handwashing clothes!!

**purpleprincess**

Perfect!!! Right!!! Tonight may be time to rescue my poor only-worn-once-beautiful-handwash-only clothes!!! :j

**purpleprincess**

Oh and not only that, but save me some pennies in the long run as I can also handwash clothes that can just be chucked in the machine!!! (I have to pay £1 to use the washing machine each time in the laundry room in the back block) :j :j

newlywed

I always do the towel trick if I have to wash anything when on holiday, especially if in a cold place (eg skiing). Always works fine.

Used the hang over a dining room chair to dry too. Or put on a hanger and hang from a curtain pole, window, doorway etc etc.

newlywed

If you're doing a lot... just remember to leave a clean dry towel for your bath/shower!!

nabowla

I wrap my clothes up in a large bath towel and then stomp all over the towel, as though I'm crushing grapes with my feet! The pressure squeezes out the extra water without wringing the clothes and the towel absorbs the excess liquid. I then get a second towel, lay it on a flat surface and put the damp clothes out to dry on the towel. Works a treat.

Rikki

nabowla wrote:

I wrap my clothes up in a large bath towel and then stomp all over the towel, as though I'm crushing grapes with my feet! The pressure squeezes out the extra water without wringing the clothes and the towel absorbs the excess liquid. I then get a second towel, lay it on a flat surface and put the damp clothes out to dry on the towel. Works a treat.

:eek: What about your delicate handwashing?

**purpleprincess**

:j can't wait to handwash now!!! :dance:

tawnyowls

Definitely worth checking out if these really, really, absolutely have to be handwashed, or if they could be washed in the machine. Loads of manufacturers slap 'dry clean only' labels on the clothes to cover themselves, but the vast majority can be washed on a delicates cycle in the WM. Silk and wool are usually treated these days, and can often be washed, although obviously expensive delicate wools such as merino and cashmere need handwashing, as do things with sequins, beads or glitter. Most synthetics can be washed (almost certainly if they're polyester), but certain fabrics (usually made from plant fibres) can be a bit of a problem - acetate and viscose do have a tendency to shrink, although if you wash them, hang them up and pull them flat, they're usually OK (never, ever tumble dry). Velvet can become crushed.

dannahaz

This isn't an answer about how to dry handwashed clothes - that's been done already - but there is something I found really helpful when it came to the actual handwashing.

Lakeland does a product called Lavender Wool Mix. It's brilliant for handwashing, as it doesn't really need rinsing out (although I do rinse it a bit). It's £5 a bottle, but you only need to use a tiny amount each time.

PS - despite its name, it isn't just for wool.

http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!2018

morganlefay

I hate handwashing because I hate the feel of it AND I never got the things what seemed like clean. If you haven't got a machine or don't want to use it Lakeland did a thing they called a 'Dolly'. They said it was a revival of a thing our grannies used to use, tho my mother couldn't remember ever having seen one. It's a big cone shaped thing with holes in on a long handle and you squidge it up and down on the clothes in a bowl/basin/bath. It can be as gentle or vigorous as you feel like, and you can use it for rinsing too (also it is fabulous for getting rid of pent-up fury too). I have found it absolutely brilliant because it does get things clean, and then you adopt all the ideas above for drying. Now I've said all that, I expect our chums in the Lake District have stopped selling them. As I recall it seemed expensive at the time, but I haven't regretted buying it, and it's a lot cheaper than a washing machine ! Hope that helps, tho it won't if we can't buy them now !! (in which case, sorry).