Felting(fulling) in a front-loading washer?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:03:04 +0000, Laura J wrote:

Okay, I'll bite...what is a mangle?

I've been doing some research on felting in front-loaders and so far I
haven't seen any methods I'm 100% comfortable with. My washer doesn't
allow me to open the door in the middle of the cycle so I'm a little
nervous about having so little control over it. Then again, I'm making
slippers which are pretty small and I know small items take longer to
felt. I probably shouldn't put them into the sanitary cycle (2 1/2 hours
in 140 degree water!) though

LauraJ

"Erin" wrote in message
...
On 28 Jan, 02:58, (Richard Eney) wrote:

grin Since mangle has more than one meaning, I got an unplanned giggle
out of that. I assume you mean the "iron firmly" meaning. Ironing does
make a big difference even when you aren't felting. I've read that silk
lace shawls are supposed to be ironed after they are blocked.

I meant in the sense of running through the mangle several times, turning
the piece of felt each time (i.e. top edge, then bottom edge, then one
side, then the other).

Erin

All I could find was a picture of a toy one Laura. Before the days of spin
dryers you had to wring out the washing by hand. Feeding the wet washing
between the two rollers of a mangle squeezed out the excess water and
saved a lot of hard work. :-)
--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:41:09 +0000, Bernadette wrote:

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:03:04 +0000, Laura J wrote:

Okay, I'll bite...what is a mangle?

I've been doing some research on felting in front-loaders and so far I
haven't seen any methods I'm 100% comfortable with. My washer doesn't
allow me to open the door in the middle of the cycle so I'm a little
nervous about having so little control over it. Then again, I'm making
slippers which are pretty small and I know small items take longer to
felt. I probably shouldn't put them into the sanitary cycle (2 1/2
hours in 140 degree water!) though

LauraJ

"Erin" wrote in message
...
On 28 Jan, 02:58, (Richard Eney) wrote:

grin Since mangle has more than one meaning, I got an unplanned
giggle out of that. I assume you mean the "iron firmly" meaning.
Ironing does make a big difference even when you aren't felting. I've
read that silk lace shawls are supposed to be ironed after they are
blocked.

I meant in the sense of running through the mangle several times,
turning the piece of felt each time (i.e. top edge, then bottom edge,
then one side, then the other).

Erin

All I could find was a picture of a toy one Laura. Before the days of spin
dryers you had to wring out the washing by hand. Feeding the wet washing
between the two rollers of a mangle squeezed out the excess water and
saved a lot of hard work. :-)

Oops, sorry - forgot the link! http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw
--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

On Jan 28, 4:43*pm, Bernadette wrote:

Oops, sorry - forgot the link!http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw
--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

Looks like a wringer.

Hesira

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:53:41 -0800, hesira wrote:

On Jan 28, 4:43*pm, Bernadette wrote:

Oops, sorry - forgot the link!http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw --
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

Looks like a wringer.

Hesira

Yep! Same thing, different name. In the UK it was called a mangle and in
the US a wringer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)
--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

"Bernadette" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:53:41 -0800, hesira wrote:

On Jan 28, 4:43 pm, Bernadette wrote:

Oops, sorry - forgot the link!http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw --
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

Looks like a wringer.

Hesira

Yep! Same thing, different name. In the UK it was called a mangle and in
the US a wringer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)

I don't care what Wiki says, it was known as both in my youth - when we used
them. I've lived all my life in England. If there was a difference it was
that the mangle was a large, solid cast iron frame holding two huge wooden
rollers with gearing and a device to increase or decrease the pressure. It
was used over a dolly tub. The wringer was a smaller machine with rubber
rollers and without the majestic gears and enormous handle.

We still have a very small wringer, intended for use on a draining board and
not very efficient. I used it when manking beeswax foundation but that's
another story.

Mary
--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:23:49 +0000, Mary Fisher wrote:


"Bernadette" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:53:41 -0800, hesira wrote:

On Jan 28, 4:43 pm, Bernadette wrote:

Oops, sorry - forgot the link!http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw -- Blessed are
the cracked for they let in the light

Looks like a wringer.

Hesira

Yep! Same thing, different name. In the UK it was called a mangle and in
the US a wringer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)

I don't care what Wiki says, it was known as both in my youth - when we
used them. I've lived all my life in England. If there was a difference it
was that the mangle was a large, solid cast iron frame holding two huge
wooden rollers with gearing and a device to increase or decrease the
pressure. It was used over a dolly tub. The wringer was a smaller machine
with rubber rollers and without the majestic gears and enormous handle.

We still have a very small wringer, intended for use on a draining board
and not very efficient. I used it when manking beeswax foundation but
that's another story.

Mary

Wiki isn't always correct Mary but you can always go in and amend an entry
if you wish.

We also used both words in my family and Mom had one on the end of the old
crock sink. I loved that sink because, when the weather was very cold
in winter, she would bath us children in it as the scullery and kitchen
were the only warm rooms in the house. The old black kitchen range was
the other side of the scullery wall so (apart from draughts) it was always
snug. :-)
--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

On 28 Jan, 21:03, "Laura J" wrote:
Okay, I'll bite...what is a mangle?

http://www.medien-werkstatt.com/cine...rie/bild36.htm has a good
picture of a modern mangle/mangel (Swedish spelling) like we have in
our apartment building's wash room. The things I mangle (i.e. sheets
and felt) go into the dryer for the little pre-drying cycle. When they
are half dry, I run them through the mangle and then hang them in the
drying cupboard to finish drying. It's not as complicated as I've made
it sound (LOL) and makes sheets MUCH nicer to sleep on! It's a lot
quicker and easier than ironing and relaxes the fibers more
effectively; also the mangle is great for when your new fabric needs a
little straightening on the grainline.

