Clothes Drying Racks, Clothes Lines, Folding Clothes Dryers

Drying clothes and linens the old-fashioned way saves dollars, reduces carbon footprint and allows for off grid freedom.

There’s just something about the fresh smell of linens hung to dry outside.  The Amish still make and use drying racks and clotheslines to air dry the family laundry.

At times the weather may not be cooperative so both indoor and outdoor drying options are a must.

Cottage Craft Works .com carries all types of Amish folding drying racks and outdoor clotheslines on their self-sufficient living online store at http://www.cottagecraftworks.com

There you will find several indoor and outdoor drying solutions from portable clothes lines, Amish pulley mounted clothes to the folding floor and wall mounted drying racks for indoor drying.

Accordion Wall Racks

Accordion wall mounted drying racks take up very little space when they are folded yet, they provide several feet of drying space when they are extended.  Accordion wall racks are very handy in mud rooms, laundries, and garages.  

Folding Umbrella Wall Clothes Drying Racks

A heavy-duty folding umbrella rack provides up to 20’ of drying space yet it only takes up an 8” wide x 36” wall space when it is folded.

Cottage Craft Works also offers an economy version and a heavy-duty umbrella folding clothes rack that is smaller but perfect for towels in a kitchen or bathroom area.

Folding Floor Clothes Drying Racks

Most will recognize the traditional floor folding drying racks. These simple folding racks fold up accordion style allowing them to be stored easily. 

When expanded, they can be set over a heat register of in front of a window.  The larger sizes provide up to 40’ of drying space in one compact area. They are also handy for drying spices, flowers, and herbs.

Suspended Ceiling Clothes Dryer

These vintage ceiling mounted clothes drying racks have been used for centuries in the UK and Europe.  Some gravitated to the US and will occasionally show up here in Antique stores. The space saving concept works extremely well in small homes and apartments. 

Generally, they were hung from the kitchen ceilings where most laundry was done in vintage times.

Today they work well in small spaces, porches, garages, and basements. Heat tends to flow upward to the ceiling area so these racks are very efficient for quick drying of clothes without taking up valuable floor space.

The drying rack uses rope and pulleys to lower for loading and unloading of clothing and linens. 

Pulley Mounted Clotheslines

The Pennsylvania and Ohio Amish communities have developed an ingenious pulley mounted clothes line that allows the fresh laundry to be strung from the back laundry room door without ever walking outside.  

This comes in extremely handy for Northern states where wet springs followed by winter snow and ice can make it very difficult to hang out clothes on a traditional clothesline.

Patterned after pulley mounted clotheslines from earlier times mostly found in city apartment buildings, these Amish designed systems are designed to handle up to 150’ of clothes line often strung from the house to a barn or pole.

Driving through these Amish communities during weekly wash days will likely yield a display of flag like bright colored Amish woman dresses combined with white linens.

Portable Clothes Drying Lines

This system provides a solid outdoor clothesline without the permanent post. Even better it can be wheeled full of clothes around the yard or in and out of a garage.  

Made of square aluminum tubing that comes apart for compact storage it looks like a giant hammock frame when assembled. 

The lines provide up to 72’ of drying lines in only a 12’ x 8’ space.

A great clothes drying solution for rental homes, vacation cottages or summer camp.

Small Garment and Sock Drying Ring

Once you start using this little compact drying systems you will wonder how you ever done without it.  Hang it right outside of a back door from a soffit to quickly hang up dish rags, tea towels, socks and baby tops, bibs and delicates.  

Made from two aluminum rings equipped with clothespins hanging by chains from a single hook. Also, perfect for drying herbs and flowers.

Cottage Craft Works at www.cottagecraftworks.com is a full line online old fashioned general store chocked full of quality practical wares and goods used during vintage off grid times.

 

Folding Floor Drying Rack

Ceiling  Mounted Clothes Drying Rack

Amish Portable Clothesline

Folding Accordion Wall Drying Rack

Amish Small Garment and Sock Drying Ring

AMISH FURNITURE-TREADLE CHERRY CABINET | JANOME 712T

For those that love sewing, our solid wood sewing cabinets are great Christmas Gifts.  Check out our AMISH FURNITURE-TREADLE CHERRY CABINET | JANOME 712T

For more information about our Amish Treadle cabinet, click here 

Budget Friendly USA Kombucha Tea Stoneware Crock

Brew your own Kombucha tea with this  budget friendly USA Kombucha Tea Stoneware Crock.  No need to spend hundreds of dollars  for a quality made in America Kombucha stoneware brewing crock.

Handmade stoneware brewing crock allows for the continuous brewing of the ancient Kombucha tea, which many believe provides detoxification, probiotics, and disease-fighting benefits.

Those who are looking for a good fermenting crock have been astounded by the steep prices running up to hundreds of dollars for stoneware fermenting crocks.

Per customer request, Cottage Craft Works.com has developed an economical USA stoneware pottery water crock for brewing the popular Kombucha tea.  

Unlike glass the crock is not translucent  and  does not have to be left in a dark place allowing it to be kept on a kitchen counter for  closer monitoring of the Kombucha brewing process.

Typical brewing time is 7-10 days in warmer weather and 7-21 days  in cooler weather. Brewing time will also vary the according to the temperature of your home. Brewing time can be shortened by using a brew belt which warms the vessel up considerably. Pottery absorbs heat very well and can simply be set close to a heat source to speed up the brewing process.

The crock holds 2 gallons of brew. Active brewing requires a cloth cover for the mixture to breath during fermentation. The Cottage Craft Works brewing crock comes with a standard pottery lid as a bonus to keep the crock covered when it’s not in use.

If you plan to bottle your Kombucha tea for a secondary fermentation, the crock will produce approximately one dozen 16 oz bottles. The bottles are easy to fill as the crock comes equipped with a USA made poly spigot.

You can purchase the Kombucha Tea Crock online at  http://www.cottagecraftworks.com/usa-kombucha-tea-fermentation-crock  The crock is also available in custom colors as well as having it personalized

Cottage Craft Works at www.cottagecraftworks.com is an online general store featuring a full range of old fashioned goods and wares made and used at the turn of the Century when many depended on off-grid simple living  American made products.

Best Apple Cider Press 2016

Best Apple Cider Press 2016

Self-Sufficient Economy Cider Press-Mill. Now EVERYONE Can Own A Cider Press!

Now a smaller, less expensive cider press for the homeowner with only a few trees.

It works as well as the larger version. Presses a half bushel of whole apples at a time. No need to peel or cut up the apples - the grinder does it all. Comes mostly assembled. Includes a pressing bag and EZ-DO Polyurethane Gel. Just bolt it together and you have everything you need to make pure, delicious cider.

Our tests have produced over one gallon of pure delicious cider per pressing!

PIONEER JUNIOR BUDGET CIDER PRESS

MAPLE SYRUP COOKER | WOOD FIRED EVAPORATOR

The Basic 26” x 46” 12 GPH Maple Syrup Cooker is a perfect evaporator for the small backyard hobby syrup processor on a limited budget. This wood fired maple syrup evaporator allows the maple syrup do-it-yourselfer hobbyist to step up from using makeshift cookers to a real maple syrup evaporator at a nominal cost.

Learn more about the product:
http://www.cottagecraftworks.com/hobby-basic-maple-syrup-cooker-wood-fired-evaporator

Best Ice Cream Freezers Made in the USA

Best Ice Cream Freezers Made in the USA

Best Ice Cream Freezers Made in the USA

Best Ice Cream Freezers Made in the USA

All USA Made Heavy Duty 8 Qt Ice Cream Maker! 

Take a closer look at the quality material and craftsmanship and you will quickly realize that Immergood USA made old fashion quality ice cream freezers are being made much like ice cream freezers manufactured at the turn of the century.

Ever since Immergood introduced their original 6 qt freezer, people wanting to make larger batches of ice cream have been requesting an 8 qt model like the original White Mountain 8 qt freezers.

Rollaway, Roller Egg, Roll Out, Nest Box

The Very Best Rollaway, Roller Egg Nest Box allow fresh eggs to roll out into a covered collection box providing peck free, cleaner, less damaged eggs.

Considering all the cost and time to produce fresh eggs finding them broken or half-eaten is very frustrating. These USA made rollaway chicken nest boxes are really worth the upfront investment  and should last a lifetime.

Unlike some other  metal  nest boxes on the market, these nest boxes are built very heavy duty containing no plastic parts to become brittle and break off over time.

With a slightly slanted floor in the bottom of the nesting box, the eggs gently roll out forward, or in one particular model, forward or back into a protective collection tray.

Many have made wooden rollaway nest boxes for years, and there was once a company making these types of nest boxes commercially in the early 1900s.

Old Vintage Rollaway Nest Box  Used To Pattern New Amish Nest Boxes

These are Amish  USA made rollaway nesting boxes totally made out of heavy duty galvanized metal that can be power washed and disinfected should you ever have a poultry disease outbreak. They also require no straw or other nesting materials that may harbor mites and other insects.

