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DIY washing machine and homemade laundry soap

Off-Grid Washing Machine

What do you get when you combine a 5 gallon bucket and a toilet plunger? An off-grid washing machine. Well, maybe not a machine in the traditional sense, unless you consider my hands the motor. This is something I have been wanting to make for quite some time now. The other day while I was in town, I saw a toilet plunger on the shelf and put it in my cart. I also picked up 3 bottles of Mrs Stewart’s bluing, I’ll explain more about that in a bit.

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Plunger with holes

This primitive prototype washing machine started out as a 5 gallon bucket and the plunger. I handed the plunger to PB and asked him to cut some holes in the plunger, that makes it easier to plunge the clothes without making tons of bubbles and a big mess. I left it up to PB to decide how to cut the holes and in what shape. He took it downstairs for a few minutes, then brought it back to me, he handed me the plunger with 3, perfectly round, quarter sized holes. he handed me the rubber plugs that came from those centers.

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Off-Grid Washing Machine

I had a few socks and a couple of thermal shirts, all white, that needed to be washed. I put them in the bucket, filled it with enough water to cover the clothes by a few inches, added some homemade laundry soap (recipe to follow) and began to plunge. It worked like a charm. But of course, PB is never happy with prototypes, he wants to improve things, so he decided that a lid was in order, the lid would keep the water from splashing about as I plunged the clothes. We didn’t have a lid for the bucket, at least not one we wanted to cut a hole in. PB found another 5 gallon bucket, it had a bad place in the bottom, but it had a screw on lid. PB cut the bottom off that bucket and slid it into the first bucket, it fit like a charm.

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Lid with hole
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Lid with hole

Next, PB cut a hole in the screw on lid, he created a gasket using a prescription pill bottle, that keeps the plunger handle straight and keeps any water from splashing out of the hole in the top. Since the bucket is several inches taller now, the handle for the plunger wasn’t long enough, so PB removed the original handle and replaced it with a longer handle. Now I can put the whole thing on the floor and plunge from a standing position, I get more power to my stroke now. It works great!

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Off-Grid Washing Machine

I washed the clothes, I removed the clothes, wringing each one by hand, then I dumped out the water. I added fresh water, a bit of baking soda, that helps freshen and helps soften the clothes too. I added some bluing, put the top back on the primitive washing machine and began the rinse cycle. I plunged for several minutes, until I felt like everything was rinsed well. I removed each piece of clothing, wringing each one, then I hung them on the clothes line to dry.

The next thing I want to get is a mop bucket with a roller wringer, that’s the cheapest way I can go if I purchase one, perhaps PB will make a roller wringer for me in the mean time, I wouldn’t be surprised. I can use the roller wringer for my clothes, the water would drain into the bucket, it would take less time to dry on the line, and the clothes would not have to be hand wrung, that makes more wrinkles. Using a roller wringer, it would smooth out wrinkles instead of causing them, dual benefit.

Now to my homemade laundry soap, this is something I have been using for years, long before I moved off-grid. it is so much cheaper to make and use, I have control over what is going in. My clothes come out clean, clean smelling, not smelling of perfumes and chemicals. My clothes are also softer.

The recipe is so simple, it’s 3 ingredients. Bar soap, borax and washing soda (not baking soda). I prefer using a castile soap, you can use Dr Bronner’s, or my personal favorite right now, Kirk’s Castile Soap, of course you can use a bath soap like Ivory, just don’t use anything that has moisturizers or major additives, they may work for your skin, but they will not work well to clean clothes. You take the bar soap, grate it in a food processor, or you can do it by hand, you want to get it grated as fine as possible, I like to run the blade attachment on the soap after I grate it, just to make it finer, it dissolves better that way. Once you have the bar soap in powder form, measure it, you can just eyeball it if you want, it doesn’t have to be exact. Add an equal amount of borax and the same amount of washing soda. Measure by volume, not by weight. So, it’s one part powdered bar soap, one part borax and one part washing soda. Put everything in a container with a lid and mix it well, you might have to break up any lumps in the borax and washing soda.

