The Breathing Mobile Washer

**shp1055** · 09-15-2009, 12:46 PM

Anyone ever heard of this? I ordered one for $19.00 & that includes shipping. Lehman's makes one that is made out of metal, but it says you have to dry it out after each use.

http://www.breathingwasher.com/index.htm

It is supposed to clean your clothes in short order. DH wore one of his light blue dress shirts when he shouldn't have and I knew the washer wouldn't get it clean even with shout, so I bought a rub board and got the old reliable Octagon soap bar. I soaked it in some home made laundry powder & cold water in the tub and then rubbed it down with the Octagon & a minute or so on the wash board & then rinsed. Clean as a whistle. That got me to thinking, so I looked at Lehmans.com and saw their model & then did a little web surfing & found this model. The soldiers in Iraq use them with a bucket. Will let y'all know how it does.

**mauimagic** · 09-15-2009, 02:22 PM

Couldn't link to the demo - cannot figure out what is wrong wwith this computer!! - anyway - what a great idea - fun too!1

**zakity** · 09-15-2009, 02:48 PM

The demo wouldn't work for me either. I just use a plunger that I bought at the dollar store.

**Grainlady** · 09-15-2009, 05:52 PM

This is a new model of the old hand laundry agitator - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=310163545862

You can do nearly the same thing with a long-handled, rubber sink/toilet plunger in a 5-gallon bucket.

http://www.bettymills.com/shop/produ...referer=search

**Nada.Leona** · 09-16-2009, 08:12 AM

I will be very interested to see how this works.

**shp1055** · 09-16-2009, 09:07 AM

I don't know what I did wrong with the link, but you could just do a search for Breathing Mobile Washer and it should come up. I've tried the regular plunger, but the thing always gets stuck on the bottom and I spend more time and energy pulling it off, so I thought I'd try this.

**Incognito** · 09-16-2009, 10:18 AM

Sounds like what I need. I think the Sears catalogue sells an apartment-sized mini clothes-washer device too. You can set it on the counter-top and wash up a few clothes at a time.

As for the plunger & pail method, there's a certain knack to this, as I've learned from washing clothes this way for the past 2 1/2 months. I just keep the 5 gallon plastic pail in the bathtub, fill with clothing and warm water and a small amount of liquid detergent, soak overnight, then use a plunger to agitate the clothing. If you angle the plunger a bit, it doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the pail. After 100 plunges, I let it soak again, then plunge another 100 times, then lift the clothes into my mop-wash-pail drainage cup. I let gravity take its course for about 15 minutes, then hand-wring the clothes wearing rubber gloves. After that, I rinse them with the same process, then put in the dryer. It works OK, but wringing the towels, sheets, sweaters and pants is gruelling.

Now that I have work again, I can afford to take the heavy clothing to the laundramat for washing, but I'm still too disgusted with broken-down washers to replace mine yet. So far, I'm redirecting my anger at broken appliances into the home-laundering process, and it's working for me. When I am no longer enraged,

I will probably use the laundramat or replace my washer.

**Grainlady** · 09-16-2009, 08:08 PM

The best tip I can add for anyone using these hand-methods, wringing out the clothes is the REAL WORK!!!! I have a wringer mop bucket I use to press out the water. It looks something like this one, but there are many styles of them available: http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...LAID=109351740

It's great because the water catches in the bucket and you can reuse it, like my mother did when she used a wringer washer.

I have a non-electric Wonder Washer - http://www.hippyshopper.com/2007/04/...ectric_wo.html that I've used occasionally. It's great for when you go camping or to use in a travel trailer.

**nuisance26** · 09-16-2009, 08:34 PM

~Grainlady, I'm pretty sure I read your mop bucket wringer tip in a previous post and I meant to ask you a question then and got distracted.
What's the largest item that can be wrung in one of those? Jeans? Sweaters? A sheet?~

**Debbie-cat** · 09-16-2009, 08:49 PM

These are all great ideas! My son is going to university next year and these would all be great ideas as the laundromat is quite a distance from where he will be living.

**Grainlady** · 09-18-2009, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by nuisance26

~Grainlady, I'm pretty sure I read your mop bucket wringer tip in a previous post and I meant to ask you a question then and got distracted.
What's the largest item that can be wrung in one of those? Jeans? Sweaters? A sheet?~

niesance26 -

Another option that would probably be a blessing if you had to do laundry by hand all the time is an electric wringer: http://www.laundry-alternative.com/clothes_wringer.htm

But for mop buckets, it depends on the size and style of the mop bucket wringer. Openings for the wringers come in several sizes. There are also many styles and a large price range. Check Sam's Club or Restaurant Supply Stores if you want to check them out and how they work. I've seen the least expensive ones at Wal-Mart, but they were smaller than professional grade. Ask anyone you know who may be in the janitorial business for information.

If you can locate one, there are still real roller wringers (like those that were used on wringer washing machines). These sit on the edge of the bucket and you hand-crank the rollers to press the water out. Those work great, but are notorious for busting buttons. So you have to be careful pushing the items through it, and drawing it out the other side, and making sure the buttons go in flat.

There are also old-style wringers available called chamois wringers that are used to squeeze the water out of chamois used for car care. http://www.professionalcarcare.com/C...r-p-16253.html They work on the same principal as washer wringers.

The least expensive and most common these days is a style that pulls a flat, slotted plate towards the mop (or clothing) to squeeze the water out of the mop/clothing by brute force. A sales rep. told me about another type, but I've never seen one to be able to describe it very well, but there are two plates that press down, rather than one plate you pull forward.

The trick to successfully using a mop bucket to press the excess water out of clothing is not to overload it. When you do a sheet, for instance, you will do it in folded portions, not the whole sheet at a time. It also works better if you semi-fold the clothing flat, rather than wadded-up. If the clothes are wadded in a ball, you'll also press wrinkles in the clothing, along with removing the water. You'll STILL have lots of water in these items and it takes them much longer to line dry than clothing wrung out in a washing machine. The trick is to save your hands from this arduous task.

For anyone using the 5-gallon bucket/plunger or hand agitator method, you'll get cleaner clothing if you agitate the clothing, let them sit for 5-10 minutes, then agitate again. This gives the detergent some time to work. You'll also get better results if you use the hottest water possible for the fabric type being washed. Make sure you use non- or low-sudsing, soap or detergent. All-purpose liquid cleaners like Shaklee's Basic H (organic cleaning concentrate), Amway L.O.C, and Nature's Sunshine Concentrate do a great job with only a tiny amount of the cleaner. Automatic Dishwasher Detergents are also a good choice for the job (no suds - easier rinsing). It takes very little detergent/soap for the job because of the small amount of water. You may need 2 rinses to get out all the soap in the clothes, and adding vinegar to the final rinse will help soap removal.