Erin
p.s. the Sanitary cycle (aka Thermo-nuclear Meltdown Cycle (tm) is
great for washing old towels used to dry off muddy dogs!!! :-)

In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
"Bernadette" wrote
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:53:41 -0800, hesira wrote:
On Jan 28, 4:43 pm, Bernadette wrote:

Oops, sorry - forgot the link!http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw --

Looks like a wringer.

Yep! Same thing, different name. In the UK it was called a mangle and in
the US a wringer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)

I don't care what Wiki says, it was known as both in my youth - when we used
them. I've lived all my life in England. If there was a difference it was
that the mangle was a large, solid cast iron frame holding two huge wooden
rollers with gearing and a device to increase or decrease the pressure.
It was used over a dolly tub. The wringer was a smaller machine with
rubber rollers and without the majestic gears and enormous handle.
We still have a very small wringer, intended for use on a draining
board and not very efficient.

We had a wringer washing machine - it was essentially a tub on legs.
It was rolled over to the sink to be filled with a hose, and when the
wash cycle was done, drained and refilled with hoses. When the rinse
was done, we used a big wooden fork-ended two-by-four to lift the
clothes out of the very hot water and fed them into the hand-cranked
wringer attached to the top edge of the tub. My brother as a toddler
once climbed up on a chair and got his arm caught in it. It had
wooden rollers. If I recall correctly they were about 12 to 18 inches
long (definitely less than half a meter).

Using the wringer made the sheets less heavy to carry to the clothesline
and they dried a little faster.

=Tamar

"Bernadette" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:23:49 +0000, Mary Fisher wrote:

I don't care what Wiki says, it was known as both in my youth - when we
used them. I've lived all my life in England. If there was a difference
it
was that the mangle was a large, solid cast iron frame holding two huge
wooden rollers with gearing and a device to increase or decrease the
pressure. It was used over a dolly tub. The wringer was a smaller machine
with rubber rollers and without the majestic gears and enormous handle.

We still have a very small wringer, intended for use on a draining board
and not very efficient. I used it when manking beeswax foundation but
that's another story.

Mary

Wiki isn't always correct Mary but you can always go in and amend an entry
if you wish.

I know, then someone else can re-edit it. Life's too short :-)

We also used both words in my family and Mom had one on the end of the old
crock sink. I loved that sink because, when the weather was very cold
in winter, she would bath us children in it as the scullery and kitchen
were the only warm rooms in the house. The old black kitchen range was
the other side of the scullery wall so (apart from draughts) it was always
snug. :-)

My Grandma had an ancient (even older than her!) battered shallow brown
earthenware sink. I loved it and wished we had one instead of the deep white
pot sink. I couldn't understand why my mother didn't agree ...

The huge mangle was also at my Grandma's. And the copper boiler and the
bread oven - not room for much more than a table and hard horse-hair sofa in
that 'cellar kitchen'. Their bedroom was above that (at street level) and
then the attic - they brought up four children there and kept a pig in the
tiny garden during the war. No bath, no hot water, lavatory outside under
the stone steps to the 'front door' - which led into the bedroom. A tiny
fire and a couple of gas lamps. They died in the 1950s, having lived in that
house all their married life - about sixty years.

God, why do some people complain now!

Mary

"Richard Eney" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
"Bernadette" wrote
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:53:41 -0800, hesira wrote:
On Jan 28, 4:43 pm, Bernadette wrote:

Oops, sorry - forgot the link!http://tinyurl.com/ypvrvw --

Looks like a wringer.

Yep! Same thing, different name. In the UK it was called a mangle and in
the US a wringer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)

I don't care what Wiki says, it was known as both in my youth - when we
used
them. I've lived all my life in England. If there was a difference it was
that the mangle was a large, solid cast iron frame holding two huge wooden
rollers with gearing and a device to increase or decrease the pressure.
It was used over a dolly tub. The wringer was a smaller machine with
rubber rollers and without the majestic gears and enormous handle.
We still have a very small wringer, intended for use on a draining
board and not very efficient.

We had a wringer washing machine - it was essentially a tub on legs.
It was rolled over to the sink to be filled with a hose, and when the
wash cycle was done, drained and refilled with hoses. When the rinse
was done, we used a big wooden fork-ended two-by-four to lift the
clothes out of the very hot water and fed them into the hand-cranked
wringer attached to the top edge of the tub. My brother as a toddler
once climbed up on a chair and got his arm caught in it. It had
wooden rollers. If I recall correctly they were about 12 to 18 inches
long (definitely less than half a meter).

Using the wringer made the sheets less heavy to carry to the clothesline
and they dried a little faster.

And if the sheets were folded and put through after they'd dried they looked
almost as though they'd been ironed.

But not quite :-)

I still have some wooden tongs which I used to use with my little Hoover
machine to get the clothes to the wringer. They have 'Rinso' - a soap powder
of the time - on one side. My mother gave me them, I think she used them
when she went to the 'wash house' on a Monday.

In our first house we had no garden, not even a yard, so washing had to be
hung across the street, the line raised and lowered by a pulley. I hated
doing that, traffic wasn't the problem - I was just plain lazy!

Still am ...

Mary

=Tamar