Three Different Laundry Hand Washing Methods | A Drycleaner’s Guide
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- This is a quick breakdown of there different water based hand cleaning methods:
1) For delicate, lightweight garments that require a very gentle machine cleaning try putting them in a mesh bag to add a layer of protection and mechanical action (cleaning through rubbing). The hand washing cycle on modern machines is usually very gentle; there should barely be any wheel/drum movement so don't fret if it's just sitting there! Check the care label for drying instructions, however air dry (care label symbol: vertical lines surrounded by a square) or flat dry (care label symbol: horizontal line surrounded by a square) is likely in your future.
2) For pieces that require even more delicate handling grab: a bucket/sink/tub filled half way with warm water, liquid or powdered laundry detergent, your garment(s), and while not necessary but extremely helpful, a cleaning brush. Move the garment with up and down motions to allow those cleaning agents in the detergent do their thing. Rinsing and repeating is recommended for more soiled pieces. Light brushing is very helpful for lifting stains away from the garment.
3) If you need to clean a large amount of garments by hand you should look to the cleaning method above for very lightly to lightly soiled loads and the washboard and detergent bar for soiled loads. You'll need to be very close to a source of running water or else rinsing will be challenging. This explanation is very brief however there is a breakdown video a few scrolls below: get the garment wet, work in laundry bar lightly to soiled areas, rub the garment on the washboard to create lather, rinse, and repeat. This type of hand cleaning uses an enormous amount of water. Friendly reminder that modern HE (high efficiency) machines use between 4-13 gallons which is far less than this process.
These are my definitions of 'hand cleaning' and how I understand them. If you have improvements, feedback, comments, problems, notes, please feel free to send a message as I'm only trying to learn more!
Protip - the more time a pretreatment sits on a stain the more effective it will be. However you should always test the product you plan to use on a small, hidden area on the garment, prior to proceeding. Inspect for damage or changes. Possibles risks include: color change, holes, threadbare, discoloration.
Growing up we didn't have a washing machine and no access to a laundromat so my mom would do our washing in the tub. She would fill the tub with warm water and laundry soap, set me in it and have me stomp around until I got bored. I was about 7 at the time so this was great fun. Then she's go in with a scrub board and scrub out any stains before draining the tub and refilling with clean water. Once again it was my turn to do the laundry stomp. When I was once again bored she'd rinse each piece individually before wringing them out and hanging them on our outside drying line. At the time this was all great fun for me, I didn't realize until I was older how much extra work it was for her to wash our clothes.
Ignorance is innocence
Your mom was so sweet to let you enjoy what was probably a tiring task for her!
She sounds like a great mom
That sounds like a really sweet memory
Sounds like you were doing the work 😂
Damn bro I didn't know chain mail came back in style 😂 love ur content btw made my life easier 👍
they're usually for concerts or festivals and they're super pretty if styled correctly
@@-Mathias-Rthe 1300s?
Yeah, this screams "I bought a single-use outfit for Remittance/Eras and now I want to wear it a second time."
@@fee9224 Lisa wore one at some Blackpink Concerts and with the stage lights it made her look like a disco ball and it was amazing
thanks for the kind words
Mesh laundry bags have changed my life when it comes to doing laundry. I can wash bras with regular laundry. Plushy blankets don't pill as much or as quickly. Delicate fabrics stay intact. They are absolutely amazing.
mesh bags are a staple at any good dry cleaner, I approve this message
All my clothes are from fast fashion (like H&M, old navy, target etc.) since I’m a young 20 something and I get them to last for years by using mesh laundry bags on basically everything except for tshirts and jeans. They really help
@@Milkman0101honestly I hate fast fashion, like to my core, but I’m not angry at all or even annoyed when people treat fast fashion clothes like you. Especially because you aren’t buying them out of convenience or because they can be thrown away without a second though, but because you can’t afford nice fancy clothes (neither can I, but I thrift). Fast fashion clothes weren’t made to last, so it’s impressive that you’ve gotten them to even last a year. Props to you.
@@pamelam1101 any items of mine that are fast fashion have remained in pretty good quality since I bought them, I've been wearing some pieces for years now 💫
@@pamelam1101yeah i have hoodies ive had from walmart since 2019 just tryna be sustainable
thanks for in just a few words recognizing the work that women and the working class have always been doing as something that takes skill and development and that it should not be undervalued or seen as unskilled labor 👍 very cool
I lived in a Black Hmong village for a year in Vietnam. Electricity had been there for less than a decade, and several houses shared one line. They had running water... a pipe stuck in a spring directed into the kitchen, it was literally always running. We washed or clothes with our feet.
