What are we recommending for non-electric washing machines?
Posted by buddymoobs@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 63 comments
I've seen smaller ones that can handle 5#, but what about larger items like a quilt or bedspread?
shortstack-42@reddit
After Helene knocked my power out for 40+ days, I did laundry on my front porch in a large stock pot with a big metal spoon. Wash, drain, rinse, rinse, squeeze, hang to dry on a folding rack. I used Dawn because there was still 2 feet of water in the basement and I didn’t want to wade to grab my Purex. It worked fine.
PhiloLibrarian@reddit
Bathtub and stick
gonyere@reddit
Use a bucket and a plunger.
infinitum3d@reddit
Where do I get a bucket large enough for a bedspread?
Some_Guy106@reddit
Get a big ass wash tub at a local hardware store, or they can be bought directly from Behren's, which is the company making them.
Mine's a big ass, like 20 gallon or something galvanized steel tub.
Pristine-Moose2337@reddit
Maybe a large plastic storage tote from a hardware store/walmart/target/etc. or an animal watering trough.
notthesethings@reddit
A toilet plunger? How does that work? Or is plunger another name for a washboard?
Some_Guy106@reddit
Idk why you're getting downvoted for not knowing about archaic technology from 19-oh-fuck
It's a piece of shaped sheet metal on the end of a stick, it's cone shaped, and it's used for doing laundry in a bucket. You use it the same way as a toilet plunger, but it's not a toilet plunger, it's a washing plunger. You run across them a lot at antique stores.
Searching4aziz@reddit
The plunger is used to “agitate“ the item you’re washing. It works as a washing machine agitator would, kinda… l’m the oldest of 7 and I had to help with laundry, so I had to wash cloth diapers by hand, those couldn’t be put in the washing machine because my mom thought it’d make everything else smell. Then we went without a working machine for awhile, and everything had to be washed by hand. To say I utterly hated doing that, is an understatement….
For towels, sheets, blankets and winter stuff we’d put it in the tub and me and one brother would “walk’ in the tub kicking the clothes after soaking for an hour, rinsing was the same, then to wring it we would wrap the item around a fence pole and twist, or two of us work wring it by holding it on opposite ends. It was brutal with blankets….
Now I live in a homestead and for when we lose power for awhile I have a couple batteries on a solar panel I can connect an electric pressure washer that’ll get whatever clothing washed squeaky clean, then just hang it on the fence and let it drip dry.
Washing heavy items by hand is bitch, most people have absolutely no clue the amount of body work it takes…
FuyoBC@reddit
And this is why Laundry DAY was a thing when people did everything by hand.
dachjaw@reddit
Yes, a toilet plunger.
Eeyor-90@reddit
You can get a laundry plunger
Mule_Wagon_777@reddit
A new toilet plunger with a couple of strips cut out to help the water circulate. A galvanized trash can for a wash tub.
Psychological_Fun172@reddit
Use your bathtub for larger items, like blankets
buddymoobs@reddit (OP)
That's a good idea.
WakingOwl1@reddit
A five gallon bucket and a big heavy duty plunger. You can buy a mangle for wringing.
Lard523@reddit
If it gets that bad then i’ll be wearing clothes untill they really need a wash and just handwashing them.
premar16@reddit
I know someone that used their ocider mop to agitate their clothes and wash them. Didn't do large things though
AlphaDisconnect@reddit
Figure out the electronics. And hot water.
Skimmington16@reddit
I feel like people aren’t “remembering” that laundry was a day/ days long event in the past. There was a British show (1900 house?) where I recall the women of the family had to do the wash for what seemed like for forever with caustic materials until they got a semi automatic machine.
My concern would much less be blankets and more be the day to day.
premar16@reddit
That was why people would sometimes take their clothes to a laundress who would do and you picked it. THey would use whatever money/denomination is used during the time or trade services
Mule_Wagon_777@reddit
People didn't wash clothes as often, and didn't have as many clothes. They were made of sturdier materials and you hung them up to "air out" after wearing. I knew a centenarian who complained that people "wash their clothes to death these days!"
Undershirts, slips, and camisoles protected the outer layers from sweat and could be washed more often.
