Tuesday, February 8, 2011

I wouldn't have guessed this....


I have one of these mobile washers. I have had it for a couple of years. I bought it when Jeff was living in the RV in Tulsa. The girls and I would come visit now and again and play around outside with this tool. Today the weather is extremely cold and we just went to the laundry mat yesterday so there were just a few clothing items in the dirty bin. So I decided to get my buckets, lids, mobile washer and clothes rod to hang over the shower and putter around with them. I filled a bucket with warm soapy water and put my black sweat pants, 2 pairs of my undies, 2 pairs of socks and 1 pair of Jeff's undies in. I plunged a few times and let them soak for a while. Mollie took the bucket out of the shower and put it in the hall while she showered.

After she showered she replaced the buckets in the shower stall. Every now and then I would go in there and plunge a few times. I finally decided it was time to rinse so I pulled the clothes out and plopped them into the other bucket. Then I dumped the wash bucket and boy did I get a surprise. The water was really dirty. This surprised me because of the items washed and how I thought they were not very dirty. Humm. I washed them again and then rinsed, wrung them out and hung them in the shower with a clip on fan to dry. I am now washing my next load. I sure was surprised how much dirt was in my clothes. I think I may do more of my laundry this way.

I emailed the fella at Dyna-Jet about ordering a wringer. That will be a huge blessing and when I get one of those I may be able to do most of my washing in the tub. I wonder if it will clamp onto a 5 gallon bucket? Mollie says she is still going to go to the laundry mat but she may change her mind. We will see.

When the weather warms up and I can hang clothes outside it will make a huge difference.

4 comments:

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

You can get one of those buckets used for moping floors with a rope type mop. They have a wringer built onto them and they hold at least 5 gallons. They sell them at hardware stores and supply stores. They may be cheaper than a new wringer.

debbieo said...

Jane,
Thanks for visiting. I will check out your blog when I finish this comment. I have done the mop bucket thing and they just dont squeeze enough water out. I can get nearly as much water out by hand wringing.
The owner of Dyna-Jet just called me to talk and get my feed back on an adjustment he is going to do on his wash machine. That was exciting. I ordered a wringer and it should be in Friday.

Yolanda said...

Excellent. I had/have an old hand-cranked wringer that I used in the summer of 1977. I was washing in a galvanized tub in the tub, rinsing and then using that wringer, which I had rigged up to an open cabinet drawer. Awkward, but it worked! I was too poor to go to the laundromat that year. :)

debbieo said...

Yolanda,
I remember plenty of times we were too poor for the laundry mat. I washed diapers in the tub and I didnt have a wash board or a wringer. I was much younger too. Now I want the ease of the wash board, the mobile washer and the wringer.
Good idea about rigging it up to the open dresser drawer.
You have the made do spirit too.