Dirty Laundry

One of the many objects that excited us yesterday at the Street Signs and Solar Ovens exhibit at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, was the Path to Freedom homestead's hand washer. We're not sure who made it but it looked like the James Washer, an electricity free hand washer where you put some hot water in and agitate the clothes for a few minutes with the lever on the side. The Path to Freedom folks have attached a hose to the bottom of the unit and use the dirty water for irrigation.

At $450 with an extra $169 for the hand wringer the James Washer ain't cheap, but remember that the average washing machine uses over $80 worth of electricity each year according to the Department of Energy. Another cost factor to consider is that hand washing is better for your clothing than machine washing, leading to fewer trips to Prada and the Goodwill. You will, of course, still have to heat the water.

Though designed for off-grid types, we think that with our primitive plumbing skills we could connect this thing to the waste line or, like the Path to Freedom folks, run the waste water out to the garden to irrigate non-food crops. We would also consider placing it under a hot water faucet if possible to save on what could become tedious trips back and forth between sink and washer.

The workmanship on the James Washer seems a bit on the primitive side, looking like a unholy yet survivalist-chic collaboration between Mennonites and the Unabomber. But if we didn't already have a crappy washing machine from Sears, we'd consider the James Washer in spite of a few bad reviews.

Another product that might be especially useful for apartment homesteaders is the Wonderwash Pressure Hand Washing Machine. We have never tried one of these things, and they are limited to 2.2 kilogram loads, but at least it saves both electricity and those heinous trips to the Laundromat. Designed for RVers, the wonderwash will set you back around $49.

Next we'll get to the issue of drying clothes . . .