When the washer breaks

My dryer broke awhile back, and I was without a dryer for several months. I got very good at drying my clothes even on rainy or winter days. I sometimes use my dryer, but I am very thankful for the skills and setup needed to dry my clothes without electricity. But somehow, it never occurred to me that my washer might break, and I should know how to hand wash my clothes. Well, this week I got the opportunity, when I walked into the laundry room and found a big puddle on the floor. I need a big gasket that will take time to arrive, and time to install. In the meantime, I still have laundry to do, and diapers to wash. So, I got on the internet and did some fast research. Did you know that washing your clothes by hand is not really that hard? Well, it’s not really that hard lol.

Here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

• For clothes, I am using a dishtub in my kitchen sink.
• I put in cold water and detergent.
• Then I put in some clothes, about 8-9 items.
• Then I push and shove, etc. to make sure everything is good and wet.
• Then I walk away for about 20 minutes.
• By then the clothes have soaked decently and I begin agitating.
• I like to push up and down on the clothes to work the water and soap through.
• I grab the clothes, rearrange them, mess around in the water, etc. until I feel I have washed them sufficiently.
• Then I put cold water in one of the sinks.
• I squeeze out each item and put it in the rinse water.
• The water is usually still dirty, so I put them into another sinkful of cold water.
• By this time, the water is just about clear, so I squeeze them out good and put them in a laundry basket.
• Out to the clothesline I go. Each item gets twisted and wrung out, then hung on the line.

In the picture above, you can see I was outside. It was a beautiful day today, so I took out a tote and washed a load of diapers. They required extra rinsing at the beginning and an extra rinse at the end, but otherwise the procedure was the same. And I got to enjoy the wonderful weather for the whole process. The clothesline was about 20 feet away, which made everything really easy.

I would like to invest in these really cool tools, though. Washboard and plunger washer

I love learning the old ways of doing things, and even though I still often use my modern appliances, it’s good to know I can live without them. Have you learned a new skill lately?