Laundry

I just finished doing my laundry.

Which is really a task here because you have to do it by hand. So I decided for this weeks blog post, I would challenge those of you reading at home.. to do a weeks worth of laundry by hand.

Supplies: A Stool (for sitting), 2 Large Basins, 1 Bar of Soap, A Water Source, A Pile of Laundry, At Least 1 Clean Bucket

First, separate your clothes by color... my mama says to wash the light colors first, but it doesn't really matter since you change the water between each color. Fill(ish) both basins with water and place your first color into one of the basins (3-5 pieces of clothing).

Next you are going to wash the clothes. Each item of clothing gets washed twice.

For the purpose of my description we are going to be washing a T-Shirt. Take your wet shirt in your hands and lather it up with the bar of soap. The first wash is for problem areas and dirt.. So be sure to soap up the collar and the arm pits.. places that get grimier. Work the soap through the shirt with your hands.. and taking bits of fabric in each hand.. rub the cloth together to work out the dirt. This should take a few minutes. Rinse the shirt in the basin... look it over.. and work the soap through some more. Once you are finished place the shirt in the second basin of water. Repeat with the rest of the clothes that are currently being washed (the 3-5 pieces of clothing of similar colors).

These items have now gone through the first wash. All of the visible dirt should be out of them.. and hopefully most if not all of the non-visible dirt. You can dump the first basin of water, and refill it. Once its refilled you can put the next few items of clothes in to start soaking. In the mean time, you are using the second basin, which is now filled with your once washed clothes.. for wash cycle numero 2. Do exactly what you did the first time, lather them up, scrub them using your hands, etc. This water shouldn't look dirty when you are done like the first basin did. (IF it does... you should probably wash a third time). Once you are done with the second wash... you want to ring out as much as the water and soap from the shirt as you can. Place this shirt in your empty clean bucket. Dump the basin and refill it for your next batch.

You are going to do this for all of your clothes, until you have a bucket full of twice washed but not yet rinsed clothing. If you have darker clothes that might run... I would suggest having a separate bucket for them.

Now we rinse. First rinse out the basins... and fill them with clean water.. and now we will rinse the clothes.

*Added Photo In Oct. 12*

Starting again with the lighter clothes, take your first item, and rinse it in the first basin getting ALL of the soap out. Once you think you have all of the soap out of the shirt, place it in the second basin and do it again. Once your shirt is thoroughly rinsed... wring it out to get all of the water out. Hang it on your clothes line!! You will do this with each item of clothes. When the rinsing water gets too soapy.. or starts to take on a color (from the clothing dyes) you want to dump the basin and refill it. You shouldn't have to refill these basins as many times as you did during the washing process.

Once you are finished and all of your clothes are hanging to dry (hope it doesn't rain).. you can go change into some clean/dry clothes, and put some lotion on your raw hands.

Z