Mid Century Vis-Matic

[e2l-arry]

Wringing does take longer to dry

I timed it and compared to spinning in my front loader, drying clothes from the wringer alone takes about 25% longer to dry. This summer I going to put up an umbrella clothes line in my back yard. I saw them at Home Depot and Lowe's. In the low humidity Colorado air, I bet stuff still dries almost as fast as the dryer. Plus I don't really like putting them through a spin after the Maytag. Just seems to defeat the purpose of using the wringer over the automatic. But I don't disagree that from an energy usage standpoint that it does make sense, hence the clothesline solution. I do run them through the spin cycle currently myself from time to time.

 

[mixfinder]

Well I'll Be Double Dipped

I never thought of double wringing.  Are your knees weak when you go for seconds?

 

[launderess]

Cannot Recall Where One Read It

But IIRC wringers equal about 200rpms to 300rpms of extraction via spinning in a washing machine or spin dryer. This was the "best" with rollers set close enough to wring out as much water as possible without causing textile damage and or creases that would never come out even after ironing.

This all goes far to explain why housewives or anyone else doing laundry that relied upon wringers or mangles for removing water where advised to wash on days with crisp good weather that had a gentle breeze. When you consider often how much heavier linens and clothing were back in the day even then it probably took ages to dry mangled laundry, even on a really good day. Of course if weather didn't cooperate one could have all that wet dripping laundry hanging all over the kitchen/rest of the house.

 

[mickeyd]

Yes, and my biceps bulge, too!

If you're hanging out, it really doesn't matter if they're spun rather than wrung, because the clean laundry is usually out all day, so however much moisture there is/ was, it's all up in the air in the end, and the dry laundry is none the wiser;'D

At the other end of the retained moisture spectrum, when hanging a Unimatic load on a warm breezy day, some of the first items are actually dry by the time you get to end of the whole while load of clothes being hung.

 

[launderess]

True, true

But one of the other qualities of good extraction is it "pulls" laundry product residue and so forth out of textiles.

It is interesting watching rinse water drain from washing that appears clear only to become murky or froth laden as the spin portion begins. IMHO laundry is not properly rinsed until water extracted from the final spin is clear.

 

[mickeyd]

Simulposting

It would be fun to get the reference. I would have guessed that it's closer to 500, only because Visimatic loads feel just a bit heavier than 62 Lady K Auto loads. My guess could be well off. I'll bet a case of crisps you'll get the right weights and measures.

 

[abcomatic]

I use my wringer machines all of the time, but I must admit that I rinse in the automatics. Wring into a clothes basket and then put them in the automatic for rinsing and spinning. More water is extracted from spinning than from wringing. In the summer, I hang everything outside and in the winter I hang them in the basement. The dryer doesn't get much use. Gary

 

[launderess]

Start With This

Don't have time now to search further:[this post was last edited: 3/27/2013-18:52]

http://books.google.com/books?id=ji...Gwp4DQAQ&ved=0CHQQ6AEwCTgy#v=onepage&q&f=true

 

[oldskool]

Interesting....

Launderess - that article was interesting and informative.  My how things have changed over the years as product developments have occurred. 

 

Kelly - this thread is great.   Thanks everyone.

 

John

 

[mickeyd]

The Big Gahoonas

Most of the Big Cheeses of the day are on full display in the article: the Easy Spin,* the Bendix, the AW 6, the E2LP, and the Speed Queen.

What a fascinating read. The 72% water weight measure for "excellent" wringing points us in the right direction for what we're trying to find out.

Interesting that research for the automatic was "round-the-clock." We learned elsewhere that the main hold up for Whirlpool was perfecting a system to re-use the wash water.

* Pretty sure it's the uber-elusive (only Darryl frontaloadotomy has one) bottom valve spray rinser.

 

[launderess]

Early Automatic Front Loaders

Such as the Bendix were't that great at extraction either, indeed probably not much if any improvement over wringers. One was still left with literally water laden laundry compared to later incarnations of washing machines and certainly against most of today's 1000rpms or above.

Hence early tumble dryers ran at temps that literally baked water out of washing. It was the only way to cope one assumes with laundry that was so poorly extracted.

 

[mixfinder]

Cool Beans

I love vintage articles of vintage machines. I often think of Grandma and all the inventions, innovations and products she witnessed. From no electricity or convenience to Gold Medallion electric homes, freeways and space travel. An automatic washer would have sounded space age in the 20's.

 

[golittlesport]

I think some of the early Consumer magazines posted on this site also compare water removal abilities of wringer washers to the spin drying of automatics. Even the 500 rpms of early Kenmores, Whirlpools and Westinghouses did a much better job of extraction than a wringer. But wringers are fun!

 

[e2l-arry]

Speaking of early Automatics,

A wringer still extracted more water than the Bendix Economat.

 

[garyl]

Drying

My friends lived in Palm Springs, California in a house that is at least as old as your Kenmore. The back yard had a HUGE clothes line, as did most of the houses in the subdivision. The idea was to wash all of the clothes, then start hanging them. It is usualy hot and very dry there, and there is always a wind from one direction or another. They had a laundry cart, and would start hanging up the clothes at one end of the line. When they got to the other end, they would go back to where they started, and the clothes were dry!! Take them down and they were ready to put away or iron. The wind blew so hard that the clothes were not stiff like some clothes that are line dried. Same thing for the towles. They were fairly fluffy.