Hey y'all! Dena from Hearts & Sharts here to show you one of the easiest things ever: making a vintage washing machine cooler.
The hardest past about this is finding an old washing machine. This is what mine looked like when I got it:
When I got ‘er home, I wiped ‘er down with vinegar and put a trash bag over the top and taped off the porcelain part so I could spray the bottom. I went over the rusted metal base with Rustoleum's Rusty Metal Primer and then hit it with some red spray paint. I did a bunch of googling on this model and it was originally solid white, but, that's just not cute so I went with red. After the red was dry, I went over the whole machine with Rustoleum's Clear Coat Protectant, this gave it a nice shine and will also protect it in the future so this thing can continue it's life outside in the yard.
Okay, here's the hard part. Fill it with ice and drinks. Boom.
This machine already had all of the tubes from the bottom cut off, but if you pick up a machine that has them hanging, just cut 'em off. The melted ice will drain out of the bottom, just like it would after a washing cycle.
I just let mine pee on the deck, but if you do find a machine with the drain hose still attached, you could just put it in a bucket to keep from having a puddle. Or you could stick a bucket under the machine.
Hubs and I used this thing when we lived in Texas. Since the top is porcelain, it stays suuuuuper cold. It kept ice for almost 48 hours outside in July in Texas. You can't beat that.
Make sure you don't use glass bottles in these things. The ice will melt and settle and the bottles could break. You could end up plunging your hand in there for a cold one and pull back a nub.
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