Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

I got one of these for use if utilities should be off. It is a pressurized system and not only does not need electricity, it needs a very small amount of water. Being small, it will be good for RV use if I get the motorhome I am planning to get when the price is right. (It may not happen that way, but as the system impoverishes more and more of us I expect things like RVs that are fuel hungry and boats to be sold off at bargain prices. I want to get them from desert climates like the Vegas or Phoenix Tucson area so they will not have had road salt rust issues.)

This little washer can clean a lot for its size because you can pack it due to the pressurized nature of the cleaning process. Clothes come out pretty dry, just damp. So I have line to hang dry the last bit.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005...lectricity.php

I only tested it. For everyday use with utilities we have a Staber front loader. It uses less water and power than most, but not as little as the hand crank. It does not clean quite as well as the Maytag agitator model it replaced, but also does not rip holes in clothes and bedding like the agitator machine used to. So we have to prep any spots to get best results.

The old Maytag finally wore out after getting us through many years of 8 loads a day with an elderly bed bound relative in our care and needing a lot of changing to keep clean and healthy (skin wise). Besides, life is just more enjoyable in clean fresh smelling clothing and bedding. Being trapped in bed was bad enough. It was a good machine. Maytag was and Staber still is US made to the best of my knowledge.

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

A point I neglected-- The Staber loads from the top into a front loader type drum. So no front loader stooping.

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

Thanks for posting this, AMforPM. I was looking at this a couple of years ago, as opposed to those mini combo washer/dryer units that sell for over a thousand bucks. I bought an older coach bus and converted it to my motor home. I've got all the goodies I need, except a washer/dryer. I actually even built in a space for one, but I decided the laundromat wasn't so bad after all.
The reason I didn't go for the wonder wash was it just looked too toy like to actually be any good.
Give it a few spins for me, would ya?

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

That is an quite a gadget. I was just thinking this morning as I was pulling my cloths out of the dryer how grimy things would be without washing machines.

I was talking about a week long camp out in an area with no electric or utilities for miles and this would be a handy way to stretch things for longer if needed.

Bug out location.

Thanks AM

E-A

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

I've come across something very similar rummaging around in antique stores. Basically they were a wooden barrel on a stand like your machine with a hand crank. It looked like you'd load the barrel with your clothes, pour in water with detergent, bolt down the lid and start cranking.

It wouldn't take much to hook that crank up to a windmill. For that matter the pioneer museum I went to had a few devices that were designed to allow a dog, goat or similar animal run on a sort of treadmill that in turn could power a pulley.

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

A fellow on some message board who uses WonderWash exclusively said they do wear out sooner than he was hoping, but at under $50 bucks each you could have a backup. I may be wrong, but I am expecting not so much utility outages for years as the cost getting so high people conserve like crazy or some get priced out of everything but water.

But for short outages, a few weeks or something, this would be great. Also, as EA says, for long camping trips if you pack in a lot. They are not huge or very heavy, but for sure not for backpacking.

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

When Steinbeck, the author, got crotchety and old, he bought a pickup with a camper on the back and travelled around the US. He solved the laundry problem by tying a barrel with a lid on the back of the camper and let the bumpy roads wash his clothes.

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

Some friendly advice about that unit.

Do NOT use hot or even warm water! Pressures build too high and the thing will crack.

Re: Hand Cranked Clothes Washer
 

Mine didn't. Maybe it eventually would is why the fellow who had used his for all his washing said they wore out fast.