Washing machine which needs no electricity

Smiley_Mum

Came across this washing machine which would be great for students, single people living in small flats etc.

http://shop.tvn.co.uk/se/cgi-bin/product.x5?DB=homeshopdata.dx5&SKU=homeshopdata-ias157

Here is some info on the machine/reviews etc.

http://www.laundry-alternative.com/travelers.html

http://www.laundry-alternative.com/faq.html

I think all in it costs around £35-£40.

lswwong

Thanks for locating this. I have heard about it before and would now like to give it a try. The bit about small washloads appeals to me! Hope to come back with some feedback later.

Smiley_Mum

Did you read the reviews on the thread I posted? I'm thinking about getting one too as I do a heck of a lot of washing/drying etc and I'm trying to cut it down. My electricity bill shoots up in the Winter time what with heating, drier etc, so doing my utmost to cut back dramatically on it. This would be ideal and it does say that it cleans clothes as well, if not better than your standard washing machine, uses less water, less detergent and no electricity so what a saving you'd make.

I looked at a few websites which featured it and a lot of them recommended it for anyone with babies (Mr Skint, you listening). Good for washing nappies, small baby items etc.

System

I actually was tempted to something very similar to this in Makro and was tempted i must say, however, when i thought about it, i would still have to rinse it (by hand i presume) and wring it or spin the water out. I got put off by the hastle and time factor.

Smiley_Mum

From what I read in the links I posted above, you can rinse it in the machine, just need to add cold water instead of hot.

culpepper

Ive got one of these.
My mum gave it to me when we were first married.
It uses very little powder.You need a non slip rubber mat to stand it on,on the draining board(like the mats you can buy in poundland).
I tend to use mine only in the summer as we have a washing machine but no spinner.
(You definitely need a spinner or a mangle).

squeaky

No electricity directly. I'd really like to know how you set about heating up hot water for it without using your kettle, immersion, or gas boiler?

It might use slightly less water than your machine, so there's be a small saving there; but otherwise all you're saving is the low speed wash action run time of the motor as far as I can see.

I can't imagine being able to spin it fast to enough to get clothes anywhere near as dry as a machine and definitely a whole lot more work.

Fine if you have no other option, I guess, though I'm not entirely convinced of even that.

It's not very high on my wish list.

Smiley_Mum

It states you can use cold water to wash the clothes but you'd have to spin it longer.

Uses less water and powder than that of a conventional washing machine. As stated in the reviews in the link in the initial post.

squeaky

Of course it uses less water and soap - it does a much smaller wash than a machine. Two sheets.

Anybody trying to use this to do a single wash load in batches would end up using a similar amount of water and powder over all. If I wanted to do a small batch I'd just hand wash in a bowl.

I'm sure it has a place somewhere - just not in my house. I'm not the least bit convinced by it. Sorry

anguk

My MIL had something similar to this and I borrowed it when my washer broke, boy was I pleased when I got my washer fixed. It washed the clothes okay but it was a hassle to rinse them and I also had to borrow a spin dryer from a friend to spin the clothes. I ended up standing in the kitchen for ages, washing, rinsing then spinning but we are a family of 4.

They probably are good for single people or camping but not much use for families, the main problem I found was lack of spin and soaking wet clothes. No matter how much you wring the clothes out they're not as dry as if you'd spun them and they took ages to dry, not ideal if it's wet outside and have to dry them inside.

Nile

Hello Smiley_Mum


I've used this washing gadget but it was so long ago I'd forgotten all about it. I'm going back to the 80's when I lived in a flat without a washing machine.

One of my chores that I detested was going to the launderette each week. I'd rather clean dozens of toilets than waste time in a launderette again.

Anyway, from memory I found the washing gadget did a good job of cleaning clothes. It's a bit of a palaver and girls might build up Popeye sized muscles in their arms.

For me, the choice between trekking out on a freezing cold and wet day to the launderette or using the washing gadget...........was no contest.