[TamaraC]

I've started doing some of my laundry by hand (about 1/2 load a day, or a third of the laundry total for my household. I don't have a yard or even a balcony in which I'm allowed to line dry the stuff, so I hang it up around the house.

My question is this: I'm having trouble wringing enough water out of the clothes, especially my husband's larger items, to get them to dry in a reasonable time. I've been wringing by hand, then laying the laundry on fluffy towels, rolling them up, and having the kids stop on the rolled up towels and that seems to work OK, but then I also have to find a place to hang up all the wet towels.

Anybody know of any cheap, relatively efficient way to wring out laundry?

TamaraC in Maryland

[culicomorpha]

Handwringer

Maybe something like this might help?

[blukatzen]

I've got one of those like in the picture above, and it works great. I have done a lot of laundry by hand with this, and 2 passes through the wringer gets a lot of water out.

I got mine at a flea market for 20.00. The rubber wringers are still in fairly good shape, or I wouldn't have wanted them.

You can get new wringers at Lehmans.com but they are more expensive.

Blu

[Leanan]

Someone who lived in Yugoslavia during the war posted a list of things that were valuable when TSHTF. (Gold wasn't one of his recommendations.)

He suggested a mop bucket and wringer, for doing laundry by hand.

[TamaraC]

I'll have to keep my eye out for something like that at an antique store or something. Until then I'll keep having the kids dance on the laundry. The 2 year old loves it. And I'm not too worried about having the wet towels hanging up this time of year. My mom used to wet towels and hang them up on purpose in the winter as a low cost alternative to a humidifier. By late spring, though...

(Antique stores are starting to look really good right now. So is buying a really high quality set of kitchen knives.)

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'S')omeone who lived in Yugoslavia during the war posted a list of things that were valuable when TSHTF. (Gold wasn't one of his recommendations.)

He suggested a mop bucket and wringer, for doing laundry by hand.

[FreakOil]

I did my laundry by hand for four and a half years when living in Russia. I never had any problems. I think the key is developing a laundry cycle, a specific rotation of clothing, bedding and towels in which there's always something clean and there's always something drying that will be ready soon. Bulky items just take a long time to dry.

[chickenlady]

A few years ago I purchased a James Hand Washer with wringer - I think from Lehmans. The washer has a few flaws but the wringer fits on it nicely and works well. You can purchase the wringer separately at http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product ... rd=wringer or other places I am sure.

The washer had a few dents - bad packaging. The handle broke after a year - they replaced it and I drilled a new hole so the metal handle set down farther in the washer mechanism. That seems to be working fine. The washer is great otherwise, but had I to do it over I would have gotten a double tub with a plunge washer or washboard and definitely the wringer.

[denverdave]

You could try using a bike as a centrifugal spinner, either by mounting it on a stationary exercise stand, or turning it upside down and cranking it by hand. Make sure the rim and spokes of the rear wheel are clean, and stuff them into the spokes around the rim. The Key would be to make sure the weight is evenly distributed around the wheel. You would also have to make sure the clothes don't come loose and get caught between the wheel and the frame, either by rolling them up or securing them with some sort of wire mesh or fabric. Warning: I have never actually tried this, it just sounds like it could work.

[denverdave]

double post...my wireless card keeps jumping on and off the network whenever I try to post something

[efarmer]

Hand wringing clothes is a gruesome thing for sure. Car wash supply houses sell wringers (Brits call them mangles) and often a decent one is under $100 USD. (google chamois wringer or towel wringer) A rolling pin can work in a pinch as well.

If I had to do this more often than every once in a crisis, I would sure think about brewing up a contraption that would let me wring clothes with my leg muscles instead of twisting or hand cranking. The home gym and the laundry machines may just become one and the same in the PO future. Being a typical guy, I will try and remember to hoard some bottles of after shave to prepare myself for Peak Laundry.

(Old Spice in the hands of a master can be used to perform the
famous Virtual Cleansing Ritual (VCR) which is waterless and does not require the use of a wringer. This can be performed as needed up to, including, and long after, celibant life has been achieved.)

[JJ]

In "Travels with Charlie" Steinbeck put his clothes in a five gallon bucket, bunge-cord to the back of his pick up, and DROVE all over the country....