laundry project, maybe you guys can help

[vacuumfreeeke]

Hey guys, I'm writing because I need some creative ideas for a project I'm attempting. I've been doing my laundry by hand for a few weeks now with homemade soap and a scrub board and a plunger with holes in it just because I wanted to try things the old fashioned way... it's been going well except for the drying part. I just can't wring the clothes out enough to get them to dry very well.

So, I looked on e-bay for wringers.... the ones on there are either in terrible shape or super expensive. I thought I might be able to buy some rolling pins and make a frame and make a rolling wringer myself. Well, it's been quite a project to say the least. I've tried to make a crank and the crank keeps coming off and the spindles (dowels) keep coming out.... I've tried gluing them in with wood glue, I'm going to try gorilla glue next! The hole on the inside of the rolling pin is not as wide in the middle as it is at the ends so I could only get the dowels a few inches into the rolling pins... then I glued the with wood glue and let them dry.... well they aren't even and keep coming out, so what I'm going to do is get a long and big drill bit and drill the opening more so tha I can fit a dowel all the way through.... I think that will make it stronger and more even.... but I need a way make the rollers have adjustable tension so it can be adjusted for things that are thicker or thinner and I need a way to make the crank more durable so it doesn't break (I tried nails and screws, but it splinters the wood (the wood is poplar), so then I tried wood glue and staples from a staple gun, but when I tried to run a sock though it just to test it out, the crank handle broke off....

If any of you have any ideas on how I could make this work, I'd really appreciate this. I've never worked with tools or wood much before so this is all new to me.... I'm about two steps from throwing the whole mess in the trash and abandoning the project and just buying a really expsensive one on ebay, but with all the tools and supplies I had to buy, I'm already about 75 dollars into this thing and I'd really like to make it work... this has consumed 3 entire days off and countless trips to Lowes (it's right across the street thank goodness), but I really would like to make it work.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.... this is what I have so far.... I don't know if there is some kind of spring or gear or screw clamp that I could use to make this work better, but I'm open to suggestions and I really appreciate anything you can offer....

 

[yogitunes]

If you check on YouTube....theres a few guys doing the same thing as you......

but one method....apart from wringers.....using a salad spinner to wring out the clothes.....

you can get some good size ones, I got one at a thrift store for a few dollars.....and I had to try it a few times, you would be suprised what you can fit into it....for balance, better to pack it full, its geared to spin many revolutions to one turn of the crank.......it can move....and the opening on top allows you to spin/rinse with the faucet right in the sink.....

 

[stan]

For not

working with wood very much, looks like you are doing very well to me!

Maybe if you cut a slot where your bottom holes are, so the bottom rollers have a little room to move up or down, and attach two heavy duty springs to each roller (inside of your frame, if room) leave holes the way you have them on top.

On a wringer washing machine there are springs that keep pressure on the rollers when engaged, but allow to open slightly for heavy stuff, while still maintaining pressure.

I sure got to give yo an A for effort! Keep us posted.
I have a feeling your going to make it work!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Thanks for repsonding guys... I've decided to abandon the project. I just can't make it work and it's just taken too much time and energy and become work instead of fun. I'm going to get a refund for what I can and throw the rest in the trash and move forward. If I ever decide I really need a wringer, I will just spend a fortune one on ebay.... I just need my life and my space back! At first, I was excited about this, but now it just makes me sick even thinking about it... I'm done!

 

[whirlcool]

Well at least after this project you can truly appreciate the vintage ads for washing machines that extol the virtues of automatics!

 

[launderess]

Wood Rollers Are Best For "Mangling" & Rubber For Wr

While wood rollers were used for both mangles and wringers once the introduction of rubber or similar came along wood was best reserved for mangle irons, that is devices which smooth textiles flat like modern ironers but without heat.

Rubber allows more compression/pressure but gives enough to prevent damage to buttons and such. However this is all within certain limits and relative to what one was wringing out. Rubber also has the advantage over wood in that it does warp or crack from constant exposure to water, especially when it was hot.

Being as things may you can often find wringers in decent enough conditon but you really have to look hard. Ebay, estate sales, CL, and so forth. We had ours shipped from Germany, and while the seller touched up the metal parts with silver paint the rubber rollers are in excellent condition.

Quite honestly aside from perhaps wringing out very large or bulky items that cannot withstand automatic washing (a vintage quilt for instance), rarely use the wringer. Instead bung hand washed items either into the spin dryer or the Whirlpool portable set to "spin" cycle only.

Wringers are *not* very good at water extraction from textiles. IIRC at their best they equal only about 200rpms. Even then that meant passing things through multiple times, and folding over and over again to make things thick enough for the rollers to press water out.

Then there is the problem of choosing between removing more water versus the creasing comes from setting mangle/wringer rollers very close together. This creasing was one of the reasons for all that ironing which followed washday. Many a housewife/laundress soon found out certain items were best lightly wrung then basically hung to "drip dry". While it may have taken longer for things to dry, ironing was much easier as one did not have to deal with all those creases.

 

[launderess]

If You Really Insist On Building Your Own

There are many replacement wringer rolls up for sale on eBay.

You could also simply purchase an old wringer and replace the rollers with new.

Should also add that in terms of design it is far better to have one central tension knob versus adjustments on each side. This being that in theory it will be eaiser to adjust for tension that is equal by having to deal with one screw.

Wringer for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Wringer at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

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[qualin]

Dyno Jet makes some good wringers apparently. They're not cheap though.

If you really want to laundry the "Old fashioned" way without using electricity, then using a wringer is your only option, unless you are really awesome with a salad spinner. The video I'm posting below, this guy is using a slightly modified commercial salad spinner.



My guess is, if you're pretty fast with it, you could probably get enough extraction to equate to using a wringer, but have a lot more fun doing it.

 

[launderess]

Salad Spinner

Believe it or not that is where the idea for laundry extractors came from.

The inventor got the idea from watching a French "essoreuse" being used to spin salad greens free of water.

When you think about it tis the same principle.