Doing laundry by hand - have you tried it

Roxy,

I have had to do laundry for 3 regular (myself & 2 kids) people & one welder (extremely dirty clothes) because weekly money ran short & kids gotta eat. I sterilized my bathroom plunger (hot soapy bleach water for 10 minutes) ran hot water into the tub, added small amont of detergent to laundry and stomp, stomp, stomp.BTW, younger kids love to help do this. Then pull clothes to back of tub, open drain and wait a few minutes. Run water to rinse and stomp. Drain again, wing lighter clothing like tee shirts, leave heavy clothes like jeans and jackets saturated. When you hang them the water weight pulls them straight and they actually dry faster than if you wring. I might add that your hands don't have blisters at this point too. LOL! It's not rocket science, been there, done that aaand have the tee shirt! Jo 

I have two questions and then a suggestion:
1. can I get a wringer without a mop, or do they come separately
2. I have heard there was a combination of baking soda, chlorox and hydrogen peroxide that was good for washing clothes when you really want to disinfect them. Any comments or measurements?

I bought an older model of Wonder Clean. It cleans by pressure created by the warm water and the vacuum lid. I bought it from a neighbor who had gotten it for Y2K (great source of unused or nearly new stuff if the people are unloading or moving), so the price was right. But if I were to buy it new now i would be sure to get the newer model that has a bottom drain and more sturdy screw lid mechanism. But reports I read are quite glowing about the job it does. Of course, it is non electric and must be hand cranked from half a minute to 2 minutes, depending upon the load.

Very little soap is needed (there are specific directions re. that) and it can be emptied of soapy water and new water put in to rinse, then use the same technique as the wash cycle.

What I really need now is a wringer (arthritic hands). Have clothes line and clothes pins and tubs.

I do have a new toilet plunger and a tub, and that might work best for jeans, blankets, etc (altho you can do 2 pairs of jeans at a time in the Wonder Clean).

What about birds pooping on the clothes drying outside? I guess you could just do an eye inspection and rewash anything that looks suspicious. It is probably a paranoid view, since so far we do plan limited outdoor activities, but (pardon the expression) sick bird drool on clean laundry? Or am I getting way beyond the fringe.

Thanks for your comments.
Rocky

omega wrote: WASHING the clothes isn't the problem - that is easy, you can even leave them to soak for hours, or even overnight. The PROBLEM in doing laundry by hand is twofold: Getting ALL the soap out of the washed clothes. Extracting water from heavy duty items like denim jeans, blankets, large sheets. Small wringers work VERY VERY VERY well for small items, insofar as extracting excess water --- but if water is at a premium, it will be very difficult to RINSE the soap out of the clothing... leaving soap scum and maybe even a peculiar smell after it dries out.

    

Lehmans has hand operated washing machines, ringers, wash boards, wash tubs etc.

This and a  washboard with some ivory soap would work nice for people like me that cant afford the expensive stuff.

Hi,

 ROCKY. i never heard of #2, but you would have to store alot of it to wash laundry, but then again were in new territory here, maybe some body else knows . roxy

I've bought a few packets of cheap pants and  socks for everyone, in the hope that we shall outlast the power cut and be able to wash them by machine again.  Tescos /Asda are probably cheaper than disposable.  Assda does socks for £2 for 5 pack - at that price they're disposable.  Beth

I'm a crafter who has lots of fabric so I'm making flat sheet to fit up to a queen bed if we get sick they can go to the trash.Also been getting some sheets at garage sales.And I'm saving the softest in case I run out of tpaper.Old flannel shirts or any cotton clothes can be used for many things.Think recycle.

Okay, how about Fels Naptha (sp?) soap ... how does that clean up, pretty good.  I just kinda figured that alittle bit of vinegar to the rinse water helped to take out the soap.  IMHO, cool/cold vinegar water rinse helps the suds to rinse out better as opposed to warm/hot water that suds' up the soap alittle bit more ... my $.02 worth ...

I think you can you can also add concentrated lysol to laundry. It kills germs. You can double check this by checking their web site. it is a great site. Thanks for the tub ideas! Great idea ...