View Full Version : Anyone ever hear this?
frugalone
11-18-13, 9:49pm
Has anyone ever heard that you can wash items of clothing in the tub after you've taken your bath?
Just throw them in for 15 minutes, then rinse well and hang up/put in the dryer.
I dunno, but it sounds a little gross to me. I'm all for saving water, but...
Tussiemussies
11-18-13, 11:25pm
Sounds gross to me too... : )
Gardenarian
11-19-13, 4:52pm
Odd idea. I tried washing my clothes in the bathtub once (broke college student, long walk to laundromat, blizzard) and boy did I wish I had a wringer.
I guess if I had something that was really filthy and it needed to soak, bathwater would work.
It makes a lot more sense to me to re-use the bathwater in the garden (grey water) and wash the clothes in clean (and re-use that too.)
I was just thinking the other day, that in the 50's, it wasn't uncommon for a family to take turns taking a bath in the same water. The father would bath first.......then everyone else. Eeeewwwwwww.
We are spoiled indeed!
Anything is possible, if you don't have good conditions. I think I'd rather wear my clothes in the shower, and wash them, as I was getting washed!
Also........I've seen a couple "manual" washers online recently. they almost look like little composters, but you put some clothes in there and then add water and turn it with a handle. Looks interesting.
I think wringing the water out of clothes would get hard on the joints.
Sorry I got a little off-topic.
frugalone
11-19-13, 6:22pm
I used to wash my bras and pantyhose in the sink, when I had a double-welled sink and no washing machine at home. I used to put a bit of Woolite in, swish it around till it bubbled and then let them soak. Then I used the other well/tub to rinse. I didn't wring them out, but spread a bath towel on the kitchen table and kind of let them sit rolled up in the towel for a while. Then I hung them up.
I suppose if I were in a pinch, I'd use bathwater.
In a real pinch, I'd probably use the creek and a rock! (And let the sun hopefully "sterilize" the yuk.)
I suppose there's alot our bodies would tolerate. Its the ick factor that we've grown accustomed to.
Gardenarian
11-19-13, 6:59pm
When I was a kid we all used to use the same bath water (5 of us!) Luckily, my sister and I usually got to go first.
My mom would pour a cup of Tide in the water, which now seems like the ickiest part to me! Though maybe Tide was just plain old soap in the early 60s.
ToomuchStuff
11-19-13, 7:48pm
Sounds like a depression era apartment tip, to me. I have in my basement shop, an old washtub base, that was either used with a separate roller system, or a washboard (have a small one of them as well). I have hand washed a couple of shirts (spills) and left them to line dry, in my life.
I, too, remember sharing bath water. First me, then mom, then dad. Back then, we had a water heater that you had to light in order to warm the water. The heating took about 20 minutes and was left on until dad got in. That way, all three of us had warm water. Can you imagine doing this today? LOL!
On YouTube I saw an episode of Extreme Cheapskates where the lady washed clothes in the shower. She put detergent on them, set them on the shower floor, took a shower then agitated and rinsed the clothes, wring them out and hung them up. She did this with one day's worth of clothes at a time, I presume showering every day. For her it saved hauling clothes to the laundromat and paying quarters to wash them. As compared to hand washing in the sink I guess some water is saved in that the clothes got wet and briefly soaked in water she was already using to shower. I can see this working on the clothes of a sedentary person who doesn't get into a lot of dirt and grease.
simplelife4me
11-20-13, 10:14pm
Some people do this (wash clothes in shower) for traveling out of the country. I see it as smart, not extreme cheapsakte.
Process: Fill tub, get in. Scoop up bowl of water, add soap, wash bra, socks, undies and hankie. Dump water in toilet. Refill bowl and rinse. Dump water. Repeat with clean water with a dash of vinegar in it. Wash me. Squeeze stuff, hang on retracting line in tub. Use bath water throughout the day to flush toilet. Drain tub into the yard. Repeat.
I do this in part because these are delicate things I don't like to put in the machine, but I couldn't imagine washing big clothes this way, even if I wasn't in the tub. My washing machine is one appliance that earns its keep.
Ha! No way would I wash my clothes in my filthy, filthy bath water :-)! I get really dirty most days from sports, etc... so often need to wash a long time. On many days I actually shower fully clothed so I can get my clothes somewhat less filthy before washing them. I strip them off as I shower and then, after I'm done, I put the clothes in the washing machine. This thread kind of reminds me of the old Senfield episode where Kramer washed his veggies in the shower along with his body. Yuck!
Some people do this (wash clothes in shower) for traveling out of the country. I see it as smart, not extreme cheapsakte. True but they usually do it by using fresh water rather than using the same old water that they already bathed in. I think there is a difference between sitting naked and dirty in a bathtub and scrubbing off all the nasty bits and stuff off your body into that water and THEN washing your clothes in the same water then there is between standing in a shower with your clothes on and soaping them up and rinsing in fresh shower water before striping and then rinsing the clothes and washing your body again.
Since I'm on SS disability now I'm on an extremely tight budget. I handwash most of my clothes in the sink and hang to dry. I always use clean water though....
I saw a TV show over the weekend about extremely frugal people and a couple that was featured would take their dirty dishes out to the tiny kiddie pool in the backyard to wash them, after the kids had been swimming in the pool all afternoon. The water looked so dirty, full of dirt and grass since the kids were in and out, yet they washed their dishes in it to save water. I thought that was really gross!
chrisgermany
11-26-13, 7:07am
I am guilty:
When we are on biking trips, we often do the shower-laundry thing similar as described in #11. While I clean myself, I let the clothes soak at my feet.
Then I use washing powder / soap on them and let them soak some more at my feet while I enjoy the water.
When I am done with cleaning myself, I rinse the clothes in fresh water.
Honestly: after having worn the clothes for the day, what more dirt could come from my body + soap that would make the clothes more dirty / gross than before?
Then, after rinsing all the dirt and soap that may have accumulated in the clothes is removed.
I would also use the bathtub method for soaking the clothes with washing powder rubbed on them.
What makes the clothes clean is a good rinse with fresh water thereafter.
I can understand doing this for delicates or if one doesn't have easy access to a washing machine, but like kib says, my washing machine earns its keep. Not only does washing by hand in the bathtub sound like a lot of effort, but doing it in dirty water just sounds gross. But then I don't like taking baths because it seems kind of gross to be sitting in dirty soapy water. The only thing we use our bathtub for is to hold the kitty litter box.
ToomuchStuff
11-26-13, 7:22pm
Since I'm on SS disability now I'm on an extremely tight budget. I handwash most of my clothes in the sink and hang to dry. I always use clean water though....
I saw a TV show over the weekend about extremely frugal people and a couple that was featured would take their dirty dishes out to the tiny kiddie pool in the backyard to wash them, after the kids had been swimming in the pool all afternoon. The water looked so dirty, full of dirt and grass since the kids were in and out, yet they washed their dishes in it to save water. I thought that was really gross!
This post made me think of things that my father and grandfather said, as well as the local health departments. Washing is NOT the same as Sanitizing (a separate step). My grandfather built dish "washers" (he hated they called them that) and my father told us when we were little, the stuff should be clean going into the machine. The machines job was to sanitize.
Health departments, teach that as a final step after rinsing, when you have to manually clean. (bleach or sanitizing tablets)
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