Off gird clothes washing

[Txanne]

Originally Posted by oldtimer

Your story could be ours. Daddy bought Mama a new Maytag eventually and she used that for years until it wore out, then he bought some old junker on a sale for a couple of bucks. The washing machines keep going down the basement but no one ever hauls the clunkers out. Must be a half doz. down there now. Here a few weeks ago, Mama got her hand caught in the wringer and the machine was an old junker and the wringer release wouldn't release. She was hung up down there for four hours. She started out a hollerin' but Daddy's so deaf he couldn't hear over the TV. Finally he was wondering why she didn't call him to dinner and he was getting hungry. He went down the basement and found her standing there. I don't think I'd have gone on to make him dinner, but she did. Her fingers were all skinned up, so we're looking for a better washer for her now.

I'd suggest to the OP you get a Maytag in decent shape and convert it to a gas engine. It's the easiest to convert. Get a Honda engine. They're very easy to start, run well, and even the Amish are equipping theirs with a Honda.

And this soy stuff or whatever someone soaked their laundry in. What in the world is it?

IT's strange now that many are going back to these wringer washers that have jumped in price.
Saw a new one advertised for $1200.00-----wow---I passd up a perfect one for 125.00.
Noone to help me unload it---

I have my James Washer---it's one of my preps(I hate that word) It's my hurricane--what ever happens backup.

So many things have changed in our world But dirty clothes haven't!!

[crackergirl]

Connie189, I don't think the fels naptha is caustic. I have used it both to make laundry soap and in bar form to scrub clothes.
Guess it's just different strokes for different folks.

[offgridbob]

We solved the clothes washing problem, we just don't wear any Tada problem solved.NOT

[connie189]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/17...s-naptha-soap/

Health Considerations

"....While sometimes also sold next to personal-care body soaps it should not be used as an overall body soap or regular laundry additive since it contains Stoddard solvent, a skin and eye irritant.

According to the "Chronic Health Effects" section of the National Institutes of Health's MSDS for Fels Naptha:

Chronic toxicity testing has not been conducted on this product. However, the following effects have been reported on one of the product's components. Stoddard solvent: Repeated or prolonged exposure to high concentrations has resulted in upper respiratory tract irritation, central and peripheral nervous system effects, and possibly hematopoetic, liver and kidney effects.

Stoddard solvent is another name for mineral spirits, which are, like petroleum distillates, a mixture of multiple chemicals made from petroleum. Exposure to Stoddard solvent in the air can affect your nervous system and cause dizziness, headaches, or a prolonged reaction time. It can also cause eye, skin, or throat irritation[2]."

[oldtimer]

Originally Posted by Txanne

IT's strange now that many are going back to these wringer washers that have jumped in price.
Saw a new one advertised for $1200.00-----wow---I passd up a perfect one for 125.00.
Noone to help me unload it---

I have my James Washer---it's one of my preps(I hate that word) It's my hurricane--what ever happens backup.

So many things have changed in our world But dirty clothes haven't!!

Well, the Big Brother must think they have changed. Try to buy a decent automatic washer. They've dictated not only how much water it can use but that it won't use hot. These front loads and a lot of top loads wash in a pitiful dribble of water and none of them let you fill the machine with HOT water. It's nuts. How do they expect you to get your clothes clean.

I guarantee that the person dictating these "improvements" never lived on the farm, had a bunch of kids that played hard, or ever worked on a greasy engine, milked cows, or butchered to where you have real dirty clothes that actually need to get clean. It can't be done with these new machines. And no wonder folks get sick. How are you suppose to kill germs in lukewarm water.

I for one am sick and tired of the government telling me what kind of light bulbs I can use, and making it so I have no choice in washing clothes. Thank the Lord we can still find a wringer where the agitation is good and we can fill it up with scalding hot water.

They think they're "saving" so much water. Well we really saved water with the wringer, and soap too. Wash half a dozen loads or more with the same water. Rinse in two tubs. Then when we were done, we'd use the rinse water and wash all the floors. All water was then used to water the flowers and the trees.

[Jjr]

Soap nuts would also be another option for the detergent aspect of the cleaning progress. For younger folks with a suitable climate planting some soap nut trees would also be something to consider.

When doing laundry by hand, I have no idea how harsh the soap nuts would be on the hands, but I would suspect being a natural product, soap produced from the soap nuts would be less abrasive on one's hands than other forms of detergent.

