Amazing but true laundry stories!

[KnottedYet]

Did you know there are message boards like this one for laundry enthusiasts?

(I didn't.)

I fell into the wonderful world of laundry because I was looking for cheap, small washer and dryer ideas for my apartment. There is a community laundry room here, but I'm not fond of the expense and the mental cooties and the pain-in-the-butt logistics involved.

Previous tenants took their W+D with them (or sold them to incoming tenants).

My search lead me to the wonderful world of laundry... it's so cool! People really get into it! I discovered there are whole bunches of people who do their laundry by hand, just because they like to! Which seemed odd until I started thinking that there are people who look at us and say "Those crazy cyclists go places under their own power, just because they like to!"

It's a big ol' world...

I found threads discussing different plunger-devices for smooshing laundry around and thoughtful reviews of various tubs. Here's a cool plunger-thingy that it turns out one of my coworkers used to have: http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing___Breathing_Hand_Washer___1138390?Args=

There were recipes for home-made laundry soap.

One of the topics I read (and didn't believe until... well, you'll see) was a discussion of how machines don't really get your clothes clean and a lot of dirty water and soap residue is left in the clothing and then dries into the clothing in the dryer. I figured that couldn't be true, I mean don't machines make clothes CLEANER than handwashing? Machines are sleek and powerful and do everything better, right?

There was mention of the evil gray water that clothes produced the first time someone switched to handwashing. Hearty proclamations of the miraculous cures of dermatitis and eczema. Rhapsodies on the way clothes smelled so much better.

I can't get a washer for a couple more weeks. Don't wanna trek down to the laundry room or drag my laundry to a friend's house, and really the weather is so good I can dry it all outside anyway. I read all the tips and tricks about washing large amounts of clothing by hand.

I got me a kitty-litter bucket and a sink plunger and set to work.

Omigawd.

Instant disgusting filthy gray water. Like the devil's teabag dropped into my kitty litter bucket.

Now, I know I'm not that grody. Even though some of those things in that load got worn twice, I'M JUST NOT THAT GRODY!

I might just become a handwashing laundry enthusiast. :p

[OakLeaf]

:confused: What's the difference? Using soap instead of detergent? The temptation to put too much detergent in a machine? The method you use to agitate the clothes can't make that much difference, can it??? How long do you have to agitate them to get them clean? Honestly, the few things I have that really can't go into a front-loader, I get bored agitating them after about two minutes. :rolleyes:

[KnottedYet]

It appears to be (from my experience, which is quite limited) the way you rinse the critters.

Doing the laundry in a white kitty litter bucket, I can SEE when the water runs clear and then I know the clothes are clean. In the machine, it runs its rinse cycle without a witness to holler "Whoa! Wait, do it again and smoosh the clothes around some more!"

I'm using the same laundry detergent I always use, so it's not the detergent. I really think it's the rinse.

And the gunk coming off my clothes the first time I handwash them is really impressive. I swear, I'm not Pig Pen! That dirt was *IN* the clothes already!

I'm not agitating the clothes much. Dab of detergent in kitty litter bucket, fill with water. Toss laundry in (small load, cuz the bucket I'm using is very small). Smoosh up and down with plunger for about 15-30 seconds. (this is when the grody stuff is appearing in my water) Leave to sit for a while (I'm making coffee, reading, playing on the internet). When you remember, go back and plunge it another 15-30 seconds, pour off the cruddy water, refill with clean water. Repeat the plunging and soaking and pouring off until the water runs clear.

I'm diggin' the neglectful approach. "Ah, just let that soak some more. I'm in an exciting part of my book." :D

[KnottedYet]

I also read somewhere (long ago) that running an item of clothing through the washer and the dryer puts it through the equivalent wear-and-tear of 60 wearings.

Dunno if that is true, but the plunge and soak handwashing routine is bound to be gentler on the clothes.

It's an amusing curmudgeonly way to get an arm workout. Like most red-blooded Americans, I'd rather "work out" than do actual physical work. Drive my SUV right up to the door of the gym and commandeer the handicap parking spot, so I can go inside to walk on the treadmill; you betcha! Throw my laundry into the washing machine and then pick up my handweights and wave my arms around while the machine chugs away; oh yeah!

