The Columbus Washboard Company has an awesome website. It makes me happy. There is only one aspect of their business that makes me sad. They are the ONLY washboard manufacturing company left in the USA.
Clothes washing is a chore that is automated for the vast majority of people living in America and other developed countries. For many people, going green in the laundry room means buying big appliances that use less water and electricity than their old ones. They might also choose soaps or detergents that pollute less and come in sustainable packaging. Washing all your clothing by hand sounds like absolute madness.
When we moved to a developing country, we were a bit surprised to find that our options for furnished accommodation did not include washing machines. We were very surprised to find that it is in fact humanly possible to do all your laundry by hand. When we decided that we staying long term, we bought a twin tub washer spinner. It is, unfortunately, a very big hunk of plastic (I never claimed to be perfect). I am able to effectively reuse gray water from the laundry for toilet flushing and watering the garden (non-food).
I had my eyes peeled for a washboard during the weeks that we were hand washing. There was still a washboard in use when I was growing up. It was mostly for socks. My mom insisted on us washing our own stinky sports socks. Washboards are popular with the Amish and with soldiers. If you are planning to make some changes in your laundry procedure for the sake of the environment, give the old scrub board some consideration. Automatic washing machines don’t do anything magical, they just move your clothes around in some soapy water, remove the soapy water, rinse and repeat. Washboards are obviously labor intensive, but you could consider the chore to be part of your fitness regime. There’s probably a piece of equipment at the gym that simulates the main action required to wash socks on a washboard. I don’t know if it targets your abs.
Washboards work well with bar soap. Some people are moving to laundry soap in bar form to avoid excess packaging.
A lot of other household tools and gadgets disappeared for good when the avocado colored appliances landed on our planet back in the 70s. The washboard managed to hang on partly because it was in demand for alternate uses like musical percussion and decoration. It is also really useful.
Photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker
Update: The question of drying clothes came up in the comment section and I mentioned wringers. I realized later that many people aren’t backwoodsy and ancient like me so they might wonder what I am talking about. Here is a photo, I am pretty sure they aren’t due for a comeback.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:36 am
I don’t mind washing clothes by hand. What I can’t handle is drying clothes after hand washing them. I squeeze and squeeze, but as soon as I hang them up, they drip copious amounts of water onto the floor. Can you suggest a way to get more water out of clothes before hanging them?
July 20th, 2009 at 9:25 am
When I lived in Malta, my neighbor had a stand alone clothes spinner. I have no idea if these are available in the USA. The hand cranked clothes wringers from the old days had real rubber parts and any that I ever saw in antique shops had degraded long past the point of being unusable.
In warm places where hand washing is still normal, homes typically have a small yard with tile or concrete floor and a drain. Mine also has a big hook for hanging up a sheep carcass, but I haven’t been using it.
My wife just told me that her grandmother had a small laundry rack that was designed to sit in a bathtub.
July 28th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve never seen a home here with a drain in the floor, and it sounds like an excellent idea. I’ll mention it to any environmentalists I meet who are designing new homes. My current home has only a small bathtub and no other place where wet clothes can be hung without making a big mess. I wash most of my clothes in a machine, depending on the spin cycle to get the clothes dry enough that they can be hung inside without dripping. At least I avoid machine drying clothes. Still, I realize there’s room for improvement in the way I do laundry, so your suggestion of a washboard intrigues me.
I’m glad you don’t hang sheep carcasses in your home! I used to live near a sheep farm, and am firmly of the opinion that sheep deserve better than to be shipped hundreds of miles then slaughtered.
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Nice find! Not quite related to washing clothes but… a couple of years ago, my mother found an antique stapler. It worked without any metal staples at all. It simply cut and folded the edge of the paper in such a way that 2 or 3 sheets could be “stitched” together. Very eco-friendly!
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:53 pm
I’ve had a small laundry rack that I could put in my bath when I lived in an apartment. The trick with washing is to do it as you take it off. That way it just never gets ahead of you, and handwashing is a cinch. When you have to deal with a mountain of washing handwashing suddenly is not such a rosy option
April 6th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
[...] ideas. at least not this time. Some old ideas that I have covered on this blog in the past include washboards and unsliced [...]