Westinghouse washing machine 1940’s???

[bradross]

The new drain hose ...

Hey Jason ... I can't quite understand the hose arrangement. It looks like it comes up through the inside and then I see a curved nozzle going into the tub. Can you show pics of that with an explanation please?

Looks like you've got a keeper there! I'm a little envious! It appears from the video that it has good wash action (turnover, as we call it.)

Regarding the wringer - what is the little lever that is located down close to the bottom roller?

-Brad

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Hey Brad.
The 1st picture is where the tub drains into the water pump.
The 2nd picture is where the water get pushed out.
It works great now. The water shoots out about 15 feet. I can control how much pressure I have with the 3rd picture. It’s actually pretty amazing how the pump works.
The 4th picture is of that lever you were asking about. That to swivel the Wringer around.
I’m really loving this thing now. I’m about to build clothes lines in the back yard.
The lid came out nice but it’s to light. I’ll keep searching for the correct color. I finally figured out what this Black thing is. Hahahaha what a dummy.

 

[lowefficiency]

I'd be careful not to over-restore this one.
It looks to be in remarkably good shape for its age, and doing too much to the paintwork could hurt both its value and its charm...

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

I’m not going to do anything else to the body. Just a little warm water and a sponge bath..

I sent some pictures to the George Westinghouse museum and they don’t know anything about this Wringer.
What the heck is going on here????
I’ve been digging for a few days now and I can’t find anything.

 

[golittlesport]

beautiful machine!

That is one of the most beautiful wringer washers I have ever seen! True 30/40's deco style. How fortunate that it is in such good condition was relatively easy to get running again.

I'm not far from you, in Orange County, but I grew up on the east coast with many relatives in Canada, so we visited there often. Westinghouse wringers seemed very common up there. I had several Canadian family members who had Westy wringers. But I don't recall ever seeing one in the states. I'm thinking Westinghouse may have focused on their automatic Laundromats in the states and discontinued wringer production here after WWII. Very interesting that you found one so old and in such great shape, and in So Cal no less!

Congrats!

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Thanks golittlesport....
Yeah I’ve been searching for any information on this one for about a week now and there’s absolutely nothing out there. Oh well, maybe someday something will pop up. Until then, I have to construct some sort of clothes line so I can finally use Her the right way. Right now all I do is wash, wring, rinse, wring then throw my clothes in the dryer. I want to hang’n out to dry.

 

[bradross]

Tension adjustment...

Hey there, Jason,

Rich (golittlesport) makes a good point - I'm originally from southern Alberta (Canada) and I remember my grandparents had discarded their old gasoline-driven Westinghouse wringer from the 1940s. It sat in the granary and my grandfather used it to hold feed for the few cows that he owned. In retrospect, if I had been older, I would have probably restored it! Unlike yours, it was a round enamel tub on long legs.

Could you please show us how the tension adjustment works on that wringer? I noticed in the video that the side mechanism swivels around completely, rather than clamping and then springing open like other wringers.

Thanks!

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Hey Brad. I’m no expert but I’ve been messing with this old gal for a week now and all I can think of what that top lever and side lever is, is some sort of safety. On the side lever if I turn it counterclockwise it’ll lock the top of the Wringer down. If I push down on that top lever, it’ll unlock the side lever and the top half of the Wringer can be taken apart. Looks like tension is done manually with 4 nuts that connect to 4 springs.

 

[bradross]

Pre-set tension...

I see now. It appears to be similar to a Maytag in that it has pre-set tension.

You may have seen on other wringer types (such as that manufactured by Lovell for several different washer manufacturers) that the side lever is a clamp and on the top is a screw that adjusts the tension.

How well does it squeeze the clothes? When you have time, perhaps you can upload a shot of it wringing!

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

I don’t know anything about these. 1st one. I’m eyeball’n an old Maytag right now though.
Looks like all the paint is off so I can try and fully restore it. Paint and all.....
Here’s some pictures of the Wringer. Let me know if this is what you were looking for.
Everything seems to work properly and it squeezes most of the water out. Even on my jeans.

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Well..... I think this is as far as I can go. That was a very interesting project.
Thank you guys so much for helping me. Everything seems to be working like it should.
I still need to learn how to operate everything correctly. You’ll notice the Wringer is spinning the wrong way. Hahahaha damn rookie.
I do need to go back to the drawing board on my clothes line. I just didn’t want to put it in the ground so I can move it easily for lawn mowing. Oh well, I’ll figure something out.
Y’all have a Great time fixing these old beautiful machines. I’ll be back if I get that Maytag. He won’t come down on his price. It needs lots of work and I’ll be damned if I give him $15 for it.

