Handwashing clothes - detergent?

[christinahudler]

Would homemade detergent work well when handwashing clothes? I'm not going to be literally doing it "by hand" in the sense of washing them in the sink or anything, but I'm rigging up a contraption with some 5-gallon buckets and whatnot...but that's besides the point haha.

The point is that I'll be using cold water most of the time as well (though not always) and I won't be using a traditional washing machine so will a powdered homemade detergent work well? Or should I try and make something liquid?

I've never really hand washed clothes before, but my husband and I are moving into a duplex and our side doesn't have washer/dryer hookups so I wanted something for when we needed clothes quick (I'll save the big stuff for going to my mom's here and there).

So yea...any suggestions on what to use for detergent??

[sunshine]

Find something low residue - it's very hard to rinse out completely when doing them by hand. I've done ours in the bathtub with a new plunger and it's still difficult to get all the soap out at times.

[christinahudler]

That's similar to what I was going to be doing. I was reading about homesteading and camping and was talking with a friend about it. He told me he rigged up a 5-gallon bucket with a plunger and has been washing his clothes that way. I decided to look into it further and I think I've found some ways to make it a little more effective than his "just put the clothes in, plunge, rinse" method. We'll see I guess .

How do I know if something is low residue??

[shoiji]

How about something like this:

Hand Powered Portable Washing Machine

[sunshine]

Some that are low residue:

Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda (Canadian)
Allen's Naturally
Charlies Soap
Sensi-clean / Sport Wash
Country Save
Tide & Tide Free (just use the plain kind)
Superior Soapnuts


Some not recommended:

All Free & Clear (and other "Free & Clear detergents)
Ivory Snow
7th Generation
Dreft
Dr. Bronner's Soap
Some versions of Bio-Kleen
"Pure soap"detergents
Adding Additional Cleaning

[christinahudler]

How about something like this:

Sadly I have literally no money to work with, so I'm having to go with my rigged up device. My husband and I have been apart for about 2 months now and the only way to get him back here (long story...) and out of his parents house was to find a place for us (and I miss him!) which resulted in me having to take all of my savings to pay first months rent/security deposit.

I still will be going to my mom's to wash clothes at times, she doesn't live far so it would be cheaper than heading to a laundry facility. But there will be times I need things and it won't be worth the gas to go to mom's, so I needed an at home option.

[zakity]

Two buckets and a new plunger (found mine at the dollar store).

[christinahudler]

Two buckets and a new plunger (found mine at the dollar store).

Yup that's what I'm doing . My mom has me two 5-gallon buckets and I already have a new plunger just for this

[zakity]

Dish detergent is supposed to work really well with that method. And, usually, you can get cheap ones that smell good at the dollar store.

[EnglishTeacha]

I wash things in the sink when I'm camping or traveling so I don't have to pack so much. I use Ivory soap (the bar kind) and lather it up on the clothes. My mom always used Ivory dish soap to hand wash with when I grew up, but I haven't had any luck finding it around here. You could use a little bit of laundry detergent as well. If you're using powder, I'd dissolve it in a measuring cup of hot water first. I know vinegar can cut soap residue so if you put some white vinegar in your rinse bucket with the water it should help, no matter what you use for soap.

The plunger method is documented on YouTube with lots of good results. I hope you find it works well for you, too! I've thought of packing a holey plunger in with my clothes when I travel, but I can't imagine what people would think if I were to haul a plunger out of my suitcase in airport security!