Clothes Washer

[Auspicious]

+1 for the bucket and plunger, with ammonia for cleaning. Oh - and laundromats ashore.

[emagin]

I don't understand what you intend to do with the odjob.
Turn it by hand? How will this really wash the clothes? You'd have to turn for a long time like a front-loader does before the friction would actually wash clothes.
For human powered washer I think you are better off with a plunger in a bucket.
Perhaps you had something else in mind? The mechanics of it would interest me.
Thanks

[MichaelC]

Just Google portable clothes washer and you will find the cleanairgardening [I think that's the name] site. They sell a hand crank washing machine that will take up to 4 lbs of clothes using a gallon of water. They claim it will take under five minutes. Costs fifty bucks US. Sorry, Mark it is a single use item. Damn. Just think about your cook stove, okay? Or your head [potty, that is].

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by emagin

I don't understand what you intend to do with the odjob.
Turn it by hand? How will this really wash the clothes? You'd have to turn for a long time like a front-loader does before the friction would actually wash clothes.
For human powered washer I think you are better off with a plunger in a bucket.
Perhaps you had something else in mind? The mechanics of it would interest me.
Thanks

The ribs (indents from the outside) you see in it would cause the barrel to rotate if dragged through the water (while sailing). The same ribs cause the material inside to work from one end to the other and "mix" or wash if the barrel is rotated. One would have to make a harness of sorts with a swivel and then attach to a painter. I think one would also want to drag it backwards just because of the shape?

And yes, for those times when not sailing, use the plunger in it, and heat water in it (it's black), and/or store dry goods in it and last but not least, mix concrete in it??

Best Regards,
Extemp.

[Charlie]

We have a real washing machine on board. It takes up a lot of space. I spent a few hours getting it to work. Other then my one experimental load it has not washed any clothes since. The admiral says to leave it b/c we will need it. We have had the boat for going on five years now and have not needed it. I am not allowed to remove it.

I

[Hans and Laura]

I tried the old 'drag my dirty stuff behind the boat' method but it didn't work very well and it nearly pulled my arm out of the socket! I'm going to try to use a bucket and brush next time and I never realized the sight of a laundromat could be such a wonderful thing!

[SaucySailoress]

Hand Powered Portable Washing Machine

This looks and sounds really cool - but could it justify the space? Well, I guess you could also use it for washing potatoes and the cat!

[anglooff]

Put clothes, water and soap powder into a large black disposible plastic/ dustbin bag. secure it on deck. Go sailing.... rinse clothes and hang on line to dry. Put bag away for next time. Let the sea motion simulate your washing cycle/s. try it is works

Regards

Alan

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

+1 for the bucket and plunger, with ammonia for cleaning. Oh - and laundromats ashore.



Indeed!

[Curmudgeon]

I would just use a washboard and a bucket. Easy to store, uses no electricity.

[GordMay]

Barbara Theisen’s* tips to ease the “Washday Blues”
➥ Washday Blues** by Barbara Theisen

* Author of “Kids Aboard: a Guide to Cruising as a Family”

See also ➥ Barbara Theisen - Galley Advice from a Catamaran Cruiser – WOMEN AND CRUISING

[Curmudgeon]

So is there any gizmo (mechanical or chemical) that lets you wash the laundry in salt water and rinse in fresh water (like dishes)?

[AnchorageGuy]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

So is there any gizmo (mechanical or chemical) that lets you wash the laundry in salt water and rinse in fresh water (like dishes)?

We have tried this over the years and ultimately the damage to the clothing and the fact that it takes more fresh water to completely rinse the salt water out than it does to just wash and rinse in fresh water, made this a non issue.

[emagin]

Extemp, I admire your ingenuity. I think you are onto something here, the idea of throwing this sucker over the stern and letting her rip does sound attractive. Umm....start with some old underwear for your tests so you don't lose your best kit in the testing stages!
Perhaps a cone shaped top with the 'blades' or twist in the cone might make for a more hydrodynamic shape. Would not want this thing to turn into a "laundry-series-drogue"

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

The ribs (indents from the outside) you see in it would cause the barrel to rotate if dragged through the water (while sailing). The same ribs cause the material inside to work from one end to the other and "mix" or wash if the barrel is rotated.

[Brent Swain]

There is a limit on how clean you can get things with 2 gallons of wash water and two gallons of rinse water in a washer. I washed my clothes on the dock with a hose yesterday, and in 15 minutes got them cleaner than any laundromat has ever got them, and it was far more pleasant than sitting in a laundromat for an hour. I wash them with soap in a bucket, rinse the soap out in the ocean, far more rinse than you would ever get in a washer, then rinse the salt out with the hose. Then I hang it on my boat for a day in hot weather , two in cooler weather. Some times the final drying is done inside, over my wood stove, overnight.
Why pay a dryer to do what the clothes will do on their own. Far more enviromnentally friendly, and BP hostile.