Tiny Washing Machine
One of the questions that comes up often with regards to a tiny house, especially one of the tiny houses, like Jay Shafer’s Epu is how do you do your laundry? Jay says that he uses the laundry mat. That is ok for some, but is there an alternative?
My sister-in-law lives in Thailand discovered a neat tiny hand powered wash machine that I think would work perfectly in a small space, and when not in use could be stored away easily. Plus the price is right at only $50. Here is the company’s description:
If you’re looking for a greener alternative to washing your clothes, it doesn’t get much greener than our hand powered laundry machine (well, laundry washer, it’s not really a machine if you crank it yourself!).
This portable washing machine requires no electricity, which saves money in energy bills. It is also portable, which enables you to use in places that don’t have electricity.
When you’re in a hurry to wash a few items, this washing machine easily solves the problem of having to wait around for your electric or gas washing machine to complete a full load of laundry or feel bad about only washing a few items at a time.
Made of plastic with no mechanical parts, the hand powered washing machine comes assembled. Just attach the handle and go! It can last a lifetime and requires no maintenance.
Because this washing machine is so small, it’s easy to store and move from one place to another. This is an ideal washing machine to have with you in an RV, on road trips, at weekend sports tournaments, in apartments, especially those with limited access to laundry areas, on camping trips and those who want to make their lifestyle more energy efficient.
This small washing machine uses less water and powder detergent per load of laundry. The washing cycle is also extremely fast (from 10 seconds to 2 minutes) saving you an extraordinary amount of time.
If you work in the yard or outside frequently and don’t like to put your really dirty clothes in the wash with your other clothes, this washing machine allows you to easily separate them and get them thoroughly clean without staining other clothes.
How it works:
- Insert your dirty laundry along with a measured amount of water and soap (instructions are included that list the appropriate amounts and temperatures)
- Secure the lid, but do not overtighten
- Turn the handle approximately one turn per second
- Once the washing is done, release the pressure of the lid by slowly turning the knob
- Rinse your laundry either in the portable washing machine after draining the dirty water or in the sink
- Then hang the clothes to dry!
Five pounds of clothes is equal to approximately 10 shirts or 2 pairs of jeans.
This tiny hand powered portable washing machine can be bought from Clean Air Gardening for $50, so if this fits your needs go check it out.
The Crank
Washer with Clothes
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7 Responses to “Tiny Washing Machine”
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The rowdykitten and I own a wonderwash and have used it off and on for a couple years now. From experience, we would urge anyone considering a wonderwash/hand-crank-washer to also consider buying a clothes wringer of some sort. The washer works well given its small size however the factor that makes the whole wash process cumbersome and even arduous is the
. However with a price tag of over $200 (after shipping), we will have to save up for it. Even if we did all our laundry by hand it would still take us about a year before the equipment paid for itself.
wringing of the water from the clothes. This wringing process took so much personal effort we stopped using the washer for awhile. Even Colin Beavan (aka “no impact man”) and Sharon Astyk have cited laundry machines as perhaps the most difficult electrical appliance to part with in going “off-grid”. The laundry-alternative web site we purchased our wonderwash from suggests a small “spindryer” electric centrifuge type machine to alleviate this problem. It seemed odd to us why someone would want a manual hand-crank washer yet choose an electrical wringer. We wanted something we could use off-grid and perhaps even when the power was out. Currently we are considering purchasing a quality clothes wringer from Lehmans. They seem to be the only place we can find a manual wringer meant for clothes (and not mops
Cheers and good luck!
Logan and the Rowdy Kitten.
you could get an electric wrnger for $70 from laundry-alternative.com
[...] handwashing (sorta) our own clothes. Reserving the washer for blankets and sheets. I say “sorta” because I’m considering using the 5 gal bucket + Gamma lid (ala WonderWash: http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-furnishings/tiny-washing-machine/ & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33OHmWckcDc ) [...]
This hand washer is on sale at Lehman’s (www.lehmans.com) for $30.
Lehman’s also sells the Wonder Clean, which looks exactly the same, for $48. The Wonder Clean works great & it’s fantastic! I live offgrid & I’ve washed all my laundry – except heavy blankets – in it for 6 years, sun-drying the laundry. This amazing portable hand washer is a wonderful addition to offgrid & tiny living.
Even though those products are great i saw a company that sells the washer and a spin dryer for pretty reasonable money. the site is laundry-alternative.com
I think it’s worth it to get all my products from the same company
Washing clothes is easy, it’s the wringing out part that complicates laundry and this type of machine doesn’t seem to do that. You can still get hand wringers, I believe Lehman’s has a couple types. If I was going to spend money on a hand laundry device I’d skip the washer and get a wringer. Line drying outside is great and you can always set up a wood or metal folding dryer inside on rainy days. There are lots of retractable clotheslines for indoor use as well. You can always use a loft to dry clothes during the day.
I’m still on the grid, have a standard laundry pair down in the dungeon, but I love my Wonder Wash. I use the big equipment, perhaps 4 times per year. I used to have washable rugs over my hardwoods, but when they wore out I didn’t replace them. I use my Wonder Wash for everything else. I do have a centrifugal extractor that I use to get them almost bone dry. I find that even if I don’t use detergent in the WW, the clothes still come out clean. I work in an office, so not much real dirt. As for “all that hand wringing” I just squeeze out the water – no wringing for me, and let the extractor take care of the excess water. Some things will need to be ironed, but it’s worth it to me, as I just dislike my basement so much.