Washing clothes

[daffodil]

(Hope this is the right category, I guess it could go under frugal living or energy too)

I've read that people used to boil their clothes to get them clean. How did this work? Did they use soap with the boiling water and then rinse and hang out to dry? or just boil and then hang to dry (no rinse or soap)? I'm wondering if I could just boil them with something like a lavendar scent and then not do a rinse and just hang them to dry. Would they get clean that way and still have a bit of a nice scent? How long would you boil them for?

[indyguy]

I cant answer you question but will tell you how I once did laundry.

I put my laundry into a metal trash can in the back of my truck along with my laundry soap and water. they sloshed around on my drive to work and back.

once home just rinse then out on hang on the line. I did laundry that way for several yrs.

[daffodil]

I cant answer you question but will tell you how I once did laundry.

I put my laundry into a metal trash can in the back of my truck along with my laundry soap and water. they sloshed around on my drive to work and back.

once home just rinse then out on hang on the line. I did laundry that way for several yrs.

I'm thinking the rinsing is the hard part! Might save a bit of money if I don't have to rinse too, on the soap and the water! Seems to me it would just cut the whole process down if you could just boil and hang them. :)

[indyguy]

I can see where boiling your laundry would get them clean but seems that it will be hard on color clothing.

[plowman]

when i was little my grandmother had
a big black pot outside she boil them and had
a wood paddle she stired them with cant recall
the type of soap. i recall this pot was used for
many things wish i had it now

[daffodil]

I can see where boiling your laundry would get them clean but seems that it will be hard on color clothing.

My clothes are so old it probably wouldn't even make a difference! I've had them for years and they were hand me downs already!

[daffodil]

had
a wood paddle she stired *them with cant recall
the type of soap.

Wonder why they used soap. I would think the boiling would take the place of it. If it's to kill the germs could I use apple cider vinegar instead?

[Catalpa]

Soap is neccessary because water molecules like each other better than other substances, like dirt. Soap forces the water molecules to break apart from each other and connect to the dirt, pulling it into solution where it can be rinsed away out of the fabric.

[sissy]

Check out candle making/soap making under crafts. There are some good ideas there. I make our laundry soap & softener for a whole lot less than buying it. We love it. My DH brags about it. Our clothes are clean fresh & lightweight from no buildup.
Sissy

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Soap is neccessary because water molecules like each other better than other substances, like dirt. *Soap forces the water molecules to break apart from each other and connect to the dirt, pulling it into solution where it can be rinsed away out of the fabric.
Correct. Boiled dirty clothes are just sterilized dirty clothes. ;)

[MrsL]

Clothes used to be washed in what was called a "copper" here in the UK; a very big metal pot, under which a fire was lit, then the clothes put into it. Soap added, and heated through, agitated, then clothes removed and rinsed, wrung (using a mangle, or by hand wringing) then hung to dry on lines, or *on bushes in the sun to dry and bleach if required. *Other than that, a galvanised tub with a washboard.
Soap will help to remove grease, but it's the agitation of the clothes that will loosen and remove actual dirt. *Dirty areas are soaped first, then the clothes etc put in with the rest of the wash, agitated . etc. *Used to use possers (copper head with holes in, on a pole) and a dolly tub. *Water went on the garden.
In my efforts towards being off-grid/non-electric I do hand washing, but this has been a necessoty of late as the washing machine is kaputt. *I'm quite happy doing it by hand, but daughter is a bit more than :o at the thought. *I stopped using washing powder a couple of months back, and clothes are coming out just as clean as ever, including MrL's office shirts.
I have a good old iron mangle, but it needs new rollers at the moment, awaiting them being made, I hope. Not looking forward to removing all the buttons, though..............

A further thought - not sure a lot of modern mand- made fabrics would stand up to much boiling or hot washing/scrubbing/possering. Many moons ago, it would all be cotton, linen, wool, etc.

[Anon001]

daffodil,

Since I'm off-grid, I can't use a regular washing machine. I have a wringer washer. Sometimes I will do laundry in town if I have to run errands. Otherwise, I will use my wringer washer. I have two wash tubs on stands. One sits behind the washer under the wringer and the other to the side. I plug the washer into the generator and start the generator. It saves a lot of water doing it this way.

In the old days when everyone heated their wash water in big pots outside, they almost always used simple lye soap... The same soap they used for everything, bathing, dishes, clothes, etc. For clothes, they would grate it.