If you planning to do something else with your hands that day, hand washing whole load of clothes will give you hell. Stomping is pretty good unless you need spot cleaning.
Ah yes, the classic "footwashing" technique. I live in Canada with all possible amenities, but when the washer breaks down I fill the bathtub and stomp my clothes clean.
A washing machine is just an automatic agitator, but get a couple kids in the tub and you've got a turbo washer.
I washed my clothes by hand when I studied abroad in Bhutan. I don’t know about you, but man the water was ice cold in the mountains 😭 So painful for the hands. Such a stark comparison to having a washer and dryer. We’re so spoiled lol
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica, I learned to wash my clothes by hand with only your hands. I'm glad I learned the technique.
The washboard method is the reason my mom had the arm strength to smack you into next Thursday
LMAO!!! Yeah, they definitely strengthen the arm. But I want one.
Love abuse huh?
😂😂😂As a child born from a handwashing family, I love this comment
@@yehooyahoo6861 Abuse? What abuse? Between using that washboard and 40 years of typing, I find my arms look far better than some others of my age group. And practising on annoying half-siblings, my knuckle game is good too. :D
@@joan-mariacbrooks
Okay 🤡
We’ll see how good that arm is in the nursing home.
In Africa we use our hands. You use each hand to grab a piece of the fabric. Submerge your hands into the water. Take it out then use your hands to rub the two pieces of fabric together. Then submerge your hands into the water again and repeat. This method works better than a washing machine, but it's HARD.
I've had to do this, but the detergent made my hands dry and scaly.
@@gemmeldrakes2758 Yes. You have to make sure you wash your hands thoroughly. Don't let lat slippery residue sit on your hands.
@@KDbelievesoh what does sand do to help? i dont hand wash clothes anymore but washing dishes still dries my hands up if i dont keep an eye on them so i would love any tips
I do it too, my mum taught me when I was younger. She washes most of the clothes by hand, but she does have a washing machine for the bulkier stuff/resistant fabrics like jeans. and she's been a stay-at-home-mother since we 3 were born. I can't begin to imagine how tough it must be to wash absolutely everything, including heavy blankets and other voluminous things, all by hand, while juggling another job...
@@paolai8780 We don't use sand. I said salt. It helps to break up the slippery residue that's left behind after using laundry detergent. That slippery residue is what dries our hands out.
For washing dishes, I highly recommend you to change your dish soap or wear gloves. My favorite dish soap is the pink Dawn Gentle Clean dish soap. It's both a hand and dish soap. It doesn't dry out my hands.
In Mexico we have cement blocks with two chambers. One is just a plain chamber to store water, and the other one is bigger, slanted, has the washboard grooves and an drainage hole you can either connect to the plumbing or to a spout. Less compact than a separated washboard, but I’d say it is more convenient.
We had one of those in our basement here in the US until very recently. So handy! I think it must've been at least 100 years old because the only way they could've gotten it in there would be to lower it into the basement before building the house on top, and the house is 100 years old.
My washer broke and for three months I couldn't find one to replace it so I washed everything in my bathtub. Scrubbed the tub, put the clothes in to soak, then step in and basically walked around like a spin cycle because my tub had a textured bottom lol rinse and repeat intill I fell the were good. The worst part was ringing them out.
The inventors of the machine washer/dryer are the real heroes of everyday life!!!
I read a bit in a traditional cleaning book that a woman would just leave the clothing to soak- time dependent on how dirty it was- with detergent or hydrogen peroxide sometimes overnight, then another tub to rinse and then wring and dry. This would be good if you didn't want to spend time/ couldn't do all the scrubbing. I had to do some hand washing once and strained my wrist lol
I always just used my bathtub (or a big bucket) with a plunger that I had drilled holes into to act as the agitator back when I had to handwash all my clothes and didn't have a machine. Laundromats can wear down clothes super fast, and i hated lugging everything around anyway. Bathtub method was easier than having to use a bucket, but one apartment I had only had a walk in shower, so I had to get a bucket. I do not miss those days, but laundry day was a workout day!
