DIRTY LAUNDRY
No, not the kind of dirty laundry that you try to hide from the public, like Obammy was born in Africa and not Hawaii and he is in fact the charismatic evil leader that the end times predicts, or that you want to have a love child with a really fat chick. No, the soiled clothes kind of dirty laundry. A loyal minion wrote in with a tale that we should all take to heart. The electricity was out for two weeks and the normal lifestyle was disrupted. Being the proper preparedness types that they were, all was in order. Stored water, stored food. A way to cook. But, as if to showcase that the fickle finger of fate is always ready to diddle you when you are not expecting it, they came down with a new and improved Super Flu and were laid up at about the same time.
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Now, this was one of those kinds of flu types that not even on its most clever day at its most paranoid on an unlimited budget of Cold War Communist Combat pay could the military design and stockpile. Oh, they had some glorious moments such as taking some weird monkey virus and mutating it and introducing it the gay community ( because let's face it, thirty years ago you could still get away with blaming it on the will of God that the sodomites were being smited ) and then blaming some poor guy in the bush for getting his groove on with a monkey, like it was possible for the virus to go from bushman to the Caribbean, New York and San Fransisco all at once. Then, just like NASA that went to the moon when computers were the size of a Buick for the portable model but can't seem to do anything else after billions of dollars, the boys designing diseases couldn't accomplish much in the last twenty years except brew up a little anthrax so the CIA could mail it to those questioning the fact that the hole in the side of the Pentagon after 9/11 was the size of a bunker busting missile rather than the wider size of a passenger plane ( or, more importantly, to those threatening to decrease their budget ).
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So, you're laid up for days and then weeks, too weak to do much more than heat up a can of soup, let the dog out before the pile of crap in the middle of the living room got higher than the canine, and totter back off to the couch. You certainly don't have the strength to do laundry by hand. Then you start going through the dirty laundry pile and picking out the least offensive garments to wear. Since you've been sick and sweating from fever and your system is letting off strange and offensive toxins ( perhaps all those unpronounceable chemicals at the end of the list of ingredients on everything you eat ) your clothes would be sealed in plastic bags and stamped with a bio-hazard label if the EPA was around. Remember, this bizarre and new flu strain is kicking your butt. You don't have the energy to plunge clothes, or even soak and wring and hang up. I know we've all been sick like this before. When it's the 48 hour flu, no big deal. But when it puts you down for a long time ( and this seems to be what the newer types do ) you need to have plans for what to do. It's not so much I expect each of us to be brutally stricken by a designer bug, just that you should think in multiples of disasters. Yes, it can drive you crazy, spinning that web.
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I am a pretty hardy type that rarely gets sick. But I had faced a similar planning scenario because of the possibility of winter trapping the car in and not being able to drive into town to do laundry. I did several things. I shop at the thrift stores for clothing and buy even when I'm fully stocked up. For instance, seven shirts is stocked up but I buy several more when they are on sale. I can go two weeks changing shirts daily. Socks and underwear are also a two week supply. That's about $35 so far. I do have a shortages of pants, being a 36x36. Not a size you usually find used. Now, after too much bike riding that is down to a 34 waist, at least. I've had to start wearing belts since I lost my gut. However, if I combine all my pants I've stashed because they are too small or had a hole in the pocket or a broken zipper, I might last the two weeks by wearing each one several days. For under $50, each person should have enough new socks and underwear and used pants and shirts to go two weeks changing everyday without doing laundry. And, as a bonus, that prolongs the period after the collapse before you need to go naked.
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Two other things I do. One, I only wear slacks. Not jeans. Slacks are easier to find used, and more importantly for our discussion here, they dry out a lot quicker if you do have to wash by hand and hang up. Yes, we were talking about not doing laundry at all for two weeks, but it is still a bonus in other instances. The last thing is buying some Ferbreeze, or whatever the name is of that fabric refresher. We bought some generic at the dollar store. If laundry still gets short, we will spray some of this crap on. That and a lot of deodorant and you can show up at work without offending anyone. Why you would show up to work if there is no electricity is beyond me, but I'm mixing and matching disasters here. The point is not being able to do laundry for some time. Hope this helps, and thanks for the article idea loyal minion.
