Wringer Washing Machines were once the mainstay of virtually
every household during the early 1900s. While several companies produced
wringer washing machines, Maytag Wringer Washers long outlived the competition
and were still being produced up until 1983. These old relics were very well
made with heavy-duty parts. They were being made in the US during the error of
when quality and longevity matter long before the idea of planned obsolescence
was introduced to manufactures.
Wringer washers began to fall out of favor when
the automatic washers with a spin cycle took hold.
Maytag wringer washers are still widely being used in the
Amish self-sustaining communities. They are used in many other non-Amish
businesses such as garages and car washes that need to frequently wash rags,
coveralls, and shammies. They also are still
used in many homes as either the main source for clean clothes or as a garage
washing machine for worker clothes that the wife doesn’t wish to use in her
main washing machine.
An interesting phenomenon is occurring with the rebirth of
refurbished Maytag Washing Machines mainly due to the introduction of online
replacement parts by Cottage Craft Works.com
Many of the older Maytag Wringer Washers were retired when
parts became obsolete and couldn’t be obtained. Many were turned into a flower
planter and antique store display or sent to the junk pile.
Cottage Craft Works.com is a unique general store whose sole mission is to search the back roads of the Amish communities and find old-fashioned reproduction products or parts to fix vintage farms and household implements and appliances.
As the industrial revolution and the introduction of
electricity to the common homeowner transpired the common off-grid items began
to no longer have available parts. The
Amish self-sufficient culture is still stuck in those time periods and relies heavily
on this vintage equipment.
As part supplies began to dwindle Amish owned machine shops
and foundries began to reproduce the replacement parts. Many Amish companies purchased
the molds and patterns from the original manufactures so many of the parts are
just like they were when originally made.
Cottage Craft Works.com online general store offers all the
Amish parts to refurbish Maytag Wringer Washers from replacement, castes,
transmission parts, to replacement rollers and wringer parts. Most all the
parts are brand new, but they do have sources for some of the used parts as
well.
Cottage Craft Works can also source, DC and air-powered off-grid motors as well as gasoline engines to run Maytag Washers off-grid.
Paint can be sourced through local hardware stores Rust-Oleum Specialty 12 oz. Appliance Gloss
White Epoxy Spray Paint #7881830
Maytag was very consistent in the parts they made from
1940s-1983 so most all the parts cross over to the various models with some exceptions
between the older round tub and more modern square tub models. Along the way, they also made some
improvements with rubber tub gaskets replacing the older cork gaskets.
Since the introduction of the available parts by Cottage Craft Works
many have been searching for and refurbishing these vintage washing machines. Several have committed they are returning the
wringer washing machines that they grew up with because they reportedly clean
better. Others have become frustrated in
having to spend the money every few years on a new machine because the ones
they were using just wore out and were too expensive to repair of couldn’t find
anyone dependable to fix them.
Cottage Craft Works.com offers a full line old-fashioned
general store from sewing cabinets, kitchen wares, stoneware pottery, vintage
replacement gunstocks, and hunting equipment.
Replacement parts for vintage International Harvester, John Deere, and
New Idea implements are also a specialty.