I hand washed a load of towels in a really deep/tall bathtub we have since our machine had broken. And omg. My entire body ached afterward. I was also late into my second trimester of pregnancy and most likely had terrible posture/technique and the height of the tub didn’t help, but wow I gained a lot of admiration for people who wash their clothes that way. I didn’t think to have my toddler get in and stomp around or go in myself, but I worry a bit about the detergent irritating our skin. I just wore cleaning gloves and killed the crap out of my shoulders/back 😅
In a pinch you can hold the garment in the palm of one hand (like, wedge it to the palm with your thumb), have your palm up and fingers curled over the garment and your fingers/knuckles of that hand are your handwashing board
absolutely love this video. short, simple, sweet, and STRAIGHT to the point. no BS, no filler, no over complicated stuff to view grab. and super educational too!:))
thank you :) you nailed my vision
Washboard owner here (with a video about it) it definitely is an art form thank you for saying that🎉 I wish I had my washboard with me everywhere
And if you don’t have a board and need to hand wash, the way I do it is to rub the clothes/rags/etc on itself. I fold it over a bit and scrub back and forth with some force.
You could do that, but you're ruining the items that way.
It gets the stains out quicker, but rubbing fabric on anything, even itself, weakens it and makes it lenty
@@bimgorling2036then how to do it right?
@@bimgorling2036 You clearly don't know what you're talking about. My culture has been doing this for centuries, and the fabric is perfectly fine. We literally have a tradition where we pass down clothing to our family. I have some pieces from my great great grandmother
@@hazn7064I think you use something like the washboard. It lets the fabric pass over it smoothly. Or just soak and dip, similar to how he shows with the chainmail.
A Washboard is not strictly necessary for laundering clothes by hand, they're actually a relatively recent invention
I feel it could damage some fabrics also. Use sink, bath, bucket, bowl, don't use too much detergent and rinse thoroughly a couple of times 😊
I live in the Caribbean I handwash...dont have machine. Every thing undergarments towels sheets Jeans..its hard work!
Powdered detergent actually eats away at your skin and nails. But it gets stuff cleaner than the bars..
@@tarabuxo5633that's why I use a broom handle and a bathtub/bucket but it might stretch out the shirt if you're too rough with it
@@tarabuxo5633It eats away at your hands because of how 'basic' the PH level is! Try washing with white wine vinegar if you have access to it and if it would be a cheaper option for you. 😊
@@My_Name_Is_Mud.Omg shut up
So I see that recommendations can read my mind now 😂
I moving house and have no washing machine, and I'm thinking about learning to handwash a load of clothes, but have not once searched or spoken out loud about anything related to handwashing or clothe washing at all. Thankyou for the guide though, I have some pieces made from strange materials that I was scared to put in the machine
Glad one of your YT shorts popped up as I was scrolling through, because I am now a supporter of yours....
Edit: And now on this lazy Sunday I am binge watching....
Thought you’d say you’re washing your clothes
Thank you for the love
You know you're an OG when you've done the hand washing far too many times 😂
My family hand washes in Latin America- you do not need a hand washing board 😂
Yes exactly!
Still more laborious, worse so if it's hot. My tia hand washes in DR but has no choice.
It’s almost like he never said that you did need it to wash by hand. Funny
Or, the fourth option, which you use when cleaning halters and lead ropes (the metal parts can get stuck or bang around in the washer & dryer and you really don't want that)
Grab your dawn dish soap and either a brand new scrubby brush (kinda looks like a toilet brush but it's for dishes) or one of those horse brushes with a handle, and a bucket + hose or just your sink. Fill the bucket or sink with water, put the stuff in, and let it soak for about 5 minutes. After that, take it out, grab your brush, get it (the brush) wet, put the soap on it, get it wet again (like a toothbrush), and start scrubbing the daylights out of your tack. Just don't wreck it if it's a lead or frayed halter. Do it in sections. Rinse each section after you scrub both sides of it. Then repeat until you're all done
It sounds complicated, but it only takes about five minutes per halter and 2 per rope.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: I don't use leather halters. I use nylon halters and the kind of lead that has a short chain on the end. The metal parts on both are solid brass, so nothing will break, even if the cow or horse pulls or thrashes really hard when tied)
Oh my gosh, I’ve never even thought about washing the halters before and I probably never would have if it wasn’t for your comment.
@@itssssstef they get pretty nasty when you use them a lot, so it's a good idea to wash them at least once every few weeks!
It's also really cool just to see the colors come back to life after a good scrub. I had a halter that was dry dirt brown, and after I washed it, it was a beautiful dark blue
@@itssssstefwe power wash them
We used to use the boards and soap bar back in my country in Africa.
Wait a minute!! I would recognise that dial and digital screen setup anywhere! I've never come across anyone who has the same washing machine as me before! 😂 many people wouldn't be prepared to pay those prices for a washing machine, but their machines are DURABLE. My mother's lasted over 15 years before she had to get replacement - this was because they no longer manufactured the part it needed.