END
My crap is still there, waiting for your purchase www.bisonpress.com
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This is a topic I have been pondering for a while now. My worst case retirement plans do not include money for driving laundry 15 miles in to town to wash. I will not have enough solar panel wattage or water to spare for washing at home in a a conventional type machine either. So that leaves some method of manual washing, either by "james washer" type of machine or by hand and bucket.
Since the wife and I have been on less friendly terms, I have been doing my own laundry, plus some towels, plus some of the kids stuff and even some sheets every now and then. We generate a ton of laundry in this household. It doesn't take long to pop it in the old front loader and come back in 45 minutes and pop it in the old dryer but by hand it would be an non stop chore.
When I am on my own (in retirement) I will be stretching clothing changes to maximum intervals but I would like to hear detailed ideas others have come up with for handling laundry duties with no power and minimum water usage.
Have any of you guys heard of a product called Wonder Clean? It is made in the USA, and sold by Lehman's (for $47.95 as of Jan. 22,2009). It is a small, portable, lightweight tub, that is mounted on a stand, with a handle that you turn... and it only requires a little water and soap.
If anyone has tried it, please let us know if it's any good... Thanks!
I have approached this from the point of having atleast 2 weeks worth of clothing. Underwear is another issue in the scenario James describes. I think a months supply is in order. I wear only jeans because the a tougher than slacks. JMHO.
We have 3 ways to do laundry. best is the current top loader and dryer in the basement.
good is an old washer wringer model from the 50's that I bought for $50. It used a very small amount of electric and clothes have to be wrung out and then line dried outside or in front of the wood burner now.
not so good is plunger washer from Lehmans in wash tubs.Line and wood burner drying. The Amish hang thier clothes out no matter what the tempature. I don't know they dry when it is below 0 but I see the clothes on the line anyway.
One good thing is to get detergent that is cold water usable..If you don't need to heat water then don't
Good post James.
Old Fart
Anon 1:42, in theory that little washer is nice but it is seriously small. Too small if you are washing 1 pair of jeans. I sold mine
old Fart
34x36?
Are you a basketball player?
You must be 6'6"+ and thin, or have hideously out of proportion legs.
jkdguy here... (aka: anon 1:42pm)
The webpage for the Wonder Clean mentions that it has a max load of 5 adult shirts, or a pair of jeans. Is this not accurate? I would think a device like this would be decent for at least cleaning t-shirts, underwear, and socks? Your thoughts?
jkdguy
ifin yer laying around being all sicky sick on the futon [we aint got no couch for being a tater on]you probably aint a gonna be using a whole lotta jeans and dress shirts, more like maybe a sweat pants and sheets....
as far as wearing clothes one day and washing them, who would do such a thing, they wear out soon enough as it is, why my wife gets on my case after maybe a week or 10 days in the same bib overhauls if I am only being a "futon tater" and not out there a changin oil, or greasing up some motor or diggin in the dirt, and i gots my house bibs and my work bibs too for that matter. Wash them when they get dirty, not cause you done wore the clothes for a day and never sweat in them.
now socks and under-britches is a whole different story i change them once a day and never run around without shoes on either if i can hep it..... or go barefoot. I have a months worth of socks if i wear one pair at a time [double up in the winter boots sometimes when its colder out]and probably have 2 plus weeks of the under britches not counting long handles [them dont get changed daily all the time] but even long handles ive got the cheap "great wall mart of china" brands bought at the sales for a buck a pair to get me through a couple weeks if i had to.
get a 32 gallon garbage can plastic and toss the clothes during an illness as described into that container, the lid stays tight enough to keep the smell from getting to ya til you HAVE to open it up and clean it out..... your choice there, outside near a dumpster or near the washer....
being sick sux the life out of a person for sure, i never dressed all out when i was sick though so i have clothes to wear for when i am all better and can go wash up that which got all soiled....
