How I Do Laundry Off Grid

Now to be fair, I do not always do my laundry like this as our solar power is enough to run my electric machine most of the year round. However, there are those dark days in mid winter where we get little collection or even power outages on the public service side of things, and I also do not have any great illusions that nothing with ever go wrong with our solar power to where I cannot even use that in the summer. Thus, it was important for me to have a back up plan.

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy washing the clothes this way when time allows and I am not swamped with sewing orders and other chores so it was a real treat for me to do this today. I love the natural movement of the agitating and the wringing. It is just another way I can get exercise while also getting something else productive done. Much like using my hand crank grain mill or my treadle sewing machine.

Both the wringer and the agitator are from the early 1900's and we found them on eBay. The rack was built for me by my amazing and talented husband. He also fabricated the tubs, that we purchased new, to have drain holes at the bottom with hoses attached to each.

Now on to how I use it. I start by filling the wash tub up with my homemade laundry soap, water, and the dirty clothes. Patrick installed a hose just behind our electric washer, which sits on the opposite side of the non-electric set up, for the sole purpose of making it easy for me to fill the tubs. I am currently using city water, making today's laundry not completely off grid, because I am wanting to conserve our rain water for consumption and watering my garden with since we are expecting a couple of dry months ahead (yes, we do get those on occasion here in Rain Country).

I agitate the clothes for a total of about 15 minutes allowing two times in the middle of those for good soaks. I then run each piece through the wringer and into the rinse tub where I agitate for at least another five minutes. I add a bit of white vinegar to my rinse water for a cleaner rinse and deodorizing.

Since my laundry set up is inside, Patrick formed a piece of flashing to channel most of the water back into the tubs rather than running straight down onto the floor. I also have a pan directly under the wringer to catch whatever still gets through but it is a pretty small amount.

I then place a rack over each tub for the next wringing. Since the water drains very slowly or I am going to reuse it for a second load (if clean enough), I need the racks to prevent the longer items from falling back into the water. At this point, I run the items through the wringer at least twice then toss into the basket for hanging.

When I am done, I pull out the hose that is hooked to a splitter and two smaller hoses that connect to the bottom of each tub and drain them into a watering can for use on garden areas where my outside rainwater hose does not reach. I have no concern for the soap in the water because I know exactly what is in it since I made it completely from scratch with all natural ingredients.

The obvious next step is to hang them on the line to dry. This time of year it means hanging them outside but I do also have two indoor clothes lines in front of my wood stove. These are what get used 90% of the time, so it is always wonderful those rare times I get to use my outdoor line and the fresh summer air!