We had what my mother called an ironer. It had a padded roll that pressed against the metal plate. It seemed huge! It was a white metal cabinet and the top part lifted up and hinged back. I actually learned to use it when I was about 10. She stopped using it about the time I was in junior high - I guess permanent press sheets came in about then. I'd love to have room for it now to press fabric! One memory I have is blowing a fuse while using it. It must have had quite a power draw.
My grandmother had a washing machine on her back porch with a wringer on top. We kids weren't allowed to mess with that. Catherine -----Original Message----- From: wanda pease <wan...@hevanet.com> To: 'Historical Costume' <h-cost...@indra.com> Sent: Sun, Jan 17, 2010 5:53 pm Subject: Re: [h-cost] Washing, ironing, and running repairs - was "an amusing error" Having used both a Mangle AND a wringer I can tell you both that they are two different pieces of equipment. Much the same in basic construction, but used for different things. I am old enough to have used a Wringer type washing machine when I was little. The Wringer was used to put the wet, rinsed clothing through to squeeze out as much water as possible before the items were hung out on the clothes line (yep, no dryers). The mangle was a heated long roller that you put the clean, dry or damp clothing into (a pant leg, a table cloth, the ruffles on a little girl's dress all depending on how good you were to press them the way we iron clothing today. I happen to have one given me by my older neighbor that I use to iron long pieces of pre-washed fabric, or table cloths. I'm not good enough to do the fine ironing that you can do. The Mangle roller is quite hot and covered in fabric a bit like a modern ironing board. You could spritz water onto either it, or the clothing and release a leaver which brought the heated roller down and pressed the fabric between it and the base plate. Found out the hard way to put a basket under the spot where the ironed cloth came out to keep it clean. I use it in the garage because it is very heavy and it gives me room to stretch out the cloth. In a way you are both right. A wringer wrings extra water out of cloth (and hands, and hair, and things that get caught that shouldn't. They are a menace that way. A mangle irons the damp or dry cloth or clothing. First you wring out the cloth and dry it to a barely damp or dry condition with the wringer and clothes line (ecologically friendly dryer). After the cloth is damp or dry you use the Mangle to iron it flat. One goes with the washer, the other is a large scale iron. Wanda Pease who still loves her Mangle for pressing 10 yards of pre-washed fabric before cutting it out. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