[sbemt456]

The clothes that were actually boiled were the white things. And they were boiled in a lye water solution in an iron or copper kettle. The lye water was made from wood ashes and was the same method used to make the lye for lye soap. The wash board and lye soap were used on all clothes and rinsed and hung to dry. With the whites being boiled in lye water after washing in lye soap to whiten then. There used to be stuff called "bluing" which some well-to-do folks had put in the rinse with their whites to make them whiter.

If you are interested in more info, you may find it in the Foxfire books.

Have a great day!

stella

[Anon001]

Stella,

I forgot about the bluing. I think you can still buy it. It seems that a few years back, I bought some.... somewhere. lol

[bookwormom]

This *is how my mother did it. *and she did not get a washing machine until I was out of the house. the day before washday we sorted everything and soaked it overnight. I do not care for washboards, though I have one. *Mother had a 'washbench' which really was nothing but a crude slab table with four legs, it was easier and more effective as far as I am concerned. Take out a piece, lay it on the table, rub a cake of lyesoap over it, brush it with a laundry brush, the dirty spots more than the not so dirty. wring out good, toss into a tub until all is washed. *

socks do first one side, then turn inside *out and do the other side. *whites were done first actually. Mom had a big kettle with integrated firebox. (it was also used for canning and heating our bathwater) *she used detergent but still called it lye. *Only whites and only cotton and linen were boiled, they were scrubbed too if needed. Mother stirred the boiling laundry with a wooden paddle, I have to ask her how long it had to boil. She used wooden thongs to lift the pieces out. She rinsed everything three times. I did not mind the brushing, but wringing things out by hand, especially men's pants, was hard. I am glad I do not have to do that anymore. she used no bleach and her laundry was marvelously clean and white. *
I remember bluing, but we never used it.

[ryanmercer]

Stella,

I forgot about the bluing. *I think you can still buy it. *It seems that a few years back, I bought some.... somewhere. lol

http://www.lehmans.com they've got some, I saw it last night.

[Bootz]

I handwash all my clothes and linens most of the time. It's just not all that complicated.

The key is to let the clothes soak and to use less detergent. The soaking reduces the need to agitate. An overnight soak is great for really dirty clothes but can lead to fading. A 1/2 hour soak and 1 minute agitation is fine when in a rush.

Washing isn't the work. It's the rinsing and wringing that is tough. Use as little detergent as possible. Use some bleach or vinegar to disinfect. Sunlight also disinfects.

Synthetics dry more quickly than cotton and keep their shape when hand wrung. Thin items dry more quickly than thick ones, so learn to dress in many thin layers.

Shamwow towels are easy to wash and dry. I got mine at CVS. I've since been told that pet towels are similar but better.

Dryers are great for removing lint. Do not wash lights and darks together because of the lint, when line drying.

You need less clothes when handwashing. I wash my clothes as soon as I take them off instead of waiting to accumulate a load. I only have 2 pairs of pants, one pair of pjs and 4 t-shirts that I wear regularly, and a couple old things for emergencies.

I have $1.00 bucket, a bottle of detergent and a jug of vinegar. That's all you need. In the winter I throw the clothes over the shower rod. In the summer, I just have a rope and a few clothes pins.

[ryanmercer]

I handwash all my clothes and linens most of the time. It's just not all that complicated.

The key is to let the clothes soak and to use less detergent. The soaking reduces the need to agitate. An overnight soak is great for really dirty clothes but can lead to fading. A 1/2 hour soak and 1 minute agitation is fine when in a rush.

Washing isn't the work. It's the rinsing and wringing that is tough. Use as little detergent as possible. Use some bleach or vinegar to disinfect. Sunlight also disinfects.

Synthetics dry more quickly than cotton and keep their shape when hand wrung. Thin items dry more quickly than thick ones, so learn to dress in many thin layers.

Shamwow towels are easy to wash and dry. I got mine at CVS. I've since been told that pet towels are similar but better.

Dryers are great for removing lint. Do not wash lights and darks together because of the lint, when line drying.

You need less clothes when handwashing. I wash my clothes as soon as I take them off instead of waiting to accumulate a load. I only have 2 pairs of pants, one pair of pjs and 4 t-shirts that I wear regularly, and a couple old things for emergencies.

I have $1.00 bucket, a bottle of detergent and a jug of vinegar. That's all you need. In the winter I throw the clothes over the shower rod. In the summer, I just have a rope and a few clothes pins.


Haha a bucket sounds too simple.

[MrGreenJeans]

Last year i passed up a kero run wringer. I thought it was to high. Now i think it would have been $200 well spent. Sometimes being to tight don,t payoff. Very old but looked good and ran like a new one. Brain gas explosion.

