Our annual family vacation several years ago included driving through North Dakota, and along the way we stopped at Ft. Mandan, where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804-05. There we learned about the most highly paid women of that period, anywhere in the country. They were the washerwomen. Cleaning the uniforms of the soldiers there was hard, backbreaking work. The washerwomen always walked with their hands behind their backs to hide the hideous condition of their skin—dry, rough, and even raw at times. It got me to thinking. How would I manage keeping my family’s clothes clean in a grid-down situation?
Of course, my first thought was rubber gloves. Lots and lots of rubber gloves would save the skin on my hands. But still, the idea of scrubbing and washing all that laundry by hand was more than a little unsettling.
I decided to buy one of those hand-powered washers sold by preparedness vendors. It will wash a couple of shirts or a pair of jeans. It’s not that big.
A friend announced that she had purchased a new toilet plunger specifically for washing clothes in a 5-gallon bucket. It was a lot cheaper. But it still involved hands and arms.
Historically, women in the US used a washtub and heated water on the stove. And they also had washboards for scrubbing. I wasn’t persuaded that any of these methods were going to work well for me. I finally left all the ideas on the back burner and shifted the preparedness focus to other areas.
My guilty pleasure and escape from the crazy reality of American society for the past few years has been watching Korean dramas. And in more than a few of these dramas the characters did laundry without a washing machine. But not by hand. It was by foot.
Here was the solution I needed. While the Koreans used washtubs, we can use our bathtubs or 5-gallon buckets. Clothes are added to soapy water, and the legs and feet do the agitating. This works so much better for heavier items like jeans and jackets, as well as large items like sheets and other bedding. Of course, delicate items are still washed by hand.
Regardless of which method(s) used for doing laundry, you’ll still want to have a clothesline and clothespins or a drying rack.
Here are some points to keep in mind for doing laundry off-grid:
Rinse clothes well. Do not rinse in running water, but let them soak in the bucket or tub for a bit. Lightly agitate the clothing, and then drain the water again.
Do not wring water from clothes. This stretches and destroys fibers. Instead, press out as much water as possible and then use a rolling pin to squeeze out even more.
Dry clothes flat. Heavy items like coats and jeans can be hung on a line, but many regular clothes, especially knits, will stretch and lose their shape.
Dry whites in the sun to bleach them. All colored items should be dried in the shade; otherwise, they will start to fade.
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6.4.24
When I was in the Sandbox we used a Rubbermaid two sided mop bucket. We removed the wheels to keep it on the table to save our backs. We used a simple perforated plumbers helper as an agitator. Side A was hot soapy water Side B was rinse water. The Mop SQUEEZER (what a wonderful thing) aimed at soapy side. A double length of 550 cord twisted and tensioned hold the nearly dry clothing quite well with out clothes pins.
ReplyDeleteWashing started with the underwear, socks then shirts then the truly dirty stuff. Once the wash water was nasty drain it off (We added a hose bib and some hose to a dug 4 x 4 foot drainage pit to avoid the nasty biting bugs from a wash water swamp. The NOW soapy Rinse Water became the Wash water and repeat.
Worked well for over a year in the Desert. Hope this helps.
These are really good suggestions. Thanks so much for sharing.
DeleteYou know the sun not only bleaches the clothes of their color but the UV light helps sanitize them ( all clothes). Something to think about when washing sheets and such from a sick person.
ReplyDeleteAlso why not let clothes soak for a bit before the washing? It will help loosen any stains or dirt and they'll come clean easier.
Also for truly dirty clothes like work pants, try taking a small scrub brush ( I use a vegetable scrub brush) and brushing off any outside dirt from dried mud and such before washing
The Post Grid Fashion craze. APRONS. When your washing by hand and hauling water by hand think about how nice Aprons can be to keep garden dirt and barnyard stuff off your clothing. I have a garden apron that keeps my small garden tools at hand including my little 22 pest-strange dog remover.
ReplyDeleteFar easier to wash butchering soiling from an apron than your pants and shirt. Also makes it easier to come in from barnyard working for breakfast, just take off the apron and your muck boots.
For sure, everyone should have plenty of aprons.
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