If I had to do more than just a smidgen of laundry for a couple weeks, I'd probably not find this plunger-and-bucket experience nearly as amusing...

[Slowspoke]

ha ha i could see me trying it. My BF is BIG 6'7", I would only fit in one pair or jeans and maybe a tee shirt per load! I made the homemade laudry soap. I liked it, BF didn't care for it. Now i mix it in to Tide to stretch the buck! ;)

[Sardine]

:D:D:D I love this forum. Learn something new everyday!

By some strange coincidence, the electronics on my machine have just packed up. The pre-set programmes have had it but the rinse and spin cycles still work, so I'm being creative. This will probably give the people on the laundry forums nightmares.

Knotted, even though I see you as the bikefit guru, I'm not buying handwashing. Too old and lazy for that.

May your grey water run clear..

[snapdragen]

I know myself too well, I'd end up with all my clothing sitting in a sudsy bucket...for days. I tend to forget things.....

My washer has a double rinse cycle, maybe I should use it regularly. :cool:

[Trek420]

May your grey water run clear..

Is this the laundry forum version of wishing a fellow cyclist "tailwinds" ;)

I'm looking at my washer to see if it has a double rinse/spin option ... and sniffing my clothes. :rolleyes: I have drier but often use an LL Bean indoors clothes drying rack/shelf thingie instead.

Since my dishes often sit and wait days I know I'd do the same with laundry. :o

[PamNY]

I found the laundry forums the same way you did. Aren't they wonderful? I simply adore the internet.

I've had the same experience with weird gray water showing up after I hand wash things. I decided not to think about it.

[KnottedYet]

My washer has a double rinse cycle, maybe I should use it regularly. :cool:

That's my plan for when I get my washer.
Double rinse!

[jessmarimba]

You just dump the water down a sink or bathtub drain?

I was wondering if there's a gentle enough soap that I could dump the dirty water in the yard and it would be some sort of weed killer or pesticide reducer. Like soapy water for aphids.

Maybe I need to check out these laundry forums too!

[Sardine]

Is this the laundry forum version of wishing a fellow cyclist "tailwinds" ;)



Something like that :)

Trek420, I'm going to ask because I've been curious and can't work it out due to size - what is the dog doing in your picture/avatar? Sniffing a bag of laundry? ;) Apologies for going off topic momentarily.

[KnottedYet]

You just dump the water down a sink or bathtub drain?

I was wondering if there's a gentle enough soap that I could dump the dirty water in the yard and it would be some sort of weed killer or pesticide reducer. Like soapy water for aphids.

Maybe I need to check out these laundry forums too!

I've got the kitty litter bucket in the bathtub. Every once in a while I go in and do the plunge/rinse dance. Just dumping it down the bathtub drain.

I've always used biodegradable laundry detergent in the machine and I'm using it now in the bucket, which I assume would be fine dumped out on the yard. Not sure if it would nuke aphids, because by the time you've done a bucket of laundry the detergent has pretty much pooped out. (according to my research, if the water is still foamy when you dump, you may have used to much detergent)

Oh, and I learned the hard way that a kitty litter bucket is NOT big enough to wash TWO pairs of jeans at a time. :eek:

There is a nice satisfying sense of accomplishment putting away a neatly folded stack of clothes (that smell fabulously clean) which you washed, wrung out, and dried without using any electricity or powered machinery. But again, I probably wouldn't enjoy this so much if I had to do it ALL THE TIME. ;)

[Trek420]

Something like that :)

Trek420, I'm going to ask because I've been curious and can't work it out due to size - what is the dog doing in your picture/avatar? Sniffing a bag of laundry? ;)

That's our mutt, Mae sniffing a gopher hole right before diving in to dig at it.

Now back to our sponsor; laundry by hand. :cool:

And thanks Knott, I do have a double rinse setting on the machine. Who knew?