[Bootz]

Haha a bucket sounds too simple.


If you don't mind tying up a sink or the tub, while soaking, you don't even need the bucket. I like to keep the sink empty though. I got tired of a certain guest washing her hands over my clothes and using a TON of soap that was impossible to rinse out. Instead of strangling her, I bought a bucket :-)

I remember hearing that during the civil war in Yugoslavia, they used janitors buckets to wring out clothes. I guess there is some type of wringer for the mop?

As long as I buy clothes that are easy to wring, wringing by hand is easy. All I need is my bucket, just a plain plastic $1.00 bucket :-)

[flatwater]

get the janitors bucket with the foot peddle for more control or a regular squeez mop bucket should work. At the cabin I use a large galvinized wash bucket with an old wash aggitater. Picture a toilet plunger with a long PR24 stuck in the end only instead of rubber the head is more cone shape and made of metal. Close to the top are small covered vents so when you press down the water goes up and through these vents. Does a pretty good job

[daffodil]

I handwash all my clothes and linens most of the time. It's just not all that complicated.

The key is to let the clothes soak and to use less detergent. The soaking reduces the need to agitate. An overnight soak is great for really dirty clothes but can lead to fading. A 1/2 hour soak and 1 minute agitation is fine when in a rush.

Washing isn't the work. It's the rinsing and wringing that is tough. Use as little detergent as possible. Use some bleach or vinegar to disinfect. Sunlight also disinfects.

Synthetics dry more quickly than cotton and keep their shape when hand wrung. Thin items dry more quickly than thick ones, so learn to dress in many thin layers.

Shamwow towels are easy to wash and dry. I got mine at CVS. I've since been told that pet towels are similar but better.

Dryers are great for removing lint. Do not wash lights and darks together because of the lint, when line drying.

You need less clothes when handwashing. I wash my clothes as soon as I take them off instead of waiting to accumulate a load. I only have 2 pairs of pants, one pair of pjs and 4 t-shirts that I wear regularly, and a couple old things for emergencies.

I have $1.00 bucket, a bottle of detergent and a jug of vinegar. That's all you need. In the winter I throw the clothes over the shower rod. In the summer, I just have a rope and a few clothes pins.

You sound a bit like me in the clothes department...2 pairs of pants and 4 t-shirts is about what I have too! I learned the lesson on the darks with towels, everything has white fuzzys on it now. The dryer I don't really miss right now but I think come winter I will!

[Anon001]

Last year i passed up a kero run wringer. I thought it was to high. Now i think it would have been $200 well spent. Sometimes being to tight don,t payoff. Very old but looked good and ran like a new one. Brain gas explosion.
MrGreenJeans,
Two hundred sounds outrageous. I bought my electric wringer washer for $15.00. It was in a basement and still looked almost new.

I have two wash tubs that I use if I am just handwashing and not using the wringer washer. Then I hang the clothes over the bathtub until they stop dripping. Once they are no longer dripping, I hang them over my rope line in the house (in winer) or outside on the line.

[Bootz]

You sound a bit like me in the clothes department...2 pairs of pants and 4 t-shirts is about what I have too! I learned the lesson on the darks with towels, everything has white fuzzys on it now. The dryer I don't really miss right now but I think come winter I will!


In the winter, if you have any any decent source of heat, the clothes will dry nicely in doors. The humidity level is more important than the temperature for fast drying. Place the clothes in a dry place. In the winter my clothes dry faster indoors than they do outdoors now. I have dry heat.

From now on try buying everything in black. You can even buy towels and sheets in black. No need to sort clothes :-) Even towel lint will blend in.

For towels I do prefer shamwow type though. They dry in an hour and are somewhat useful when damp, because you can wring out most of the dampness.

If you use a dryer just once it will remove all the white fuzzies. Do you have any masking tape? It will get most of it off.

There are low sudsing detergents that rinse out easier. There are also detergents that are designed to deal with odors. Tide has some with Febreze in it. Sometimes it's worth it to pay a little extra for good detergent, since we use so little of it.

I often use whatever I use on my body, to wash my shamwow towel. Even machines don't rinse out all the soap. I'd rather have a more body friendly soap residue on my towel.

If single, handwashing is a breeze. For families it's a bit more of a chore. The hands really take a beating and finding enough places to dry indoors becomes difficult.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I put my laundry into a metal trash can in the back of my truck along with my laundry soap and water. they sloshed around on my drive to work and back.
once home just rinse then out on hang on the line. I did laundry that way for several yrs.