 

[ea56]

Get yourself an Umbrella Clothesline. You can install the pipe that the pole fits into in your lawn, and when you want to mow the lawn just take the clothesline pole out of the pipe. This type of clothesline holds quite a lot and aren’t that expensive. You can also use a cement umbrella stand instead if you have a hardscape area you’d rather have the clothesline on.

Eddie

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Thanks Eddie. I found one from the 30’s but the guys want $135 plus $50 shipping.
That’s a little to rich for my blood.
Im not into the new stuff

 

[bradross]

Thanks for sharing all this!

I really enjoyed this dialogue as well as the YouTube vids! Very cool to see an unusual wringer washer that is functional with minimal restoration effort.

Hope you enjoy using it for a long time - and if you ever tire of it, hit me up!

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Thanx Brad. I enjoy you’re videos too.
I want to find a beat up one so I can shoot some paint on Her.
I’m having so much fun washing clothes now. It’s time consuming but fun.

 

[ea56]

I’m having so much fun washing clothes now.

It’s time consuming but fun.

Yes, Jason it is fun isn’t it? I’ve always thought that doing the laundry in a wringer washer is zen like, kind of meditative. I don’t know how much you know about the procedure, since you are too young to remember when this is the way many people did their laundry.

Actually, it can be much faster doing your weekly laundry this way, provided you are aware of the time honored procedure of yore. If you do it the way I’m going to outline, you can have your entire weeks laundry done in about 60 mins.

First, get a tub that you can fill with rinse water, I used to use a ball and claw foot bathtub for rinsing, but any large tub will work. Next sort your laundry into 1. whites, 2. sheets 3. light colors/towels 4. dark colors, like levis, ect. Now fill your washer to the highest level with the hottest water your hands can stand, add the detergent and begin with the whites, wash for about 5-10 mins. wring them into your rinse water, now add load number 2 ( add additional water to bring the level up to full and more detergent if it seems necessary) and wash for another 5-10 mins, while this load is washing wring out the whites from the rinse water. Repeat this process until all the wash is done.

Now either hang them up to dry or use your dryer.

Of course, drain and rinse out your washer.

Don’t worry about reusing the wash water. People did this for centuries and always managed to have clean clothes.

Now continue to have fun with your new machine.

I live in a two story townhouse with no room for a proper tub for rinsing or an area large enough for using a wringer washer. If I had the room, this would be they way I would be doing our laundry and I’d have a wringer washer for sure.

HTH
Eddie
[this post was last edited: 10/18/2019-16:55]

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

Thanks for the tip Eddie. I’ll do exactly that. It’s so amazing how well this old Gal washes..
I wore my work jeans to work today and I didn’t stink. Hahahaha. She’s very aggressive when agitating so I just ran Her for about 6 mins per load. Seems like that was perfect. I just like to think of the old folks back in the good Ol Days using this machine. It must’ve been way better than dragging your clothes down to the creek and using a washboard huh??? My Dad was telling me stories about his Mom doing that. She would always come back to the house mad ass hell. He said She was a totally different Mom once Grandpa bought Her a Wringer. It’s kind of weird but after I finished the laundry yesterday, I felt some sort of satisfaction. Like I accomplished something. Hahahaha. I can’t wait to do more laundry.
I bet that’s not said very much these days.
Have a great weekend

 

[wayupnorth]

Back when I was a kid, my job was to catch the rinse tub clothes thru the wringer while the next load was washing in our 1948 Kenmore. The 48 Kenmore still wrings into a rinse tub but I still have to catch the clothes coming back thru. I can get 2 loads on the line in less than an hour. It is therapeutic with the hmmm of the agitation.

 

[jeb]

Just a hint; Start the washer and add the clothes as it agitates. Add until roll over becomes sluggish. Any wringer washer instruction I have ever read have you start agitation before adding clothes. You may want to check your water diverter under the wringer, it looks like it is not switching when you switch the way the roller turn. There is too much water coming out the dry side. That water should be diverted to the tub/washer side you are standing on and not over the wrung clothes

 

[spiderlovesbeer]

I love those stories wayupnorth. Thanx for chiming in

Ok Jeb thanks for that info. I’ll take a look at that. I didn’t think there should be that much water coming out either.