[lph]

I grew up without a washing machine, in a cool, wet climate, and am definitely no fan of handwashing clothes... but I guess I should read the tips on handwashing larger amounts. Scrubbing jeans on an oldfashioned scrubbing board just got me sore knuckles and determination to own a washing machine when all grown up.

But we don't have a drier and don't miss it, except very occasionally when we have lots to wash and have to stagger it so that the livingroom slash drying room doesn't feel like a sauna.

[KnottedYet]

Bicycle-powered washing machines!

YouTube has a gazillion videos of home-made pedal powered washing machines. This one is kind of cute, cuz they show a couple "mistakes" they made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fktpd1ymE8A&feature=related

I like this one best, because he's taken the guts of a washer and hooked it right up to a bike. Saves all the constructing the drum and gearing and hoses from scratch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDgQ5ABlqEU&NR=1

Doin' bicycle laundry with Lady Gaga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM7l9E6u6TU&NR=1

Doin' laundry (and other things) with Queen's "Bicycle Race" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL6MkX3XJlg&NR=1&feature=fvwp

There are also a gazillion videos of the bucket and plunger washer, too. They seem to leave off the "let it soak, and do less work" part that the laundry forums emphasized.

[OakLeaf]

ya - we had to have some work done on the water lines in the basement this May, and the plumber had to move the dryer out of the way.

We still haven't plugged it back in. :p

It usually gets some use in the fall when it's too rainy to dry on the outside lines consistently, and too humid to dry on racks in the house.



Bicycle-powered washing machines!

Now that's a spin cycle! :D

[KnottedYet]

I've found a couple references in the laundry forums to "European waffle-weave" bath towels and bath sheets.

I assume this is it: http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Waffle-Weave-Towel/dp/B002U8LN06/ref=acc_glance_hg_ai_ps_t3_t_9

And these are organic cotton and made in USA: http://www.tomorrowsworld.com/Organic-Cotton-Waffle-Weave-Bath-Towel-p/05-1910n-bt.htm

Apparently, they are popular with handwashers and people who air-dry their laundry. Wash easily, dry quickly.

Expensive little buggers.

--------
ETA:
AAAAAAAH!!!!! Gross, gross, gross!!!! AAAAAAAAH!!!!

I just tried something I read for the "gray water" crud. Add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to the rinse water when your water is running clear, and it will make MORE gray crud come out of your clothes when you thought you'd already gotten it all.

AAAAAAH!!! GROSSS!!!!!

It does.

Yuck. :o

[NbyNW]

Sigh. I thought I was being all eco-conscious by not using that 2nd rinse cycle, but this thread is making me want to flip that switch.

I would totally miss having a dryer. I always miss having one, if I am traveling in a part of the world where they are uncommon, and have to air-dry all my things. Just not a fan of that crispy air-dried feel.

[OakLeaf]

My washer defaults to two rinses with an optional three.

Front-loaders don't use near as much water as top-loaders, so I justify it :rolleyes: ... I usually start the cycle with 2.5 gallons of water dumped out of the dehumidifier, and for the time being water is relatively plentiful here <praying>, so it's just a matter of the electricity to pump an extra few gallons per load. :o



ETA - I learned when I was visiting my parents where the term "hard water" comes from. Wonder of wonders, when they air dry clothes they don't come out hard! Our water at home, on the other hand...

[rollinat]

I would miss having a dryer too, which seems faintly ridiculous to me as I managed for years in Scotland without one, and here I am in CO using a dryer - I really will have to stop embracing the American way quite so whole-heartedly! I really like hardly having any ironing to do, I have to say.

I spent a year in France where my room-mate and I bought this contraption for about $30 - it was like a toy washing machine, you stuck it in the bath tub and stuck a hose on the faucets. The whole cycle took about 10 minutes - it was just one step up from the effort of washing by hand or going to the laundrette. It was a bit like this http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/327140580/single_tub_mini_washing_machine.html

[OakLeaf]

Amazing discovery: if you just hang something in the closet, assuming it's modern stuff treated with the scary anti-wrinkle chemicals that make everything come out of the dryer perfect, eventually the wrinkles will hang out of it. Same thing with folding it and putting it into a drawer. Just don't be in such a hurry to wear stuff after it's dry. :D

[KnottedYet]

Or shake the sucker several times during the day while it's drying. Vast majority of the wrinkles shake out by the end of the day. (a bit of excess water flings off, too)

Probably the same effect as a tumble dryer.