And you can use a big or decent size salad spinner to help spin smaller clothes or tshirts. To remove moly odors or hwlp soften use vinegar...It does NOT make your clothes smell like vinegar! Use less detergents, don't need fabric softeners or use Borax instead of the vinegar. I've been using my tub until I get a better auger, apparently something clogged the pipe that drains the washer ...old ways sometimes are best ways 🙃🙂
As an Asian, handwashing is quite common in more rural areas even when there's an accessible washing machine. I loved hearing the aggressive "KWSH KWSH KWSH" when my mom and aunties handwashed clothes together, all sat down in a circle while they gossiped and laughed loudly about the most random stuff lol. I never quite got to the same satisfying squelch the clothes made 😂
I’ve been finding myself needing a washboard more and more lately.. I think it’s time to invest 😂
when i was a kid we didnt have a washing machine, so i learnt how to hand wash, no board! you just rub the cloth against itself between your hands :3 no fancy equipment and very easy
I wish my washing machine had the hand wash cycle. 😢
Edit: I've never gotten this many likes and I wasn't even trying LOL thx guys. 🧺♥️
with robotic arms 😂
@@chocolategirl5725😂
Does it have a delicates cycle?
I’m also recommending you test the delicate cycle. But there are also kits like Dryel which allow your dryer to do dry cleaning, another gentle alternative to hand washing.
As everyone is saying, it might just have a delicate setting. Mine doesn’t have a hand wash option but it has the delicate one.
I hand wash everything, no washer, and most of the time you don’t even have to scrub the items. I just fill a big or small pail, depending on the number of things I wash, with the hottest water you can get out of the bathtub spigot and laundry detergent then you just take any bottle and move the clothes around until they are completely wet. Leave it to soak for a couple hours then rinse out until water is clean and hang over the shower stall and use clothes hangers to hang inside the shower
Edit: Hand wring out your clothes before you hang up to save drying time
Way back in the day when I was like 6 or something like that my grandmother had a washing board and I liked sitting with her while she washed.
I wash my crocheted blankets before blocking them. I usually hand wash them in the bath tub. And that's because a washing machine's gentle cycle can still have an aggressive spin cycle And crochet and knit work can really stretch and distort.
I used to hand wash as a kid living in South America. You dont need a washboard tbh. You just rub two ends of the clothes together. Kinda miss doing it, it was relaxing but goddamn it took an eternity.
I am a master handspinner with a yt channel spinningthepast. I help teach people how to ‘wash’ wool. Which means to soak. I tell them why wool behaves as it does. Processing hundreds of mucky sheep fleeces by hand and messing up along the way. Woolite is no longer formulated for wools but for synthetics. I have no issues washing wool. Only take to dry clearer suits and lined items as understructures that can get ruined.
But I love your channel. I have learned a lot. Thanks
I can’t believe how many people have been scandalized by me washing cashmere in the washer. Thanks for the validation! 😉
ngl I was actually looking for how to wash my really fuzzy fleece sweater, thx for the tutorial!!!
Oh god. I washed all my clothes by hand using bar laundry soap and a wash board. I bought them in Spain and brought them to West Africa where we lived for 9 years. Jeans (old school non stretch) are by far the hardest to wash, so stiff and heavy. I'd use a stiff brush on the dirty parts to spare hands and back muscles! I still hand wash delicates and anything with stains. Oxyclean is a real treasure! Hydrogen peroxide works great also. Still haven't found a way to really remove grease and oil.
For grease and oil, I suggest trying dishwashing soap (the kind used to do the dishes by hand). Hot water might also help, but I'm not sure.
@@quietcat Yes, I've tried that. Some oil stains on shirts are just there permanently. 😥
@2degucitas Yeah, when that happens to me, those clothes just become "at home" clothes. To me, clothes have 4 to 3 stages, extra nice, good to go out of the house, at home, and finally, rags. But, it's a shame when they're still perfectly fine except for a stain.
A good horsehair washing brush is good for hand washing. Just be light with it. Enough hard scrubbing with anything will wear the fabric. Still a really delicate way of hand washing though
Hwaaaaa :O I never thought of using the washing board didn’t know they still made those!! I’ma so get 1 omg
That jabon Zote really brought me back memories
The million dollar question is: what washing machine brand is best!?
Every “high efficiency” machine I’ve had was worthless. Then I got a Speed Queen. My vote is for the Queen!
I have both of my Grandmothers wash boards from the 2930’s 💝 I marvel at the worn marks.
You don't need a laundry board.
