Jennifer recently posted about living without a washing machine. I cammented that I didn't think I would want to live without mine and then hey presto! Our washing machine died. I'm not sure exactly what happened to it but it's managed to get marks which look a bit like dirty oil all over the washing which was in it at the time. Fortunately it was a nappy load so it was just nappies, flannels and cloths so it's probably the cheapest load of washing to replace if it's ruined. About half the stuff is okay and the other half is currently in a bath full of cold water while I work out how best to go about getting the marks off.
We're hoping to be able to get hold of an old washing machine on freecycle but if not, I guess we'll have to buy one. In the meantime I'm going to be handwashing our clothes although I am cheating a little bit as I've bought some disposable nappies and we are also using disposable baby wipes at the moment. Assuming I can keep up with the washing, we'll go back to the washable nappies and flannels but I'd rather get ahead first rather than try to do it all from the beginning and end up miles behind. When I was a student I did used to handwash my clothes most of the time because I didn't like to pay £1 to use the washing machine but that was fairly easy as I didn't have a baby or a husband who works as a gardener.
In some ways I am quite enjoying the idea of the challenge. Well I'd better start looking for ways to get rid of oil stains...
I am so sorry about your washer. I posted about alternatives for washers. I things go well for you.
ReplyDeleteWe used to wash our stuff by hand ... a few months while in South Carolina ... and a month or two in Nashville. It can be hard work, if you let it pile up ... but if you do smaller loads and keep on top of things, I didn't think it was all that bad.
ReplyDeleteSomething I've thought about returning to, actually ... instead of going to the laundrymat once a week.
Oh dear, I would be pulling my hair out if I didn't have a washing machine. Like you I went through a season of handwashing when I was much younger but that was just for me. I do hope you find a replacement soon. Otherwise I have heard that washing clothes while you take a shower saves time...
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