[OakLeaf]

True, smoothing plackets and hems between thumb and finger as soon as I hang something to dry, goes a long way. :)

[KnottedYet]

Ooooh, here's a video of the evil gray devil's teabag water... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgQ4RH7koCg&feature=related

No kidding.

It's just like that.

And it doesn't take a $18 "breathing" washer plunger to do it. Plain ol' $5 sink plunger does the exact same thing.

Now all he has to do is add some baking soda to his rinse water and gross us all out again! :cool:

[goldfinch]

Interesting stuff though inconvenient. Do you use any kind of wringer?

I cruised some of the videos. I like the salad spinner idea for spinning out water. Maybe I'll start washing underwear by hand when I am traveling. Dry my bras and then my spinach. :)

[KnottedYet]

Interesting stuff though inconvenient. Do you use any kind of wringer?

I cruised some of the videos. I like the salad spinner idea for spinning out water. Maybe I'll start washing underwear by hand when I am traveling. Dry my bras and then my spinach. :)

No wringer. This is a temporary deal until I can afford a washing machine.

I looked up some salad spinners (even some super-humongous cafeteria sized ones) and decided they weren't worth it for the short time I'd need them. So far my sodden laundry has dried much faster than I expected it would, so I'm not hurting for a spinner.

When I travelled I always washed my underwear by hand. 3 pairs on each trip. Wear one, wash one, and one still drying from the night before. (NOT cotton... :D )

[KateNTx]

As far as the "Grey stuff"..I've reduced it in my laundry by using Baking Soda where most people use fabric softener...I add 2 TBSP to 1/2 cup of HOT water, and pour it into the beginning of the rinse cycle...everything comes out softer, without adding chemicals/perfumes, and the rinses are cleaner on the rare item I handwash when I don't have enough to run a full machine load. It also works to help abate hard water, although I think more baking soda might be needed there, not sure as my current water has few minerals in it. I almost always use my clothesline, but am still using an old top load washer...found an HE front load and brought it home, but have yet to test it out.

[marni]

You just dump the water down a sink or bathtub drain?

I was wondering if there's a gentle enough soap that I could dump the dirty water in the yard and it would be some sort of weed killer or pesticide reducer. Like soapy water for aphids.

Maybe I need to check out these laundry forums too!

growing up on a ranch in the high desert of northen NM, we used to dump the gray water from laundry (wash tub and wringer) and dishes (rinse water) down the ant holes and outside the guilt up earth rings around flowers and roses (which held the rain and irrigation in ) to kill the weeds and creepy crawlies.

The above discussion is why I wash my biking stuff by hand. That's usually when I am the grossest. ;)

marni

[OakLeaf]

Maybe I'll start washing underwear by hand when I am traveling.

I don't travel light by ANY means, but if I didn't wash clothes pretty much every night of a trip I'd have to carry at least one more suitcase. Five outfits (total for day and evening) plus two sets of running clothes are pretty much my limit. Shoes and electronics take up enough non-negotiable space!

Once you've squeezed (not wrung) as much water as possible out of something, lay it flat on a bath towel, fold the edges over it, roll it up tight and squeeze HARD. Kneel on it and shuffle your knees around until you've squeezed the whole thing. That's as effective as a spin cycle.

Shampoo (without conditioner mixed in) makes a great laundry detergent. Though, if you use too much, the hotel might stop refilling ... :o

[jessmarimba]

Just wanted to add in to the washer debate - top load washers with an agitator actually clean clothes much better than front loaders. I have no desire any more to upgrade my washer.

I can't use my outside clothesline right now b/c of the creepy-crawly-earwigs that like to hide in damp laundry. So I strung a retractable one across my laundry room instead. I really like it.

