Off-Grid Laundry Easy with Hand-Crank Wringer

Reader Contribution by Linda Holliday and Well Waterboy Products
Published on July 25, 2016
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Having clean laundry was my greatest off-grid obstacle until I discovered two secrets: rainwater and a hand-crank wringer.

During long-term power outages before we transitioned off-grid, I washed clothes in a canning kettle. It was not terribly difficult, but I was never thrilled with the results. I haven’t used an electric or gas-powered dryer for decades, so line-drying laundry wasn’t the issue. In fact, I think hanging clothes out to dry is therapeutic (all that fresh air and exercise) and enjoyable (no dryer racket or static cling).

The problem was getting the clothes clean. I would rub and scrub and twist the water out until I could twist no more. Small articles weren’t too grueling, but sheets, jeans and large towels held so much water that the clothesline sagged nearly to the ground. The fabric took eternities to dry and was stained by excess water marinating along the bottom edges for hours. I tried all sorts of soaps, but still had dingy laundry.

For a while, I thought, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” But then I started some serious washerwoman research. As always to relearn old-time skills, I grabbed my books from the mid-1800s and early 1900s. Incidentally, sites such as OpenLibrary.org have made such investigation just a click away. At the end of this article are links to a few antique homemaking books in the public domain that can be downloaded and saved for future reference.

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