Washing blue jeans with a Maytag Model N

[geoffdelp]

Hi all ...

I decided to do a load of blue jeans last night (Thursday) in the Maytag wringer N2LPS for all of you who haven't used a Maytag wringer or want to learn how.

I have to apologize for the pictures; the batteries were almost dead and I had to keep turning it off and on to conserve. It made some of the photos rather "blurry" but I think the concept on how to wash is there.

About washing blue jeans ... everybody has their own method. I fasten them, zip up the zipper and turn them inside out before I wash. I've found that by having the button and zipper on the inside protects them. I have never crushed a zipper through my wringers and I've only popped two buttons off of shirts (my carelessness) in all the years I've used these type of machines.

The camera finally died right after I filled the tub with rinse water so there are no rinse photos ... drats.

Once again, I apologize for the quality of the photos; I was just too lazy to run down to the supermarket and get some new batteries!!!

Enjoy the shots ...

Geoff

http://automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/00ShowCollectionGETD.cgi?photoshow=27@A%20load%20of%20blue%20jeans%20ready%20to%20be%[email protected]&dir=/COLLECTIONS/GEOFFDELP/

 

[mixfinder]

Wranglers

Growing up on a ranch we all wore Levi.

Mom elevated pant washing to an art.

She always turned them inside out to prevent crocking, when they washed. She turned them right side out to rinse, talk about wet arm pits!

When she ran them through the wringer, they were creased and run through from the cuff end, so that when they came out they looked like they had been ironed.

The pants were hung to dry the same way, but had to be turned over after a day, to dry all the way the through.

When the whole process was complete it looked like they had been ironed.

Jeans never went in the dryer.

In the 80's the family switched to Wranglers, because they are a sponsor to the PRCA

Kelly

 

[abcomatic]

great pictures

Hi Geoff, I wring my slacks buy folding the top so that the zipper is hidden and not out to the wringer. If I get a digital camera, I will post some pics of doing laundry in my
ABC too. Love to see your collection. Gary

 

[tomturbomatic]

How did all of those suds get up on the wringr in #20?

I have one of those Plastic Tide detergent containers, too.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[mixfinder]

Suds

Gramma had a Maytag Commander. I remember coming out to look at the huge sqaure plume of suds that would rise a couple feet above the washer at the beginnng of wash day.

It was fun to drop the heavy lid on the soap and fly suds everywhere. Gramma and grampa were my salvation when I was a kid.

I had an uncle that made stuff out of junk all the time. One time a group of families went camping and my uncle had the biggest griddle anyone had every seen. It was the lid from old gray Maytag. The search was on after that and pretty soon every one had a Maytag griddle.

Do have a vision of all those Maytags going "topless?"

Kelly

 

[Unimatic1140]

Very fun pictures Geoff! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Looks like I'm going to have to conjure you up a glass measuring cup, plastic in a wringer, never! LOL.

 

[geoffdelp]

Thanks guys! These machines can bring either good or happy memories for those who have used or been around them.

Kelly ... those machines make great "suds cakes"! I've accidentally left the lid off while washing and come back after a few minutes to a HUGE suds cake. I try not to do that because it really does get everywhere and when your rinse water is clear, you don't want to add suds to it.

Gary ... you must wring like in the 2nd picture where you fold them in half a the waist with the snap/zipper facing inward. That's how I normally do it. I've had really good success with the Maytag because of the flexible upper roll. It wraps around the item, adjusting for thickness. There certainly is an "art" to it, isn't there?

Tom ... that's not the wringer, that's the lid. I put the lid on after I add the detergent to make sure its all dissolved and I was holding the lid in my left hand and the camera in my right. I swung the wringer over the rinse tub.

Robert ... I know, I know ... NEVER plastic (except the Tide container, of course). I think I need to come garage sale-ing with you and get myself a glass one!!! Does it help that I've had that plastic one about 12-15 years?

Batteries are on my grocery list and if I'm able to wash tomorrow, I'll try to redeem my photo taking ability and grab some shots of my white sheets (my favorite to wash).

 

[mickeyd]

love it love it love it love it love it

Geoff

My friend Derrick really likes the Maytag, and he always tries to get the wringer to pop by stuffing it, and no matter what he feeds it, the baby just lifts right up and takes it. We've never been able to jam or pop the Maytag. Their wringer washers are really quite remarkable. Your laundry room continues to dazzle. Thank You

Question: Does the Cadillac TOL--forgotten its real name--really hold more water and clothing than the Commander?