[roguedog]

wow.. i can't believe laundry as an interesting thread .. but it is.

i think it's just fun to watch knot gross out every time she does the wash tho :D

[NbyNW]

What's next, baking your own bread from scratch? (I do that. No bread machine. But I do have a good mixer with a dough-hook).

We already have a thread on that, somewhere ... :D

[Tri Girl]

And it doesn't take a $18 "breathing" washer plunger to do it. Plain ol' $5 sink plunger does the exact same thing.


so you can use a sink plunger (or toilet plunger) just as effectively? This is very interesting to me. I want to try it now!

I already put most of my clothes on a clothesline to dry, so why not wash them without the washer, too? This is all very interesting!!

[sfa]

Vinegar in the rinse cycle helps clear away the soap scum from clothes. Also takes away lingering odors and acts as a fabric softener. Good stuff.

[snapdragen]

This would be really good for hand wash only items too, I may have to go get myself a new bucket and plunger. :cool:

[tangentgirl]

You just dump the water down a sink or bathtub drain?

I was wondering if there's a gentle enough soap that I could dump the dirty water in the yard and it would be some sort of weed killer or pesticide reducer. Like soapy water for aphids.

Maybe I need to check out these laundry forums too!

Google grey water recycling systems. My bf loves to build stuff, and he's been thinking about putting one of these together for the lawn. I'm sure there's a low-tech DIY, pour-it-through-a-filter solution out there. Doesn't have to be a weed killer - could be a plant waterer.

[Sardine]

We already have a thread on that, somewhere ... :D

Really? Under what heading? Bikes and bread, my favourite things. Please can we have a thread on this? And baking soda of course. Roguedog, I'm with you. That post was hilarious.

[FunSize]

I own too many clothes to do laundry by hand. But while I was growing up i did all my bras by hand, in a sink, with woolite. Then I'd do the towel technique to dry and then hang. Now i'm lazy and throw them in the washer.

I think I could do the handwashing, but i just don't have enough room to hang dry everything. I hang dry most of my delicate clothes and all my athletic clothes.

another sad thing is that my wooden drying rack has rotted and fallen apart, so i have to prop it up against a wall to use it. Sad drying rack.

[Blueberry]

Here (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=30677&highlight=bread). Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (and variations). I'll be back to this as soon as it isn't so *&^% hot.

[Sardine]

Here (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=30677&highlight=bread). Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (and variations). I'll be back to this as soon as it isn't so *&^% hot.

Thank you Blueberry. I know the book. Going to take a look.

[roguedog]

Actually, this is a somewhat timely thread because just the other day while I was washing my hands I was thinking..

"Why or how does using soap make our hands clean?" "Or maybe it's just that we think it makes our hands clean.." which made me kinda chuckle inside.

[KnottedYet]

Oh my!

Platform pedals. Brooks saddles. Steel frames. Hand sewing.

And now handwashing?

What's next, baking your own bread from scratch? (I do that. No bread machine. But I do have a good mixer with a dough-hook).

20-25 years ago I used to do all our bread by hand. Bowl, spoon, and hands. 2 batches a week. I also brewed our own beer.

Now with the celiac disease I've pretty much lost all interest in baking. I've got a friend who brewed some AMAZINGLY good hard cider using just frozen apple juice concentrate, water, and yeast. It was incredibly dry and I loved it. I'd like to try it myself (but it means re-investing in all the brewing supplies - and I'm saving up for a washer!) ;)

[marni]

Oh my!



What's next, baking your own bread from scratch? (I do that. No bread machine. But I do have a good mixer with a dough-hook).


We make three loaves of bread by hand every other week. DH the SAG guy makes two caraway rye which he and resident FIL eat and one is some whole wheat variation which I make for myself.

We use a rustic no knead approach so the only work is assembling, shaping , cutting and eating. ;)

[lph]

Actually, this is a somewhat timely thread because just the other day while I was washing my hands I was thinking..

"Why or how does using soap make our hands clean?" "Or maybe it's just that we think it makes our hands clean.." which made me kinda chuckle inside.

