Miele

[Vienna]

I had an upright Electrolux machine with ringers on the back of it. Clothes in the machine, washed, then put through the ringers to get the soap out, rinsed in the sink and then back through the ringers. Sometimes things would get jammed in the ringers, especially large items and you`d have to open the ringers, fiddle about untrapping whatever was stuck and the ringers were shocking for breaking buttons or flattening zips.
After that came a twintub, by then we had a baby in the house and the smell of Fairy Snow washing powder and terry nappies drying over a clothes horse.
A few years later I got my first automatic and I actually sat the first day it arrived and I watched it do a cycle. I was fascinated by it.

 

[Totally Loopy Lou]

I agree entirely. At the risk of scaring away the younger members of this forum, it amazes me when I think back of just how much I did and how little I do now. Nowadays, my washing goes from washing machine to tumble dryer, usually bypassing the ironing pile, then into the airing cupboard. If it's lucky, it gets put away. And that's it. Back then, all of Monday morning was spent doing the washing, and that's after the mending had been done beforehand. I also used to black the fires and make them up, take out rugs and beat them and hang them out to air on a nice morning, polish the brass and copper, do the front steps with Cardinal Red (when did they stop selling that!). I don't actually think of myself as 'old' but actually writing all that out makes me sound like a under scullery maid from Downton. How things change!

I'm hardly young (late 30's) but must admit these posts are making me feel much younger
Find it fascinating hearing how much things have changed in so short a time. It's no wonder not many of my grannie's generation worked when you consider how much labour was involved in running the home and even doing the laundry etc. Even as a child we had an America twin tub for a while.
Sadly I cannot even dream of affording a Miele washing machine but I do have a Miele vacuum and it does a great job with my furry monkey!

Funnily enough, speaking of long-serving appliances, my mum had to have a new freezer delivered today (Beko apparently which she wasn't happy about but it was the only one that was okay for being based in a garage), and they took away her huge old chest freezer. It was 38/39 years old (they got it after a few years of marriage - probably when us kids came along!) and it was a Bejam!

 

[madmax]

I have just had to replace my Siemens washing machine after 12 years because it was cheaper and quicker to buy a new one than mend the old one which would have cost in the region of £300 and due to waiting for the part to come from Germany it would have taken over a month to repair it.
Who can live with out a washing machine for 4 weeks?
So I went online and brought a new one from AO and it was delivered the next day, so far so good but I have only had it a week.

 

[alter ego]

I agree entirely. At the risk of scaring away the younger members of this forum, it amazes me when I think back of just how much I did and how little I do now. Nowadays, my washing goes from washing machine to tumble dryer, usually bypassing the ironing pile, then into the airing cupboard. If it's lucky, it gets put away. And that's it. Back then, all of Monday morning was spent doing the washing, and that's after the mending had been done beforehand. I also used to black the fires and make them up, take out rugs and beat them and hang them out to air on a nice morning, polish the brass and copper, do the front steps with Cardinal Red (when did they stop selling that!). I don't actually think of myself as 'old' but actually writing all that out makes me sound like a under scullery maid from Downton. How things change!

Oh, wow. My mum actually was a scullery maid. Her most hated job was backing the grates. After doing the morning jobs, she'd rush off to her second job as a waitress in the attached restaurant, then back to finish duties in the "big" house.

I love polishing copper and brass, though have reactions when using Brasso. I use Shiny Sinks now and it works a treat - much quicker and easier than Brasso.

I'm not that old, but was a late "surprise" baby, and mum didn't work in Victorian/Edwardian times, but pre-war. Those were hard days.

 

[alter ego]

I'm loving this thread - keep them coming, ladies (and gents).

Ooh, I remember my mum was considered posh as she had one of those green Electrolux cylinder vacuums AND a Bejam freezer - she must have had it the same time as TLL.

And Fairy Snow. How could I have forgotten that!

I'm hoping my Miele will last. Even though previous owner had it with a 10 year guarantee, which has been transferred to me, I HATE being without a washer. Especially now that I do put small hand wash loads into the washer. It tells me how much water I use (29L on a small hand wash with extra rinsing), which amazes me as I use at least 6 buckets of water at 24L per bucket before I'm satisfied my hand-wash is clean and rinsed. I'm on a water meter so this alone is saving me a fortune.

I've had good and bad luck with appliances. All my hotpoint have lasted well with my last one being 15 years old and still working, but not efficiently. The 2 washers I've had between lasted exactly a week after the guarantee ran out, with both needing repairs costing more than a new machine. I bought an AEG tumble-dryer last winter. It lasted 2 weeks before the motor went (with a bang).

How do I know it went with a bang? Well, I was sitting in front of it, watching it (just like Vienna, but I did it for quite a few cycles - and still sit in front of my washer a bit. My neighbour caught me watching it with a torch shining in it last week. He now thinks I'm barking mad). It nearly scared me to death. I thought I'd been shot!

 

[Whatsinaname]

My mum had a twin tub all through our childhood and a spin dryer she had to hold onto otherwise it spun round the kitchen! We moved house when I was about 17 and she had her first fitted kitchen and it took ages to persuade her to have an automatic washing machine because "what am I going to do while it washes?" She soon got used to the idea of "doing something else" while it washed

I've got a Miele vacuum - best cleaner I've ever had but I can't justify the cost of their washing machines now my son's grown up and moved out.