Wearing long gauntlet rubber gloves when doing the washing, should solve the soap and hand contact anyway, thereby reducing the "red/raw hands" syndrome.

[connie189]

Jjr

I can hear my dermatologist now..."wear your rubber gloves..."

Told me biggest thing I can do to stop from getting dish pan hands.

And hot water...a no-no.

[RochBear]

Maytag built wringer washers with their own gas (two cycle 16:1) gas engine. They made 3 different engines over the years they did this.
The original gas engine was an upright single cylinder. Then they built a horizontal single cylinder (this is the most common version). Then after the second world war, they built a twin cylinder - probably the best engine, but since farmers soon got electricity, they didn't build a lot of these.

You could order a Maytag with a Briggs engine up until the early 1970s. Most of those went over seas with missionaries.

Besides the wringer, Maytag also made some attachments. You could replace the wringer with a sausage Grinder. They also made a butter churn which went in place of the dasher. They also made an Ice cream maker, which was very similar to the butter churn, but it had a wooden paddle vs the Aluminum paddle. (you can use the Ice cream maker to make butter, but can't use the Butter maker to make Ice Cream)

My parent's have 3 of these old Maytags, which they use at a "Days of Yesteryear" show. All still work, and do a great job washing clothes.

After the world as we know it ends, these machines would be invaluable. The engines are all cast iron, and the carbs are all metal. They could be run on Home made ethanol and oil for many years. And after no more fuel was available, a bicycle could be modified to replace the engine....

I hope this info was useful.

Bear.

[Deep South]

When I lived in where there was not an easily accessible washer and dryer for me to use and I had no washer or dryer hook-up in my rental, I often did the following to handle the problem of needing to clean clothes:

1) Undergarments and socks - I owned enough of these that I could wear once and then collect and take to wash and dry in the pay washers and dryers or at a friend's house every two weeks. Bedding went the way of the undergarments and socks.

2) Wore other (NON-undergarments and socks) clothes until they were truly dirty - I mean stinky or visibly soiled.

a. Clothes that weren't all over stinky or soiled (maybe just a little unfresh at the armpits area or had one spot stain got spot cleaned by hand in the sink with a little soap. Then the clothes got worn again.

b. If not fresh enough to wear to work or in "polite" company, they got one more wear out of them before cleaning - for more dirty work like gardening and outdoors exercise and such.

c. For clothes that reached the "truly dirty" stage, I hand washed them with soap in the sink or the bath tub. Soaking for an hour (I sprayed a little Oxy-Clean or applied a little stain stick to any soiled areas pre-soak), then clothes in the sink got agitated by hand and clothes in the tub got agitated by foot while I took my shower.

d. Clothes that got washed by hand (or foot ) got hung or laid out to dry. I saw that one of my neighbors was always doing the same thing, which I thought was great, because we'd be damned if we were going to use the pay washers and dryers every single time we wanted to wash clothes.

3) Stuff like sweaters and jackets that were worn over other clothes rarely got washed. If I got a stain on them, they got spot cleaned by hand. At the end of cold season, sweaters and jackets got cleaned in the bathtub, air dried and then put away clean.

4) For shirts and pants that reached a point where they didn't look good anymore - stained beyond repair or what have you - they were demoted to heavier duty dirtier work, like painting, where it didn't matter to me at all if they got even more messed up. Or, they got cut up and made into cleaning rags.

My system worked well for me. No, I never had anybody tell me I smelled bad, except when doing stinky work, like working outdoors all day - when you aren't supposed to smell like a rose. No, I never had any skin or health problems from it and no bed bugs or any of that.

The upside to not washing clothes after every wearing, like some people do as a matter of course whether the clothes are really dirty or not, is that I saved money and my clothes lasted forever.

[kts532]

I know I am late to this party. We picked up the largest Harbor Freight cement mixer they have (on sale and with 20%off coupon) and did not put in the mixer bars. I cut a 2x4 to match the drum and made a cover for the hole when washing and a expanded metal cover for draining. We are off grid so it will run off the solar panels and inverter. We do a prewash and heat water for the main wash and do a clear water cycle as many times as needed depending on the clothes. It works out great and the loads are very large so it does not take that many loads. We line dry even in the winter as it is so dry that they dry quickly. If we have days that it does not make it above freezing for a few days we bring them inside to thaw and dry. Laundry is the most time consuming and most water usage of chores we have. Just another idea. Make sure you buy good clothes pins as the cheap ones will not hold good enough and you don't want to do them again