Living Off The Grid : Washing Your Clothes by Hand

Whether it be to save money, live greener, or to cultivate a sense of self-reliance, washing your clothes by hand can be a satisfying and easy experience and can be successfully accomplished by almost anyone. You don't need any expensive technological investments in order to go old-school with your laundry; just soap, a basin and a clothesline.

It may surprise some readers to know that the vast majority of the world's inhabitants have not yet been privileged enough to be able to use machines to wash clothes. Reasons for this include, but are not limited to lack of electricity in rural locations, lack of plumbing, or lack of the funds to make an investment in a washing machine. In the village where I lived in rural South Africa, only 1 person on my block had a washing machine. They would wheel it outside of their house on Saturdays, connect it to power via a long extension cord and fill it with a few buckets of water to get the process started.

But most people in the village, as most people in villages 'round the world, wash their clothes by-hand, the old-fashioned way. Cleanliness is not forsaken in these areas. Indeed, many people in rural and developing areas hold hygiene in a higher regard than most people in small-town USA. A friend of mine in secondary school mentioned one time that one would have to dispose of any article of clothing with a hole in it or else be heckled for 'being poor'.

Staying in Cape Town, I initially looked forward to being able to rely on the local laundromats to do my laundry. Once I realized I would be paying out at least 40 dollars a month for this convenience (and that's not including bedsheets, towels, etc.) I decided to revert to my old village hand-washing ways. I am certain that I am the only person in my building who washes by hand, if not the only person in the entire block. Honestly, if my apartment had come with a washing machine I would probably just use it. But for now, hand-washing, for me, is a great way to save money. Maybe for you it will be a great way to save the environment.

Characters on the AMC series 'The Walking Dead' washing their clothes.

Hand-washing gets a bad rap both in the media and in society. Recently, I was watching an episode of Walking Dead where the topic of hand-washing is raised. One of the characters says of the process something along the lines of: "It's nowhere near as good as the electric Maytag back home but it will do." Meanwhile everyone's clothes in the show are various shades of dirty-brown.

Its just not true. People have been hand-washing for hundreds of years before electricity and washing machines came around. People still hand-wash. I can tell you now that it is just as good as the machine. As a bonus, clothes that have been hung to dry out in the sun and breeze smell great. You can't get that same smell from perfumed fabric softeners.

So how do you go about it? There are a few main ingredients:

• Dirty clothes
• Water (I like lukewarm the best. Cold water makes my hands uncomfortable.)
• Detergent (I suspect machine soap will work just as well by hand.)
• 2 basins (one for washing, one for rinsing)

The following is the way I have washed my clothes for 3 years now... The more space you have the better. Ideally, your 'washing station' is located outside in the sun so that you can enjoy the day as you wash and not worry about splashing water around.

1. Put some soap into your washing basin, or bathtub, or sink, and then fill it up with water.
2. Toss in your clothes. The longer they soak, the easier it will be to get them clean. 30 minutes is usually sufficient.
3. Start with your underwear (the items of clothes whose cleanliness is most important).
4. Pull out your first boxer brief (or whatever your article of clothing) and wring out the water gently. Turn it INSIDE-OUT.
5. Plunge it back into the water to get it wet again!
6. Lift it back out. 
7. Grab an end of it in each hand. Grip well.
8. Rotate one of your hands 90 degrees. Imagine like you are twisting open an Oreo.
9. Rub the cloth on itself a few times, changing hand positions around to get at all areas. The important part of this whole process is to get the soap into the material where it can work its magic, not the friction of cloth-on-cloth. If you are not gripping tightly, you will find the cloth to be rubbing on the skin of your hands. This will make them sore! If you are gripping the material well, you can wash in such a way that the friction is between the cloth and not between your hands!
10. Plunge it one more time for effect.
11. Wring it out.
12. Toss it into the rinse basin. Grab your next article of clothing. Repeat steps 4-11. Each piece of clothing should only need 10-20 seconds of attention if you're fast about it.
13. Once everything is in the rinse basin, empty your soapy basin and refill it with clean water.
14. Repeat steps 4-11. This time you can rub less, plunge and squeeze more. At this point you just want to get the soap out.
15. Rinse everything a final time in the other basin. Wring and hang to dry!

Tips on drying:

• Sunny days are best but clothes will dry even on cloudy days.
• Strong clothespins are ideal! The old-fashioned peg-style clothespins (the ones almost exclusively for arts and crafts these days) work very well and never need to be replaced.
• Some types of clothing such as jeans don't need a final wringing or else they will dry all wrinkly. Let them drip dry.
• Pin your shirts to the line upside-down to prevent noticeable peg-indentations around the collar which will require ironing.
• Pin everything to the line inside-out to prevent fading by the sun.