 

[Vienna]

When my Mum was in her 60`s she had a really bad fall and smashed one arm and both wrists, both arms had to be in plaster for weeks. She used a twin tub for her washing but it meant lifting wet clothes from the washing part to the spinning part and rinsing them in the sink then spinning again. Unknown to her, me and my siblings clubbed together to buy her an automatic machine and persuaded Dad to take her out for a drive whilst we had it fitted.
She was NOT impressed. She moaned constantly that one load in the automatic took twice as long as her doing a full week`s wash with the twin tub and she didn`t seem to appreciate the ease of an automatic. To her dying day I think she would have scrapped the automatic and returned to her beloved twin tub if she could have done.
She was old school with all of her appliances and used a manual hand whisk, an old gas cooker with an eye level grill, an antique cylinder vacuum cleaner, an ancient Ewebank with a screw on handle and it regularly coughed and spewed out the fluff it had just collected all over the carpet again, she wouldn`t have duvets only sheets and blankets, her tin opener was one of those you jagged into the tin and then risked losing several fingers trying to open the lid, her kettle was one she boiled on top of the gas cooker and it whistled, her TV didn`t have a remote control and she declared central heating to be unhealthy and for wimps. She died in 1987 and I often wonder what she would have made of today`s gizmos and gadgets.

 

[Pick-a-Lily]

I had an upright Electrolux machine with ringers on the back of it.

I had one of those too, but mine was a Hoover, you filled it with a hose from the tap, and also a 'Spin-a-rinse' spin dryer. Happy days.

 

[boffy]

my mum had a hoover keymatic when i saw it at the british museum it bought back a lot od memories. that was a cross between a top loader and an automatic machine. very expensive to buy and service as it broke down every year without fail

 

[Craftalot]

When my Mum was in her 60`s she had a really bad fall and smashed one arm and both wrists, both arms had to be in plaster for weeks. She used a twin tub for her washing but it meant lifting wet clothes from the washing part to the spinning part and rinsing them in the sink then spinning again. Unknown to her, me and my siblings clubbed together to buy her an automatic machine and persuaded Dad to take her out for a drive whilst we had it fitted.
She was NOT impressed. She moaned constantly that one load in the automatic took twice as long as her doing a full week`s wash with the twin tub and she didn`t seem to appreciate the ease of an automatic. To her dying day I think she would have scrapped the automatic and returned to her beloved twin tub if she could have done.
She was old school with all of her appliances and used a manual hand whisk, an old gas cooker with an eye level grill, an antique cylinder vacuum cleaner, an ancient Ewebank with a screw on handle and it regularly coughed and spewed out the fluff it had just collected all over the carpet again, she wouldn`t have duvets only sheets and blankets, her tin opener was one of those you jagged into the tin and then risked losing several fingers trying to open the lid, her kettle was one she boiled on top of the gas cooker and it whistled, her TV didn`t have a remote control and she declared central heating to be unhealthy and for wimps. She died in 1987 and I often wonder what she would have made of today`s gizmos and gadgets.

I still have an antiquated Ewbank - I can't remember when it was bought, but it must have been about 40 years ago at least. Despite all the hype about these handheld vacuum cleaners like Dysons, they still need charging up periodically and faffing about with. The carpet sweeper needs no such attention - it's just there to clear up the odd mess as and when needed.

Sometimes I do wonder whether the people who spend £300 on a handheld Dyson could mange equally well with a £3 dustpan and brush set. I Can see the dyson might be useful for pet hair and things which might require a bit of agitation, but most of the time they demonstrate it with loose dry mess like cereal etc - surely that's what a dustpan is for!

 

[Craftalot]

I'm loving this thread - keep them coming, ladies (and gents).

Ooh, I remember my mum was considered posh as she had one of those green Electrolux cylinder vacuums AND a Bejam freezer - she must have had it the same time as TLL.

Yes! I had one of those electrolux vacuums too. It was kept in the upstairs bedroom (heaven knows why) and I'm sure it was the width of the (single) bed. Gigantic thing, but it worked pretty well from what I remember.

 

[countrymaid]

Craftalot, I will see your Meiele with my Hotpoint Twintub bought in 1988/9 and the spinner died about 5 years ago so 2011! I moved into my flat and there was no room for a automatic,well take half the lower cupboards out it would. It had a worktop so you could use it for doing stuff on, just rolled over and did two different colour washes and spins in 20 minutes. It was a tank and I was devastated when it died.

About 20 years ago I actually got rid of my automatic washing machine in favour of a Hotpoint twintub. I loved it! I could do the washing far quicker and I had hot water to wash the kitchen and bathroom floor (just a tip I learned from my Mum.) I mourn it's passing. Twintubs are so expensive these days too, that's if you can get one.

 

[donna255]

There is a company making them, now outer shell is plastic so lighter to move around. Twintubs.co.uk (?), and yes around £200-300.

Okay, http://polartwintubs.co.uk/ is now the address. Holy Crap the prices!!!!

 

[maymorganlondon]

We had an Electrolux cylinder vacuum cleaner when I was a girl. It had a suction connector at the end and a blower connector on top (and we had an attachment you could put in paint so you had your very own Wagner (one of the frequently-repeated PotD on IW) to speed up your decorating). The blower connector meant the vacuum was used as much by my dad as my mum (he was very much a DIY dad).

 

[boffy]

in america they still use twin tubs when we rented a house in florida they had one in the laundry room

 

[Pick-a-Lily]

They also have top loading machines in both USA & Australia, I prefer them to front loaders myself.

 

[maymorganlondon]

They also have top loading machines in both USA & Australia, I prefer them to front loaders myself.

As long as you're not stacking, I agree. Twintubs and Toploaders are very practical - you can add to the load while the wash is going unlike the frontloaders... They've now got add-while-you-wash frontloaders at a premium... kerrrrCHING :cash::cash::cash::cash: