How to make a butter churn washer!
Hey everybody! I'm FINALLY getting to a project that I've wanted to do for years...a butter churn washer. With winter in full swing, my regular James washer is not practicial and I needed something I can bring indoors. If you also handwash your clothes, let me know what your winter plan is...or if your climate is still warm tell me about that too! Hope you enjoy!
That's a great idea to use it with the lid on!! The little washing machine you use outside looks like it would be easier too...may have to look into finding one for us. I built this for us to wash clothes. I took inspiration from @mericanhomestead. We tried using 5 gallon buckets but it took way too long to wash all the clothes so now we use these larger totes.
Nice! That looks sweet! Stacie D does a bang up job on the clothes! It started with a rock in a cooler!
I had forgotten about that @freedompoint!
I'm a bit envious of that wash board, @mnmleger!
I love your set up! Yeah, the five gallon buckets only hold so much, and when you try to wash winter clothes that take up more room, it's even less. But if I can fit it inside without frozen fingers, I'm in! We tried bringing our James washer into our tiny shower stall...that was a mess! 😂
The pros of bringing them inside where its warm def outweigh the cons of a small bucket! For us, its a constant readjusting our approach depending on our experience and goal! We may do it different every year for the next 20 years! hahaha
That is the truth! I love the growth that comes with homesteading.
Brilliant!
I like that it keeps the water contained! No splashed water everywhere!
Will you still take them out to wring them out? I find that the hardest and messiest. Especially in the cold.
Thank you! That's a good question. I'll probably wring them some by hand, and hang them up until they stop dripping. We have some clothesline hung on our loft to help dry during the winter. I'll have to get a picture.
I use and industrial mop and bucket in the winter. The mop squeezer squeezes out the extra water, I let them sit,and drain into the bucket until nighttime. That's when my cabin turns into a laundrymat! Would love to see pictures!
Next year i want to buy a mini washing machine. That I can run on my generator that has a spin cycle. Laundry is one of the hardest things for me. The one luxury i miss the most.
That's a good idea! Yeah, laundry was always a challenge for me before when I had all the machines to do the hard work, so now I'm really learning how to buckle down and make something happen. We've downsized the amount of clothes we own which has helped a lot. Does your bucket have a wringer for the mop? I remember a long time ago someone using that to wring clothes.
It does! Like what they use to mop floors at mcdonalds! Lol
Haha, that's fantastic!
Using baking soda to wash and vinegar to rinse. Sounds good.
It's simple and effective.