handwashing clothes!!

pigpen

I find willing family members to do the odd load for me.. necessities that smell.. undies, piddly bedding, DS1's socks!! and school uniforms and pj's. Other stuff has to just wait.

In summer I'd sling it in the paddling pool and have the children jump on it.. in winter it goes in the bath after the children.. the wash powder does a great job of getting the bath clean too!

Primrose

I think the hardest thing at this time of year is getting clothes dry. Hopefully you'll haveyour machine sorted out soon but meantime force your children to wear the same clothes for as along as possible. They won't die of germs ! Light cotton items can be wrung out tightly and in an emergency, put a hot iron on them to help them dry out. Can you rig up some kind of emergency washing line over your bath so other things can drip dry? If all else fails, put some plastic sheeting on the floor at the base of your radiators and drape the clothes over them.

Pennylane

Why do you have to wait for Comet? Is it still under guarantee?
If it's not, see whether a local service engineer could do it quicker.

belfastgirl23

Just to say if you are doing hand washing be sure and wear rubber gloves. I used to do it all the time when I was a student and it really does play merry hell with your hands, especially wringing out ( and I mean sores and blisters, not just chapped hands). On this, for bigger items it's worth getting two of you to do the wringing, one at either end and turning the item in opposite directions. If you need something urgently you can wring it out in a towel which removes a lot more of the water. But then of course you have to dry to the towel as well.

TBH I'd cut it to the bare minimum and bite the bullet on the launderette (although the drum would be stuffed ). But it is amazing how little things need washed unless they're next to skin.

stefejb

I had a wonder wash and the handle snapped after a month or so

I did without a machine for a couple of months and only caved in after my lovely spinnery thing (£30 from ebay) gave out. good luck

BusyGirl

I know what you mean about doing too much washing as I realised this a couple of years ago when my washing machine seemed to be breaking down every other month. As long as you have clean underwear each day you'll be amazed at how much longer you'll wait before washing things.
I find I'm far less fussy when we go camping too as I refuse to spend longer than I have to in the campsite laundry room!
Hope you get your machine sorted soon.

mumofcookers

Pennylane wrote: »

Why do you have to wait for Comet? Is it still under guarantee?
If it's not, see whether a local service engineer could do it quicker.

It is still under guarantee from comet so I have to wait for them:mad:

I started last night with the school uniforms, as from what everyone was saying it will take a long time to dry, and thank god I did! Who knew a child's jumper could hold that much water! Have just checked them now and it looks like they will be dry by the morning!
I will be doing quite a lot of it tomorrow when the 2 boys are at school.

After giving the children their bath I made them all chose a towel each that they have to keep for the week, as someone pointed out, they only need to dry and it's not like they get dirty when you are clean when you use them! They all seemed to really like having their "own" towel and I have told them after they get dressed in the morning to put their pjs under their pillows ready for the next night, I love the fact that they are all young enough to still think that little things like this are fun!
Husband is under instruction to re wear jeans and jumpers for work unless he does chasing out, then they do have to be washed.
Also my 3 year old daughter and I sorted out the biggest pile of socks to wash in the bath tomorrow which she thinks is really funny but really wants to help!

So I want to say thank you, not just for all of the hints on how to hand wash but for making me have a good think about how much washing I actually do and how much I "need" to do.
THANKS:D

whatatwit

Well done mumof...if your OH is going to be doing a grubby job 2 days running, make him wear the same stuff...I do with mine

If you keep up the new good practices, you will save both time and money.

On the bit about getting stuff dry, I leave it for a bit to drip, and then give it a run over with a hot iron..steam off...then back to dry off.
Amazing how quickly you can dry a school shirt with a dry iron.

scubaloo

when i was abroad and we had to handwash everything, i found that it was really helpful to wash each days underwear in the shower with me that night. it only takes a few seconds and stops a big pile building up (although they did need a proper wash eventually). Not so useful for your kids stuff i guess, but maybe for your own.

nx74201

Hi everyone, my first OS board post, please be gentle!

Could any kind souls provide me with hints, tips, warnings or preferably an 'idiots guide' to washing my clothes in the bath?

My Mum passed away recently but had always spoiled me, insisting on doing the washing and most of the cooking herself, even Dad rarely got to have a go.

Until recently I was a total workaholic, working all hours to pay off our mortgage within 10 years. I did manage it but was made redundant when the local operation was closed down. I'd hoped to 'sit in' with Mum on household tasks while off work but time ran out.

I never got to see Mum in action as she'd always have the washing done and hanging up to dry by the time I got home.

We never had a washing machine (apart from a second-hand twin-tub monster when I was really young that flooded the kitchen on its first try). I don't plan to get a washing machine due to a lack of cash, space and plumbing. In any case if Mum managed all these years then I should too.

All Mum used was the bath, washing powder, fabric conditioner and possibly a scrubbing brush and 'Fairy' soap. I don't even know if she used hot water or not.

I'd really appreciate any ideas, I'm just paranoid about about doing things wrong and ruining everything!

Thanks in advance...:)