And i still take a shower once a month whether i need it or not.
from the mountains of North Central Idaho
William
near the Clearwater river
jkdguy. Well in theory yes it is accurate. But like i said I sold mine, it was just a disappointment.
of
UV kills germs. While you're sick, if you have the energy, hang your clothes in the sunshine to air them out and kill some of the germs. After you're feeling better, wash them with chlorine bleach, Pine-Sol, or some other disinfectant, then hang them to dry in the sun. You can also boil them in a large kettle, like they did in the old days. As I recall, the water has to be at least 160 degrees F, so unless your hot water heater temperature is set higher than that of most people, a regular hot water wash won't kill the germs.
Don't forget to disinfect the bedding, as well.
Has anyone used a commercial mop bucket for washing clothes. I found a photo of a couple that used this method on a temporary basis. It sounds like a good idea to me. The mop bucket wringer seems like it would be easier on zippers although it might not get out as much water as the roller type wringers. It would be cheap and reliable. I am thinking that might be the way to go.
I could add a little floor cleaner to the used wash water and mop the floors when I am done with the clothes:)
I have a pretty decent stash of clothes because I don't throw away stuff unless it is totally FUBAR. A pair of pants with a ripped pocket that can't be fixed would be better then being neeeked.
As for being sick or whatever sweats are essential. You can get a couple pair for under $20 and they last a long time for couch wear. Maybe I just think they are comfy.
I did an experiment for about 3 months (during summer) of doing my husband's and my laundry by hand. I bought a wringer, but it's not useful on items like levi's with metal buttons or big snaps. I've heard of people talking about using mop buckets and I think it's a good idea. I had a couple of 20 gallon buckets that I placed the clothes in and filled with water. During the course of my day, each time I passed by the buckets, I agitated the clothes. I had purchased a plunger from Lehman's for this, but it quickly rusted. Next time I would buy a toilet plunger for this purpose. I hung everything out on a line. I only did our bedding once - it was no fun. So in an emergency, I'd have to figure out a solution for that.
I was motivated to do our laundry by hand after reading about some people who built a simple cabin and lived off-grid. Each person did their own laundry each day in a 5 gallon bucket. I saw one other couple online who did theirs with their feet in a bucket - I thought that was a great idea because it was hard on my back.
OOPS. We're s'posed to change clothes? Dang- I wear 'em til they fall off. Live an' learn, I guess.
Mom used to do clothes in an old Maytag wringer washer, electric motor - it's siting out back now, waiting to be used again- and hang them outdoors, summer and winter. Her hands were always red as tomatoes when she got done. In winter, the clothes freeze dry, and it's the absolute softest clothing you'll ever wear. None of the new softeners come even close to how comfy even a pair of jeans or wool sox are after freezing a couple days.
The old washtub and 'grate' work well- my old woman used it often, but she was Little House on the Prairie lover, sooo...
I can see a large steel garbage can with one of those mop wringers hanging on it to squeeze some water out. Really good idea, Mindy.
Wonderful post, Michael- great food for thot.
Shy
btdt in some lean times. If you buy a plunger to wash with get the red colored one not the black. The black is kinda of folded back on itself inside which is great with toliet plunging but will soak you with clothes. And get two or three, they just don't hold up like they used too.
Find something to help wring with first, because if you do it all by hand you will get some bad blisters on the web of your thumb. Ever try to do anything with a big blister there? Second your wrists will get very tired and your grip will get very weak. I guess it would be like instant carpel tunnel syndrome. It takes a while to get your grip back.
Wringers & jeans - you can either be very careful to make sure the *button* is perfectly flat but even better is to have an adjustable one. Widen the space between the rollers a bit. The cloth might not be a dry but drier that a hand wringing. Hand those jeans top side up - if you have to put them back on before everything is entirely dry better to have damp seam around the ankles than around the bottom kwim.
