Turning mangle handle.

[Yorkshire 53 10]

Don't know how common this was, but my mum had the mangle in the cellar of our terraced house back in the 50's. I helped turning the handle of the large machine which had wooden rollers. She had to clean it all before use each time due to the coal dust, which occasionally blew up to the 'cellar ee-erd' ! Due to the difficulties lugging the washing up and down to the cellar, she was the first in the neighbourhood to get an electric washing machine, which was a 'Thor'.

Hard times indeed.

[stephen 7 10]

My mum had a copper out the back with a gas ring underneath and filled it with water by hand us kids had to use the posher a wooden stick with three legs on it to move the clothes around then transferred to the mangle ,how easy have the young ones got it now

[JOHN HABS 10]

My gran has a mangle back in the 50's when I was a kid - every Wednesday the big washing tub would come out and be half filled with kettle after kettle full of hot water, the clothes would be put in and given a few minutes of being 'Poshed' ( our posher has a large copper dish like end to it ) before she fetched out the 'Wash board ' to scrub the clothes against it.

 

They would be then be put through the mangle ( the mangle rollers being of a wooden design with rubber over them ), water being collected from the clothes with a small tin bath underneath the mangle drip tray.

 

A few years later, twin tub washing machines came on the scene......put the clothes in one compartment to wash, then lift them out with a pair of tongs and put the clothes into the next compartment to spin them dry.................never got the clothes as dry as when using the old mangle.

 

The majority of our neighbours also did their washing on a Wednesday, and the smell of the washing coming from the open windows of people's house's was good to the senses.

[cuttingedge 10]

I always thought wash day was on Mondays then fry up with left overs from Sunday dinner.

[TORONTONY 10]

I always thought wash day was on Mondays then fry up with left overs from Sunday dinner.

 

Ah, loved bubble and squeak.

[Annina 11]

The mangle also had the advantage of ironing the clothes if you folded them first.

[medusa 16]

When we were growing up my mum was very modern and had a twin tub, but we used to go on holiday to a cottage which still had a copper and a mangle. It was a bit of a novelty to be the one on mangle duty because we didn't have to do it all the time, but I can imagine that you'd have fabulous arm definition if you used it every day!

[bladebeer 11]

When I was courting my wife,she had to do the washing before we could go out,so I took my turn with the washer which consisted of a handle which was fastened to a metal paddle which went into the washer and had to be turned by the handle .My then girlfriends mother insisted tht it was turned 3 times one way and 3 times back again .This seemed to go on for hours so I used to cheat and only turned it twice until she caught me. Slightly different from today's washing method.

[stpetre 12]

My gran has a mangle back in the 50's when I was a kid - every Wednesday the big washing tub would come out and be half filled with kettle after kettle full of hot water, the clothes would be put in and given a few minutes of being 'Poshed' ( our posher has a large copper dish like end to it ) before she fetched out the 'Wash board ' to scrub the clothes against it.

 

They would be then be put through the mangle ( the mangle rollers being of a wooden design with rubber over them ), water being collected from the clothes with a small tin bath underneath the mangle drip tray.

 

A few years later, twin tub washing machines came on the scene......put the clothes in one compartment to wash, then lift them out with a pair of tongs and put the clothes into the next compartment to spin them dry.................never got the clothes as dry as when using the old mangle.

 

The majority of our neighbours also did their washing on a Wednesday, and the smell of the washing coming from the open windows of people's house's was good to the senses.

 

Wasn't that washing gadget also known as a 'Ponch' ?