Mangles/Wringers

mioliere

My very first washing machine was a single tub with a foot-pedal operated mangle, bought second-hand; it was blue and white. It was actually quite effective and made a real difference to my life, especially for nappies. Until then, I used to boil them in a big pan on the cooker, then hand rinse and wring them, and they'd take forever to dry. One word of warning if you have very long hair - one day, my ponytail got caught up in the mangle as I leaned forward to get the clothes out of the washing machine; instead of just taking my foot off the control pedal, in my panic, I tried to reach the plug on the wall to pull it out. Luckily, my neighbour called in just at the right time and pulled my foot off the pedal! It was VERY scary! Apart from that incident, I have very fond memories of the machine because it cut the drying time down, especially in the middle of winter.

[Deleted User]

I was always in the scullery in my parents house using the mangle .Mum washed most of the clothes in a big copper that went on Monday morning. A couple of dolly blue bags, and her washing gleamed .She would fish it out with her big washing stick and it would go into a small hip bath we would then drag it over to the mangle and she would feed it through whilst I turned the handle . In the summer when the blankets were washed they would go into the big tin bath with some Lux soap flakes, or some Dreft then I would be plonked in minus my socks and shoes into the bath and told to tread all the blankets clean.I can still recall the smell of steamy washday Monday mornings from back in the 1940s and my late Mum, red-faced with her overall on doing the wash. Lunch was always cold meat and pickles and mash potato's.
Then the smell of the flat irons heating up on the range and the sizzle as they went down on the sheets that were slightly damp. They would then be pulled up on the overhead airer which was wooden and was hanging from the ceiling near the big black kitchen range to air. She was very particular about her nets as she thought that grey nets meant a mucky house and hers always had to be pristine white and starched to a soldier-like stiffness.
She donkey-stoned her step everymorning and God help the child that got mud on it. she was a very houseproud lady and she worked very hard to make sure our house was as clean as she could make it .Having been bombed out twice and having to put up with all the muck and dust it was a constant battle for her to keep both her house and her children clean.
Bless her she worked far harder than I ever did at housework although her frugal ways did rub off on me

Alan_Cross

And let's not forget as how we all used to live in boxes in t' middle of t' motorway...

... and as how we were lucky, if they were made of cardboard...

domino

Errata wrote: »

Mangles with large wooden rollers go for a fortune on ebay. Wringers with smaller rubber coated rollers, sometimes called Acme wringers, will have come to the end of their useful life decades ago as the rubber perishes.

Not so Errata! I am using one still and the rollers are as good as ever they were! I make sure they are dried off before storing away in the shed and that the pressure is released. It's been a real godsend to get my handwashed clothes wrung out for the line - added bonus, if you take care with folding first, a lot of washing is half ironed! I had it donated to me about 35 years ago from a friend of my mum's who was getting a new washing machine. So far, touch wood, it's looking good for another few years yet!:j

Errata

Good for you Domino, but not everyone cared for their Acme like you do.

LadyJean

FROSTYFRECKLE wrote: »

Does anyone remember mangles/wringers? If so, can they still be bought today? Checked online but can only see US/Canada suppliers, think I would faint hearing the postage costs for a mangle:D

Hiya!

I know your post is from some time back FROSTYFRECKLE but did you ever find a wringer?

When clearing out the shed prior to moving house we found our old Acme Wringer plus a wooden stand.
Looks like it is still in good working order - all you need is a bit of 'elbow grease' to turn the handle

Thought we would see if anybody is interested before we dispose of it.

Warrior_Maiden

Why am I always too late to find these things? I would love a mangle, I've been looking for one for months now.
I hope yours went to a good home LadyJean.

2009ismyyear

My gran who was born in 1913 had a mangle in the shed in the garden and I can remember using it when I was little in the 70s! It wasn't a table top version, it had it's own stand, stood about 4' tall and had a 'container' that balanaced underneath it to collect the squeezed out water!

And yes it did hurt if you wrung your fingers as you were pushing though the garment.

On a related note, she also had what she called a 'posser' - it was like a big plunger that she used to wash the clothes in the bath

Great memories!

recovering_spendaholic

I was born in the early sixties and remember my Mum using a red and cream single tub washing machine which had a mangle on the top of it. I LOVED doing the mangling! My Mum had that machine until the late 70's when she got a twin tub, which she had until the early 90's when we finally persuaded her to get an automatic, which she hated and said that it didn't get the washing anywhere like as clean as her other machines had!

juno

We went on holiday once to somewhere that had one, and my sister and I loved playing with it. I don't think my mum had such happy memories of them, though, as she said they were awful and we were silly for enjoying it