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No washing machine - advice needed

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  • hello,

    am a student living in the mountains .. so to speak.. without a washing machine.. and too far to the laundrette. will probably go to campus to wash clothes like trousers and hoodies but am happy to hand wash shirts/undies/socks etc..

    and i did try just that today.. soaked all clothes in the tub with detergent, 6 hours later soaked in clean water, 2 hours later, just squeezed every one of them and hanged on the drying rack thing..

    any tip please ? its too much work.. i probably need to actually hand wash/rub the clothes to get all the dirt out.. but i'm not doing that.. even still its too much work trying to squeeze the water out..

    please advise
  • Janey3
    Janey3 Posts: 417 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    I think I would hand wash as they need it, even if it means washing one article every evening. Not as daunting as having a pile facing you!
  • Red_Doe
    Red_Doe Posts: 889 Forumite
    I don`t think you need to soak them so long! Best way is, if they are cotton, make sure the water is hot, and that you rub the mucky bits (not suggesting you are mucky of course, but you know what I mean :D ) then rinse in clean water, wring out with your hands, and hang to dry. That`s all you need, but if that is too much hard work, you`re either going to have to wear dirty undies or buy new ones each day. :D
    To wring, in case you haven`t done that before, take one end of the garment in one hand, the other end in the other hand, and twist hard, it squeezes the water out no problem and with smalls should be fairly easy to do unless you have arthritis or such in your hands. :)
    Hope this helps.
    "Ignore the eejits...it saves your blood pressure and drives `em nuts!" :D
  • Seakay
    Seakay Posts: 4,269 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    You find it too much work to leave your clothes in water and then wring the water out?

    The only way of cutting down is to find a mechanical way of removing the water.

    An old fashioned mangle http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=992&bih=611&q=mangle&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

    A twin tub for washing and removing water http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&biw=992&bih=611&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=twintub&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

    or a spin dryer http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&biw=992&bih=611&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=spin+dryer&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

    of course all of these will mean spending money.

    To be honest I'm not sure what you want us to do. You say "am happy to hand wash shirts/undies/socks etc.." but "i probably need to actually hand wash/rub the clothes to get all the dirt out.. but i'm not doing that."
  • Drying hand-wrung laundry indoors on a drying-rack is almost certainly going to cause condensation and/or mould if you can't hang it outdoors. Quite honestly if you can't wash your small items properly by hand I'd get everything over to campus and wash and dry it there even if it meant taking some over twice a week.
  • hot.chick
    hot.chick Posts: 1,070 Forumite
    I knew someone who put their washing in the bath when they had a shower, stomped on it then rinced in cold water - wrung and hung up - must take ages to dry though....??
  • babyshoes
    babyshoes Posts: 1,771 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    My grandmother used to advocate washing knickers and socks in the bath/shower at the same time as you wash your body, with the same soap, though not while wearing them of course! A quick rinse in clean water from the tap afterwards is all the extra water/effort you need. If you do it every day, it won't pile up.

    If you want hand washed items to dry quicker, try folding them individually into a towel and squeezing it well - sitting or standing on it for a few minutes gets a lot of the water out. Small items like socks and pants will usually dry overnight in a warm room after that. In winter, your radiator is a good place to dry washing.

    If handwashing is still too much effort, a trip to a cheapy clothing shop like primark, tesco or asda should ensure you have enough basics like T-shirts and undies to last you through the week until you can get to a launderette, and then wash & dry it all in one big batch. I know that isn't the most money saving or eco-friendly option, but certainly the most convenient! If you can't afford to buy a whole batch now, try saving up and buying one item each week/month when you get your money.

    Also, make sure your clothing actually NEEDS a wash before you sling it in the wash pile - it sounds obvious, but most people (myself included) usually assume that worn clothing needs a wash. Things like jeans can be re-worn a few times if they don't smell - dirty marks can usually be sponged out of otherwise clean trousers. Also, in cold weather you may be able to wear tops again if you haven't been too active. Use your nose! I have a place where I put any 'nearly clean' clothing to wear again on a day I am not planning to go out - so if I end up a bit pongy by the end of the day it doesn't matter.
    Trust me - I'm NOT a doctor!
  • Seakay wrote: »
    You find it too much work to leave your clothes in water and then wring the water out?

    The only way of cutting down is to find a mechanical way of removing the water.

    To be honest I'm not sure what you want us to do. You say "am happy to hand wash shirts/undies/socks etc.." but "i probably need to actually hand wash/rub the clothes to get all the dirt out.. but i'm not doing that."

    I agree with this - you need to use a machine to wash or it will be hard work :)

    I've found an older thread with more tips, so I'll merge this and you can see more ideas.
    :rudolf: Sheep, pigs, hens and bees on our Teesdale smallholding :rudolf:
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 17,413 Forumite
    10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped!
    When my two DDs were tiny we lived in one room and kitchen barely room to swing a cat and we had no washing machine or spin dryer I had a baby burco boiler, which did the nappies ect but before that I just had to handwash and rinse and wring out myself.I had a big old blackened stock pot that covered two gas rings and would boil up the nappies in that as well.Washday was a bit of a chore, but my Mum never owned a washing machine ever.She managed to bring up three children with just an old boiler and a mangle.My job as a little girl was turning the handle and watching my Mums snowy white sheets going through.Everything seemed to be boiled in those days .When in the early 1950s the Bendix Washing Machine Company came to open a shop in Lewisham,London I went with my Mum to see what all the fuss was about, it was the first lauderette to open in our area of London.We queued for hours and the queue snaked around the block.Eventually we got to this huge machine that swallowed our clothes and her cash.When we got home afterwards my Mum did the whole lot again as she said she didn't think it had done a proper job and in her opinion 'These new machines won't replace what we have been using for the past few years, and anyway where on earth would you put one in your kitchen they were far too large and cumbersome'. They didn't impress her at all.She had a glass scrubbing board to do the collars and cuffs of my Dads shirts and then they too were boiled and starched.Monday morning was wash day no matter what and everything in sight got washed She used Oxydol powder and a blue 'dolly' bag in the boilerOnce bubbling you had to poke the washing around with a 'dolly stick.Blankets were always done in the bath with me tramping up and down them.Her nets came down weekly and sparkled brilliantly white after washing and starching with 'Robin'
    starch.She knew who had done their 'nets ' in our road and if they hadn't bothered .she was a very houseproud little lady who kept a beady eye on such things :) But back to the subject.I think if you have say a good half hour a day where you handwahs stuff most of it can be acheived and maybe sheets could be done whilst you are showering with just stomping up and down on them Or investigate the possibility of a laundry for big things .if your not going to be permanantly in the caravan it might be a short term solution
    Good luck
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