My friend dries all her clothes inside in winter on a drying rack or hanging them up on hangars on a standing rack. She can get about 20 shirts in a two - three foot space. If you have a basement you can stand the smell of string a line down stairs.
Slacks do dry faster & are easier to handwash. When I am really sick I (and the kids) just wear some undies & a big teeshirt. A person could easily store a month's worth of emergency sick clothes a decent size suitcase. Washing would be done in no time at all - after recovery of course.
May I recommend keeping some old ice cream buckets for sick times? It is easier to dump a bucket that to pray you make it to the bathroom & much easier to clean up that soiled carpet or bedding.
Rawls's wife had a horseback riding accident. guess she's paralyzed. I heard that she's had beau coup med expenses (multiple surgeries that together cost millions. Even with his insurance covering most of it he's near bankruptcy), and she is not expected to live. I'm surprised that Rawls has the time to post at all. Yet he still cranks it out, always edited like and expert-- and still everything is elaborately linked. And he never misses a day of posting
And then somebody complains about how "lazy" he is...
Well, pal, you get what you pay for, and his site is FREE. And it has like 6,000 posts in the archives. Some people are ungrateful assholes. Would you prefer that he just QUIT???
- Young Old Fart
Rawls's wife had a horseback riding accident. guess she's paralyzed. I heard that she's had beau coup med expenses (multiple surgeries that together cost millions. Even with his insurance covering most of it he's near bankruptcy), and she is not expected to live. I'm surprised that Rawls has the time to post at all. Yet he still cranks it out, always edited like and expert-- and still everything is elaborately linked. And he never misses a day of posting
And then somebody complains about how "lazy" he is...
Well, pal, you get what you pay for, and his site is FREE. And it has like 6,000 posts in the archives. Some people are ungrateful assholes. Would you prefer that he just QUIT???
- Young Old Fart
BRILLIANT Post! had me rotf,lmao!!!
And a key point I haven't seen many touch on... Fortunate for me clothes are the one item I have too many of. If that's possible.
[depends on living space, I s'pose...]
When I was a young man I belonged to the Boy Scouts of America. When we would camp for a week or more we would do our own laundry. One of the scoutmasters had 5 gal bucket with a hole in the lid and a plunger device. It had a wooden handle and a zinc plated funnel on the end. the handle goes into the small end and there was holes with louvers. As you plunged up and down the holes would shoot jets of water down. It would really get our clothes clean and we would set up a line with clothes pins and soon we would have a clean set of clothes. The first cycle we would use some detergent then drain the unit and then wring the clothes out and repeat with just water to rinse. No washer board or tub. Each scout would bring a small bag of dry laundry detergent in there backpack.
I did a search and found what I was talking about in my previous post. Its reasonable too $16+ shipping.. you could fill the bathtub and do bedding I would think..
http://www.wisementrading.com/washing.htm
an old fashon racking horse in the bath tub would work well and be fun to boot, I bidy of mine built adult sized rocking horses for gifts one year they were a hoot. On a Rocking horse your kids would look forward to laundry. I bet a rocking chair in a small kids swimming pool, the kind they have a wall mart for 5 bucks would work pretty well I would probably have two or three pools stacked inside each outher so they would hold up longer.
When I was younger living in an apartment and trying to save my quarters I would brig home my wet clothes put them on hangers then hang them from my ceiling fan turned the fan on and they dried pretty fast, It was a rental so I wasn't worried about shortening the life of the fan, it save me a back or two a load to to wash my clothes. I had free water, hot or cold, but had to pay for electric, I did a lot of cooking by running hot water over a bags of food or a sealed tv dinner or can, it took a little over 20 minutes to boil an egg and a hour to heat a tv dinner or a can of soup but it was free to me. I could make rommen noodles in about 5 minutes by putting hot water in a zip lock bag and running hot water over the bag. They had a boiler and the water was very hot. This can be useful if your staying in a hotel.
