Laundry Wringer - How to Hand Wash Clothes without Power and Less Water

It all started for me when we moved my daughter 3 hours north to her new home.  She was short of money and we had an older washer and dryer that we had been contemplating replacing.

We thought .. why not give them to her while the truck is here for her move?  Sounded great.  We also decided to switch to a natural gas dryer, which now meant I had about a 4 week period without washer or dryer.

I figured I would simply wash clothes by hand for hubby and I as I don't have a car, making it awkward on a bus for a laundromat.  My problem would be the wringing of clothes.

Laundry Wringer - Perfect for Off Grid, Camping, Cottage, Low Water, No Power...

As I researched this prospect, I realized there is an entire field dedicated to hand washing all your clothes.  Campers, cottagers, off the grid, tiny houses, low water and so on need ways to clean their clothes without the expense and time of a laundromat...

There are some pretty cool accessories you can get to go back to the day of hand washing your clothes, but with a modern twist.  Since wringing out clothes has always been my issue with arthritis I came across this really cool manual clothes wringer.

Hand Crank Clothes Wringer

I love this idea! It has 14 inch rollers, and can attach to pretty much anything. You simply feed your wet washed clothes through the wringer to get out excess water. Then hang them to dry and the drying time will be much less now that you have got rid of the excess water.

Your wrists and hands simply can't get that much water out.  I also think this is perfect for anyone with low water availability such as in summer with low wells or dry spells.  Washing machines can take up a lot of water and power.

I think this would be perfect for the cottage instead of taking cases of clothes, you can simply wash as you go.

If the weather is bad and you can't hang them to dry outside, you can rig up a clothes line in your tub area or anywhere possible since they won't be dripping all over the place.

Retractable Clothes Line for Indoors

This one is retractable so when not in use it can all hide away. I love to air dry my clothes. The only thing I do like to add is a bit of softener to the rinse water so that your clothes do not feel crunchy as they dry.

Mini Compact Hand Crank Washing Machine

Hand Crank Washing Machine

I was totally stunned to find you can even take all this hand washing a step further by using a hand crank washing machine.

 I had no idea this type of thing was available. If you have problems with arthritis as I do, you don't even have to get into a tub of soapy water mushing your clothes around by hand, this little non electric machine will do this for you.

Perfect for Apartment Living Too!

This would be perfect for anyone with water restrictions, or an apartment.  I have found you can spend a lot at a laundromat, this will totally save you the money.  For under 50 bucks you can be washing your clothes without electricity or tons of water.

Pair this with the hand crank clothes wringer and a place to hang them and you are set.

This will work for delicate fabrics too.  You control the cycle with the hand crank.  This will wash 5 pounds of clothes at a time and move them around to release dirt.

I had no idea there was such a market forming for anyone wishing clean clothes without the expense of electricity and water usage.   At the time of this writing there was over 950 positive reviews.  This is definitely becoming a way to make less of a foot print on the environment.

DIY Clothes Wringer

If this all seems to much or you simply want something a bit more diy, I found this video on a do it yourself clothes wringer that should work too!

Which ever way you choose to go, I realized that we don't need to rely on a washer and dryer all the time.  There are ways to get your clothes clean without power and lots of water.

Even if you only need them at the cottage, the trailer, the boat or camping.  There is a way to clean clothes.  I love the idea of traveling to the cottage with less clothing which takes up so much room in the car.

Jeans Can Be the Hardest to Hand Wash

This is why I started researching ways to wring out clothes.  I can wash shirts and undies pretty quickly but those denim jeans are heavy and hard to wring out, which means days of drying and crunchy!

Using a hand crank wringer or something similar is the answer to my dilemma.  I am going to purchase one as they don't take up much room.  I can hand wash in a sink or bucket and then feed them through this wringer.  Shake them out and then hang them to dry.