BJ goes Greenie... again
Mar. 28th, 2009 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyreSo, our washing machine (which I bought second-hand-but-still-pretty-new for $450 not a whole year ago), is not working. Something electrical, I'm hesitant to get out an electrician because they usually charge up the wazoo just for a callout, and God knows how much it will cost on top of that to actually fix the problem.
Despite all this, I still had a basketful of clothes that needed washing. So I did them by hand. Filled the laundry trough with water and a bit of washing powder, chucked in the clothes, mixed them around with my hands, drained the water, refilled it with clean water and agitated the clothes a bit more, then did it a third time, rinsing each item under the running water before throwing it in the washbasket. I then hung it out still dripping wet.
While I was doing this I realised a few things
- Hand washing is gentler on clothes.
- Hand washing doesn't use any more water than a machine wash, and possibly uses less.
- Hand washing requires people energy, not electrical energy - so it's cheaper, more environmentally friendly AND I get exercise (God knows I need it!)
- Hanging clothes out dripping wet gives the lawn a bit of water.
- The whole process takes maybe 15 minutes.
So it's pretty worthwhile in my view. I need to streamline the process, so I can rinse items better and use less water. A way that doesn't end up with water splashed all over the laundry.
In the winter (and for delicate items) I'm going to need an effective method to spin or wring the clothes to get most of the water out before I hang stuff on an air drier inside. Dripping wet clothes over lawn is good, over carpet, not so good.
The ultimate ideal would be to devise some grey water system, so the water could go on the garden instead of down the drain. Alas, this is usually a tough call in a rental. :(
Anyone have any ideas?
I'm really liking this idea, because I often mention how most technology is BAD for us (less exercise, more power usage etc) and of course people will reply, "But you wouldn't be without so-and-so convenience." or "Shall we go back to living in caves?" Ditching the washing machine would be one way of putting my money where my mouth is essentially.
Despite all this, I still had a basketful of clothes that needed washing. So I did them by hand. Filled the laundry trough with water and a bit of washing powder, chucked in the clothes, mixed them around with my hands, drained the water, refilled it with clean water and agitated the clothes a bit more, then did it a third time, rinsing each item under the running water before throwing it in the washbasket. I then hung it out still dripping wet.
While I was doing this I realised a few things
- Hand washing is gentler on clothes.
- Hand washing doesn't use any more water than a machine wash, and possibly uses less.
- Hand washing requires people energy, not electrical energy - so it's cheaper, more environmentally friendly AND I get exercise (God knows I need it!)
- Hanging clothes out dripping wet gives the lawn a bit of water.
- The whole process takes maybe 15 minutes.
So it's pretty worthwhile in my view. I need to streamline the process, so I can rinse items better and use less water. A way that doesn't end up with water splashed all over the laundry.
In the winter (and for delicate items) I'm going to need an effective method to spin or wring the clothes to get most of the water out before I hang stuff on an air drier inside. Dripping wet clothes over lawn is good, over carpet, not so good.
The ultimate ideal would be to devise some grey water system, so the water could go on the garden instead of down the drain. Alas, this is usually a tough call in a rental. :(
Anyone have any ideas?
I'm really liking this idea, because I often mention how most technology is BAD for us (less exercise, more power usage etc) and of course people will reply, "But you wouldn't be without so-and-so convenience." or "Shall we go back to living in caves?" Ditching the washing machine would be one way of putting my money where my mouth is essentially.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 02:40 pm (UTC)About the grey water though, you can get washing machine hose by the metre at most hardware shops (erm, for when you have a working machine naturally LOL) and put it where ever you want in the garden. Depending on the kind of powder/liquid you use, it shouldn't be a problem for the plants ... although I've been told to be a bit careful about using grey water on stuff that you're going to eat.
About the machine. Mine craps its pants periodically and during one phone call to a mechanic, he suggested that I set the dial to half way through the final spin on the "wool/delicates" side of the machine (if you've got two cycles) and push and pull the dial a few times. Sometimes that can re-set whatever it is.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 03:51 pm (UTC)We've occy strapped a tarp to our clothes line, with a few holes punched in it to let the wind through so it doesn't get carried away, which keeps them from getting wet in winter. Works quite well. Thank you, little girl on New Inventors!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-29 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 12:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 06:40 am (UTC)