"minion": a servile dependent, follower, or underling particulary in reference to royalty
Bison, I enjoy your blog and as I've said before I'm onboard with a philosophy of being prepared. But this "minion" business needs to stop right now, I'm not your fucking minion. And you're not royalty of any kind. You're a guy who brings something worthwhile to the table. You're many good things. But you're going to be a guy with one less reader of his blog if you keep insulting me. -Herters#204
Jim,
When you talk about the mundane, your blog is at it's best. Washing clothes is very important. Also, a big thanks for all the readers of your blog for contributing their laundry and clothes insights. I personally feel that sanitation and cleanliness are of prime importance in any "survival" situtation.
Nice blog that I found yesterday googling survival rv's. I bought a bunch of your crap and am busy trying to wade through all of it. I'm also in the process of trying to buy an rv and outfit it with 12v solar and a wood stove. I'm sure the info is already in the crap but if you could create a seperate document, call it "Survival RV" or something, and put all of your gear recommendations and upgrades, I'd certainly buy it (and be very grateful).
Thanks Farmer!
That Wiseman's Trading Co. is a real find. I book marked it.
http://www.wisementrading.com/washing.htm
When we were without a washer for a few weeks, we used the bath and got the wife to walk up and down on the clothes. It works real well, but use soft soap and not macine washing powder as it makes yer skin fall offover time.
Someone else mentioned Wonder Clean. This is a cool product. A friend of mine picked one up and while he hasn't used it yet, it looks pretty sturdy and appears like it might be just the ticket for keeping clothes clean when in "survival mode".
hth,
taw
The device that FarmerMechanic refers to is called the "Rapid Washer". Lehman's also sells it for $15.95 (made in the USA!)... They mention that you should dry it off after using it, in order to prevent rusting.
I don't really have a relevant comment but to 2:02 I'm 6'2" and I have that inseam. It's not that long.
I have long legs but 36" is about right for 6'4".
My tidbit.
BTW this is Maestro speaking...I can't log in right now.
I really think that choosing your clothes carefully is key.
I've hung laundry outside on the line in the winter in the Northeast - fuhgeddabout it! Especially with jeans.
Might work somewhere with less humidity - don't know.
I've tried indoor line drying (in the cellar) in the winter. I have the most luck with hanging cotton scrubs directly on their plastic hangers - which allows you to skip ironing, too, if you do it right. I have the least luck with heavy stuff like towels.
I've tried handwashing and line-drying while doing summer car camping in the humid northeast - trying to save wasted hours in laundromats. I used Dr. Bronner's liquid soap with pretty good results - and you can use it for dishes, showers and brushing your teeth, too. (In fact, in an emergency, I once used it in a conventional washing machine, and it worked great.)
The problem was getting things to dry in a reasonable time. Had the best luck with nylon and polypro.
Despite the extra cost, it's worth having a complete set of polypropylene camping clothes ( hiking tights, long underwear, socks, glove and hat 'liners', t-shirt ) and nylon shorts, a nylon windbreaker, and a fleece sweater or jacket. You can get them cheap online from Campmor, or look for sales at EMS or REI.
Whether you're camping, traveling(they pack down small, into a carry-on), without access to a washer and dryer, or just trying to save money or energy with line or rack-drying these are the clothes that will make it easier.
I've washed polypro tights and a t-shirt in a campground washroom sink with dish detergent, and wrung them out by hand. There's no way you could wring out jeans by hand.
I've also used multiple layers of the stuff, plus the hat and gloves, to survive fall camping in Maine without buying a heavier sleeping bag.
The one thing I've never had any luck with are those polypro camping towels - and I've experimented with different brands, including expensive ones. YMMV somewhere like Elko, but, in the humid summers of the NE, they don't really dry you enough, on their own.
Not bad enough to throw out, but not good enough to recommend buying for a scenario like this. If you have them already, like me, you can use them, then supplement with a regular towel or even a dry washcloth, to get fully dry - at least that cuts down on the volume of laundry to deal with.
Don't stop posting such themes. I love to read stories like that. By the way add more pics :)
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