That is a wonderful idea. The sloshing during the drive would do all the agitation work, especially on bumpy backroads. I am going to see if we can't put a plastic trashcan in the ratchet strap of the pickup, and try to do some jeans up. It's just a great idea. Getting up and dumping out the water without getting wet or getting the clothes dirty would be the hard part.

[kingdomdweller]

When I lived in a schoolbus (1978) for about a year, we would use a couple of those infamous white plastic buckets with tight lids and fill with water and a little detergent and suspend them from hooks with bungi-cords and drive down the road. They would get to bouncing around good. After a little while dump out the water and wring out the clothes, put in clean water throw the clothes back in and drive somemore. The rinse worked great as long as you don't use too much detergent.. Then we wring them out again and hang them up open some windows and by the time we got to where we were going we had dry clothes. 10 minutes of bouncing around is plenty of agitation time.

[NCLee]

I remember when my Mom washed clothes, the old fashioned way. She had a spot in the back yard, in the shade of a tree to wash. The clothes line was just a few steps away.

To start the wash, she sorted everything in piles, light to dark, cleaner to really dirty. Then, she'd fill the washpot and 2 galvanized wash tubs with water. Build a small fire under the washpot to heat that up. While it was heating, it was also soaking the first load - white linens. (I don't remember seeing colors in linens back then.)

She didn't really boil the clothing. She simply used HOT water with lye soap and a paddle to stir/aggitate them. Then, she'd use the paddle to lift an item from the pot and transfer it to the wash tub. There she had a washboard and a bar of lye soap. Depending on how dirty the item was, she'd rub the spots with the soap, then scrub on the washboard. When the item was clean, it would go into the rinse tub. When the washpot was empty and everything in the rinse tub, she'd put another batch in the washpot.

She'd wring out the rinsed items and hang them on the line. By the time she finished these, those in the pot were ready for the next step. She'd continue this process until everything was done.

Sheets were the hardest thing for her to wring out, while keeping them off the ground at the same time.

While I don't remember the details, now, I do remember that she used bluing and then switched to Clorox. (Still have one of those brown jugs.)

Later she got a wringer washer. By that time I was old enough to help with the wash. Often that was my job on Saturday while school was in session. And, on a weekday during the summer.

Around here, clothes were hung on the outdoor line winter and summer. (Winter high temp average is 50). I've seen Mom's hands raw from the water and the cold. I've seen clothing frozen on the line when unexpected freezing weather arrived. As long as the wind was still, she just left them on the line, until they thawed and dried.

In really bad weather, the few items that had to be washed were done in the house and hung on the back of a wooden chair to dry beside the wood heater.

Tip: For those dark clothes with white lint, take them to somewhere with a dryer - friend, laundrymat,etc. Toss them in with a dark damp towel to remove the lint.

Hope someone finds these thoughts and memories to be useful.
Lee

[daffodil]

I had a hard time getting things to dry inside. I'm beginning to think it's the humidity level in the house. I've got mold problems too. I'm assuming dehumidifiers work on electric power. Any other way to get rid of the humidity? Or am I stuck with it because of the lake being so close?

[huckelberry]

i thought the point behind boiling was to kill lice...

[NCLee]

The reason for "boiling" was to use hot water along with soap to remove body oils, cooking oil, and even axle grease from clothing. Same principle as using hot water in modern washing machines.

Guess it would kill lice, bed bugs or any other vermin that could get into clothing. Boiling water and lye soap would take the hide off most anything. :)

Lee

[Bootz]

This is a bad time of year to be drying indoors. I'm usually only trying to do it when it is raining outside so the humidity level is high inside and out. The indoor air is so much dryer when the heat is on even when it is humid outside.

If the clothes are taking a long time to dry, make sure you add some bleach or vinegar to the water, when washing them. Also beware that drying the clothes indoors will add to the humidity indoors if the windows are closed, and increase molding of the house. If the heat isn't on, make sure a window is open in the room the clothes are in.

[Northern_bushrat]

We're off-grid and I do laundry by hand. I generally boil underwear and socks with washing soda and a bar of Sunlight soap to get them clean.
We have an outside metal bathtub that doubles as a laundry tub (camp fire underneath heats up the water), where I wash other clothing. I was ill last fall and ended up with a huge stockpile of dirty laundry that I couldn't face doing the regular way. I ended up soaking loads in cold water in the bathtub (again with washing soda and Sunlight soap) overnight, then sloshing it with the toilet plunger. One rinse cyle in the tuub, then the other rinse in the lake. It got surprisingly clean this way!

