Laundry alternatives

Hi everyone,

last week my washing machine broke. It's an 20 year old device, front loader. I'm not sure how much energy and water it used, but a modern energy efficient washing machine seems to use about 50-60 liters per wash and about 100 kWh.

I try to reduce my energy consumption - this year I started using my DIY compost toilet and I really like it. So I'm wondering if I should buy a new or secondhand electrical washing machine again, or switch to hand washing.

Is it doable to do washing by hand, especially during winter (I live in The Netherlands where there's a lot of moist rainy days during winter) I would think it is doable. Is it for instance required to warm the water, or can one wash with only cold water? And how about drying, there are wringers, but one can wring by hand too, for instance when wrapping the wash aroud a pole so one can use both hands.

I did laundry by hand for years and years, though I upgraded to a machine a couple of years ago.

Washing in cold water is depressing, unless it's a very hot day. Your hands get cold, and eventually numb. Warm water is much better psychologically and I suspect also for loosening the dirt and grime. On a sunny day it might be possible to rig up a hose-pipe with a spray nozzle that you can switch off, leave it lying in the sun, then you might have enough warm water from it to fill the laundry tub without having to actively heat water. It doesn't have to be very hot - just enough to make the experience pleasant rather than something you come to dread.

I found it was essential to have the tub set up at an appropriate height so that I never had to bend. If I got the height of both the bench and the tub right, it would be an awesome workout to strengthen my arms and back without ever straining anything or making me ache.

Also, soaking is your friend as is loosens the dirt without any extra effort. Put the stuff in a tub with soapy water (can be cold...) and leave it for an hour or more while you do something else. Then change the water and you'll find that most of the dirt goes straight out in that first lot of dirty water.

Here's a photo of my old set-up...



I used two builders' trugs, one with holes cut in the bottom for drainage so I could put wet clothes in there to let them drain after scrubbing them, then they could be put back into the other tub for rinsing.

I never wrung the wet clothes out, but I had a covered area I could hang them to drip dry and then if necessary during cold weather I could bring them indoors to finish drying.

This is a great question.

Is laundry by hand doable? Absolutely. Even in winter? Yep. Do I want to do it that way? Nope :)

If you have the time, I would go for it.

If you are short on time... or are unsure about swapping the entire laundry process all at once. Maybe get a used washing machine, but stop using the dryer? The dryer is going to use far more electricity than the washing machine. (I'm assuming an electric dryer. If it is propane, then I am not sure the energy comparison.)  Using a clothes line or drying rack could be a great step towards saving electricity, while still allowing a machine to do the harder part of the laundry.

if it's just one person, it's not impossible.
but having done it long term in the cold, i would prefer not to do it.
I agree that with washing clothes, you're consuming much more water than electricity (we wash with cold water, period. if something is really nasty i'll boil water for a soak, or more likely just let the clothes soak overnight. I really don't feel like hot or warm water washing makes a difference in the clothes i wash). If your goal is to cut down power use, i think clothes drying is the place to look at.
Good luck!

Hi, thanks for your responses and photo's! I already built my own outdoor  clothes line. I think I will just start experimenting... I foud an interesting thread here:

https://permies.com/wiki/108429/pep-nest/laundry-hand-PEP-BB-nest

I've been using a Chinese manually operated washing machine, something like a giant salad spinner, at our village house. It can't handle large loads, the biggest thing I've done in it is one double bed sheet. Very heavy work clothes might be too much for it. For regular garments, it works surprisingly well. The central handle position turns the drum slowly to move water through the clothes, I let them soak for an hour or so, turning the handle every time I go past. Then after they're rinsed and the water drained off via a plug in the bottom, a different handle position on the outer edge of the lid is geared to make the drum spin fast. It does need to be on the floor for than and held down with my feet as it wants to jump around, and it's an arm workout for me, especially with a full load or heavier items like jeans ot towels. But a few minutes spinning will get clothes so they no longer drip.

I don't know how long it's going to last, as it's all plastic, even the gears, but so far it's done thirty or forty loads of laundry with no issues. It's far easier than washing in buckets and hand wringing the laundry. It also means if it's raining I can now hang things in the house to dry without causing a drippy mess (though I intend to set up an undercover drying area for winter and wet days).

I do the laundry in the bathroom, saving the drained water in buckets. Used wash water goes on the garden, rinse water and spun out water goes back to become the next load's wash water. Once the summer kitchen is built I'll probably do the laundry out there.  Cold water in fine in summer but in colder weather a little warm to take the edge off makes it a much more pleasant task.

I thought I'd add a few points:

1. When I've needed to hand wash something that's *really* dirty, I would do it in a bucket in our laundry tub, but instead of trying to wring it by hand which I find very difficult, I would put in in the machine on the "spin" cycle. So if I was going to need to do a lot of hand laundry, that's the step I'd be looking to replace, and the obvious tool would be a hand cranked wringer. I believe those can still be purchased, but they are pricey if I recall.

I'm known to use a sink plunger to help with the "agitation" part, instead of just my hands - cheap and effective.

The nice thing about doing it by hand, is that the amount of dirt in the water is a good indication of whether you're done yet!

2. The other situation is usually something very delicate. First I would spot treat stains, then I would mostly let it soak in water for 10 to 20 minutes, then spin, do a rinse cycle, spin again, then dry flat.

3. Treating dirty spots, rather than washing the whole garment used to be a thing! Sometimes our ancestors had good ideas.

4. If you want your fabric items to last, washing less frequently is good. I only wash if truly dirty or if going into storage for the off season. Since I *really* want clothes to last, I never use the dryer. If it's winter and damp in the house, I use the dehumidifier pointed at  the hung laundry which heats the house while drying the laundry.

I just so happen to be doing this right now, for similar reasons, and revived a method I used to use years ago. But if course, now I have 5 kids. 🤣 I also use a plunger (a new, unused one isn't expensive) with holes drilled into it as an agitator. A 5 gal bucket is a decent tub to wash in (what I used before), but I am finding a large cooler very handy, because it is wider/allows me to see and work individual garments more easily, and the drain plug on the side comes in handy. Haha.

I also took an old cracked 5 gal bucket and drilled extra drain holes in it this time, attempting to make my own centrifugal force spinner by hanging it from a tension rod in my shower (where I am doing the washing anyway) and spinning. It... sort of works? But mostly I use it by leaving the wet clothes in there hanging to drip a while, so I don't have to wring out so much. Which is by far my least favorite part. Haha. It works pretty well for that.

Someone kindly gave me an antique wringer washer that "worked great" before they put it in "covered" storage, but it is definitely very aged and weathered. I am contemplating whether I want to save it or get a hand wringer and stick with what I have... I see them for around $150ish online, give or take. Not in the budget right now, but possibly more feasible than fixing this antique...? 🤔 😅