When the Amish find a  great product and then it becomes no longer available they will begin to reproduce it for the Amish communities. Today many of the old time products like these nest boxes are still being made and used in the Amish communities. Cottage Craft Works specializes in traveling the back roads discovering these types of  all American made quality  old-fashioned products to bring them to the general marketplace.

These Amish made nesting boxes were first discovered by the folks over at Cottage Craft Works in 2006.  They were the first company to bring them to the general market in their unique back-to-basics general store. They offer different styles and sizes for almost any size of flock for the backyard hobbyist  homestead to the small commercial egg producers.

The original rollaway nest boxes have the green roost with divided boxes. They are available in a two-hole, four hole and an eight hole model.  Each compartment hole will accommodate 5-6 hens.

The eggs drop down onto a wire mesh screen to roll forward.  The mesh is large enough to allow the chicken poop to pass on through to a pullout tray underneath for easy and quick cleaning.

Cottage Craft Works Four Compartment Rollaway Nest Box

Easy Access Egg Collection Tray

Amish Rollaway Nest Box In Use For Over 20 Years

In 2011 the folks at Cottage Craft Works discovered another Amish company making a similar rollaway nest box . They were the first company to bring the Community Rollaway Nest Boxes to the general marketplace.  These nest boxes were rather intriguing  to them because they offered a wide open concept without dividers.  

Community 48" Rollaway Nest Box

The Community Rollaway Nest Box Large Collection Tray

The Amish builder designed these smaller nest boxes from the large commercial open nest boxes where the chicken enters divided curtains to lay their eggs.  What really caught their attention was that the wide open community concept was able to  accommodate  more than double the number of chickens in the same size of the 4 compartment boxes.

The Community style also has a larger egg tray to hold the additional eggs. The community style does use laying mats for the eggs to drop and roll on which will need to be cleaned.  Extra mats are available with the boxes to have them to switch out.

One big advantage of the Community design is that they are reversible. Meaning you have the flexibility to set them up for either a front or rear collection tray. Using the rear collection tray makes them very handy to use in small hard to access chicken coops or when you don’t really want to disturb the chickens during egg collections after dark.

The Community boxes also have solid metal backs so they can be set up in rows in the middle of a coop.

Both styles of nesting boxes have the roost hinged to lift up to access the egg tray but to also block off the entry to the nest boxes when needed.

Both styles of the rollaway nest boxes are available to purchase online at Cottage Craft Works.com and have been one of their best-selling line of products.  People have come back to purchase more of the same style so it becomes a Ford or Chevy discussion when asked which one is the best over the other.

The customer service at Cottage Craft Works is great to discuss the pro and cons of each based on your specific coop setup.

Cottage Craft Works, www.cottagecraftworks.com is a back-to-basics general store providing old-fashioned products of value and functionality for today’s homestead hobby farm.  Many of the products are made for non-electric off-grid homesteading.

Off Grid Water Well Pumps | Deep, Shallow Well, Cistern Pumps

Deep and shallow well, cistern pumps. Cast iron hand and pitcher pumps, USA made since 1886.

When people are living off the grid or looking for an emergency backup water well pump they need to look no further than the old-fashioned time proven cast iron Heller Aller well pumps still being made in America now  for over 130 years.

Fresh potable water is an absolute necessity for everything living. You will find all types of cast iron hand pumps on the market. Some of them are made to pump water others are made to be a pretty ornamental landscape décor pump. Most of them are imported not always dependable and often nearly impossible to find repair parts.

Cottage Craft Works.com is a full line old-fashioned  general online store that caters to those living self-sufficient off-grid. Cottage Craft Works carries the famous Heller Aller water well pumps plus all the replacement parts to keep them going for generations to come.

The products at Cottage Craft Works are mostly made and used in the Amish communities. The Amish are back-to-basic sustainable living people who fully depend on long lasting durable made functioning dependable products.

Heller Aller pumps are widely used in the Amish communities and others living in remote locations where grid power is not readily available.

The 50L Heller Aller Deep well force pump is one of the most commonly purchased pumps. It can be used with just the long handle, a pump jack or attached to a windmill. A force pump means that it is capable of pumping water uphill to a reservoir,  stock tank or overhead water tank in a home to later use as a gravity feed water supply.

The 190-A lift pump or the 192-A windmill pumps are ideal for shallow wells primarily in the 15’ to 20’ range. Slightly deeper installations may be accomplished with the addition of a foot valve. Both pumps provide a very user-friendly serviceable pump that is well constructed, pumps a large amount of water and are rather economical to purchase.

Heller Aller also makes an offset well cap for 6" allowing both a submersible electric pump and a hand well pump to be used at the same time.

For a good pitcher water pump, Heller Aller offers two great  brass cylinder options. 

