Zatera Ul

We’re sick again this week, so I did all the laundry with the building’s washer. (Sometimes paying $1.25 a load just to wash is worth it to me, sometimes not.) But I did find a picture of an antique wringer that’s very similar to mine: here. Same manufacturer, slightly different model, as mine says “Muskegon” and not “Anchor”. I clamped mine to the back of an old chair; the clamps at the bottom can swivel around. The two metal things on the top are screws that adjust the pressure of the “steel spiral pressure springs” on the rollers, thus adjusting the wringing pressure. The rollers are white rubber; mine have lots of little shallow cracks and dings, but they work fine. On the back side there is a little fold-down shelf for the clothing to come out onto away from the dripping water. I wasn’t sure when I bought the wringer ($30 at the antique store) if I would have to replace the rollers or some of the wooden parts, or not. But all it needed was a good cleaning and a place to set it up. I especially like using it to wring towels and socks. (To put bath towels through it I fold them in thirds lengthwise.)

So far it has just about paid for itself, by making handwashing much more feasible, and it is on track to outperform our financial investments this year in both absolute and ROI terms. Also, it is excellent upper-body and core-muscle exercise.