Doing laundry?

[Jagger]

I was interested in finding out if anyone has any good info on washing clothes. When we lived in the woods before we would use the boil method and hand scrub. Does anyone know of any contraptions that can be built, purchased, or salvaged. What about old wringer-washers that do not use electric. How hard are they to find and are they very expensive? What r some things to look at when deciding to purchase one?

Thanks
Jagger

[Sunny Days Farm]

Originally Posted by Jagger

I was interested in finding out if anyone has any good info on washing clothes. When we lived in the woods before we would use the boil method and hand scrub. Does anyone know of any contraptions that can be built, purchased, or salvaged. What about old wringer-washers that do not use electric. How hard are they to find and are they very expensive? What r some things to look at when deciding to purchase one?

Thanks
Jagger

You can get the non-electric old fashioned w/wringer at Lehmans (Lehmans.com) they are pricey though. BUT...they have other options that you may want to consider....some are alot more pratical from a financial viewpoint!

[ArkansasLady]

I have heard that some people take a clean garbage can and a new plunger and use the plunger to agitate by hand...and it works well...dont know how long or anything like that...I guess it would depend on how dirty the clothes were..

~C~

be sure to use two new garbage cans, one for soapy water and one for rinse water. Agitate for about 10 min.

[Ann-NWIowa]

I've heard of people taking a regular wringer washer and running it with a gas engine - even a lawn mower motor. I'm not mechanical so have no input as to how this works!

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

I have a James washer that I bought used. While they are very overpriced, they work well. You could do the same thing with a half barrel, a good wringer and some ingenuity.

[Blu3duk]

ive done my laundry in five gallon bucket with a plunger when i lived in a rock quarry in Colorado a few years back..... just add a little soap about a half bucket of water, and plunge away [can even cut a hole in the lid to keep splashing down to stick the handle thru] you can heat water in a dark container for warm water washing..... 1 pair of britches was all i ever had in the bucket at once.... acouple tshirts and few pair of socks you have to gauge it to knnow what fits as dirt varies....the more you have in the bucket the longet it takes to get it clean..... but about 3-5 minutes for bluejeans gets most of the dirt out. Once in awhile i would take my clothes into town to laundry to clean them when the weather was not cooperating too..... but that cost a $1.25 per load.

I used "kirks" castille soap cause we had hard water and it work for most every application.