Hi!   I come from a family of 5 girls, and we have a problem. My Mother and Grandmother always had a "laundry plunger" ready to assist in the many loads of laundry.

Anyways, one of my sisters bought one of the "undie plungers" at an Estate Sale a couple of years ago. Since then, every chance I get to try to "kidnap" it,  I get caught.  The other evening I saw one on Ebay, and for some reason my bid didn't take, and now it's gone.  How can we get these?

It just goes to show how much our life has changed.  Back 35 years ago when I was having babies and hubby was going to college on his vet's benefits, I often washed by hand in the bathtub, with a washboard and plunger, rather than spending the quarters for the Laundromat, as I wrote about in Clothes Sprinkler Shortage.  Apparently some people still do it.  See a discussion at Frugal Laundry.  

I did find a source for laundry bluing for a reader: see Singing the Blues.  So, despite my failure to find a clothes sprinkler, I went looking for a laundry plunger.  This item, at least all that I have seen, looks like a short handled toilet plunger, but flatter, and the inside cup, instead of being hollow, has divisions inside.  This originally was used to move the clothes around when boiling them, and later to slosh them up and down in the double tubs of rinse water used with old wringer washers.

Since we live in an "ethnic" area where one can find lots of old fashioned things, I went looking and asking.  Two store owners laughed uproariously when I asked if they carried them.  I looked anyway.  No luck.

Frugal Tips link gave instructions on washing clothes by hand, and suggested using a toilet plunger.  Indeed, some I saw today had very short handles and were quite flat.  My neighbor, one of the family that owns this large discount, hovered nearby, warning me "None of these toilet plungers is worth a darn.  You should go to Home Depot and get a good one."  I didn't tell her what I was really looking for.

So, my best advice is to leave your poor sister alone before she brains you with the coveted plunger, and buy a cheap, flat, short toilet plunger and just call it an "undie plunger".  It should work about as well.  Just keep it out of the bathroom, or someone may use it for something disgusting.   

(Sent Via the Sneaky Kitchen) See, there are others that want this product.  What are you people thinking?  LaFrance bluing.  This seems to be a job for your marketing Dept.  If this is a demand problem put it out to the public; when I was able to buy it and I saw someone reaching for another product, I always told them that nothing beats LaFrance.  Give it back to us we need it.

Please use this page to send your complaint to Dial Corporation.

• Keep a FreezeSmart Mini 1 on top of dryer for the small items (change, screws, etc.)

• Keep an Oval 1 Modular Mate for the scoops & cup for the bleach (I just toss them in there)

• Mount an adjustable shower curtain rod overhead (to fit the walls) to hang up things immediately that need it

• Tupperware Bag Keeper on wall - it makes it easier to have a bag right there for the lint from the screen in the dryer and to throw away the used dryer sheets. 

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