I know a lot of people who use homemade laundry soap like to take it to the next step and make it into a liquid, some people just like using liquids better, they say the powder doesn’t dissolve well, I have not had that problem, I think it’s because I grate the bar soap so fine, that’s the part that will give you trouble dissolving, especially in cold water if you don’t get it fine enough. Since I go ahead and take the extra time to use the blade attachment of my food processor, the bar soap is pretty fine and it dissolves just fine for me. If you want to make this into a liquid, just do a search for homemade laundry soap, you’ll find lots of recipes that take the next step of making it into a liquid, I just prefer not to do it myself, it takes up much less space this way too.

You use 1-3 tablespoons of the mixture per wash load, no more, it will not seem like enough, especially if you are used to using commercial laundry detergent by the cup full, I like to use a coffee scoop, it is just right. This will not suds up in the water, if you feel like it’s not enough, or you have an especially dirty load of wash, then run it through another wash cycle with another 1-2 tablespoons of powder, adding more to the initial wash will not get things any cleaner, in fact, it will defeat the purpose as it may not rinse out well if you add too much. Have you ever looked at your rinse water in the laundry? Notice how dirty and sudsy it looks? That’s because your clothes are not getting rinsed out very well. Your clothes will be cleaner, fresher and will rinse cleaner using this homemade laundry soap. Give it a try.

Some of you might say that you remember line dried clothes feeling rough, scratchy, not soft at all. One major reason that happens is because not all of the commercial laundry detergent is being rinsed out of your laundry. Take a peek at the rinse cycle about halfway through, you will probably be shocked and disgusted at how dirty and sudsy the water looks, this is being dried into your laundry, chances are you will probably want to do a second rinse cycle after that. It’s amazing at how much dirt and detergent is left behind on your laundry, this is the main reason why if you line dried this laundry, it would come out stiff as cardboard and scratchy as well. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much cleaner your clothes will be, smell and feel, no matter how you dry them.

Now to the Mrs Stewart’s bluing. One thing that commercial laundry detergents have are optical brighteners, this makes your colors look brighter and your whites look whiter. I say they do it to combat the dulling residue that is left behind from the detergent itself. Since the homemade laundry soap does not have these optical brighteners, eventually you will notice your colors and whites are not as bright as they used to be, so if you go back to what your grandmother used, Mrs Stewart’s bluing, you will not have that problem. You use this in the rinse cycle. Be sure not to get any undiluted bluing on anything, it will stain.

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Off-Grid Washing Machine

Today, I used my improvised laundry washing “machine”, I used the bluing in the rinse, the only problem I have now is I am going to have to use this on the rest of my socks for sure, half of them are going to look whiter and cleaner than the other half.

It’s a funny thing, when I explain to my friends out here about my improvised washing machine, they each tell me that I am more than welcome to come over to their house to do laundry using their washing machine and dryer. In a way, it is not a surprising reaction, they think I’m doing everything the hard way, who in their right mind would want to do laundry by hand when there are perfectly functioning, modern washing machines and dryers available? Well, perhaps I am a bit nutty, living off-grid, heating with wood, hauling my own water, generating my own electricity… it seems natural to me to want to wash my clothes by hand and dry the clothes using a solar dryer, a clothesline.

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Off-Grid Washing Machine

Of course I can use a washing machine and dryer, any time I want, but knowing that I CAN do it without electricity or machines, unless you count muscle power. I am now one step closer to being more independent. There is also a small laziness factor in there too. How can doing laundry by hand be lazy? Well, it’s easy, to do laundry with a washing machine and dryer means I have to gather all the laundry, sort it and carry it down the hill to my neighbor’s house, it’s a big hill. I am tied to his house for as long as I am doing laundry, then I have to lug those clothes back up the hill, did I mention it’s a big hill? Then put them away. If I am doing laundry at the skycastle, then I can do them as I please, without having to lug anything up or down the hill, I can do the laundry as I go, I don’t feel like I have to have a full load, I can do smaller loads with no guilt.

Would I recommend this to everyone? Probably not, most of the people I know wouldn’t be interested. But for those who are interested, this is one way to do it. Even if you don’t use the primitive method of washing, you can still use the homemade laundry soap, it will save you money, it will get your clothes cleaner (IMHO), and you will feel better about the whole thing. I know there will be someone out there with a dozen kids, several toddlers and at least one in diapers who will say they aren’t interested in all the extra work, and to them I say, my heart goes out to you, and more power to you, thank God for modern conveniences like washing machines and dryers. You can still try the homemade laundry soap, it doesn’t take that long to make and you will save money using it, plus the extra cleanliness factor of using the homemade stuff verses the commercial stuff. You also might want to put aside a bucket or two, and a clean (unused) toilet plunger, just in case, you just never know when it may come in handy.

