pretty soon it's going to be air conditioner time again. ugh. the forecast is 97 for tomorrow.
last year, to save some money on our electric bill, i started doing all our laundry by hand.
i really fell in love with it! i bought an old fashioned laundry wringer (craigslist) and washboard (etsy). i already had a really great laundry rack (ikea) and a big party drink/ice bucket (walmart). i made a huge batch of laundry detergent about a year ago i'm about 2/3 through it now.
here's what i do:
- first thing in the morning, i gather all yesterday's clothes in a laundry basket.
- i put a scoop of soap in the bucket and dissolve it in a couple inches of water.
- then the clothes go in and i fill the bucket up the rest of the way with water.
- i mix the laundry with my hands. everywhere says to do it for "about 2 minutes." i lift it and plunge it back in the water 60 times. it's easier for me to do it that way. *shrug*
- then i let it soak until after lunch
- after lunch, i lift/plunge the laundry 60 more times
- use the washboard for extra dirty stuff
- then i run the clothes through the wringer haphazardly to get the soapy water out
- i dump the soapy water, put the wrung clothes back in and refill the bucket with rinse water
- 60 lift/plunges to rinse
- i fold the wet clothes and run them through the wringer (this makes folding clothes later way easier)
- then hang them on the drying rack
- in the morning, i fold them and start over!
i suppose it seems like a lot when it's all written out. it's really not though.