I recall seeing an ASOT ad some time ago for what I can only describe as a “personal washing machine.” This device was small enough to fit on an end table and was basically a stand, a crank and a “barrel” The idea is that someone would throw a T-shirt and some undies or an equivalent load in, crank the thing for a few minutes (after having added steaming water and detergent) and they’d get some nice, clean clothes back.
I wonder:
a) what was this thing called? Where can I read more about it (didn’t see it on the ASOTV site)?
b) has anyone used it? Recommendations?
I was essentially thinking that I’m going to be spending a lot of time at the dojo and since I don’t get around to doing laundry more than every three weeks or so (or whenever I run out of underwear), it might be nice to throw my gi in, or if I’m unable to get to the laundromat for a few days, to try to squeeze a few more days out of my tighty whities.
I actually had one, and it worked pretty well. The base was made out of a rather cheap plastic which broke, but I was able to keep using it. One of the drawbacks is trying to rinse the clothes - it’s difficult to extract all the soapy water. And because a gi is pretty heavy material, I’m afraid it would take a long time to dry, because even after wringing the rinse water out of the clothes, it would still hold quite a bit of water. I’d bought mine to test to see if it would work for a priest friend who lives in Africa taking care of AIDs orphans. He only had a couple hours of electricity per week and didn’t have an electric machine. However, they did get a generator and my mother paid for a regular washing machine to be sent for the use of the school.
Anyway, I really don’t know if it would work for your application - sometimes I’d use my to wash out a couple shirts when I didn’t want to do a whole load of clothes, but heavier items like jeans were hard to manage.
Amp found the one I recall, although **Reeder’s ** looks interesting too. **Girl’s ** is somewhat scary.
The Gis we’ve got are surprisingly light and a nice cotton/poly blend that makes you a) sweat more and b) not hold the moisture, so there’s generally no problem letting it dry overnight. For some reason, I figured they’d be cheaper than they are.
This works too. Get a large pan, like a dish pan.
Fill it with warm water, add a bit of detergent. Put your unmentionables in the warm soapy water, now, put your hands in too. Grasp each piece of clothing and agitate. rubbing vigorously on the smelly parts. Remove, squeeze or wring each piece and set aside. Empty the now dirty, soapy water and refill the pan with cool clear water. Swish each piece around in the clear water, until no soap can be squeezed out. You may need to change the water. The alternative, although wasteful is faster. Hold each piece under running water until the water runs clear.
Squeeze or wring as much water out as possible, then spread everything put on a big, dry towel. Roll the towel tightly with the undies inside. Unroll. They’ll be about as dry as the spin cycle does. Hang to dry fully.
It wouldn’t take any longer than that silly toy washer.