One cautionary note, if you use a gray water system and your gray water pours out on plants you want to keep alive, do not use the borax, it will kill plants. Just omit the borax in this case and don’t worry about it, your clothes will still come out clean.

I am now wearing one of the thermal shirts as a sleep shirt, it is soft as can be, it smells clean, not of perfume, but clean. Did I mention it’s soft? I love the feel of the material against my skin, knowing there is nothing that is going to irritate my skin, not that I am particularly sensitive to things like that, it’s nice to know that I don’t have be concerned about it. It is possible to develop sensitivities by being exposed to chemicals over a period of time. And yes, I know that everything I listed above is a chemical, the difference is I know what these chemicals are, I can pronounce the names, they have been in use for generations. Yes, I feel better about using these.

Do you use homemade laundry soap? Do you make your own bar soap? Do you use a primitive method of doing laundry? Let me know about it, leave a comment, especially if you try any part of this, let me know what you think. :)

UPDATE:
Click here to go to the update on the laundry soap I use now and more about doing laundry
https://off-grid.net/2011/07/15/solar-powered-clothes-dryer/




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136 Responses

  1. There is just something calming about washing clothes off-grid. I’ve used an old wringer plugged into generator, then plugged into the solar, also used a portable washer spin dryer combo, and also a Lehmans Mobile Breathing Washer. All work and depends on what you want to spend, and your climate and if you have a porch. If you want to see the Lehmans idea, you can watch it on our video, we have another one showing the wringer washer also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv2XEZbACqw

  2. Hi:
    I introduced this type of washing clothes in the mountains of Guatemala. I prefer to use a plunger with suction cup; it draws more water through the clothes.
    I must admit, I was not successful with my project; the laden in the mountains are too ingrained in their system of washing in a creek. And…how dare a male teach women about a women’s job!

  3. It’s actually easy enough to wash clothes in the bath. The hard part, in the British climate, is drying them without a spin cycle.

  4. Thank you so much for sharing this. I live in an apt complex, but I grow my own food and I am looking for more ways to reduce my carbon footprint. Thanks again!!!

  5. My husband and I live off-grid on a sailboat 6 months out of the year.. We are hoping to find a peice of land in the north east to build a 350 sq ft off-grid “shack”… I love this wasing machine idea Thank you
    Anna

  6. Well yes each to there own if anyone has the means give it ago !
    Another way would be to attach a engine to a washing machine instead of the electric motor, may need a reverse gear to get a good wash etc, so that another one to play with guys

  7. Get an old front loader washing machine and a push bike and attach the bike to the washer, bolts, bars, abit of welding, however, you may need to weld the free wheel up to ? Put your soap in boiling water etc and peddle like a good en ! And then reverse ! Until its done, fit a drian tap to the washer to bi pass the pump, let the water out and peddle harder to spin dry !

    Not as daft as it sounds gives you a good workout and makes good used of a lot of the washing machine which is designed to wash clothes and will do it well, you are just replacing the electric motor and the electronic chip that does the cycle, ie so many slow turns then fast etc etc, you will get a good wash and reasonable dry at the end, get building love to see what you all come up with !

    1. Thanks Arch, that is one of those “back burner” projects, for now my washing system is much improved since writing this article, in fact I plan on writing about my wash room as it is now.

      Wrtha

  8. Hi, I do think this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it ;)
    I will return yet again since I book-marked it. Money and freedom
    is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to
    guide others.

  9. Wow great skills and article I have been making my own soap for years. I am a plumber (Female) plumber that’s and my jeans and clothing all gets washed so good. And its environmental “Green” So Kudos to you great job.

  10. I did this almost 30 years ago. Not because I wanted to but because we were so tight on money I couldn’t afford to go to the laundry mat. I love the idea of the top though as I splashed all over the place.

