Thread Number: 14408
Cleaning The Maytag Square Aluminum Tub 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 245693   11/1/2007 at 19:50 (6,013 days old) by bingwsguy (Binghamton NY)        

Any way to keep that tub nice and shiny? Are there certain detergents that are bad for it? I never use chlorine bleach in it and I polished it to look new, but after 1 use it was all tarnished using Ivory Snow. Any thoughts?




Post# 245697 , Reply# 1   11/1/2007 at 20:05 (6,013 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

toggleswitch's profile picture
.

Post# 245698 , Reply# 2   11/1/2007 at 20:06 (6,013 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

toggleswitch's profile picture
Cream of Tartar (in the spice section of your market) works well too for aluminum pots and pans, etc.

Post# 245701 , Reply# 3   11/1/2007 at 20:12 (6,013 days old) by bingwsguy (Binghamton NY)        
Steve

 Thanks for the suggestions....do I have to do it everytime I use it?

Post# 245702 , Reply# 4   11/1/2007 at 20:21 (6,013 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
Depends on how fastidious you want to be.

 toggleswitch's profile picture
People count more than anything. IMHO, live life to the fullest and leave a little dirt for tomorrow.

No matter how clean we were in life.....
When we die there will be dust and dirt in our eyes.

:-)

Post# 245703 , Reply# 5   11/1/2007 at 20:29 (6,013 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Hey Joe

 mickeyd's profile picture
Did you ever get the gooseneck and coupler for your Maytag .

That was my first time, ever, sending a part.

Please tell me it did not get lost in the mail.

I fear the worst because you haven't answered my emails.

Post# 245705 , Reply# 6   11/1/2007 at 20:31 (6,013 days old) by bingwsguy (Binghamton NY)        

As I have gotten older, how I have learned just how true that is. I just noticed that it leaves a balckish residue on my hand when I rub over it...wondering if that is transferred onto the clothes?

Post# 245706 , Reply# 7   11/1/2007 at 20:32 (6,013 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
Aluminum pots and pans? THAT is why toggles is nuts!

toggleswitch's profile picture
Mother Toggle used to use lemon rather than vinegar in aluminum pots.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO toggleswitch's LINK
Post# 245707 , Reply# 8   11/1/2007 at 20:35 (6,013 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
Free Oxy-clean and Clorox 2

 toggleswitch's profile picture
If the black stuff is oxidation(which includes oxygen), I am wondering if this is a source of "oxygen bleach"!

Post# 245708 , Reply# 9   11/1/2007 at 20:37 (6,013 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
Wouldn't white be the more normal/expected result?

toggleswitch's profile picture
~I just noticed that it leaves a blackish residue on my hand when I rub over it...wondering if that is transferred onto the clothes?


Really?


Post# 245709 , Reply# 10   11/1/2007 at 20:38 (6,013 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Joe

 mickeyd's profile picture
Did you miss me in there?

What's going on?

Post# 245710 , Reply# 11   11/1/2007 at 20:43 (6,013 days old) by bingwsguy (Binghamton NY)        

That was a great link. I am one to have to understand the techinical side of everything, and that explained it perfectly. Thanks for all the info Steve.

Post# 245808 , Reply# 12   11/2/2007 at 10:32 (6,013 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Joe, congratulations on having this great machine, an icon almost. When you used the Ivory in the washer, was the water slippery or silky feeling between your hands? It might not have been softened enough and what you were left with was a soil/mineral film on the tub. I do not know if you have a water softener, but adding a conditioner to the water with a light duty product like Ivory Snow is probably necessary for proper cleaning and soil suspension as well as for protection of the metal parts from minerals in the water. Is Ivory Snow a detergent now? I thought I read that someplace, but maybe I'm just mistaken.

The secret to keeping the aluminum tub smooth and bright is to rinse it thoroughly after washing, using a rag to add some mechanical action to the water that is spraying into the tub, remove the agitator, wipe everything dry, put a dab of grease on the top of the drive post and leave the agitator in its side in the tub so that it won't fall and break. Leave the lid open for a while to make sure the drying is complete. I remember seeing an aunt's Master with the wringer tipped in just enough so that the lid rested against it in a partially open position. Of course, there was a towel over the wringer to keep the lid from marring the paint where they touched. These machines were made for use with harsh, alkaline chemicals like washing soda with soap and later products like Tide, but the relatively short exposure to the wash water did not do real damage as long as the tub was properly rinsed and dried which is why so many of the tubs look so good even today. Any discoloration (like from really hard water) can be taken care of with a product like Bar Keepers' Friend or citric acid crystals on a damp cloth followed by a good rinsing and drying. If there is any minor surface roughness, a Brillo pad will fix it.