Mikey

 

[mixfinder]

Pop Goes the Weasel

My grandma had a Maytag Commander.

The reason she finally bought an automatic was the wringer broke.

Instead of popping open under stress, like it should have, the fitting on the wringer base broke off. Evidently a result of metal fatigue.

I was always nervous, after that, to stress any wringer.

But it was exciting to do laundry in the new Sears model 70.

I had a Lady Kenmore wringer washer in the 90's. That wringer popped at the sound of the agitator stopping. It was frustrating.

Kelly

 

[gansky1]

Looks like you had a lot of suds, that power rinse makes all the difference. I love that this machine is "new" and made so close to the end of wringer production, that is a very special bit of Maytag history in your laundry room.

 

[mickeyd]

Is it true

Greg, Have you heard that you can order a Wringer Washer from Maytag for six hundred and fifty dollars or is that an urban legend?

 

[scott55405]

Great pictures and demonstration Geoff! I will say, however, that having used your water for only one load of clothes could cause you to be haunted by the ghosts of housewives past!! Hopefully they'll be friendly ones! ;-)

 

[westytoploader]

Geoff, thanks for posting, how fun! Love that Maytag gyrafoam action! I know I would tend to use a wringer more like an automatic; when I had that Maytag twin-tub I know I used it like one! Changed the water after each load, did agitated deep rinsing, you name it!

One of these days I'll buy an out-of-state Maytag E/J/N-series...but in the Land of Rust, forget it! Most of them here have long since become planters. At least I'll be able to hold out with the AMP for a while; Glenn remarked that its action did resemble that of a wringer machine.

 

[rickr]

Wonderful collection Geoff. And the detailed photos were great! Brought back memories of watching my grandmother do the Monday washing with her 1936 green Kenmore wringer washer.

Thank you for sharing your collection with us.
Rick

 

[geoffdelp]

Thanks again for the great comments everyone!!

Mikey ... no, Maytag will not make you a wringer for $650. There are basically a minimal amount of parts left. It's too bad; they were great machines. You're thinking of the "Master"; the Commander has the same amount of tub space (18 gallon capacity) as the Master. The Master was considered TOL because of the aluminum tub and lid connected to the tub. The aluminum tub has a wide crown and you rarely have "splash outs" of water.

Kelly ... I never heard of breaking the frame! Oh boy, I bet that was scary AND loud when it happened. One of Maytag's "claim to fame" was the fact that their wringers were self-adjusting and the springs underneath were super heavy-duty. I bet that scared your grandmother!!

Greg ... I always have a ton of suds with these machines. I guess that's one of the reasons why I like them. I still do the old method of adding the detergent and agitating until dissolved; that's what creates the suds. My water is soft, too.

Scott ... oh boy; I know!! I felt a "little" guilty but I had so many questions on how these work I figured it was easier to show with dirty jeans. I redeemed myself today and did some whites/coloreds with my 1963 Model N and took some pictures; I'll post those on Monday.

Austin ... Glenn is right. When Maytag started making the AMP, their engineers had to create a machine that washed as well as a Model E. Interestingly enough, however, the Model E and J had a capacity of 18 gallons while the N had 16. The AMP was 12 gallons, I do believe. I guess Mrs. Housewife could not wash as much at one time. My AMP manual stressed the fact that Mrs. Housewife could now wash more often instead of once a week.

Rick ... glad you enjoyed and it brought back good memories!!

Geoff

 

[frigilux]

I love your Maytag wringer collection! I haven't used one in years; I think it would be fun to have one to use whenever the mood struck. Thanks for posting all the great pictures, Geoff.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Auistin, another capacity/turnover factor was that Maytag decided to make their washers narrower than most other manufacturers and with 3 tubs in the AMP and just the inner and outer tubs later, the cabinet width factor limited them to a narrow tub. The Gyrators in the wringer machines produced beautiful turnover because the tubs were shallow and wide. If I can get to my Maytag wringers, I will measure the tub diameters, but they were a lot wider than the automatics' tubs. The narrower tubs did not allow the water currents produced by the Gyrators to spread out to give the rollover of the wringers. Consumer Reports said that the AMP had the smallest usable capacity of the automatics they tested in that early report, an estimated 5 pounds. Even the 06 large capacity series held smaller loads than the large capacity WP-made washers and about the same as the standard tub WP machines.