Bring back the.....

[Rosendula]

Twin Tub washing machine.
My gran and my mother used to use these, and I had one for a short while about 17 years ago. I would love to see them make a return. All the washing done in one day (Monday), recycled water and detergent. No constant humming, whirring and banging Tuesday-Sunday. When it died you traded it in for a 'new' second hand one from the guy who would then fix and clean up your old one to sell on to someone else.

What would you like to see brought back?

[Millymollymandy]

Here in France they have never gone, they seem to be very popular! I've never used one myself.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Here in France they have never gone, they seem to be very popular! I've never used one myself.

Fancy setting up a partnership to export them?

[MuddyWitch]

You can still buy them from a nnear-by shop, but they are £500!!!

(and I doubt that they are as well made as they used to be)

MW

[gregorach]

They're horribly inefficient from both a water and energy point of view. Really dreadful. A modern front-loading automatic uses a fraction of the amount - OK, you can't reuse the water for multiple loads, but they use so much less water and clean effectively at such a lower temperature that I would be absolutely gob-smacked if the automatic doesn't come out substantially ahead all told.

Me, I only do one load a week anyway.

[Rosendula]

I suppose if you're only doing one load a week they would be inefficient, but are they really that bad for a family? I do about 14 loads a week, sometimes more. I figure that if you start with a 'lights' wash, then while that's rinsing you put the 'brights' in the wash, then after the lights have had a spin and you've taken them out you can put the brights in the spinner and a batch of 'darks' in the washer. That's 3 washes with the same detergent and water, and only heated up the once. I personally would keep doing all the 'lights' until they were gone before moving onto the brights, etc. I'm think I could do all my weeks washing with one, possibly two batches of water/detergent. As for cleaning effectively, you can check the garments as they come out of the washer and if they're not clean enough you give them a bit longer. With a front-loader, once it's done it's done and if you're not happy the offending garments have to go right through again.
Perhaps I've got on the rose-tinted specs of nostaliga or whatever.

[gregorach]

14 loads a week!? Good Lord - do you have a football team or something?

OK, that may be more efficient then. The only way to know for certain would be to collect some solid data and do some analysis. (Yes, I'm the kind of person who has several years' worth of meter readings in a spreadsheet...)

[Big Al]

Twin Tub washing machine.
My gran and my mother used to use these, and I had one for a short while about 17 years ago. I would love to see them make a return. All the washing done in one day (Monday), recycled water and detergent. No constant humming, whirring and banging Tuesday-Sunday. When it died you traded it in for a 'new' second hand one from the guy who would then fix and clean up your old one to sell on to someone else.

What would you like to see brought back?

Well I for one would not like these to return. Wash day was a saturday in our house after a morning dragging bags of shopping miles up from town. clothes were boiled clean, wrung out by hand then put through the spinner before hanging out on the line to dry in the back street. Nop, some things need to be consigned to the past.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Telephone. With wires. That stayed on the hallway table (or, if one were feeling raffish, was fixed to the wall) and had a proper bell that rang and everyone knew where it was and it didn't get burried for days in even the most chaotic house and and....

[Rosendula]

...and with a rotary dial so that each number you dialled was definite, unlike buttons that go on strike or get over-excited and duplicate themselves.

[MuddyWitch]

My 'Bring Back' would be UNheated buses:

You wrap up in 97 layers because it's -7C, & you stand at the bus stop, which has been carefully positioned to never see a drop of Sunshine, but catch the slightest icy breeze 'till 3 buses all come at once. Then you find they are heated to 30C and all the people (particularly the teenagers, all of whom have bathed in really cheap perfume) whinge if you open a window, assuming it's an old enough bus that you CAN open a window. Trying to remove one or two layers meets with disapproving mutterings too. By the time you arrive in town (a ten minute journey), you are seriously nauseous & suffering heat stroke!


...and breath!!!

MW

[old tree man]

My bring back would be the original park keeper,when i was growing up he welcomed everyone to the park and always had tea on the brew a real lovely man from Ireland, he actually gave me the shove in the direction to become a forrester, to think of it i owe my lifestyle to him so i hope he's looking down on me pleased

[oldjerry]

Definately the phone, I mostly use the mobile to phone up the walkabout to find where the bloody kids have hidden it !

[Millymollymandy]

Cane, and National Service.

[boboff]

The test card during the day........

Telegrams for Weddings

Busy local pubs where the main food item is Scratchins'