running the same water back through the pump. It eventually began pumping and flowing great. But I really think it could be better. I think that I am probably not getting an adequate vacuum to suck in there as well as I should. Don't know what else to do. It drains but not fast like I've seen it on videos. I'm fine with what I can do and if I get impatient I just lower the hose into a dishpan.

I am by NO MEANS a repair person. Just a mom trying to figure out how to keep these babies running. I've learned so much here. I wish I understood more and could get in there to really make this thing pump but I am afraid i wouldn't be able to get it running again.

Good luck. Oh, and do you know how old your SQ is, or model #? If you have a copy of the owner's manual I would pay you for a xerox copy. I'm not sure on mine but I figure it is a newer one. It has an ugly plastic lid. :(
 
late model SQ wringer

Wow, abcomatic, I didn't realize that there were wringers made that late. I do wonder when my was made now. Does yours have the plastic bumpy lid like mine? I'd like to replace my plastic lid with a porcelain one but, boy, how do you ever find that?
 
Speed Queen Tubs

Were both porcelain or stainless steel. My Grandma had one. This was the machine from when I was a little kid that started my love affair with wringers. I think my Mom said they got it in 1947. Grandma's had the porcelain tub but I believe the agitator was aluminum. Ours was the non pump model. It was used in the kitchen of a farm house so the water had to be drained into a bucket and lifted to the sink. A LOT of work for an old lady like Grandma. I didn't even know some wringers had pumps until I started looking around for one a few years ago.

I had trouble finding a good detergent for my Maytag E2LP. Square aluminum tub, with a pump. Most stuff out there in now HE and I don't know how that would work. It's made for washers that use, what, maybe 4 or 5 gallons. And my washer holds 18 so it seems to me that would be too diluted so didn't want to go there. I couldn't find any old fashioned Tide powder anywhere so I found a big box of nob HE Gain Powder at Costco. I've been using it over a year now with no complaints.

We still have the old Speed Queen in the barn and the old farm. I was the last one to use it several years ago.

Here's a picture. Porcelain tub, and what I believe is an aluminum agitator. I also think the drain lip on the wringer is stainless steel. It's pretty gunked up from years of sitting so hard to tell.

e2l-arry-2014092808483100255_1.jpg
 
mom11

What is this "Tide original" you speak of? The only thing I can find in both liquid and powder is "original scent". Could you supply us with a picture of what the label/box looks like?
 
Tide Original

Here is the "Tide Original" I bought. I only found it in the liquid. There was also a "Tide HE with Original Scent" but this is different. I could not find anything marked "Tide Original" in powder. I would prefer to have that.

I looked on the Tide site for "Original Tide" but there was nothing except the "original scent." I purchased my bottle of Original at Kroger. But they also had it at Walmart and Dollar General, I believe.

 

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