It dissolves fat and suspends particles long enough for them to get rinsed away by the water, I believe. :)

[malkin]

It dissolves fat and suspends particles long enough for them to get rinsed away by the water, I believe. :)

Yep., I believe that too.
I have also heard that friction from rubbing is important to hands clean. Sometimes with kids, I think that using soap just gets them to rub their hands a little better and longer.

Hand soap should always smell nice and feel good too!

[PamNY]

Here's an amazing laundry story (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8683740/Women-buying-essential-oils-blamed-for-rise-in-house-fires.html) from the (UK) Telegraph.

I don't know if it's true.

[OakLeaf]

Huh.

It's hard for me to believe that there would be that much buildup of oils that are only used a couple of drops at a time. But who knows?

Here's the part that got me though: "It is now common to have washes sometimes as low as 15 degrees Celsius." Oil removal aside, is it really possible to get clothes clean with water that cold? In the cooler months when the basement dehumidifier water that I start with isn't any warmer than the ground water (which is probably a couple of degrees cooler than 15, but only a couple), I stand by the washer until the tub is full, fiddling with the cycle controls to make sure that some warm water goes in. I'm sure my washer has several years in it still, but I do crave one of those new ones with a thermostat.

[OakLeaf]

Thinking about this thread doing my laundry this morning...

thinking about all the washing I've done in hotel sinks over the years, and about learning not to use too much detergent in the washer.

It's well known that most people use too much detergent in their washer. When you're hand washing it's easy to meter yourself and stop adding detergent/soap as soon as you see suds. With a machine, you just have to take it on faith. It seems like the measuring cups that come with the jugs are designed to sell more detergent. One big line at the top, and a whole bunch of little hard-to-see lines at the bottom that are the ones you're really supposed to use. :rolleyes:

But what I've discovered more recently is that like most things, those directions and measuring cups are written for the least common denominator. Just like the yellow recommended speed limit signs on corners are engineered for poorly balanced delivery trucks and long semis - not passenger cars - the amount of detergent they recommend is for the very hardest water. Like mine, where large flakes of lime form whenever I boil water :rolleyes:, and filling the detergent cup to #1 or #2 works just fine. If you have soft water, you can probably read the directions and cut the recommendation in half, probably a couple of tablespoons of detergent per load.

The other thing is that the fourth or fifth time I'm washing something by hand in a hotel sink, the water doesn't come out any cleaner than the first time. Yep - I am that skuzzy. :cool: We sweat, we exude oils, we shed skin cells, our clothes pick up particulates from the air, and whatever we sit on sticks to our pants or skirts, too - not just the big puddles that we can see and avoid, but microscopic particles of who knows what, too. I guess maybe washing machines are just another way that a lot of people are insulated from the glorious dirt that we all live in. :p

[Biciclista]

I read a biographical story (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/792938.Having_Our_Say) about the Delany sisters (who both lived past 100 years old), a couple of New Yorkers who were the daughters of slaves. They lived together as centagenarians and hand washed all their clothes, never having owned a washing machine. I remember one of them talking about how much longer their clothing lasted. I guess it's a TV movie now.

[goldfinch]

My clothes don't wear out from washing. I bet most end up tossed because I spill food on them and they stain, or I get some other goo on the and they stain, or I rip them somehow.

[KnottedYet]

I read a biographical story (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/792938.Having_Our_Say) about the Delany sisters (who both lived past 100 years old), a couple of New Yorkers who were the daughters of slaves. They lived together as centagenarians and hand washed all their clothes, never having owned a washing machine. I remember one of them talking about how much longer their clothing lasted. I guess it's a TV movie now.

Reminds me of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Books-Rare-Friends-Literary/dp/0385485158 Lived together for over 60 years, united by their love of books (and presumably each other).

[KnottedYet]

Today I did a load of handwash that had been handwashed last week.

Much, much different.

Wash water got dirty, but not the murky pukey grey of the first wash. It only took 2 rinses to get the water clear. (clear, not colorless; there is some dye coming out in the rinse)

Seriously, I'm going to do double rinses when I get my washing machine. What an education this has been!