  11. I have been dying to make one of these washing machines for about a year now! I just never see a bucket with a screw on lid and I haven’t broke down and bought one off amazon or the sorts. I remember browsing at Tractor supply and seeing the Brehrens 10gal steel bucket with a locking lid, (thinking in the sense of durability) I would think water would squirt out of the lid with every pump but what do you think?

  12. Great article! I’ve been making my own cold process bar soap. It’s just 5 oils and lye water. I love that I can wash myself without something that has sodium lauryl sulphate in it. I’ve been looking at making my own laundry detergent and your articles will help me greatly. Thanks again!

  13. So much good energy here! Can’t wait to try these great ideas. I recycle all my gray water on the garden since I haul water. Does anybody have a good laundry soap recipe that won’t kill plants (sans borax)? I’ve had great results with commercial soaps as far as the garden, but would rather make my own soap to get away from the chemicals. Also, I recently started a FB page called Simple Unhooked Living. I’d like to invite everybody with tried and true ideas to share them there and share the page too. Meanwhile I am going to paste link to this page.

    1. UnhookedLiving
      I have started using Dr Bronner’s SalSuds for my laundry, I still use the powdered stuff I make when using a machine (just omit the borax, your clothes will be just as clean), I found the powdered stuff doesn’t dissolve as well when I’m hand washing and using cold water, SalSuds works great and it is plant and garden safe, I asked them about it before allowing it to be dumped on the ground.

      Wretha

  14. Cool! I did make my own laundry detergent once. I used Sunlight (bar) soap, grated & melted in boiling water, Borax, and Washing Soda. I might just try it again, with boiling & melting the soap. I like to hang my laundry out every chance I get. In fact, on a sunny day, that’s the first thing I do is get laundry going, and I have 2 clotheslines. My fave is hanging out cloth diapers. :)

  15. I have been hand making bar soap for several years, for personal use and for occasional craft show sales.
    Good bath/shampoo/face soap is supperfated. That is there is about 5% of the total oils used in the recipe remaining as oil when the soap making process is completed. This excess oil acts as insurance against having active lye left in the soap and is good for the hair and skin but not something that you want left on your freshly laundered clothes. When making bar soap to be used in making laundry soap, not detergent, I use a simple one vegetable oil (soy because it is inexpensive and works well) recipe with 0% superfat. I use a laundry soap recipe similar to the one which you posted. The soda and borax neutralize any lye which may remain in the 0% superfated soap. The laundry soap works well and is VERY INEXPENSIVE. You can scent it, or not, as you wish. Years ago my dad had a tin plated steel device designed and built to perform much as your modified plumber’s friend. Thank you for the article.

  16. I am making a homemade enzyme cleaner that is good for many different uses: cleaning, insect repellent for self and garden, fertiliser, hair conditioner. You use 1 c. sugar, 3 c. any fruit scraps you want, I just use citrus scraps from juicing and peels if just eating, and 10 cups water in a plastic juice or water bottle. With lid in place shake everyday then loosen lid so gases can escape and bottle doesn’t explode when opening. Do not tighten lid all the way. Let it sit for 3 months on your counter to ferment (shaking everyday) and it’s ready to use. A short cut is to add 1 tsp. of yeast to it and let it sit (shaking everyday) for 2 weeks on your counter and it’s ready to use. Here is the blog I got this off of. I am halfway to having my first shortcut batch ready.

    https://happyhomemaker88.wordpress.com/2009/05/02/recipe-for-homemade-citrus-enzyme-a-natural-cheap-effective-all-purpose-cleaner/

    I am really excited to use this and have read alot about it and if it’s made from stuff I already have in my pantry, compost bucket, and well, then I’m in for saving some bucks not having to buy individual cleaners. I already have the recipe that Wretha uses and am making me some homemade laundry detergent tomorrow. I also make my own cheap hair products for cleaning and conditioning and use it on my 4 year old daughter and my fiancee uses it. It makes my hair very clean and shiny without harmful chemicals. Shampoo: 1 tbs.baking soda to 1 cup water shake and pour onto hair massage into scalp and hair, then rinse. Conditioner: 1 tbs Vinegar(white distilled or apple cider your choice) to 1 cup water, shake to mix pour onto scalp and to ends of hair leave for 1 to 3 minutes and rinse. If you don’t like the smell of the vinegar rinse again with water with whatever essential oil you prefer added for scent. I use lavender or eucalyptus or teatree. Hope you try it I love the way my hair feels and looks, my natural curls really like it. Now it might take a few times using this to get good results, it depends on how much commercial product you use right now and how much build up there is from it. I used a sulfate and paraben free shampoo and conditioner because my baby girl is allergic to lots of stuff and we wanted to be safe with her, but there was instant results for me. These are things you have to try to believe. It saves lots of bucks when you think about it though how much do you spend on all your cleaning products for your person and your home.
    You can even use the enzyme on yourself, on your car or garden and houseplants. Hope it works for someone out there and that you spread the word like I am.
    Yvette

