Anyone hand wash their clothes?

[ducks4you]

My clothesline needs replacing, so I recommend one of them. I took a scrap piece of fabric and stitched a purse with a flap and big, wooden button, and strap to store my clothespins, and it still hangs by my back door.
You can buy an accordian, wooden, inside clothes dryer for delicates, or just to dry your socks that aren't dirty enough to be washed, but wet from sweat. I spend every day outside taking care of my horses and my chickens, and I use my basement pipes for socks to dry.
You can also buy a mesh, sweater dryer, used to dry wool and delicates. Mine fits above my washer and I've also used it over the tub.
Unless you're off the grid and paying pennies for your electricity, it's worth looking into these alternatives. Your house is dryer than outside and clothing will evaporate water when hung or laid out.

 

[phendunberry]

I handwash all my clothes- it's just me and water and electric is included in my rent, so I'd rather do laundry for free than take them to the laundromat. I also enjoy the process of hand washing. I love the feel of fabrics, and I like how my body feels worked when I squat over the bucket in my bathtub, and I love how the clothes look drying either on the rack in the tub or the line above it or on the balcony. I dunno, there's something romantic and beautiful and simple about it.
I have a large flexible plastic bucket that I use, its probably about 8 gallons. I just put my dirty clothes in there, and when it's full take it into the bathroom and add warm water and add some of a bar of detergent I bought in Argentina or a bit of Dr. Bronner's soap and swish it around a bunch then let it sit for about 30 minutes and then rinse each item piece by piece. Then hang to dry, and you're golden

 

[StarWish624]

YES!!! When I am in the shower, I have a medium-size "Rubbermaid" type container in the shower/tub with me. I collect water, and wash clothing (small/light items, like undies, shirts, etc. - items that are easy to ring out by hand). For the heavy items, I have a larger container outside. I fill several plastic jugs with hot water while inside the house, (I use the outside water hose for the cold water). I combine the hot with the cold hose water, and add bio-safe soap. Then I use a toilet plunger (bought for laundry ONLY) to get the water and soap to bubble, add one or two pieces of heavier clothing (like jeans or bath towels), and press up & down with the plunger to work the detergent through the fabric. It works really well. Then I wring as well as I can. I bought (on the internet) an old-fashioned metal bucket with a set of wooden rollers attached that is used to wring out floor mops. Well, it also works on ringing water out of jeans, etc.. I hang the items that I wash inside, in the shower. I hang the things that I wash outside, outside. Works for me .
One more thing, often clothing that is dried inside becomes stiff, not soft as we like. I saw a hint that helps that. Just aim a fan (I use a small clip-on type), and set it to HIGH, to blow on the clothing. The air flow dries the clothes faster, and softens them more nearly like outside line drying. You can do this if you have a drying rack, too.

 

[Puck-Puck]

I did for five years when I didn't have a washer. I'd wash small stuff in the kitchen sink and hang it on the line, arranged by colour in a rainbow spectrum (who said laundry can't be fun?) or on a clothes rack by the fire in winter. It was not a good stove and threw little heat, so sometimes thicker items wouldn't dry properly...then I'd put those into the hotel dryer where I worked to get them properly dry. I hated doing sheets, though, which meant kneeling awkwardly over the bath tub to imperfectly wring them, and leaving a trail of drips to the washline. But the house I moved to came with a roomy washing machine, what a blessing even if it's cold water only, and it has a spin cycle! No more dribbles! I still hang it all to dry, and have a good stove now, so that laundry dries no matter where I hang it. Every time I use the washing machine, I think of what a luxury it is.

As for clothes being crunchy...generally doesn't happen. Maybe we have soft-enough surface water here that that isn't an issue? Or perhaps it's a function of rinsing thoroughly? Or of using eco-friendly laundry soap, or hand soap, or dish soap?

 

[OzarkEgghead]

It's just me & my elderly mother. When I moved to this farm 7 months ago, I left my 25 year old washer & dryer set behind at the old farm. I've been doing our laundry by hand ever since & have absolutely no plans to change that. I spent $66 and built my own 3-line clothesline where I dry our washed clothing. During the warm months, I do the wash in 2 large muck buckets on the back porch...one bucket with soap to wash & one bucket with plain water to rinse. I allow the clothing to soak for about 30 min & then agitate with an antique laundry stick/plunger. After agitating, I hand-wring the clothes & dump them into the rinse bucket where I agitate them again. If I'm doing a load of heavily soiled farm clothes, I usually run them through a second rinse to be certain that I've gotten all of the dirt & suds out. Then I give the clothes a quick hand wring before dumping them into a clean laundry basket & transporting them to my 1898 antique Lovell hand-crank clothes wringer. A quick turn through the wringer squeezes out all of the excess water (and gives me some exercise!) and then the clothes are hung on the line to dry. During cool weather the process is just about the same except that I dump the clothes to be washed into the bathtub, hop in with bare feet & pretend I'm stomping grapes! LOL. After a rinse with fresh water, it's off to the Lovell wringer & then to the clothesline. Nothing better than the fresh smell of clothes dried on the line!!!

 

[sumi]

@OzarkEgghead I used to do the laundry in buckets and bath tubs too. I have a washing machine now, but I still line dry. I keep a room warm for my mealworms, so I put the damp stuff in there if the weather is "broken", which it is often in Ireland!

 

[Britesea]

I ran across a fun idea for getting a lot more of the water out of hand-washed items if you don't have a wringer. Take two 5 gallon buckets and drill holes in one of them- all around the bottom edge and a few more rows up the sides. Not so many that the structural strength of the bucket is compromised. Put that bucket into the tub, or anywhere that would be ok with water coming out. Now put your wet washing into that bucket. Put a lid on the second bucket and fit it into the first bucket, on top of the clothes. Now sit on the two buckets. Your weight will squeeze quite a bit of the water out of the clothes, without wrecking your hands trying to wring them out. Then just take the first bucket out and grab the clothes to hang them up. Easy-Peasy!

 

[Denim Deb]

I saw that idea as well. Another idea is to drill the holes, then throw a rope over a branch and tie the other end to the handle. Then get the bucket spinning. The water will come out and you have a spin rinse.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

If I sat on that bucket my clothes would just give up, lol!

 

[sumi]

I love that idea, but I weigh about 100lbs sopping wet, so wringing it out may be a more effective route for me