Hand Washed Laundry: Exercise Regimen Without The Gym Fees
I recently read we should get a minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity per week. I'm not sure what level of activity that means. But I know I need more exercise. I think I have found a good way, for me at least, to get close to that 150 minutes.
My thirty-five year old washing machine needs new bearings. I tried to get my son to repair it. He did some research, but did not think he was up to the job. So I suggested we hand wash for awhile, thinking that would give him a push. No, he has decided that his hand-washed clothes are cleaner, so he's perfectly happy washing his own clothes manually. We have been hand washing for a year now.
Now, if one is going to be serious about hand-washed laundry, one needs some equipment. I already knew about using a clean toilet plunger on clothes in a bathtub. That will do in a pinch, but it is not very efficient.
I did some research and chose what I thought would work best for our purposes. I wanted physical exercise and minimum repair problems, so I chose basic tools for the most part. However, these basic tools work better than some of the hand-operated laundry machines on the market. If you want to use a good quality, hand-operated washing machine, check out Lehman's.
My manual laundry equipment includes: mop pails; a five-gallon bucket; two large laundry buckets; a plastic utility bin; two toilet plungers with eight holes drilled in each plunger for water flow (this makes the plungers push through the water more easily); a Lehman's Breathing Hand Washer; short and long handles for the plungers and Breathing Hand Washer; two folding, wood drying racks; removable clotheslines that hook to the posts on my back porch; a utility sink on the back porch; and a commercial, five-gallon salad spinner I bought on eBay to spin dry the clothes. (The hand crank spinner works beautifully.)
I sometimes have three small buckets in various states of wash sitting in my bathtub while I plunge the clothes clean. Very dirty items are washed in the utility sink. I use a water hose with the utility sink, and the drain lets water out to wash the patio floor. In Arizona, tap water is never truly cold, so this works.
Now for the exercise. Most clothes take a plunging for ten minutes, an optional soak for a few minutes, then two rinses that involve some plunging. This, with the hand cranking of the spinner, provide plenty of exercise for out-of-shape me.
Add vinegar to the last rinse to neutralize the detergent/bleach, and to soften your clothes.
I can plunge two small loads at the same time,
so I can wash, spin dry, and hang on the line, three loads of wash in ninety minutes. Out of that ninety minutes I get about twenty-five minutes of exercise, the rest is just "physical activity." Mid-week I wash one or two smaller loads, so that's a few more minutes towards my 150.
I'm not getting the washer repaired for awhile. This is my new anti-aging regimen.
The clothes need to be balanced in the spinner.
A plastic utility bin with lid removed is good for over-sized, heavy loads. I have to empty it with a pail.
I recently read we should get a minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity per week. I'm not sure what level of activity that means. But I know I need more exercise. I think I have found a good way, for me at least, to get close to that 150 minutes.
My thirty-five year old washing machine needs new bearings. I tried to get my son to repair it. He did some research, but did not think he was up to the job. So I suggested we hand wash for awhile, thinking that would give him a push. No, he has decided that his hand-washed clothes are cleaner, so he's perfectly happy washing his own clothes manually. We have been hand washing for a year now.
Now, if one is going to be serious about hand-washed laundry, one needs some equipment. I already knew about using a clean toilet plunger on clothes in a bathtub. That will do in a pinch, but it is not very efficient.
I did some research and chose what I thought would work best for our purposes. I wanted physical exercise and minimum repair problems, so I chose basic tools for the most part. However, these basic tools work better than some of the hand-operated laundry machines on the market. If you want to use a good quality, hand-operated washing machine, check out Lehman's.
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| Equipment stacked for storage. On the left is the salad spinner. |
I sometimes have three small buckets in various states of wash sitting in my bathtub while I plunge the clothes clean. Very dirty items are washed in the utility sink. I use a water hose with the utility sink, and the drain lets water out to wash the patio floor. In Arizona, tap water is never truly cold, so this works.
Now for the exercise. Most clothes take a plunging for ten minutes, an optional soak for a few minutes, then two rinses that involve some plunging. This, with the hand cranking of the spinner, provide plenty of exercise for out-of-shape me.
Add vinegar to the last rinse to neutralize the detergent/bleach, and to soften your clothes.
I can plunge two small loads at the same time,
I'm not getting the washer repaired for awhile. This is my new anti-aging regimen.
 |
| Five-gallon salad spinner spin dries clothes. |
The clothes need to be balanced in the spinner.
A plastic utility bin with lid removed is good for over-sized, heavy loads. I have to empty it with a pail.
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| Removable clothesline on the back patio. |
If you do not like the look of a clothesline, you can make a removeable clothesline. If you are short on space, the shower stall or bathtub can be used for drying clothes on a rack.
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| The hand washer's parts. |
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| Lehman's Breathing Hand Washer. A must have for large loads. |
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| Toilet Plungers Drilled for Water Flow. |
The red plunger wore out quickly. The gray plunger has lasted for a year, so far.
If you do not have a drill, try a hand cranked augur. The holes need to be round, with no corners where cracks can form.
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| Utility Sink |
The Utility Sink
The rope loop in the image above, has been replaced with a S hook to hold the water hose while using the utility sink. The CAL Ranch Store is a good source for hooks of all kinds. Also, they have large wash tubs, five-gallon buckets, and mop pails.
I added a twelve inch drain pipe to the utility sink. The water drains onto the cement, helping to clean the patio and water the lawn.
This was a very inexpensive sink. I had to add screws and braces to the legs. The braces are PVC or similar pipe. Some braces are screwed into the legs. The cross braces are not.
I found several types of utility sinks at Sutherlands, which is no longer in business. Lowe's, or Home Depot have them or can order them. Sinks can also be ordered from Lehman's and Ace Hardware..
