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Post by oliveoilmom on Oct 20, 2012 12:36:31 GMT -5
OK I finally have my gas back on so I have hot water. My washer is still broken and gone and I can't afford to rent one so I had been washing at my mother's. She is having a crazy episode at the moment and is giving me a hard time any time I come to wash. No matter when I go with clothes, thats the one day she plans to shower or to wash one small load and that means the washer can't be used all day long. (It takes 30 minutes for me to wash one load but she just likes giving me a hard time. She has borderline personality disorder, diagnosed).
Anyway I have a wash board that was decoration so I'm putting it to use. It's a real one that I found at a yard sale years ago. I kept it leaning against the hearth because it looked rustic. Anyway what I'm doing is filling the tub with warm water and soap and putting the clothes in. I let them soak about 30 minutes then scrub with the wash board, wring out, fill the tub again with rinse water, let them soak another 30 minutes, slosh them around then wring out again and put them in the dryer. It seems to work because the water is dirty afterwards.
My problem is wringing them out and also my dryer is going out so I'm having to hang a lot of things on the shower rod or the back fence to dry, as I have no clothes line.
Any tips about better ways to wring them out, especially towels and jeans? Also any tips on better ways to dry them? I see no washer or dryer or money for a laundry mat or my mother being sane in the near future.
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Post by eagle on Oct 20, 2012 13:24:13 GMT -5
Very good use of that rustic wash board, OliveOilMom. And good for you for buckling down and finding a solution while avoiding the aggravation of dealing with your mom for the time being.
I used to do my laundry in a very large bucket on top of the camp bar-b-que when my sons were small, stirring with a stick. Another time I also washed some clothes out using my whirlpool tub & that was really so much harder because of the bending over. It was easier when I was standing over a hot fire stirring with a stick.
Also a few months back I hand-washed all mys son's stump socks (very thick socks that go over the stump of his amputated leg) in a motel bathtub. At that time, I was able to sit on the handicapped bench, so it was easier than in my own home's bathroom.
So, first, I suggest using a chair or bench of some sort if you have one.
Wringing them out was very hard work. I used my bare hands and when I was young that wasn't so bad. But now I'm in my 60's and I have to say I got a few calluses after wringing out those stump socks so many, many, many times (they were so dirty, I had to re-wash & re-wash them a LOT).
For small things (like stump socks, or underwear, etc.) I used those throw-away plastic hangers that department stores hang their clothes on. I have at least a dozen or so of them, that I use for hanging delicates to dry after they go through the washer. I carry a few with me when I travel, so that's what I used for son's stump socks. I hung them on the shower rod or where-ever they would fit with some care that drippage wouldn't be a problem.
When washing sweaters by hand, I used to roll them up in a towel and stand on them to release some of the moisture before putting them out to dry on drying racks.
Do you have a wooden drying rack? They can be purchased at WalMart for as little as $10 if I recall correctly. I recently bought one for my son. I've used them for a variety of things, even for drying seaweed. They work great for hanging stuff to dry.
But it's the wringing out that's the hardest. And it takes the dryer so much longer to dry sopping wet clothes than it does for those that are well wrung out.
When my washer wasn't working, I'd hang the sopping wet stuff (after ineffectual attempts to wring out by hand) stuff outside for a few hours, then bring it in to put into the dryer. Of course this only works if you have a clothes line and the weather is cooperative.
Another VERY effective way to dry clothes when your dryer isn't working so well is a standing fan. YES! I learned this from an ex-boyfriend on a ski week-end. An oscillating fan is best, but any standing fan will work. Just point it towards the clothes rack full of wet clothes and in a few hours they will be dry. How long this takes kind of depends on if they are dripping or not, of course.
Imagine how surprised I was that one of his travel items was a small oscillating fan when he was packing. But it works great. In fact, I suppose I actually learned about the effectiveness of an small oscillating fan even before that when a maintenance man at my condo used one to dry my carpet after the water from my upstairs neighbor ended up all in my carpeting.
My mom used to have one of those old wringer washing machines (yes, I am that old) but it's been a long time since I've seen one of those at a garage sale! But the top part sure would be handy right now, wouldn't it?
Anyway, you could use a rolling pin (kitchen tool for making pie crust, etc.) to squeeze out some of the moisture in the clothes if you have a space where that would work. Another thing I have done is to drape the wet clothes over an upturned bucket to let some of the liquid drain away before I start the hand-wringing process.
I suspect your arms are getting more muscularly defined with all this wringing out of clothing you are doing. But I do remember the pain in the hands and forearms that I got from doing that & I don't envy you that.
