Laundry by hand

Since we've moved, I've been lacking a washing machine and dryer. So, how am I keeping my clothes clean? The old fashioned way. I'm hand washing everything in my bathtub. It's more time consuming, but it works if you want to try it sometime. Here's what I do.

• Separate clothes by colors, as you normally do
• Fill the bathtub half full of water, as hot as you can stand it
• Add a capful or so of your regular detergent
• Wash your whites and light colors by swishing them about in the water and picking them up to scrub them together by hand. Wash each item this way
• Let the clothes sit in the tub for about an hour, soaking in the soapy water
• Rinse the clothes in cold water and wring out all the excess water you can
• Hang to dry outside or where ever they can drip without damaging the floor
• For colors, just use cooler water for washing and cold water for rinsing

If you have some particularly difficult stains, you might want to add a few drops of detergent to those spots and use a scrub brush to really work the detergent in. Even better, of course, is to use old fashioned lye soap on the stains because it works better than anything you can buy.

I'm beginning to think I need to invest in a rub board so I can do a better job of washing the clothes!