AlphaDisconnect@reddit
Oh Amish. This is their life.
mediocre_remnants@reddit
I grew up in a rural area and we had a tiny washing machine that couldn't handle bedding besides sheets, and it could only handle 2 of those at a time. When my mom washed our blankets, she just washed them outside in a big tub of warm soapy water, rinsed them, squeezed out the excess water, and hung them to dry.
Humans have washed bedding for centuries before "machines" even existed. You'll figure it out.
And yeah, washing the blankets was like a twice a year thing at most. Our sheets were always clean, though. If you feel the need to wash your bedding very often without a washing machine, consider a duvet cover setup and just wash the cover.
Kementarii@reddit
There's a reason we use doonas and doona covers in our household.
(That reason is that I won't do unnecessary work if I can help it).
Fitted sheet, doona in cover, pillowcase. That's it. They all fit in the washing machine (just!). No blankets, no fitted sheets.
The feather doonas get "aired".
zorionek0@reddit
I had to do a bit of googling to learn what a doona is, but is it more like a duvet or a quilt?
Kementarii@reddit
Doona is just another word for Duvet - same thing. I have now learned that "duvet" is the more common word in the UK, and "doona" derives from Danish. Who knew?
I do own items that I call a "quilt" and a "comforter", and when I was a kid we had chenille "bedspreads".
For me, a quilt is a work of art, with a little bit of padding, and is for decoration only, because I wouldn't dream of putting one in a washing machine.
My mother had a "comforter", which she used in our hot summers. It had a bit of filling/padding, was quilt-style, but just one fabric, not many colours/patterns stitched together. I can fit that lightweight comforter in the washing machine.
As a kid, we had top sheet, then woolen blanket(s), then a "bedspread", which, because it was the 60s, was made of orange chenille fabric, with tassels around the border. It could be washed.
Then we all moved to doonas/duvets. Just simpler.
I have a "summer" doona, and a "winter" doona. They are plain white cotton, and one is lightly filled with polyester, the other is feathers/down. They are quilted, in that they are sewn so that the filling doesn't move around too much.
At the shops, "doona cover sets" include a matching "cover" and pillowcases. The cover is basically a big pillowcase- equivalent of "top sheet" joined to "bedspread", and can be closed with a zipper, buttons, press-studs.
We also have "winter" doona covers, and "summer" doona covers - lightweight bamboo vs heavy brushed cotton.
Better-Obligation-19@reddit
I specifically remember reading that blankets and rugs were rarely washed. Mostly they were hung up where they could be beat to shit, left to air out for a few days and then put back where they belonged. I guess it depends on how far back people are looking at how, when and where things were done before modern times made it so much easier for us.
Undeaded1@reddit
This is the reason there are 2 sheets, a "fitted" and "flat". Essentially "shielding" the blanket from bodily contact and reducing the need to wash the blanket more than 2-3 times a year.
HotfixLover@reddit
People forget how much work wet blankets actually are. One soaked quilt weighs like a dead body. I’d still want some kind of manual spinner setup though because hand wringing gets miserable fast.
shitfuck01@reddit
After hurricane Ian, I used a bucket and my drill with a spiral mixer for a "spin cycle" lol
buddymoobs@reddit (OP)
Great idea!
shitfuck01@reddit
You just gotta figure out the detergent issue. I've used vinegar, liquid detergent, dawn, borax all types for about 4 months until I got a new washer.
somuchmt@reddit
I went without a washer and dryer for a year. I finally just settled on stomping the laundry with my feet in the bathtub, wringing out by hand, and line or rack drying.
Rick-burp-Sanchez@reddit
Ok here me out:
https://youtu.be/WB0ttHebNJo?si=HOES2xZxWhxEnZOK
TacTurtle@reddit
Those guys were a bunch of weird posers, they lived like 30mins outside of town.
Rick-burp-Sanchez@reddit
Yeah, my partner told me as much. I didn't watch much of the show, it made me kinda sad (some of the family members obviously have issues they need to work on), but they impressed me on occasion. It definitely showed me a bunch of stuff I won't be trying if I ever move to Alaska.
roberttheiii@reddit
I own a couple of wool blankets and I wash them in the tub once in a while with Eucalan. Drying is a process but overall seems to work.
