Anyone hand wash their clothes?

[Marianne]

Ya, duh...I never thought of that either. Good idea.

I do actually have an old wringer attachment, but not the tub. I scrounged it from an old farm a long time ago. It's still gathering dust in the garage, but who knows? Maybe one day I'll see if the thing works.

 

[MamiPollo]

This is interesting to me, because I have been washing my clothes by hand off and on since last summer. Most of the time I have washed by hand during this duration. The only time I have really used the machines is if I get way behind.

I think I found the key to this method. You must wash your clothes daily, or at most every other day. Do not let the laundry build up. Why save up for a big load? The only reason to do that is if you are using a machine!

I wash my clothes in my kitchen sink. It is not a big deal to wring them out by hand and either take them outside to dry or hang on a rack in my kitchen. If I do them in the afternoon, they are dry the next morning. If I do them in the morning, they are dry by bedtime.

I figured this out after watching the balconies of some immigrant women who live near me. I was in their apartment complex daily for a few weeks while working for the Census last summer. Every morning they had some laundry hanging outside. It gradually dawned on me that everyday they were washing the clothes that their family had worn the day before. Looked like they did it right after breakfast, hung it outside on the porch rail on hangers, took it in after lunch & put it away. The benefits are many! Especially no huge, stinky pile of laundry! I tried it and loved it!

You can't miss days though, because once you get behind you have that big, stinky pile of laundry and the job becomes arduous again.

I don't know if the board will let me post a link or not, but I wrote an article about my experiences handwashing clothes if anyone is interested. http://www.squidoo.com/hand-washing-clothes

 

[Wannabefree]

MamiPollo, that is a great idea! I want to start handwashing all the time. I'd love to turn the laundry room into a walk in pantry instead DH is addicted to the washer though :/

 

[Leta]

There is an absolutely ancient laundry sink in my basement. It has an integrated washboard and a soapdish. The washer empties into it. There was no dryer hookup when we moved in here, just lots of lines in the basement. Which was fine when it was just DH and I. Laundry actually went really quickly, wash, hang, done.

MIL got us a dryer and a hookup when DD was born. We ended up replacing it, though, because an electric dryer added $100/mo to our electric bill. Yes, really.

I live in an extreme climate- winter here is seven months long- and now that we have several children, we just really don't have the space to line dry indoors throughout the winter. However, I'd really like to get a some tubs and a manual spinner and/or wringer to do laundry outdoors in the summer time. If DH and I actually do retire to a warm climate, just the two of us, I'd totally convert to the Paraguay method.

 

[Seven Hens Farm]

I remember my Grandma having a hose run from her rain barrell down into the basement which she would use to wash and rinse her laundry. She claimed her clothes were much softer because of it.

On another note...I use a washboard to scrub my son's (white) football pants. Some of the Mom's have asked me how I get them so clean. I tell them and they look at me like I have a third eye and then say..."I dont have a washboard"

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

MamiPollo, that is a great idea! I want to start handwashing all the time. I'd love to turn the laundry room into a walk in pantry instead DH is addicted to the washer though :/

That is a great idea! I'd love to turn my laundry room into a big pantry. It wouldn't be a walk in, but that would be a lot of space. But, the fact is that off all of my modern conveniences the washer would be the 2nd to last thing to go. (the refrigerator/freezer would be last in case you were wondering) Guess I could do with out the dryer if I had to, but I think I'd cry every day if I had to wash by hand.

 

[MamiPollo]

I still have my washer and dryer, and while I know that I could live without them, I like having them for back up. I did get behind on laundry due to all the craziness with school starting and working more (I substitute teach). So this week I decided to run a couple of loads and catch up.

After washing by hand all summer, the smell of the machine-processed laundry makes me want to gag. It does not smell clean and fresh compared to the hand washed clothes.

Also, everything is wrinkled! It seems like the items I was taking off the line were not as wrinkled as the stuff I pulled out of the dryer. Yes, it is all soft, but now I seem to associate that softness with clothes that have been worn. I miss the crispness of a clean shirt fresh from the line.

I think the idea of turning your laundry room into a pantry is great, but you might want to hang onto those machines and make sure you can sustain the hand washing process. It is easy to fall behind if you have illness or a crisis in the family. You can always use the machines for storage until you know for sure! lol

My advice is do not try to persuade your dh. Just start using your new method and let him experience the difference. My experience this week of going back to the machines after hand washing exclusively for several months has convinced me. Yes, intellectually I knew it was true that my clothes were getting cleaner, I was still a product of the cultural brainwash that insists machines do a better job. I was really surprised when folding the clothes that they were just kind of yucky compared to the clean laundry smells this summer.

 

[MamiPollo]

Washboards are great! I have never found anything else as good at removing stains.

If I had a big family I would definately get a mobile washer.

This tool makes the process go very fast and does a great job. You can hear the air and water moving through it and know that you are getting a good agitation going.

I would also get the kids involved in the process for sure. I suspect if kids are involved in the laundry process, they will end up being a lot more conscious about putting clean clothes in the laundry, knowing they are going to be standing there wringing the water out of those jeans!

 

[Beekissed]

Looks like a toilet plunger! Bet a person could get the same results by using a toilet plunger...hey! Never thought of that but it just might work...

 

[saraltx]

Looks like a toilet plunger! Bet a person could get the same results by using a toilet plunger...hey! Never thought of that but it just might work...

I do use a toilet plunger. I originally got the idea from a post in this forum, possibly in this thread.