Post# 245821 , Reply# 13   11/2/2007 at 11:22 (6,013 days old) by fa_f3_20 ()        

I remember my great-aunt doing exactly these maintenance steps with her Maytag, as Turbo describes them. Also, wasn't there some kind of strainer under the agi to keep lint out of the drain? I seem to recall that.

Post# 245936 , Reply# 14   11/2/2007 at 20:50 (6,012 days old) by bingwsguy (Binghamton NY)        
Tom

 Thanks for the input. I can't remember if the water was slippery feeling. I will test that next time. I will try adding calgon water softner to the water and see if it helps. I remember Gram's tub being discolored too. I do leave the agitator tipped and lid cracked open (as Gram did) and put a rag in the rollers to keep from sticking together. I have a model "N" as well....both of which sit in my kitchen. I believe the Maytag Wringers were THE washing machines.

Post# 246734 , Reply# 15   11/6/2007 at 07:50 (6,009 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

The porcelain strainer was under the agitator in models with the drain pump. One grandmother had a gravity drain machine and I liked aiming for the floor drain at the end of washing. Then the rinse water had to be bailed out of the galvanized tubs until the amount of water could be poured out without flooding the basement floor. In my relatives' houses, the basement always seemed so sad when I would go back down there after the big washing was finished and the lights were out. I know that the adults had other stuff to do, but I would have been happy to keep doing laundry for hours. It was a fun activity plus it was something I could do with the adults we visited very infrequently. There were discussions from which I learned a lot. Old family stories were told. Interesting things from the past like the weather were reported or shared AND I got to smell the fragrance of different detergents. Cheer was my favorite.

These conventional washers are great machines, but I cannot use one without getting some water on the floor. That sorta forces a bit of floor cleaning as well. One of the last steps in an old laundry guide was to use water to wash the porch, so I guess cleaning the floor is close to that.

Post# 246740 , Reply# 16   11/6/2007 at 08:22 (6,009 days old) by geoffdelp (SAUK RAPIDS)        

Tom ... I love it that you were able to glean great stories from a chore as nice as doing laundry.

I also agree; I can't use one of these machines without some water on the floor. The Model E is better because of the splash crown but I still get water on the floor from rinsing.

As far as the darkening of the tub. I was lucky enough to have been able to get a brand new Model E a few years ago. I baby the tub because of it darkening. I no longer use chlorine bleach in it and detergents with non-chlorine bleach (like Tide with bleach) tend to darken the tub, too.

I've also noticed that even with regular Tide, the tub will darken and then when I wash again, it will lighten back up. It also emits a metallic odor after I have drained it.

Ben Swestka was up a few weeks ago and we did a couple of loads in the Model E and he could smell what I was talking about. I hadn't used the machine for a while so when we were done washing, I showed Ben how I take a cloth and wipe the tub as it is draining. We couldn't believe the dark staining from the aluminum.

Do you suppose that was a health concern?

When I use something like Fels Naptha or a plain soap-type product, it forms a barrier ... like oil ... on the aluminum and prevents it from staining.

Post# 246953 , Reply# 17   11/7/2007 at 11:26 (6,008 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Geoff, Chlorine bleach was never used in the washer back then, only in the first rinse tub so that the rinse water could be dumped after the whites were done and fresh rinse water with no bleach provided for the colors. I imagine that using alkaline detergents has just the same effect on the aluminum tub as cooking non-acid foods in aluminum pans. I don't know if it will help the odor, but have you considered using a little vinegar when you rinse out the tub before you dry it out? I don't know if you would consider using a liquid detergent, but I wonder if that formulation would have a different effect on the aluminum? Speaking of the cloth you used on the tub getting dark, aluminum pans will sometimes leave dark marks on the towels with which they are dried, although not so much if they are "Brilloed", which again sort of seals the surface of the aluminum. I think that the odor you noticed when the tub was wet is due to the film of moisture allowing the minerals in the water to react with the aluminum and maybe the vinegar would prevent that.


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