Off Grid Clothes washing

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by permacamo, Feb 11, 2014.


  1. permacamo

    permacamo Monkey

    Does anyone have experience with off grid clothes washing? I am looking for Ideas about this
     
  2. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

  3. permacamo

    permacamo Monkey

    I was thinking about using either a pedal powered system or a hand cranked one
     
  4. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Your legs are stronger than your arms, and any crank or peddle stroke can be motorized, if you have power. Of the two, peddle would be easier on you..
     
    Tracy likes this.
  5. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I remember an off-grid clothes washing system that Grandma used to use. It consisted of a laundry stove, (a black iron two burner that you could stand on to open the basement window) big enamelware kettle, wash tub, scrub brush, bucket, wash board and clothes line. She had a mangle (manual clothes wringer) in the basement, but I never saw her use it.

    Off grid clothes drying is easy. I used a clothes line year round to dry clothes until the cloth diaper load got to be too much for she-who-nust-be-obeyed. As long as my trees are still there and water keeps evaporating, I can always go back to hanging stuff out to dry.

    HD
     
    Tracy likes this.
  6. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Or Freezing..... Up here if you have no Power, you just hang'em, and then beat the Ice, Off, before you bring them in.......
     
    VisuTrac likes this.
  7. permacamo

    permacamo Monkey

    Yeah drying is the easy part but washing is a little more complicated. Here is a basic setup video I found showing how to do it in an emergency. doit
     
    Falcon15 likes this.
  8. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Washing is great, wringing them is the key:
     
    kellory likes this.
  9. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Better vid:
     
  10. William Warren

    William Warren Monkey+++

    When I was a kid, we lived in an old farmhouse that had a kerosene heater in the kitchen. We'd wash clothes with a washboard and dry them on a line.

    My Mom's favorite joke was when she'd ask one of us to go out and get a clothespin off the line, which meant that we stunk so bad that she wanted to put the clothespin on her nose!

    William Warren
     
  11. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    geez as a kid on vacation in yooper land, mom would hand you a bar of soap, send you to the lake, you soap up the clothes, jump up and down, spin a round a few times, shuck the clothes off, hang on dock. then proceed to wash your own self. Hopefully you remembered to bring your swim suit in wit cha.
     
  12. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    We have an old washing machine similar to the one in the bottom picture... not quite THAT old but same design. It still works, actually. I told the Mr. he needed to make a treadmill like these so if the zombie apocalypse came, the dogs could handle the laundry for me. For some reason, he went straight to the liquor cabinet....
    dog_powerc. f-animal-powered-washing-machine.
     
    Yard Dart, Sapper John and kellory like this.
  13. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    I just use a washer and plan wash day for the day I ran the generater to charge the batteries..
     
    3cyl, BTPost, DarkLight and 1 other person like this.
  14. LOGGman

    LOGGman Off Grider

    Does anyone have any ideas for what detergents can be used? I mean if you loose access to the general store. What can I grow/produce at home to use as soap? I know in movies like Fight Club they made soap from fat. Is that the only way?
     
  15. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Convert Bacon Grease into Soap......
     
  16. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    Good lord I'd be eating the soap.
     
  17. vonslob

    vonslob Monkey++

    For awhile in 2008 i was living out of my truck. I had been laid off and wanted to save money. I tried to wash a weeks worth of clothes by hand using a couple of plastic containers i think were 20 or 25 gallons large. I took me forever to get the soap out so i am definitely looking for a new way to wash. Has anyone had and experience with the plunger type washer that you use with a five gallon bucket
     
  18. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Pedal-powered washer could make a big difference in developing nations
     
  19. oldawg

    oldawg Monkey+++

    Tried the thing when out in the camper. A step above a bucket and brush but a short step.
     
  20. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Read my comments on the bottom?;)
     
  1. Alanaana
    Media

    Views

    Uploaded by: Alanaana, Dec 4, 2023, 0 comments, in album: Alana's_Adventures
  2. Alanaana
    Media

    Dome

    Uploaded by: Alanaana, Dec 4, 2023, 0 comments, in album: Alana's_Adventures
  3. Dunerunner
  4. Dunerunner
  5. martha_mill
  6. Dunerunner
  7. DKR
  8. Yard Dart
  9. Motomom34
  10. SurvivalJester
  11. Dunerunner
  12. aardbewoner
  13. Motomom34
  14. Asia-Off-Grid
  15. Asia-Off-Grid
  16. Asia-Off-Grid
  17. Asia-Off-Grid
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7