I was at a garage sale yesterday and found this little gem for $2.00!! 😀 (an antique washboard). Now, I have never used one of these before so I cannot attest to its efficacy and efficiency, but I do think it makes a great addition to my preps, and as a soap maker I couldn’t resist picking this up to try out with some handmade laundry soap!
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I have not yet seen a post about how people plan to wash their clothing and am wondering how you all plan on keeping your clothes clean during a prolonged emergency situation. In my opinion, washing our clothes is something that shouldn’t be over looked as it can contribute to our well being and definitely our personal health/hygiene.
I have seen the Breathing Mobile Washer on some prepper sites, but I have yet to buy one. I think this handy dandy tool will wash my clothes way more efficiently than my charming little glass washboard. At the moment, however, I am a little fed up with having to pay shipping costs for miscellaneous items like this when there could be other viable (and more cost effective) solutions for my family and me.
So, what do you think about washing clothes in an extended emergency situation? How will you be doing it?
I can’t wait to hear back from everyone and thank you in advance for sharing your ideas with me and with the rest of the network! 🙂
There's a cheaper way to do the top one:
Take a plunger and drill 4 1/2 to 1" holes around the top. It's enough to break suction if it hits the bottom of the bucket and facilitates the same vacuum as the handy blue tool. Plus it fits in smaller buckets, so you can use whatever's on hand there, too.
We also have an Eco Egg that is low-power draw and a Wonder Wash that you spin with a crank.
Then there's the default to a pair of tubs with a hand-crank wringer and a board, but my board is an old AC intake grate, and brushes.
If you have solar/alternate energy options, don't forget to consider one of the compact low-energy dryers for RVs, or even shop vacs or small battery fans. They can really make a difference in dry time, especially when it's hanging indoors.
Thank you so much Mrsprepwpets! This is the first I have heard of the Wonder Wash or the Eco Egg. What fantastic little contraptions! I will for sure try out drilling holes in a plunger for now but I will definitely be saving up for that Eco Egg and Wonder Wash! So cool! 😀
Thanks again!
I guess I will be drying them like I always do. 🙂
Outside on the line when nice out. Inside on a line by the wood stove when not so nice out.
As for washing..that's either by hand or my bucket/wringer with plunger set up or a tub of clothing that can be stomped by feet.
Mind it helps a wee bit more to clean clothes, if your feet are already clean 😉
Failing that I guess I can do what an old fella told me once, that he did.
We were talking and he said he had to go, it started to rain and had to hang his clothes out on the line.
At first I thought he was confused and meant to bring them in, cause is started to rain.
"Nope", he says, " been doing wash automatic way for years. Hang 'em up dirty, take off cleaner" 😮
A sense of humor is absolutely essential to survival.
😆 OldTimeGardener that is too funny and very tempting to try out! Don't knock it 'till ya try it I guess?! Would be neat to see how well that'd work. Maybe try a lightly soiled piece of clothing and then a heavily soiled piece and see which one fairs better? 😆 Could make quite the prepper commercial!
I use just a wash board with bar laundry soap
I remember when young,touring across Canada on my bike with just 2 pairs of pants, maybe 3 shirts and 6 pairs of socks. When laundry time came, you wanted it all clean, so we would sit in laundry mats with only a towel on to get the most for our quarter 😆 . If there was a body of water around, we'd wade out and strip and do it all while in the buff. 😆 We tried this at a beach once, but folks kept coming over to see what we were doing. (a bathing suit would have been a smart investment) 🙄
Can't imagine dragging around any of these things you listed on a bike, just to do laundry, but I'm assuming the plunger head idea requires a bucket of sorts to work in, yes?
I'm assuming the plunger head idea requires a bucket of sorts to work in, yes?
Whatever size handle and head you want, smaller ones can work in a sink or pot, tub, or crouched by rocky creek.
A longer one with the fitted extension at the bottom is ridiculously fast and a bucket with a hole in the lid keeps water from sloshing. Too, it will take grimy garden or hunting pants back to clean in less than a minute, a bad pair of jeans and socks in one 5-gal bucket, or it can handle 3-4 t-shirts and golf-type shirts or a full pair of cammies/BDUs that are smelly and a little crusty, but either pre-rinsed or not much muddy. 2 drops dish detergent or pine cleaner, 6-15 plunges, on to the rinse stages.
I usually just carried a floor-type scrubby brush backpacking. At home, especially in seasons with multiple people getting bad muddy and having pets and the desire to wash sweaty sheets, and during rainy/snow seasons with towels, plus the extra dish cloths from doing those by hand, I like having something that works faster than the brush and lets me really get stuff done, especially if it will be used in food handling or to later wash something else.
We plan on using...our washing machine...LOL...but that's because we have a well and are off grid with solar and soon wind. If that Fries...stomping around on it in the bath tub works. As a bonus, I can clean my smelly feet at the same time. In times past, I have just put my dirty clothes on and gone swimming in a fast moving river, came out, soaped myself up and went back in for more swimming. Not recommended in December.
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
And I didn't want to mention that I tried to wash my clothes once while wearing them cause I'd look dumb 🙄 I soaped my jeans up with a bar of Irish Spring I had (just trying to get bearing grease off them) and went swimming. Developed a pretty good rash later that day in the hot sun and figured my idea needed a little rethinking. My usual get by in them days was to drop in on a relative or family friend in our travels and ask to use their washer as we bummed a free lunch too 😆 (well we needed to save money for gas ya know...we only rode Hondas back then and claimed we were just looking for work 😥 ) 😎 !
And I'm getting the idea with the pail and lid with a hole....good idea! 😉 And the plunger with the thrust for the pressure scrub affect. 😉 Would work well for the RV. Still not likely to pack one today biking though...I used to think being a little stinky camping was somewhat acceptable... till I got married. Never knew til then that women even carry crap in their big purses to leave bathrooms smelling "fresh" so us guys think they just got no stink in them at all 😆 . That's why I invested in big smelly dogs.... to cover all the smells that a wife might otherwise blame on me. 😮
Good demo using a plunger that you've drilled the holes in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOm023jobrM
I'm the lady you're stuck behind in the grocery store with the over loaded cart filled with cases of tuna, peanut butter, huge bags of rice and the weary looking husband
Good demo using a plunger that you've drilled the holes in
That is a good demo. Now I see another use for my shops mop bucket 😆 When he said that he was going to purchase a ringer, I then realized I already had 2 of them too. They are sheet metal rollers 😯
http://www.busybeetools.com/products/SLIP-ROLL-50IN.-16-GA.html
You could justify this now to your wife(for emergencies) and have another tool in the shop in the meantime 😀
I'm thinking if I dress like this and just "blend in", maybe I don't have to wash my clothes until you can smell me!