Washing your clothes by hand certainly takes more time and energy than a washing machine but leaves one feeling very accomplished and satisfied at the end of the day. It also results in a great deal of money saved! I usually do my washing in my living room while watching sports on TV and I end up finished before I know it. If you're nervous, start small with a few pairs of socks and underwear and build your way up from there.

I encourage you to give hand-washing a try. Experiment with different techniques to find out what works best for you so that you can find your happy middle-ground. This isn't rocket science, just plain ol' soap and water.

Until next time.

Edit: This Article has a pretty simple clothes-washing methos (using a plunger) with photos. I have never tried it with a plunger but besides that the idea and the method is nearly the same as mine.

Foreign Aid and the Budget

I am occasionally asked about my feelings regarding the USA donating aid money to other countries in light of the United State's budget problems. Rather than go into my own thoughts about the matter, I will present the facts of the matter and let you decide...

Peace Corps : $400,000,000.00 total budget for the year 2010.

That's 400 million that went to supporting 7,000 American volunteers working in 76 developing countries across the world as well as the full-time Peace Corps staff working in each host county. Peace Corps Volunteers work in education. A little over $1.00 from each American for the year pays for this global project.

PEPFAR in South Africa : ~$550,000,000.00 total budgeted for South Africa in 2010.

PEPFAR is a program started by President Bush to fight the HIV and AIDS epidemic in developing countries. SouthAfrica.info reports that "PEPFAR funds have supported treatment for nearly 920 000 adults and children in South Africa, while more than five-million South Africans have been tested for HIV and received HIV counseling with US support." Closer to $2.00 from every American for the year to pay for this. Worldwide, PEPFAR was allocated 3.8 billion dollars for 2010 and has been credited with saving millions of lives worldwide since its creation.

These seem like huge amounts of money right? However, when you consider the amounts, you have to look at things in perspective...

Total USA Military Spending for 2010 : $685,100,000,000.00.

685 billion dollars. This is the total amount of money budgeted for military spending for 2010 and includes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's about $2,300 from every American for the year.

Very Simplified Budget for Comparison's Sake

Total US Budget for 2010 - $3,500,000,000,000.00

You will notice you can barely just see the Peace Corps and PEPFAR fund. Combined they used a little over 1 tenth of 1 percent of the 2010 budget. As a comparison, the military budget was 19.57% of the national budget...

Some More Perspective...

Virginia Class Submarine

This is a nuclear submarine used by the US Navy. In 2010, two of these submarines were ordered at a cost of 3.5 billion dollars. Thus, in 2010, if you take the money spent on the global Peace Corps program and in PEPFAR money for HIV/AIDS you will find that the total cost is 4.2 billion dollars, only a bit more money than the amount spent on the purchase of just 2 nuclear submarines in that same year.

These are just the numbers. I pulled them from various websites that anyone can find with a little Google searching. Go out and have fun making your own budget comparisons!

Positive Communication Skills : Being Assertive

Last week I got into an argument with my neighbor over the usage of a clothesline. She informed me, as I came outside carrying a bundle of damp clothing, that Wednesday was her day to use the line and that I can't just use things whenever I want and the ensuing argument ended by calling me a 'rude, snotty bugger'.

The entire situation seems outrageous in retrospect and could have been easily avoided. The problem lay not in the lady's use of the clothesline on a certain day; I could care less. The problem stems from how the message was delivered. Observe:

Me: "Hi"

Lady: "Today is Wednesday and Wednesday is my day to use the clothes line. You are new here and you can't just assume that you can use the line any day you want."

Me: "What am I supposed to do? Go around knocking at every door to check that nobody wants to dry clothes? Its first come, first served."

Lady: "No it isn't. I paid for this clothesline to be put up last year and you're being very cheeky and rude right now!"

Things went downhill quickly from there. I am certainly not about to stand around and let myself be talked-down to by someone, regardless if they are an old woman or a young kid, and lets just say that I responded in kind. I eventually strung up my own personal line to hang my clothes on with a length of paracord.

Now, had she presented her message in an assertive, positive manner, things would have went much differently:

Me: "Hi"

Lady: "Hello, how are you? I think we are going to have a problem here. I usually use the clothesline on Wednesdays to dry my clothes. Would it be OK with you if I hang my wet clothes now and then you can use the line in the afternoon?"

Me: "Oh ok. Well actually I have my own rope that I can hang so its fine."