[daffodil]

We're off-grid and I do laundry by hand. I generally boil underwear and socks with washing soda and a bar of Sunlight soap to get them clean.
We have an outside metal bathtub that doubles as a laundry tub (camp fire underneath heats up the water), where I wash other clothing. I was ill last fall and ended up with a huge stockpile of dirty laundry that I couldn't face doing the regular way. I ended up soaking loads in cold water in the bathtub (again with washing soda and Sunlight soap) overnight, then sloshing it with the toilet plunger. One rinse cyle in the tuub, then the other rinse in the lake. It got surprisingly clean this way!

What do you do in the winter? I think winter is the thing that makes these types of things so hard to do. When you can do something outside it's not so bad but trying to do it in the house (and a small house at that) makes it so much more difficult. And it seems we have much more winter than summer out my way!

[Lobo]

I have done the wash in the truck thing and it worked great. The hard part was to rinse then I decided to hang the laundry in the rain. this summer in NH we have had enough rain to do this. I wouldn't rinse directly in a water source (ie. lake) unless I use earth friendly cleaning agents.

Lobo

[Northern_bushrat]

What do you do in the winter? I think winter is the thing that makes these types of things so hard to do. When you can do something outside it's not so bad but trying to do it in the house (and a small house at that) makes it so much more difficult. And it seems we have much more winter than summer out my way!

Yeah, summer's just 3 months here...In the winter, I heat up the water on the wood stove that's going anyway and use a couple of big plastic totes to wash stuff in. Sometimes, I do it in the sauna. Either way, no fun hauling all the water up from the lake to the cabin instead of doing the laundry down by the lake.
Somebody is getting me a wringer which will make it a lot easier in the wintertime (never have the patience to warm up the rinse water and it's rather chilly on the hands).

[Prairie]

I had a hard time getting things to dry inside. I'm beginning to think it's the humidity level in the house. I've got mold problems too. I'm assuming dehumidifiers work on electric power. Any other way to get rid of the humidity? Or am I stuck with it because of the lake being so close?

Heating with wood will suck some moisture out of the house. On the other hand, having plants inside or drying clothes inside will contribute to your humidity problems. If you have water problems in the basement or around the foundation, you'll never get rid of humidity.

[Prairie]

Back to the subject at hand. Has anybody used a Wonderclean: http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing___Pressure_Handwash er_br_USA_made___23305?Args=
or a Rapid Washer?
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing___Rapid_Washer___66 RW?Args=

I have been looking for a good, used, low rust Rapid Washer for a while. Is the Wonderclean worth the money and shipping?

[daffodil]

Back to the subject at hand. Has anybody used a Wonderclean: http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing___Pressure_Handwash er_br_USA_made___23305?Args=
or a Rapid Washer?
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing___Rapid_Washer___66 RW?Args=

I have been looking for a good, used, low rust Rapid Washer for a while. Is the Wonderclean worth the money and shipping?

I had the wonderclean years ago and a wringer. I sent it back but I don't remember why I didn't like it.

[Northern_bushrat]

I have a wonderclean but hardly ever use it anymore. It works but isn't sturdy enough to be used on a regular basis, also it doesn't really take more than underwear and T-shirts. The base of mine started cracking and it's been out of commission ever since.

[Prairie]

I did see an old hand crank wringer washer in an antique store a few weeks back. I think it was an Eatons model. Maybe if it is in good shape, I should see what they want for it. I remember the rollers were rotted, but you should be able to find them somewhere, no?

[Anon001]

Back to the subject at hand. Has anybody used a Wonderclean:

The "subject at hand" was not a rapid wash or wonderclean. The OP asked how people used to wash their clothes prior to machines.

[firegirl969]

Yes, I have a wonderclean. We use it while on vacation at the river. It works great for undies, bathing suits, t-shirts, etc. It is a little flimsy to use for towels and jeans, IMHO.

[annabella1]

Wonderclean is only good for small loads, but it makes an excellent butter churn.

[flatwater]

A butter churn , what a neat idea from another free thinker , I'll have to try it. I never did like it that much to was cloths in. oops back to the original question. A tub and a splusher was how old gramma platt did it. I still have the splusher.

[leera]

I have a wonderclean,but I haven't had a reason to use it just yet,bought it very cheaply at a garage sale last summer.

We have a clothes dryer again,but when we didn't I just hung the clothes on our homemade rack that hangs from the ceiling...if you look at Lehman's website,they should have one shown....we copied that,only the ends are made of wood not metal,it works very well,if you want to clothes to dry faster,just run a fan in the room.