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Wednesday 7 May 2008

Wonderwash

NB for those who don't know, here are the posts about the wonderwash/how we came to be using one:
Living without a washing machine
Making progress
Wet washing

So far we've had the wonderwash for a couple of weeks now I think but I have still not made my mind up about it. I will try to do a comparison between the wonderwash and handwashing in the bath:

  • It does get the clothes cleaner than I expected but I think that the work involved is probably similar in quantity to washing in the bath but more difficult because it is concentrated in turning the crank with your arm and it is harder than you expect.
  • Possibly less water is used but this is difficult to judge as the loads are smaller and I usually find I have to do 2-3 rinses rather than 1-2.
  • The loads you can do at once are much smaller which means you have to do more frequent washes and be more organised about it.
  • Each load is fairly quick to do however because the loads are smaller I think it probably works out similar total amount of time spent.
  • The wonderwash is enclosed so you do not have a steaming bath creating condensation everywhere. (Although I did decide I was washing with rather hot water so I'm trying to do it with *warm* rather than *hot* water.)

Actually, now that I've written that list, I would probably say that for the most part it is easier just to wash your clothes in the bath. I do think it is useful for times when you want to wash a small amount of particularly dirty stuff (like when we went to a friends house and Baby Girl crawled around the garden getting mud all over her clothes and managed to get strawberry all down her front because I forgot to take a bib) but for large quantities of washing which is of average dirtiness I think washing in the bath is easier.

Now that I'm using warm rather than hot water I've started using Brandy's method of washing which is to get in and stomp on the clothes. It's much easier and more effective and it makes me think of wine pressing. I don't let her climb in to help but Baby Girl loves to "help" with the washing mainly by throwing all of her bath toys in with the clothes:

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for that rundown, girl! Jason and I haven't gotten a WonderWash yet ... but we've been seriously thinking about getting one soon. I'll let Jason read this post and we'll talk about it and see. I'm thinking maybe we should just keep doing what we're doing ...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review. I am excited about getting one. I will use it mainly for lite loads. undergarments and delicate items. I am planning on buying a rapid washer to assit with the heavy items like jeans and play clothes. If it was reasonable I would buy a wonder wash for every member(except DH) and they could do their owm. Yeah right! They would where dirty clothes all the time.LOL Totally out of the question. Maybe I'll try tub washing today. Nice to hear from you. I hope the cold doesn't get to bad. Get better soon ;~)

Anonymous said...

this is interesting. i'm new to your blog so i'm sure you've posted more on this, i'll look around - do you handwash all your clothing? i make my own laundry detergent but haven't thought to handwash my clothing. interesting :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry I never thought of new readers not knowing what I was talking about. I've added some links into the beginning of the post to help get you up to speed.

Buffy said...

Looks like the sort of washing any child will enjoy helping out with -particularly in hot weather!

I hope your cold clears up quickly. I'm starting to get a touch of hay fever now the sun's decided to come out and play.

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