Appropriate Technology: Bucket Laundry

Appropriate Technology: Bucket Laundry On one of the many off the grid groups I follow, there is a hot discussion of a spinning clothes washing gadget. It's basically an egg on a swivel mount with a closing lid and a hand crank. You put your 2-3 pounds of laundry into the egg, add a little detergent and some water, and spin. All this for the low low price of ... [redacted] Gadgets have their uses. Personally, I would rather buy time on someone else's washer and dryer. Coin operated laundries are right up there with sliced bread, cell phones and lubricant. (Kindly not in combination, please, although I have seen 'cell phone sandwiches' trying to get through a security checkpoint.) The even cheaper alternative is the lowly five gallon bucket. If you are so dirt poor that even $3 at Walmart or a $2 donation to your nearest Firehouse Subs is out of the question, a kitty litter bucket can often be found in apartment complex dumpsters. Make sure you get lids. At WalMart or your local dollar store, obtain a clean toilet plunger that has never been used, an important detail. Cut a hole in a lid just smaller than the diameter of the plunger handle. You now have a laundry bucket with built in agitator. Another alternative is to get a Gamma Seal type screw-on lid, typically under $10 at a big box hardware store such as Home Depot and _Low Es_teem (which I avoid shopping at after they crashed and burned Orchard Supply Hardware). These lids make any bucket into a air tight, water tight, almost rodent proof (*) enclosure. Either way, put your clothes _loosely_ into the bucket with warm or cold water and a little detergent. Either plunge the handle or put the sealed bucket in a vehicle. Two words about detergent: 1) Use very little, about one third what you would use on a small load of clothes, if not less. Be wary of the new concentrated detergents. 2) If you plan to pour it out anywhere but down a drain leading to a sewer or septic system, please choose a biodegradable detergent. I am fond of Dr. Bronner's myself. I leave rinsing (add more water) and drying (clothespins and line) to the reader.