Laundry Just Got A lot More Fun

We've been waiting all winter for our very old (you can't hardly buy replacement parts for it)  electric washing machine to die, and finally last week we all did a happy dance when she stopped draining and spinning the water out.  In our quest to live without electricity, I immediately purchased  Lehman's Hand Wringer Mike and I have been drooling over for the last two years.

The wringer arrived this morning already assembled, and was put to work right away!  My original intention was to attach it to the side of the bath tub, but the clamps weren't wide enough, so for now we've attached it to the utility sink in the basement.  


Where are we going to wash the laundry you ask?  Why in the bath tub, of course!  Fill up the tub with water and add some handmade laundry soap.  Drop in the clothes, gather up the kiddos, and start stomping!!  



You wouldn't believe how much water you can save and how clean your clothes will be.  No washing machine can agitate the way a four year old and seven year old can!


After one trip up and down the stairs, though, I've decided to build something I can slide over the side of the tub for the wringer to attach to.  Wet clothes are heavy!


They boys and I had a blast with our new toy and I'm guessing my oldest may even join in the fun!









13 comments

  1. Wow! That's great ~ we had one of those at the cottage when we were kids. I had no idea you could still get them. What an inspiring commitment!

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  2. We lived off grid recently for over two years before we bought our homestead, and I washed all of our clothes by hand for all eight of us...
    Our homestead now, has electricity, but when the washer breaks, we will do the same again. I miss the rhythm, the exercise, the time to just be while I was scrubbing.
    I just left the clothes over the edge of a tote to drip into the tub over night and then hung them up the next day.
    Warm wishes, Tonya

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  3. We had one of those when I was a kid and my mother did a happy dance when she upgraded to a modern washer.Be careful when putting buttons through...they can get broken.
    As a kid I have good memories and it did save a LOT of water. My mom always said the wringer did a better job but she never went back to it!!

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  4. Oh, my gosh...you're committed! I had to come see this posting! love, Beth

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  5. omigosh - a lot of work. You ARE brave. I baby my aging washing machine.......

    :)

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  6. That's amazing that you can still find these!

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  7. Thank you so much for sharing all your stories and encouraging words. I feel like a kid who doesn't want to quit playing with a favorite new toy and I've been using every excuse to do laundry the last few days! It is much harder to wring the clothes than I had thought, but I'm going to have some rockin' muscle tone in my arms this summer!!!

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  8. Reminds me of stomping grapes as a kid. I loved it. But I don't think I'd enjoy it as much in my old age...
    I thought I was being good hanging my laundry to dry. You are taking this to a whole new level! =)

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  9. wow! we did that as kids, it was a pain in the BUTT! ha ha! I do so much laundry I'd be in knee deep, but then, I might re-eavluate the laundry. I do have two kids in cloth though. I would love one of those either way.

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  10. Saskia, it has proven to be a lot of work, but I can do at least twice as much laundry in one tub so it has been faster than the wash machine! I used to do laundry every day, but we eliminated a lot of clothes that we don't wear much and now I'm only doing it on Sundays. I can get the whole weeks worth done in about three hours:)

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  11. wowee! I can barely motivate to get my laundry done the lazy way. you are a rock star! I do make my own laundry detergent (though I want to buy your soap to make it with as soon as my fels naphtha is gone) and am building a clothes line this summer, but that's piddly comparatively. You are awesome!

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