The PHB pitcher pump is by far the most popular because it also serves as a force pump to pump water up to a holding tank to be used later gravity feed. The PHB will also withstand water pressure against an electric submersible pump. Many have installed a PHB inline from a shallow well to the house to use as an emergency well pump should the electricity goes out. This type of installation works best if the PHB can be located at a low point such as a basement to be able to pull water from the well.

The Fig T brass cylinder pitcher pump is also a popular pump used next to a sink indoors or outdoors for gardening, food prep and fish cleaning stations. It is a heavy duty straight forward direct source hand pump built to last.

Many zoos, living history farms, and children museums are using the Fig T because of its durability for visitors to get a feel of how an old-fashioned hand pump operated. Kids can be very brutal on things especially when they are in an age group with peers on school outings. This is why the Fig T is a good choice for these locations.

Both the PHB and Fig T can be easily drained by lifting the handle in case of freezing temperatures.

Cottage Craft Works has all the pump parts to repair or rebuild the older Heller Aller pumps.

To learn more about these old time workhorses and to view the available options Click Here go directly to the pump section at Cottage Craft Works.

Homemade Ice Cream Maker | Amish USA Made

Serious homemade ice cream enthusiast turn to Amish USA made ice cream makers because they know the Amish build things to use often and to last for years.

Like most products that have become caught up in the discount store price wars; imported off the shelf ice cream makers just are not holding up for serious semi monthly or weekly homemade ice cream family events.

These imported machines might work fine for a once a year family gathering but to make several gallons as often as the Amish make homemade ice cream those imported makers just don’t hold up for very long.

Country Freezers are Amish made and have been the king of the ice cream freezers used in the Amish communities for decades.  They are available in sizes as small as small as 1 qt to 20 qt. Country Freezers feature the nostalgic white oak stave barrel s with a thick stainless steel can, and heavy duty nickel plate dasher for up to the 8 qt size. The 8 and 20 qt uses a stainless steel dasher.  The 20 qt can even be ordered with NSF approval stamp.

Country Freezers have traditional been made as a hand crank but in more recent years companies are retro fitting the White Mountain electric motors on the 6 qt models. Country Freezer has also introduced their American made electric motor. Since the motors are being made in small quantities they are rather expensive.

Another Amish company has introduced the Immergood Ice Cream Freezers and in many ways has even further raised the bar on Country Freezers. Immergood has combined years of experience in using the older White Mountain freezers along with the Country Freezers. Their more practical use approach has been to get rid of the more expensive oak tub and to replace it with a super insulated double wall poly tub that will not leak over time. They have even developed an insulated cover to place over the top of the tub after the ice cream has been made to hold it for hours.

Immergood has also wisely placed great emphasis in improving the tub ear and tub latch system that has all become nonexistent on the imported freezers. The frustrations of the continuing gear frame wobbling and jumping out of the slots when the ice cream began to harden on other models brought Immergood to a positive latching cam lock system. The tub ear and latch are made of heavy stainless steel that is probably an overkill in design but very common to Amish made products that are just made to last.

Immergood also uses stainless steel gears on the hand crank models and like Country Freezers have a heavy duty can, and nickel plate dasher. Immergood also did away with the wooden scrapers and use a food grade white poly used to make bearings and slides in food processing equipment.

Immergood is only available in 6 qt and 8 qt models.  The 6 qt can be purchased with a White Mountain electric motor or upgraded with a Country Freezer motor. Immergood has a USA motor in development. The 8 qt only comes in hand crank at the moment.  A complete stainless steel gear frame, dasher, and can are also available in the 8 qt.

Cottage Craft Works www.cottagecraftworks.com carries both of the Amish Country and Immergood Ice Cream Freezers as well as all the accessories and parts. They were the first company to introduce Immergood to the general public. While some others are now selling Immergood freezers they are not offering the two sizes or all the accessories.

Cottage Craft Works also offers all the replacement parts for White Mountain freezers including Amish made upgrade tub latches, ears and tub centers.

USA made garden tools

Made in the USA garden tools are used by sustainable living Amish families. When the family garden is depended upon to supply large families with fresh organic grown vegetables the Amish don’t rely on cheaply made imported garden tools.

For them gardening tools have to hold up and keep sharp cutting edges anything less just won’t cut the mustard when growing and cultivating a family garden is at stake. 

Regrettably many people who dream of growing their own food year after year will short cut the process and purchase cheaper made imported garden tools.  They fatigue quickly because the cutting edges quickly dull or the tool comes out of the handle after just a few times in the garden. 

Growing a garden is hard and does require a lot of physical activity but without the proper tools some will just end up throwing in the towel and giving up on the idea.

