do laundry by hand - PEP BB nest.sand.handlaundry

I woke up to a busted washing machine, so this was the perfect opportunity to get a badge bit! I took a heavy load of darks and washed them in cold water and some (fairly natural, nontoxic) detergent. I skipped my workout, and instead kneaded heavy towels and work pants like dough, basically using the same muscles I was planning to work anyway! I used the wash water for the rain-deprived lawn, and some of the rinse water on ornamental plants. Then I hung the load up to dry and folded it.

We needed to do a load of laundry on vacation so instead of going to a funky laundromat, I washed a load in the cottage sink and took pics for this BB.

I did two small loads worth of clothes in the kitchen sink and used a biodegradable dish soap because that's what we had to use. I added rose petals to the wash water for scent since there were some almost spent roses growing on the property. I wouldn't recommend it since one of the petals stuck to my drying jeans and made a weird spot. I tried to use the little tongs in the cottage kitchen to stir the clothes, but they weren't sturdy enough. I ended up having to get in there and knead the clothing with my hands once the water temp was tolerable.

I got the bulk of the drying clothes into the pic. There are more lying on the deck chairs outside of the frame. The final pic shows 8 shirts folded to meet requirements. Undies and socks were left unfolded and everything else (a couple of skirts and a pair of jeans) was hung up in the closet.

Wash day was yesterday and I just got the clothes off the line.
I decided to do the old Greek grape press style and threw everything into the tub filled it with hot water and detergent and let it soak for 10ish minutes. Then I stomped everything out, rinsed, filled (this time with a cup of peroxide instead of detergent), soaked, and stamped again.
Wringing out clothes, jeans especially, is hard!
An interesting experience for sure, but one I would rather not repeat

After installing my new laundry line I thought it would be appropriate to give hand-washed laundry a go. I have never really tried to wash my laundry by hand, so this was an educational experience for me. I timed this such that I could wash everything in the shower after some particularly dirty woodworking. I went out to do some de-barking and long-horned beetle larva removal of some loquat logs. Long-horned beetle larva eat the wood and spit out (or poop out perhaps) wood dust. So removing the bark is a very messy business. I say this because I wanted to try hand washing laundry at different levels of gross.

I collected some almost clean clothes that I only wore for a few hours. Some clothes that I sweated hard in. Some clothes with full on beetle larva grossness accumulated, as well as some work gloves, rags I had used to clean the bathroom, and some sheets from my futon.

I used a bucket to collect water while I showered off after doing the woodwork. Most of the wood dust floated to the top, so I just poured that off and then used the collected water for hand washing the articles. I used no cleaners other than water and elbow grease.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
 - manual clothes washer, bathtub or large bucket - bucket in shower room
 - dry on a clothesline or drying rack - recently installed clothes line
 - at least “a standard load” (about eight large items and a bunch of socks and undies, etc.) - 1 sheet, 1 pillowcase, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, 1 bath towel, 1 large hat, plus gloves, underwear, socks, cleaning rags, arm covers.

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post two pics of clothes being washed - "Round 1-5" Pictures
- post pic of clothes being dried (needs to show it hanging or lying out to dry) - "Line Drying" picture
- post pic of clothes folded - "Folded" picture

I started by cleaning the least dirty things, agitating them by hand for 30 seconds to a minute per article. I went through several rounds of this ending in the clothes with wood dust and the dirty rags used in cleaning.

Round 1 - Cleanest clothes being hand washed


Round 2 - Sheets being hand washed


Round 3 - Very sweaty articles being hand washed


Round 4 - Clothes covered in wood dust being hand washed


Round 5 - Cleaning rags being hand washed


I then emptied the water and took a shower again, because I was feeling gross already... I used the collected water again for the next round. I washed each thing again in the same order clean to dirty. This was enough for the cleaner articles, but the wood dust clothes needed about 4 rounds total before the water came out clear and the fabric was seemingly dust free. It took about 30 minutes to do it all.

I wrung the articles all out as well as I could, then took them out and hung them up to dry on my new clothes line.

Line drying


Folded


Impressions:
Because I am manually agitating each article I can focus on the most soiled areas. I can also pick off small wood shavings and burrs from knit gloves that would have remained stuck on a regular machine wash cycle. I had no problems in using no detergent as none of the soiled articles were oily or otherwise difficult to clean. Sweat and general dirt is all pretty much water soluble. I think they came back a little stiffer than usual, probably because of hand-wringing them as opposed to having the water removed during a spin-cycle.

I'm now confident I can do laundry in the event of a power-outage or while camping.

Did some laundry yesterday!
Washed the woolen pieces without soap, the other pieces with a little soap. Rinsed them after washing and on the drying line they went.
Today I collected them, put my nose in every piece, and contently folded them :-) I LOVE woolen clothes!!