Mobile, bounce-powered bucket washer

[ajriding]

My idea to wash clothes
is to put clothes, soap and water in a 5-gallon bucket, use a screw-on lid, put it the back of the trailer where it really bounces (with bucket secure) and let the road agitate the wash.
When I drive, it is to another state, so time on my side.

Dump, add rinse water and repeat. May need another rinse at a water source.

I searched, but no post yet.

I am on the road a lot, and will drive before I run out of clothes, so I either do this or a laundromat, sometimes hard to find, and not always on schedule…

I only have 25 gallon fresh tank, so do not want to use any of it for clothes. Stops at gas stations or rest stops usually have enough for a bucket.

[Lakeland_Bob]

Wife and I prefer the Laundromat method as well. Only we like to drop it off and pick it up latter all clean and folded.

[packnrat]

i still live in a fixed house, but the bucket sounds good for those needs, but i do agree if close, stop in to a laundry mat with four or five roles of quarters. (buy the soap at wally wourld).
and keep a eye on your things, as sometimes they just get up and walk away.

[CavemanCharlie]

wannavolunteerFT wrote:
My son's Boy Scout troop did the five gallon bucket with the plunger when they camped at the National Jamboree. They were there for about two weeks and most did not have 14 Scout uniform shirts, so they washed. Had about 10-12 buckets to share between 40 boys

Cool !!! they learned to make do with what they had available to them. I wish more young people could learn that.

[wannavolunteerF]

My son's Boy Scout troop did the five gallon bucket with the plunger when they camped at the National Jamboree. They were there for about two weeks and most did not have 14 Scout uniform shirts, so they washed. Had about 10-12 buckets to share between 40 boys

[mobeewan]

A friend told me about the bucket method. He did it when he vacationed in the 4 corners region. An ex army ranger friend of his used to do it when he vacationed in Mexico with his Jeep. The ex ranger said it didn't take long to do laundry driving on the bad roads where he went camping.

If you need more capacity, you might try an 8 or 15 gallon open head plastic drum with either a screw on top or removable top with clamp ring.

[CavemanCharlie]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So 1-2 shirts at a time
1 pair of pants at a time
3 pairs of underwear at a time
4 pairs of socks at a time

I am just a weekend camper. The clothes above is enough for me to go 3-4 days when camping.

[CavemanCharlie]

I've also seen videos where you take the 5 gallon bucket , drill a hole in the lid the right size for a bathroom plunger handle to go through, after putting your clothes in the bucket and the handle of the plunger through the lid, put the lid back on and plunge up and down for a while. Do the same thing to rinse, wring the closes out by hand and hang them up to dry.

I've considered this one but, I am just a weekend camper and have never needed to do it yet.

[RayJayco]

*waiting on the salad jokes to commence!* LOL

I saw a show, it seems like it was a 'boat' made out of plastic bottles and the guy made a trough, with a lid and hung it like a hammock on front and the wave actions did the laundry for him.

[wa8yxm]

They make a couple of products not far removed from what you describe.

one is a Ball. with a crank on the side of the stand. you put in cloths. soap. water and crank a while.. Then rinse out and crank some more.. Then hand wing and air dry.

Another one as I recall you are supposed to "kick around" Almost exactly your plan only designed to be kicked around.

I've not tried 'em but for small "emergency" loads have often considered.

[ajriding]

People are sharing how a laundromat works…. priceless.

[SidecarFlip]

Been doing the bucket thing for years now. Not much capacity but it works.

[Fizz]

A handy hint for the ladies.

After hand washing your 'delicates' give them a twirl in a salad spinner. They come out almost dry.

[harryjr]

This might work better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_lKF9g7-60&t=14s

[mgirardo]

I agree with Old-Biscuit, a 5 gallon bucket doesn't have much capacity at all. Put too many clothes in it and you won't get any agitation. I would think a 5 gallon bucket will hold 1 days worth of clothes for an average size man.

There are plenty of portable washing machines, that use electric or man power, that will probably do a better job.

-Michael