Non Electric Clothes washers

[tbodine88]

I saw on Face book an advertisement for the Yirego Foot Powered Washer. I also saw at Staples the Storebound Laundry pod non-electrical hand cranked washer. I also saw some battery operated small washers on a camping site.

I was wondering if any of you with limited power supplies use such things. Seems to me it would be handy when staying on the hook for while, If hand washing is undesirable.

Thanks.

as for me, while I was cruising, I just dumped the clothes in sea water, with Joy, and rinsed, then hung to dry. But I didn't wear much in the Caribbean

[Tientos]

We do the same we did after Cyclone Tracy. Round big bucket, stomp on the clothes (think squashing grapes but with a wine and exercise), do the same for rinse and hang out. So much cheaper when watching the budget and buckets are multi-purpose; if it doesn't have at least two functions it is not on the boat.

[AD28]

from all indications, including my limited experience,

washing isn't terribly difficult to achieve... it's the 'spin cycle' that gets most the water out of the clothes that you'll miss. My research so far indicates that a mechanical wringer is what you'll want. I'm still doing the research, though

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Tientos

We do the same we did after Cyclone Tracy. Round big bucket, stomp on the clothes (think squashing grapes but with a wine and exercise), do the same for rinse and hang out. So much cheaper when watching the budget and buckets are multi-purpose; if it doesn't have at least two functions it is not on the boat.

+1. Non Electric Clothes Washer Mark 1.

Our lookey bucket doubles as our clothes washing bucket. We just do tactical laundry this way and then drop bigger loads off as we can at a laundry service (which can be found even in relatively remote places).

[strader]

I use a wonder wash by laundry alternative. I think it does a better job than squishing around. I plan to buy an electric spin dryer soon for the wring out. Most likely the nano model.

[Rough Magic]

I've got a "Wonder Washer" hand cranked, that I use and like. Uses a relatively small amount of water. Makes it easy to rinse. But it's a one purpose item, recommended if you have the space.

[Minggat]

At the moment, I am in a slip. So I can get to a laundromat. I have found that I can get my clothes more clean with a bucket. I wear a lot of white cotton muslin shirts, which quickly turn ....off white, and tend to stay that way if you don't use bleach. Point is, the bucket works better and is cheaper and much easier than the laundromat.

Our tendency to think in terms of using machines can be a real trap. That includes hand crank machines. Don't go there. I've seen some cruisers sell off those things because they just take up space.

With a bucket, you get to soak the grunge out as much as you want. The only trouble is water consumption, which we all have to deal with.

Hand wring your close. Hang them until they quit dripping. I hand wring them again at the bottom while the are still dripping, after Gravity has helped out. When they are done dripping, I move them, still on the hangers, inside the boat and hang them from my overhead handrails for finish air drying. Better than leaving them out in too much dust laden breeze here.

[hamburking]

+1 for a good bucket to wash clothes.
Get several that nest inside each other...they are very handy.
And don't forget the clothespins!

Just about every marina and yacht club around here has laundry facilities, in case my bucket is broken.

[belizesailor]

Laundry day, Cayos Albuquerque, Colombia...no need for a dryer in the Trade Winds!

[SVrider44224]

This https://www.lehmans.com/p-2643-rapid....aspx?show=all looks interesting...

[jheldatksuedu]

I just use a large bucket, bottom of plastic drum, and a custom made T handle bathroom type plunger. It does a great job on the wash without too much effort. The rubber plunger part broke, and was replaced with a flat round board, it works great. The T handle consists of a pvc T, a rubber hose, 2 hose clamps, and a large wood dowel cross handle. The spin is done in a Spin X machine, that the most important part and only powered part of the whole process. It removes most of the water to recycle it and allow fast line drying. I have about three sizes of buckets that nest they have holes drilled around the top edge and a strap through these holes makes an excellent container to lift a large bunch of groceries and such from the dinghy.

In the future I might power the spin X with a bike set up as a stationary bike or something. This is still on the drawing board, I'll first try a pull rope wrapped around the shaft and see what kind of speed I can get.

[AD28]

Originally Posted by SVrider44224

This looks interesting...

You can purchase the same thing in plastic (doesn't rust) at Amazon. I have this one and like it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

[JPA Cate]

For those of you who are interested to do the laundry in the bucket, I found that wringing by wrapping around the shroud, or a stanchion to remove more water than just wringing by hand, and never felt the need for a wringer.

Dark clothes of similar weight dry faster than white. Terry bath towels are hard to wring out, and so are sheets. Those with polyester dry faster than plain cotton.

Using the bare minimum of detergent means you use the least fresh water. Most places we've been, salt water washing takes more fresh water for the rinse, and if you don't rinse till it's not salty, the clothes will always be damp. I used to taste the water for salt free, till we discovered we used less water overall if I used just fresh.

Some people report using household ammonia to wash with and say it does not require rinsing then. I have not used this method, so cannot comment.

[Rustic Charm]

Just don't get conned with these silly things. Laundry Balls. A few years ago Cruising Helmsman allowed a review in their magazine about these from an Australian distributor. In a follow up episode I pointed out that they are actually unlawfull to be advertised in the way they are as it's false advertising. It's been proven by consumer researchers (such as Choice) that just washing in plain water has the same result. Funnily enough CH published my rebuttle and the distributors never came back for a response.

there are lots of fake products on just about everything. Don't be conned by the Internets fancy advertising.

Ditch The Detergent with a SmartKlean Laundry Ball {Review & Giveaway} - Nature's Nurture

[buzzstar]

Not sailing at the moment, but at one time, now long, long ago, I used an old wooden + galvanized steel wash board my mom had given me, along with a bucket. The second uses for the washboard (the upper wooden part) were as a cutting board and the metal channels to keep things from rolling far. The washboard eventually failed (rust) and was replaced by a plastic device intended for the purpose.