Those Wacky People At Staber Industries, What Will They Think Of Next?

[launderess]

American Ironer Company

IIRC among others made those huge built in drying cabinets for domestic use. While one has been dying to find one just to see what they are about, no such luck.

It was recently after acquiring a vintage American Ironer product catalog the reason became clear; those units were built to order and installed. This probably means either they are still sitting in basements/homes or were ripped out in pieces and or otherwise destroyed when a house was demolished or major renovation.

One such drying system intact can be found at the beautiful Biltmore Vanderbilt estate in North Carolina. The place has every mod con for the era and as so often the case with such things nearly (or did it?) bankrupt the man who built it. Guess there are limits to even Vanderbilt money. *LOL*

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www.learnnc.org

 

[davetranter]

General reply

Drying Cabinets.... A young couple known to me lived for a while in a flat ('apartment' Stateside, but probably less luxurious here!!) which had a built-in drying cabinet. They used it as a storage cupboard, since the price of running such a thing now would be prohibitive. Sadly, they moved from there a year or so ago, so I can't get you any photographs. :-(

Pulley Airers.... I have an old one, but have never installed it, also (this side of the pond) there was a popular type of airer which consisted of four nylon lines which could be spanned across the width of a room near ceiling height. I have a couple of these, too.

Top Loading H-Axis Machine (Reply #9).... My mother had a Zanussi TJ1043, which had this topography... Yes, weird is the word... It worked well enough though, until the recirculation pump failed.

All best

Dave T

 

[launderess]

Not Exactly A Full Sized Cupboard

But one had to deal with what conditions on the ground allowed.

Am told these Flatley and similar dryers could burn linens inside to a crisp and or one's home if one wasn't careful.

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jpegbay.com

 

[launderess]

How To Cope With Wet Washing

Pipe:

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hubpages.com

 

[ozzie908]

That laundry blog about life in the forties is not .....

quite accurate as the gentleman describes a flatley as an airer stood on a heater these were made by a lot of different manufacturers Morphy Richards being one but the true Flatley dryer is that very cabinet you found the pictures of.
My Uncle had one of the heaters that sat under the damp washing with the airer fixed on top and it had to be just DAMP as any water dripping on the heater would cause it to short out. I remember the airer being used in front of the hot air vent in the spare room the heater from said airer no longer being used as it consumed a fair amount of electricity and as the heating would be on in winter why use more energy.

Another incident I recall now was back in 1980 ish I had done some laundry where I worked and there was a Flatley cabinet we used to dry stuff but I had not checked that the sheets were not too close to the heat and duly melted into a large blackened blob at the bottom of the cabinet Ooops after that I persuaded my employer to get a tumble dryer. No more melted nylon sheets.

Austin

 

[launderess]

Nylon Bed Linen

Never understood why anyone in their right minds would be wanting sheets and pillow slips made of nylon. *LOL*

From Holland to UK through France one finds or found friends, their grandparents or merely from shopping boot sales and thrifts nylon bedding. Suppose it came as a welcome relief after generations of boil washing, mangling and ironing all that pure linen.

 

[ozzie908]

Nylon sheets were/are the spawn of Satan

When I was younger nylon sheets were the rage in the 70's and as Launderess says were a haven after linen but if like myself you suffered excema they were the most horrendous things to sleep in, my sister had them, there was a fitted bottom sheet and a top sheet that was part fitted IE it fitted at the foot of the bed they advocated they stayed put all night and as far as I was concerned they darn well did as every time I moved and little flake of dry skin would feel like an electric shock or the bloody sheets would catch on skin and so if you moved it was like static in the bed... Bloody awful and I made sure I never ever slept in them ever again I white cotton sheets at home and kept them until polyester cotton became the norm for sheets and pillow slips oh what a relief they were no more hateful nylon.. Just thought but does anyone in the UK remember the " Brentford Nylons " ad's?

Austin

 

[davetranter]

Brentford Nylons

I remember.... I also remember the 'spoof' Deptford Draylons, whose advertisements kept cropping up in 'Balham - Gateway to the South'.

