Shoutout to the museum of science in Boston for their old washing machine display

I was there with my family last weekend and they have this whole section on how home tech changed. They had a 1950s wringer washer you could actually see the inside of, with the motor and gears all laid out. What got me was the guide showing how the agitator design changed over the years, from those old corkscrew ones to the modern low water ones. He said they used to have a belt that would last about two years with normal use before you had to replace it. It made me think about how we hardly ever see those simple belt drives anymore, it's all direct drive motors now. Has anyone else run into one of those old belt machines recently, and what part do you find fails first on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan8225d agoOG Member

My dad's old machine finally gave up when the belt snapped, which was fitting because I was the one who always forgot to replace it. The rubber just gets brittle and cracks after a few years. I'm clearly not cut out for the old school maintenance life.

nora_wood4325d ago

Wait, the belt only lasted two years? That seems crazy short. My grandma had one of those and I swear she used it for a decade without a single repair. Maybe they were just built different back then, or maybe the guide meant with really heavy use.

murphy.ruby25d ago

Honestly I feel like the guide was probably right about the two year thing. My neighbor still uses one and he's always fixing something, usually the belt like @ivan82 said. Maybe your grandma just got lucky or used it less than most people.