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Post by eagle on Oct 20, 2012 13:39:23 GMT -5
What about a new mop bucket with wringer? We actually have one of these (used it in our restaurant, and kept it after closing the restaurant), but it's too dirty to use with clean clothes. But you can buy these much cheaper than a washer or dryer. Plus if you shop around, you can find good deals. I've seen them as low as $30.00 brand new in some places. This is what mine looks like: Attachments:
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Post by oliveoilmom on Oct 20, 2012 13:52:24 GMT -5
Thanks Eagle! The toilet is about a foot away from the tub so I can sit there and it's a lot easier. I tried kneeling by the tub at first but boy did that ever get my back to hurting! The washboard does make it a lot easier than scrubbing them together like you do when you wash delicates in the sink. Today with the jeans, I didn't use the board. There were no stains on them so after they soaked, I took my pants off and got in there barefooted with just my underwear and shirt and stomped around on them for five minutes. I felt like the Lucy episode where she was in Italy and stomping the grapes ! I'm going to use your suggestions about wringing them out too. I can't afford a drying rack but we have three bathrooms with shower rods that I can hang stuff on. I can put the shirts on hangers too so that will give me more room to hang stuff. I'm going to cut the vines off the deck and hang the jeans over that in a few minutes then later on when it gets dark I'll put them in the dryer. The fan idea is great! I'm definately going to use that for the stuff hanging in the bathrooms. We have three fans because everybody but my youngest has to sleep with a fan on. Thanks again!
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Post by JoyInAction on Oct 20, 2012 14:03:24 GMT -5
Until you can get a wringer of some sort, can you enlist the help of a couple of your kids? A kid on each end of the towel or pair of jeans and each one rotates his end to his right to put a good twist on it, then do a minor tug of war to really pull the bulk of the water out before you hang them on the fence.
Or how about a modified laundry day at your mom's house where you take only the big towels and blue jeans. I don't know how big your family is, but maybe that would only amount to a couple of loads and you can bring them home to dry. Maybe you'd be outta there in only an hour.
Also, your kids are probably old enough to be responsible for washing their own clothes (at least in our family they are taught that when they are nine years and are perfectly capable to handle that responsibility). If they take their clothes (including their towels) to Grandma's house, maybe she won't be as cranky with them as she is with you. Just a thought.
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Post by eagle on Oct 20, 2012 14:31:13 GMT -5
Do you have a salad spinner by any chance? I don't so have never tried this, but I read about a woman who started using an old salad spinner she had to extract the water from her hand washed clothes. It certainly sounds like it's worth giving it a try for some of the smaller items, particularly if you have one on hand.
And if you can't afford a drying rack, I won't suggest purchasing anything else. So sorry for the mop bucket suggestion, as it's always more expensive than a drying rack.
I suppose another option to a salad spinner would be to put a clothing article or two into a mesh bag (if you have one, and if not maybe next time you go grocery shopping, pick out some fruit that comes in a mesh bag so you can use the bag) and give it to your kids to spin. An energetic kid can spin around in circles in the back yard and get water out at the same time. Just another thought of how to enlist the kids in the process.
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Post by bobolink on Oct 20, 2012 14:40:06 GMT -5
I tried a salad spinner for wringing out socks and underwear. Did not work.
I hope your financial situation improves soon.
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Post by ramatama on Oct 20, 2012 14:58:55 GMT -5
Until you can get a wringer of some sort, can you enlist the help of a couple of your kids? A kid on each end of the towel or pair of jeans and each one rotates his end to his right to put a good twist on it, then do a minor tug of war to really pull the bulk of the water out before you hang them on the fence. This is the way folks do it in many developing countries. Kids as young as 8 help out -on wash day- doing this and seem to enjoy it too.
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Post by midlife on Oct 20, 2012 15:38:48 GMT -5
For spinning things dry, it doesn't even need to be a mesh bag -- a cotton pillow case works just fine. (I do this with salad greens.) Just put the wet stuff in and swing it rapidly over your head in a circle (outside, obviously!). Kids sometimes have fun with this.
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Post by Celeste on Oct 20, 2012 15:46:24 GMT -5
Do you have a rolling pin by any chance, OliveOilMom? Putting damp clothing on a towel and rolling it like pie dough may help.
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Post by Chris on Oct 20, 2012 15:56:12 GMT -5
if you have two people and some sturdy sticks -- I once saw people ring out sheets and jeans by twisting the items around a stick and then on each end the people kept turning to twist the items and it's much easier than using your hands/fingers to do it!!!!! Wish I had a picture.
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Post by oliveoilmom on Oct 20, 2012 16:54:06 GMT -5
Cool ideas everybody! Thanks! I'm definately getting the kids to help, and I can lay a sheet on the deck out back and use the rolling pin on them too!
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Post by flymomrn on Oct 20, 2012 17:13:58 GMT -5
I wonder if the Amish still use the old wringers for handwashed clothes. We have some near us, but I hadn't thought to look for a wringer. If you have any Amish around you might ask one of the ladies if they know where you could buy one.
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Post by Jannie on Oct 20, 2012 18:31:56 GMT -5
Even tho I have a washer, it sometimes leaks and floods my basement. Gross. So I've been in the habit of going to my local laundromat at least once a week. When my kitchen was out of commission for a period of three months, I did all my dishes in the bathtub. I was careful not to let bits of food go down the drain, and it was heavy work carrying dishes up and down stairs. My bath is on the top floor. You said you don't have money for a laundromat, but please reconsider. Avoid your mother at all costs. Where I live, the laundromat charges $2.25 USD for a regular-size wash, $3.75 for double and $5.50 for a huge ginormous wash! I bring my stuff home to dry-my dryer works great and I don't mind doing the drying at home.
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Post by charis on Oct 20, 2012 20:23:44 GMT -5
youtube video of a non electric clothes press made with 3 utility buckets
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