How do you do laundry?

[prana]

e

[farmer mama]

Have you checked out the hand washers at www.lehmans.com? Go to home and then click on laundry and they have some really nice hand washers and wringers, but quite spendy! There is a small pressure hand-washer for $44 that I have been eyeing for when we move this summer. Right now I have the luxury of a washing machine and electricity.

[prana]

e

[farmer mama]

That's a bummer that the pressure washer doesn't spin out the water for you, for some reason I thought it would. When we lived in a dome we just took our wash into town to the laundromat, or washed things in a bucket.

[prana]

e

[farmer mama]

Well it was a canvas dome, not very insulated but it was easy to heat with our wood stove. But it wasn't well made and one night it just lost it's waterproofing. I was pregnant at the time, so we moved into a cabin. I have known other people who had similar problems, but I think yurts are much better.

[momto l&a]

Staber washing machines are supposed to be good for off grid living. Have heard their warrenty doesnt expire when used on a inverter.

[blueholly]

I think I read this in Countryside magazine. Get a big bucket with a lid and cut a small hole in the top. Get a (new!) plunger and put through the hole. You can agitate your laundry like that. Rinse, rinse, rinse, wring and line dry.

We have a shelter in Tennessee and I was desperate for a quick way to do laundry without having to cart it all the way into town.

Hope this helps.

[calpurnia]

Originally Posted by prana

The problem with the pressure washer is that you have to hand wring everything out which takes a toll on your hands (dry and cracked).

Hmm, that is annoying. If you've got the space then I guess a mangle would solve that problem.

I'm considering getting one of these, since they are small, cheap, and enviro friendly! Will think about it some more re: wringing problem.

[prana]

e

[JenniferC]

I was reading an article online, sorry I forget where, but I did read that the weird looking plunger washing thing at Lehmans does a really good job on laundry! We're thinking about getting one for our homestead move in a week or two (those laundromats are so expensive!) I do really want a wringer, though they are spendy! Eeks! Just put in in a wash tub, plunge plunge plunge! I actually sort of like plunging so it looks like fun.

Something to always keep in mind is water pressure, we don't have a well at our place, so are going to rig up a gravity fed running water system, with a bucket hung up somewhere essentially, and that just isn't enough water fast enough for an 'automatic' washer, although I think some of the electric ones on Lehmans, the Saudi Arabian made one doesn't need water pressure, but talk about $$$!

[snowflake]

Right now I'm cheating. *lol* We are living semi-off-the-grid, but we're very close to my MIL so I just go over there to do laundry.

I've been looking at the lehman's website a lot - I was wondering about ringing out the clothes with that pressure washer... hmm...

If you wring out clothes by hand, do they take a long time to dry on a clothesline?

[knittingmomma]

Wringing out clothes by hand is a lot of work and yes they do tend to take quite a while to dry... In the warm weather, not too big a deal, hanging them outside...
I was talking with DH last night and our plan is to go with two buckets with the plunger through the lids, rinse in a sink (lehman's has a great double sink that isn't too much), hand wring and then in the winter have a retractable clothesline (two of them) that hang diagnonally by and above the wood stove (all in the planning stages of course) - for the winter and we would do this at night once the kiddos had their pajamas on....

I think I would save up the towels and sheets and go to town maybe every other week to wash at the laundry mat....

Warm wishes,
Tonya

[mama_daba]

i once met a girl who told me she hooked her bike up to an old washing machine to wash her clothes, and i used to know a few web pages that mentioned doing this, i love bicycling so when i live somplace thats not a tiny apartment, where having a bike and washing machine hooked up seems like a good thing, then i think it is something i will try, i know it only works on the older washing machines though

[Gunter]

some links

Another interesting chat about washing alternatives and bicylce washing, too.

http://ecoliving.cat.org.au/webcast/...&group=webcast

Here is one about the bicycle method:

http://web.mit.edu/d-lab/washing_sp05.htm

Interesting article with pics about bicycle powered stuff:

http://www.mindfully.org/Energy/Power-Shoestring.htm

[root*children]

What a cool link to the Humbolt college!! I've never heard of that before.

[cstgmt]

We were just talking about this same issue with a "professional" as we are currently preparing to move into our off grid garage/apartment. He said that a lot of people do laundry on saturday and run the machine on a generator. Having a generator is a good thing to have off grid anyway. We plan on eventually having a setup that can handle a washer and dryer, but for now the generator beats going to the laundromat with 3 youngins.

[crissei]

Carla Emery suggests putting clothes in a bucket with water and soap. Put a lid on it and put in your car and drive around with it while you run errands.

Not sure if this would work but it sounds cheap and easy.

[AprilDaisy]

I have no idea what off grid is so I'm clueless about that, lol. I just wanted to say that I like the idea of the big bucket/plunger washer idea. We live in the country and use modern appliances...so...lol.

Be Blessed,
April