Over the decades many reproduction garden tools have been copied by importers which just don’t function as well as the originals.

Stores like Cottage Craft Works www.cottagecraftworks.com provide direct access to the same old fashioned garden tools being used in the Amish communities.  Most of the tools are still made one at a time in small Amish factories.

Cottage Craft Works offers three different Amish made hoesand eight different styles of hand push garden cultivators including child and lady friendly sizes. The Wheel Hoe garden cultivators patterned from the after the old time Planet Junior  are considered the Cadillac of hand push cultivators and have the most available options for the serious gardener.

You can also find canning and preserving equipment as well as hobby farming equipment such as a garden line row builder for compact tractors, sprayers, orchard equipment, cider presses, supplies and so much more.

Cottage Craft Works is a full line general store chocked full of old fashioned vintage favorites for the self-sufficient home, garden, farm or ranch.  A large department is dedicated to hunting calls, gun accessories including replacement gun stocks.

USA Made Water Bottle Crock Cooler

Old fashioned pottery water coolers and water bottle dispensing crocks are still being made in the USA just like they were being made at the turn of the century. In the wake of concerns of community water supply safety the lead and cadmium free clay and glazes make these hard to find crocks in high demand.

These are not the imported ceramic water bottle dispensers that are easy to find rather, these are the old time hand turned pottery crocks that were being widely used before electricity and refrigeration was made readily available in the US.  

Water temperatures will not be as cold as a refrigerated drinking fountain but the thick pottery does provide some cooling giving these the name of water coolers before the more common electric water coolers were ever invented.  

Cottage Craft Works www cottagecraftworks.com is an online general store providing an emporium of old time products for those who have a quest to return to simpler made in the USA products.

Water coolers and water bottle crocks are available in traditional blue stripe or you may choose from an assortment of custom colors and patterns. Crocks may also be personalized.

Water coolers are available in sizes from 1-3 gallon sizes. Water bottle crocks hold 2 gallons and come with a lid to use with our without a water jug.  Most use them with 5 gallon plastic water jugs. 

 The company provides instructions to make a protective ring to use with glass water bottles which, is refreshing as you don’t need to purchase an expensive plastic ring in addition.

 

You will also find other old fashioned pottery and cookware from this unique online store that specializes in small American made businesses and craftsmen.  90% of the products come directly from Amish businesses.  

Cottage Craft Works also provides an outlet for other small cottage based businesses making and crafting these old fashioned vintage products. The crocks are made by a small non-Amish company in Texas.

You can find Home Goods consisting of sewing cabinets, Amish made furniture, self sufficient living products such as non-electric gadgets and clothes drying racks. Farm & Garden consisting of old fashioned hand push garden cultivators, roller egg chicken nesting boxes, livestock products, water well pumps, horse and buggy items and reproduction wagons and wheelbarrows. The Kitchen and Food Prep tab takes you into all kinds of old fashioned kitchen gadgets including hand crank mixers, egg beaters, ice cream makers, dairy processing equipment and non-electric appliances. This is the tab where you will find the USA pottery and the water coolers and water bottle dispensing crocks.

Vintage Woodworking Kits, Plans and Hardware

Woodworkers looking for vintage woodworking kits, plans and hardware for woodshop projects will discover old fashioned kits, plans and hardware at woodworking-kits.com

Build old fashioned reproduction furniture, sewing cabinets, vintage kids ride on toys, working wagon seats, buckboard bench seats, or even ornamental buckboard wagon garden décor .

Hardware and plans to build an authentic working box wagon seat or a buckboard wagon bench seat are very popular kits followed by the reproduction J & P Coats thread spool cabinet kit is one of the most popular products.

The  old fashioned Studebaker Jr Wagon Kit is over the top.  Build an exact replica of this old time scaled wagon which began as salesman sample for the large Studebaker wagons but soon became popular kids wagons.

Woodworking-Kits.com is a micro site of Cottage Craft Works .com.  A unique general store featuring hard to find back-to-basic products.

With over 3000 products listed on the main site at http://www.cottagecraftworks.com customers can browse old fashioned products just like an early 1900 Sears and Roebuck catalog.  Cottage Craft Works features mainly American made products produced by cottage based and small business owners. Many of these are Amish shops located on the back roads of Heartland America.

The company was founded in 2006 by Paul and Liz Stevens and has become very popular with self-sufficient people looking for old fashioned American made products.  

The site allows those who grew up in the 1950s,1960s, and 1970s a modern day shopping venue reminiscent of those periods when woodworking kits, plans and hardware would have been featured in woodworking magazines and in the classified section of such magazines as Popular Mechanics.