  17. This is a great thred thanks to everyone….
    I am going to try the OTG washing machine I am currently washing by hand in the double sink and wringing out by hand (got the blisters to boot) :( I am going to rig up a ringer from an old washing machine somehow attach a crank to it so as to spin it by hand! Should work! If anyone has any more ideas about how I could do this I invite them :) I have been making my own bar soap for years and absolutely love it.

  18. Am going to try this as soon as I can get the bucket to use. I use a small electric one at the moment, fill by hand to wash, drain and refil to rinse, no spin, just an electric agitator. Hand wring. Cleans very well, better than an automatic. Sheets are the only problem due to size. I use ecover detergent as it is environmentally friendly and not too expensive to use. It’s also better than most other commercial products. Will look for a larger bucket big enough to take sheets and blankets and try, cheap and easy to use and can be done sitting down (useful for the disabled like me). Can’t wait.

  19. Very interesting post. I never thought about trying to do laundry without my washing machine. My friend and I started a laundry service from our homes a few years ago. We started looking for ways to save money and came across a simple trick. Tennis balls. If you toss a few into the dryer it cuts down drying time by about 25% while fluffing bulky items at the same time. I know we aren’t off the grid but since we have such a large amount line drying isn’t an option. Just thought I’d share my old school dryer ball tip ;)
    https://www.laundrycare.biz/cleveland-ohio-laundry-service/

  20. Okay, a similar but massive upgrade if you’re interested. My brother also started out with a 5 gallon bucket just to see if he could do it. While we were building that we got to talking about how our grandpa had two big square aluminum tubs on a single metal stand with drains in them for laundry in one of his farm buildings.

    We decided to build that, but we improved on it. Two tubs on feet but with a vertical board coming up between the two tubs. Then at the top of that bar we attached a long wood horizontal bar centered on the vertical one and is pivotable at that connection. Then on that horizontal bar out a couple feet in either direction from the center we attached another vertical bar that goes down to the center of each tub (each of those also can pivot). We attached plungers at the bottom of each of those bars. The we made it all splash proof by putting a cover over the tubs hinged close to where the bars go down in the tubs. This way we can load and unload clothes without taking the entire cover off.

    Basically think of the old railroad hand cars you see in westerns, the ones where two people can pump the handle on either side up and down to move the cart. This way two loads can be done at the same time, so hots and colds or two of the same if there’s a lot.

    Makes for a very nice hand powered washing machine.

    1. Sounds pretty ingenious Jodeum, there are lots of great ideas out there for washing clothes, I prefer doing things in a simple fashion, that works good for me, I also like to touch and check each article of clothing to make sure it’s getting clean enough. :) I do use a larger container for washing now, the 5 gallon bucket just isn’t large enough to do more than a few things at once.

      Wretha

  21. After I microwave the Ivory soap, I clean the microwave by zapping a lemon, lime or orange cut in halves for one minute. That softens anything in the unit and takes away odors, including the soap smell. Rinse the oven with a wet rag, using one of the citrus halves to scrub any stubborn food splatters. This is the only thing I ever use, as my son complains that any soap or detergent taints his food afterward.

  22. Wretha,

    You need to look into rocket stove mass heaters and make yourselves one. You could heat your home on 1/2 cord of twigs and small branches a year. We cook on a rocket stove now and I rarely turn on our electric stove. We shut the hot water heater off when we moved here on our wedding night and use wood to heat it our water now. BTW you can also hook a water heater to a rocket stove and let it heat the water as well. Grand things they are!

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