Hand washing clothes on board

[Lepke]

When I was a commercial fisherman, one of the wives complained of hauling laundry, so her husband bought her one of these. And she was happy.

[Butler]

I remember hearing a buddy of mine talking about a "cowboy wash". Deep tubb with a lid, add dirty clothes, water, detergent through it into the back of the pickup and go mend fence.
When you hit a patch of rough while sailing, strap that 5 gal lidded tub into the cockpit as above and go!! ;~>.
The nylon, poly quick-dry idea sounds like a good one. I have some of those quick dry outdoors towels in different sizes. Certainly not as nice as a fluffy cotton job but the thought of having a bunch of cotton,damp and dirty piling up... bleah.

[Nikki S]

and 400 by chairs. fear the real the real killer

[knockabout]

yes the steady hand system works/upgrade from plastic bucket /a screw top plastic jar with a large neck tied to something solid/ half full of water some detergent ( black & gold shampoo works in sea water) / put your washing in give it a good stir up / screw the lid on continue sailing hopefully your anchorage or sea conditions will permit you to hang out your washing / rinsing in fresh water optional

[annsni]

Fun story. So we were anchored just outside of Edgartown Harbor on Martha's Vineyard when my kids were small. This was the first time my oldest packed for herself and she packed all of 5 pairs of underpants (she was maybe 8?) for three weeks. So I hand washed her undies for her while we were in Edgartown and hung them on the lifelines. It turns out we were anchored off of a very snooty beach club on Chappaquidick with pretty striped cabanas and uniformed wait staff who would bring you cocktails on the beach. Their gorgeous view of the water was blocked by some sailboat with kid's underpants hanging on the lifelines!! We fondly remember that story - and and now make sure every child has at least 40 pairs of underpants for the 3 week cruise (well, not really but at least 25 pairs!). LOL

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by annsni

Fun story. So we were anchored just outside of Edgartown Harbor on Martha's Vineyard when my kids were small. This was the first time my oldest packed for herself and she packed all of 5 pairs of underpants (she was maybe 8?) for three weeks. So I hand washed her undies for her while we were in Edgartown and hung them on the lifelines. It turns out we were anchored off of a very snooty beach club on Chappaquidick with pretty striped cabanas and uniformed wait staff who would bring you cocktails on the beach. Their gorgeous view of the water was blocked by some sailboat with kid's underpants hanging on the lifelines!! We fondly remember that story - and and now make sure every child has at least 40 pairs of underpants for the 3 week cruise (well, not really but at least 25 pairs!). LOL

That was funny. Imagine the horror of those on the beach at the club.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Lepke

When I was a commercial fisherman, one of the wives complained of hauling laundry, so her husband bought her one of these. And she was happy.

I would probably need a taxi to get home from the hospital if I bought Viv one of those

[AD28]

Originally Posted by Pete7

I would probably need a taxi to get home from the hospital if I bought Viv one of those

ha ha, and if I referred to my wife as 'the Admiral' along with offering her a washboard, I'd have been brought to the morgue, not the hospital

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Nikki S

and 400 by chairs. fear the real the real killer

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Lepke

When I was a commercial fisherman, one of the wives complained of hauling laundry, so her husband bought her one of these. And she was happy.

We took some of those to the first Gulf War, and they worked well.
Second time we found room for a real washing machine though, others who didn't plan ahead washed their uniforms in a waterproof bag using usually woolite, as it rinses out much easier that regular detergent, handwashing the hard part for me was getting all the soap out, darn soap will cause you rashes etc.

[Sea Dreaming]

As for the no rinse ammonia method, if you arent rinsing after your wash some dirt will stay in your clothes as it will just recling when you dump the wash water out.

[Caribbeachbum]

Originally Posted by Oceanride007

Please do not use "Ammonia" it plays hell with the gills of all marine life. Its a nasty, and is not depleted by the death of a fish, but goes on and on. Previous water company I worked with spent millions upgrading there sewerage treatment, and they were tight.

Admittedly, I haven't seen the science. Bleach on the other hand should not be a problem as its made by electrolysis in salt water.

Pretty sure ammonia is far more normal in the sea than sodium hypochlorite (bleach). Sodium chloride, of course, is ubiquitous. It's salt.

Ammonia is one of the things you get up front when organic matter decays, and lots and lots of stuff dies in the water every second. And death isn't required -- waste products are also organic matter. Ammonia is then eaten by the next bacteria species in the food chain, leaving behind nitrites. And those are eaten by the next bacteria in the chain, leaving behind nitrates. This fixed nitrogen is then used by plants, which release the nitrogen as ammonia when they die and decay.

That's not to say that ammonia isn't toxic to sea life. It is. But it is part of the natural environment and is very quickly broken down by the most prevalent lifeforms in the sea.

At least, this is what I learned from many years of having marine aquariums. The real ocean might work differently.

[a64pilot]

You know now that you mention it, I believe the Romans collected urine to wash with, cause it contains ammonia?

Not that I think for a second that the wife would go for that, or I really so I'm not saying wash your clothes in Pee, but I think the Romans did?

[SURV69]

most of last winter I washed my clothes in Apple Cider Vinegar(I liked the smell, and it's a good dietary supplement to have on board), but always heard White Vinegar was good for washing clothes.

[annsni]

I use white vinegar as my rinse/fabric softener and it works great. It helps to break the detergent bonds to allow it to rinse out well. We've been using it for ... oh gosh, 20 years now?? And the laundry doesn't smell at all like vinegar.