In the event of a power grid failure and limited fuel to waste generator energy on running a washing machine, I'd like to find an old fashioned double roller clothes/towel wringer. Let's face it, clothes/bedding/towels are still going to have to be washed, and wasting energy and calories doing something as menial as wringing clothes during the washing process will be tiring. Don't believe me? Hand wash a load of bath towels and wring the excess soap out of them before you rinse them. It's a forearm/shoulder workout. When I was a kid my dad had a wringer in the garage that was great for towels when we washed the car. I can't remember the last time I saw one except for at a car wash. Anyone here have experience with any commercially available ones?
I've got an old one in the scrap heap out in the woods. I imagine it's in pretty rough shape. I remember how happy my Gram was when she got a modern "spin cycle" washer.
Try a commercial mop bucket squeezer. It's cheaper, faster, not quite as good, but will get a ton of water out.
Great idea ajole thanks. While on this topic washing clothing by hand will be a huge job. There are a few ideas on setting up 5 gallon buckets to set up a mini washer. This one looks pretty good. [ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mOm023jobrM[/ame]
We do that at a Scout camp I have worked at. One is labeled Maytag, and one is Kenmore. It's amazingly effective, and on hot summer days, stuff dries fast. Just go easy on soap, try to use something natural or biodegradable.
Which brings up another topic. In the event of a long term outage, what would make a good soap for various needs?
This stuff. You can't make "soap" without lye, and to make lye, you use ashes. Personally, I'd go soapless a lot. http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/how-to-make-soap-from-ashes-zmaz72jfzfre.aspx#axzz2zd0Z8DGY
