Maybe your washer is broken and the repairman can’t come for a week. Maybe you don’t have the time to waste at a laundromat this week. Maybe the label says “hand-wash only.” Whatever the case, all you need to wash your clothes is a basin, some soap and a pair of hands.

Life Unplugged suggests hand-washing as a means to cut down on water and power use, and offers tips about how to do it right.

Here’s what we learned from the post:

* You can use a bunch of types of soap. Store-bought detergent, grated bar soap, liquid dish soap and shampoo are all OK. But avoid stuff with moisturizing agents, which are tough to rinse out.

* You can use a toilet plunger. You’ll need to churn the soapy water to get things clean, and one effective method is to cut diamond-shaped holes into a clean toilet plunger and use the device to help. The holes will allow water to get through, and you can get some exercise while jabbing your plunger into the basin to get the job done.

* Rinsing and wringing are important. You really don’t want any soap stuck in your clothes once they’ve dried, so rinse them, wring them out and then rinse again until there’s no longer any evidence of soap.

Washing Clothes by Hand [Life Unplugged]

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