It is Laundry Time! Part Deux

Adventures in laundry

As stated two posts ago, I decided to try handwashing clothes.  The attempt was, I would say, successful.  I handwashed the equivalent of one load of laundry and escaped with my hands intact (no sausage fingers here!). 

So, here was my process:

Start with a clean dishpan.  Add about 3 tablespoons of liquid laundry detergent, then fill with hot water.

Add clothes!  Make sure they are all saturated.  Next, you need to agitate them.  So, after irritating them to the point of mild rage, squeeze each item a few times to get them nice and soapy. 

Let them soak for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, rinse out your clothes thoroughly and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Finally, hang to dry!  Easy peezy!

In the end, I found hand washing an easy and convenient way to save a few dollars.  I was much more pleased with the way the liquid detergent worked than I was with powder detergent.  My only complaint is the clothes are a little stiff.  I would suggest adding a bit of fabric softener about 15 minutes into the soak cycle. I will be trying this again this week! Also, handwashing made the whole place smell of clean laundry, which was a pleasant, unexpected side effect.

Does anyone else out there handwash their clothes?  Do you have any secrets or tricks of the trade you swear by?  

Your Nerd on a Budget,

Mac