Ok, so today was my second attempt with the Breathing Mobile Washer (see previous post for a link).
This time I had two 5 gallon buckets. I must say, that was way nicer than using the square container I had used last time. This time I didn’t have to look down to make sure I was covering the different areas. This time the Washer was able to move around the bucket without fear of hitting corners nor missing spots. That definitely released the straing on my neck.
This time I was also able to sit on the edge of my bath tub with the two buckets in there. I held the bucket between my knees/calves as I pumped the Washer. With sitting down, this helped put my shoulders and spine into a more relaxed angle, enough that I could even square my shoulders as I was working. This also didn’t aggravate my carpal as much as I had more control over the angle of my wrists as I pumped the Washer.
I had one bucket with our regular detergent in it (just a tiny bit), and the other bucket was used for an initial rinse. Once the detergent bucket got way too dirty for comfort, and the rinsing one was looking kinda iffy, I’d dump the detergent water, then add detergent to the “rinse” bucket, then add new water to the new rinse bucket. Rinsed clothes got rolled up, some water squeezed out, and set aside in a tub waiting for the final rinse.
After I got all my clothes done (3 pants, 7 tops, and underclothes), I put some clean water into the buckets and added some white vinegar, then put clothes into each of them and let them sit for a while. I guess I could have done two different loads this way, using the same water, and thus saving water. Just one of a few mistakes I made. Anyways, after they soaked in the rinse water for about 5 min or so, I pulled them out and stuck them into the regular washing machine on spin to get the water out of the clothes. I don’t like having to use it, but for now it’s all I got.
Then, I hung the clothes up.
Very simple process. I was surprised how dirty some of the clothes were. I’m thinking I need to wear shorts in the house more often, lol. To reduce how big the items are that I’m washing. I made a few mistakes, or rather, I could have done a better job at conserving the water. I also need to figure out how I can use the dirty water for some useful purpose, or even the vinegar water for some purpose. Other than my food garden, which is in boxes, we don’t have any plants to use the water on (and it’s been raining for days already!!). But, I’ll figure it out. Maybe look into using it for the toilet or such.
Meanwhile, I’ve got plenty of room on the lines, due to using hangers to hold the shirts. I didn’t use much electricity. And I still don’t know how often I’m going to do this, lol. But, with music playing and noone else around, I actually found it fun.
