It's generally accepted that it's good to wash your clothes every now and again.
My previous residence only had coin washers/dryers, so I opted instead to wash clothes in the bathtub/buckets using a "Breathing Mobile Washer
(special clothes washing plunger). I'd then spin dry them and hang them inside to dry (with a fan circulating room air & a window fan to exhaust humidity)--worked fairly well. The spin dryer was good at getting most of the
out, slightly better than a top-loading washing machine (and only cost ~$150 plus $20 for the special plunger vs $500 for a washing machine, plus was fairly small and compact).
Anyhow, the plunger thing was a bit of work and only somewhat effective. My current residence has a top-loading washer & dryer which I've been using (no good exterior line for hang drying/too humid already inside and I've gotten too lazy to plunger wash). But I'd like to return to not using the washer (wears the clothes a bit, won't have it for much longer).
So I want to make my own washing machine. Hand-powered, simple to use, reasonable capacity, and effective. This fellow made a neat
bicycle washer-I just need to find a open head/screw top 15-30 gallon plastic drum somewhere and copy him somewhat. I don't need the fancy bike-mounted frame, so I was just going to make a mount like this fellow's
seed ball bucket tumbler frame to fit the plastic drum. Then I'll essentially have a hand-powered front-loading washing machine with 2-3 cu ft capacity (fill by hose, empty by hand).
So, any suggestions? Ideas where I might find smallish plastic drums in a smallish town (Pullman, Wa/Moscow, Id)? Insights into washing techniques?
Simple Washing Machines
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