In this scenario, the woman presents her problem and presents a solution non-confrontational tones and an agreement is reached. It is a positive interaction for both parties.

I presented this same basic premise of Being Assertive during a Life Orientation class I taught in 2010. The idea is to communicate your view point in a neutral fashion. You don't attack the other person and you also make sure to not be overly passive in your stance. The second party is then given a chance to respond and an agreement is either reached or the discussion continues. The basic construction of an assertive interaction is as follows:

Person A: I feel (emotion) when you (issue at hand). I would like it better if you would (possible solution) instead. How do you feel about that?

Person B: I hear what you are saying and I will (change being made).

Person A: Thank you.

Another example of this style of communication in practice of a parent asking a child to do his or her chores. Scenario 1:

Person A: It makes me feel unhappy whenever you don't cut the grass and it grows very high. I would like it better if you would mow the lawn more often. What do you think?

Person B: Ok. How would it be if I cut it weekly; say every Monday?

Person A: That sounds good. Thank you.

Compare that to an attacking, not-ideal style of the same conversation. Scenario 2:

Person A: You're not a child anymore. You should be old enough now to cut the grass. I should not have to tell you to do this.

Person B: Ok should I do it weekly; say every Monday?

Person A: No. It should be done when you notice it and you should be responsible enough to notice on your own.

In which scenario would you predit a positive outcome? Most likely it is the assertive form. In that case, Person A presents the problem and the way they personally feel about it using "I" phrasing. Person B is never attacked and is able to come to a solution with Person A with no hurt feelings.

On the other hand, in Scenario 2, Person A presents the same issue but this time they put the entire load on Person B, criticizing them in various ways. This style of communications will lead to hurt feelings if not a full blown argument.

So, when you go about your life, speak calmy and don't attack the other person. Present the idea from your own perspective and let the other person contribute to the discussion. The world will be a better place and your interactions will be much more positive in nature.

The concept of clear communication is universal whether for children in a village in Africa or adults in developed cities.

The Western Cape Has Good Views

Just two photos from a conference I attended in the Cape Winelands...

Test Post 2011

Getting things up and running once again...

Peace Corps Related Charities

Many people wonder how they can help the Peace Corps cause without having to devote more than two years of their time. An easy answer would be to make a donation to various charities that work with the Peace Corps. During my time in Africa I had first-hand experience with the following sources and found them to be of a high quality.
Any of the following would be a good potential donation...

Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP)

PCPP Website

Sometimes a volunteer wants to do a project which cannot be funded entirely in-country. One place they can turn is the Peace Corps Partnership Program. After an application with a clear project plan and schedule followed by an approvals project, their project will go up on the PCPP website where it can receive donations. 

There are various stringent requirements to make it onto the PCPP system and there is a lot of accountability to ensure that the money is spent where it is supposed to be. There are also requirements as to what amount required must be contributed by the host community.

You can use the PCPP website to search for projects using the volunteer's name, host country or project emphasis.

Mother Bear Project

Mother Bear Website 

This is a great project which helps to bring joy to disadvantaged children throughout the world who have been affected by HIV. Volunteer knitters from across the world knit teddy bears. They attach a simple tag to each bear that reads "With Love, Mother Bear" and the name of the knitter. The Mother Bear Project then sends boxes of these bears around the world where they can be distributed to the kids. The Project's goal is to show the children that there is some definite person in the world that loves them and cares about them.

The cause is very sweet and pure and the website has a load of pictures of smiling kids with their new teddy bears. For 10 dollars you can sponsor a bear and it will be sent with your name attached so some grateful child somewhere in the world.

KLM Foundation

KLM Website

This organisation was started by a former South Africa Peace Corps Volunteer. Its purpose is to send extremely bright but disadvantaged children to one of the best private secondary schools in the country in order to get a fantastic education which will create innumerable opportunities for their futures. The goal is for these learners to come back to their communities later in life with their assumed larger resources and help spur on development in those areas.

The organization hand picks one young learner each year to send to Uplands College after extensive interviewing of candidates. Their selection criteria is explained on their website.

Books for Africa

BFA Website 

This group sends shipments of books to Africa just as the name suggests. Books on the continent are rather hard to come by and amazingly expensive. Therefore it is difficult for schools and communities to put libraries together. My secondary school received something around 2,000 books from this organization which really filled out our library.

You can donate books or funds which will go toward shipping and other costs.

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*Note: I provide these charities only for your reference and consideration because I have firsthand experience working with them. There are hundreds of worthwhile organizations that do good in the world and many will be able to do great things with your generosity.