I fully agree, though.... Nylon bedding is truly HORRIBLE!!!!

All best

Dave T

 

[launderess]

Have Heard of European/UK Housewives

That gave their husband's marching orders to bring back nylon linens when they travelled to the USA on business trips. That and or they purchased lots themselves when on this side of the pond for holiday. Again one can only imagine the idea of "easy care" came as a welcome relief from generations of laundering all that linen.

Nylon is *very* flammable and thus not the best thing for bedding, especially for infants and children unless treated to be flame retardant (if possible). Indeed early airline hostesses wore stockings made from silk because that fiber is less likely to burn than nylon. This was a huge safety bonus to stewardesses since a fire onboard could mean nylons could literally melt onto the skin of their legs.

As for cotton/poly blend bedding, you find tons of it at thrifts, estate sales and so forth, and quite a lot NIB.

Cotton/poly blends came about as part of the "easy care" revolution of the 1960's and 1970's that brought us polyester leisure suits. Depending upon the ratio of cotton to polyester such sheets and pillow slips would need little to no tumble drying (polyester is a hydrophobic fiber), and usually no ironing (polyester is also thermoplastic).

Cotton/polyester bedding was also meant to replace the previous entry point for linens; heavy cotton muslin.

Cotton muslin sheets and pillow cases though very long wearing are a pain to launder and iron (trust us, we know). Because the threads are thicker they absorb lots of water. That water must be spun out, then dried to a certain degree before ironing, and make no mistake you would be ironing muslin sheets. Leaving any sort of bed linen in those days not ironed was considered "poverty" and or a sign of sloppy housekeeping. Also muslin linens feel so much better when smoothed by ironing.

Sending laundry out solved the problem of the bother of dealing with muslin on laundry day but could become expensive. Commercial laundries often charged by weight of bundle. This means heavy sheets and pillow slips cost more to service than say percale. Indeed today many laundries that do hotel, hospital and other such bed linens often insist upon a certain blend of cotton/polyester because it makes for easier processing than pure cotton muslin. The establishments themselves see a reduction in cost because of the aforementioned difference in weight. Cannot recall the last time one saw pure cotton muslin sheets in a hospital or other healthcare facility, though one assumes they are out there.

Thing about polyester is that because it resists water it can be very difficult to get clean. Oils and certain stains do not shift easily either. All this is compounded by the fact polyester being a thermoplastic fiber cannot withstand very hot washes. As things stand you have to use various "permanent press" or "easy care" cycles with warm or barely hot water to prevent new creased from being set in for good.

To an extent the same problem happens with cotton/Lycra blends. Those Prada and other European men's shirts look great at first, but since they usually are dry clean only do not stay "fresh" and "clean" looking for long. Whites in particular can start to turn gray and dingy.

 

[jerrod6]

8

8 thousand dollars for this? Maybe I read it wrong. Stainless steel...give me the porcelain enamel model.

 

[mathewhebailey0]

I've seen some instances in which clothes drying cabinets have been used to dry photographic prints & negatives,but seriously.

 

[chris74]

H-axis yes...

...but from left to right, not as Euro counterparts who move from front to back. Interesting but I doubt the quality of Staber Industries.

 

[henene4]

Indeed I thought about telling my parents to may get one. Our clothes room is in the cellar seperate and the is indeed space for such a thing and in winter, when the temperatures go down to 4°C down there and/or the air outside is wet, clothes take 3 or 4 day to get dry and that would solve the problem. Of course, they would choose even if they would take one the cheaper home modells in small and yeah, they would just do the things like thick sweaters (last year one took a whole week to dry after 2 months of continous frost and temperatures arround 2° down there), jackets, throusers etc., but it would be nice (I'm only 15, so don't say "Haha, you still live at your parents XD")
But any way, could not figure out if they use a heatpump as some of these do or are they conventional heated with vent?

 

[chris74]

Don't believe they're heatpump driven

But at least they should feature a condenser system... I mean, these cabinets are really expensive.