It is snowing outside again. We have gotten about 8 inches in this storm so far. If I calculate the snowfall correctly, we have gotten over 40 inches. That is half of what we usually get all winter in one month.
Figuring that we will be inside hunkering down today, I think I should do some laundry. I prefer to do it on a sunny day so I can hang them out, but I am not sure we are going to see much sun for the next few days. The last time I waited for a sunny day, the laundry got a bit backed up and we were surrounded by clothes racks.
Laundry here is done a bit differently than most homes. We have a washer, but it is not your typical top loader. Ours is a 1945 Maytag wringer washer. We chose to ditch the Kenmore that came with the house for our Maytag. The Kenmore was only about 10 years old, but it leaked. What good is a washer that leaks? The dryer went to the wayside too. It was across the room and totally inconvenient from where the washer was. A floor plan gone sour. Besides that we hardly ever used the dryer. The sunshine is free and it makes the clothes smell wonderful. There is nothing like the smell of a set of sheets and pillow cases that have been dried out on the line in the fresh sunshine.
If there is not sun, we use the clothes racks. Free drying is good. Why pay to use a dryer and waste time and energy when the air is free.
With the Maytag you have more control over the laundry and how it comes out. Since you have to fill it by hand, you can get exactly the amount of water you need. No wasting water from a preset dial. You can actually see the laundry better inside the tub, because the tub is much larger. If there is a stain you need to attend to, you can stop the agitator, put on some soap and scrub away. You can empty the washer when you think the clothes are done. No preset timer. Of course if you don't pay attention, it will wash forever.
You then drain the water, put the clothes through the wringer and put them aside. The wringer is actually comparable to the spin cycle. After all the clothes have been rung out, you refill the washer for the rinse cycle. When they are all rinsed, the ringer swings into action again and then you are ready to hang.
Now most people think we are crazy to give up our automated washer for a 1940's Maytag, but we like it. How many other people can say that their washer will be around 60 years from now? Not many.
Now it is off to get breakfast and start the laundry.
1 comment:
I also have a wringer washer I use to do laundry, but I use a galvanized tub I purchased at Lowe's to rinse the clothes. This helps to save water. I wash at two laods per washer of water, sometimes three depending on how dirty the clothes are. I grew up washing clothes in the wringer washer with my mother, grandmother and my aunts. They all used rinse tubs too. Just a little suggestion because you were talking about saving water.
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