HotfixLover@reddit
Old school wringer washers honestly. Amish folks still use them for heavy blankets and farm clothes. Hand crank junk gets real old once you’re doing wet bedding, trust me lol
ladyangua@reddit
When I was young and very poor, I would wash loads of towels or sheets, etc., in the bathtub. Warm water, washing powder, and me stomping up and down the bath to provide agitation. Rinse and repeat, wring it out - hopefully with a helper and hang it out to dry.
infinitum3d@reddit
Anything bigger than a 5 gallon bucket goes in the bathtub.
TacTurtle@reddit
5 gallon bucket or 55 gal drum on skateboard wheels/bearings.
5 gal uses a gamma seal lid, 55 ga drum is inclined at an angle so yo don't need a top.
5 gal has a wood paddle screwed to the lid, 55 gal has a couple boards screwed in the center away from the support wheels to provide agitation.
Spin using a rear wheel on a bicycle.
Jolopy4099@reddit
Could probably convert a manual cement mixer into a washer. Generally all you need to wash is a drum, soap,water and something that aggregates inside.
baardvark@reddit
Convert the bicycle that you’re using to power a single lightbulb into a washer spinner!
Estudiier@reddit
This is the homestead way!
PaintedDream@reddit
That is a fantastic idea!
Hard_Luck7@reddit
A big bucket of soapy water and a washboard, like some of our grandmothers used to do back in the old days.
Imagirl48@reddit
Mop bucket with wringer
shikkonin@reddit
Water, detergent, tub, washing board, hands. It's a lot of work, but not difficult.
HamRadio_73@reddit
WonderWash
Financial-Parsley482@reddit
I was able to find a huge absolutely new mop bucket with the top squeegee part. I bought a plunger and so it’s ready to go put the soap in hot water plunge away. Squeeze out the water rinse squeeze out the water! Done.
Dmau27@reddit
Hands and buckets.
nihithilak@reddit
I use a galvanized metal bucket used for watering animals. I put my cloths in and stump on them with my feet. Drain, rinse, and repeat.
Kementarii@reddit
We still have an old, double tub concrete laundry tub.
It's in the back yard, under the garden tap.
ttkciar@reddit
My go-to is a cement-mixing bin, and agitate with my hands. I overheat easily, so repeatedly plunging my hands into cold water makes it more of a relief than chore.
BlissCrafter@reddit
How often will it be used? For short events (the usual) then we use a camping washer. It’s basically a conveniently mounted small barrel for agitation. Ours was about $70 and I use it frequently to wash the dog bed for the outside dog, and shop rags or anything that gets skunked or contaminated by gas, chemicals or poison ivy. A washboard and a tub works really a bit better but hard on my back. There are also plunger washers that still take a bit of labor but work well. If you’re thinking long term off the grid a nice non electric washer is the way to go but will set you back a grand. If you’re handy you can build one.
Seawolfe665@reddit
Should the SHTF, I will be putting some holes in a toilet plunger and agitating clothes in a 5 gallon bucket. Anything larger and Ill pull out he 10-20 gallon storage bins I have and doing the same.
symplton@reddit
I bought a Wonder Wash from Goodwill and use that with some Lowes' buckets for rinse cycles.
Snoo-9966@reddit
I have a plunger looking thing that works great with a 5 gallon bucket.
My wife made fun of me for it, until we had to clean soiled onesies. Worked super great
Many-Health-1673@reddit
Build a dasher washer. You cut a 50 gallon barrel in half and make a dasher board which goes into the water and moves across the laundry.
https://youtu.be/nz0ZB3GuC30?si=zdRjLEOOHp0iVqvy
YellowCabbageCollard@reddit
I have an antique copper plunger. I flipping love that thing. I use it all the time.
I can do a better job hand scrubbing spots and then soaking and plunging in a bucket than my machine does. I also have a clothes line and clothes pins to dry. A 5 or 6 gallon bucket can easily handle a quilt or comforter. I have been meaning to get one of those large steel wash buckets.
buddymoobs@reddit (OP)
Those are good ideas. I have the clothesline and clothespins already.
BigButtBeads@reddit
Handbomb it in your laundry sink or a storage tote