Fill a bucket with water and add clothes for a prewash, this gets rid of so much nasty crap. Let sit for 10 minutes then empty, filling bucket with laundry soap and add laundry back. Let the laundry soak for 20 minutes before agitating the load. They make special tools for this. The hardest part is getting the excess water out but it's not impossible. Rinse in clean water by agitating the laundry, for best results add liquid fabric softener to the rinsing cycle.
Hang dry or dry in a dryer. I have had to do it multiple times and I had nothing but my bare hands and a bucket and the laundry came out clean AF.
I swirl it around in a bucket after it soaks in boiling water & castile soap. My arms are like the washer 🙃
I scrub all the super dirty parts with extra soap, and rinse them off. Hang to dry.
This is my camping laundry method. But the bucket takes up a lot of space in the car to be fair.
I grew up using all of these methods❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉
I love Zote laundry bar soap so much (the pink one) it cleans my mop pads and really stained clothes better than laundry detergent and bleach, and it's only $1!!!
I used old toothbrushes for stain treatment. Way gentler to the fabric than washing boards.
When i was younger we weren't financially stabe to buy a washing machine so washing with our hands was the best thing to do since those Washing boards weren't as much popular
I used to have a washboard 😁 I loved it because it saved me soooo much money at the laundromat ❤
I learned how to wash with a board by observing my grandma when I was young, the rest is self taught, and this goes way back, seeing that we have a wooden board that’s been worn down.
I wanna know how handwashing with a washboard is an art form
I think it's was sarcasm
of course you would...
those are good answers to a genuine question
Because how he explains it makes it seem simpler than it is but it’s not.
Probably the intuitive part of knowing how much to agitate to get stains out without damaging clothesvhow myxh soap to use, etc is something you learn with experience.
I love how hand washing is so uncommon at other countrys and here, Argentina most of us did it at least once 😂
These types of videos are nice, thank you
My grandma made me use the metal one to wash our socks in the bath tub. I don’t remember why. I was young and it became a core memory.
I learned to hand wash my clothes with my hands a plastic basin in the Jamaican countryside growing up. We had a washing machine but somethings they always made us hand wash.
I have that washer. One of the best purchases I ever made
Do you have a video on how hand wash with a hand washing board? It's embarrassing but I don't know how to hand wash clothes properly. Thank you for your help 😅
Wild that a washing machine would have a handwash cycle! 😅
Nice Miele washer
THEY DONE GENTRIFIED THE CLEANING BOARD
I just use regular washing powder and do it in the tub if I for some reason cant use a washing machine, works great, dont overcomplicate stuff
Question if i jusr let the clothes soak isnt it the same
I use a pillow case if I cant find the mesh bag..brilliant for bigger items. Just tie it.
The best laundry soap I've come across is the sard wonder soap.
I have a wash board. I use it for tough stains. It gets things so much cleaner than the machine!
I do like that after handwashing something, your hands just become so soft lol
Can you give some advice on tumble dryer use please? I’m confused how anything between the most expensive or the cheapest fabrics can’t go in the tumble dryer when they are made of the same material. What does it depend on, does it even matter at all? Is level of dryness important or temperature?
I used a bucket and a plunger, until the new washer came!
I always wonder why I can just swish my handwash garments with wool wash in the sink, when my great-great-grandma had to boil clothes in a copper.
Haha, back in our Chinese Village, we didn’t use a washing board. We used the palms of our hands to scrub against each other.
What kind of detergent should be used for silk? I’ve heard there is a specific “silk” detergent and that normal detergent can damage it but I can’t really seems to find it
I use wool wash for silk - both fibers can't be washed with enzyme cleaners that are in normal detergents, because the enzymes would target the natural fibers in wool/silk. As such, most wool washes should be safe for silk, since they don't have enzyme cleaners 👍
Many places in Mexico still use washing boards they are very efficient
You have the exact same washing mashine as me
Praise God for washing machines dude
Or if you don’t have a machine but do have a bathtub, make your own machine in the bathtub and twist it around fast with your arms. Did that for a year since I was broke af and didn’t have money for the laundromat either 😂
Edit: misspelled laundromat lol
was that a bar of ZOTE?
I used to love watching my grandma hand wash outback on her washing rock
This did help thank you so much
I learned you *need* fabric softener rinse after washing with laundry bars. Those detergents in the bars can be harsh.
Desperate to know how to clean a “do not wash” shaggy faux fur coat. The previous owner wore really strong perfume & id love to get rid of the scent & give its a refresh but worried the fur becoming matted
There's a great scene in The Stand by Stephen King where this lady really wants to wash her clothes, but the world basically ended, so there's no electricity. Her boyfriend looks all around the junk shops in town, and it finally occurs to him to go to the music shop where, lo and behold, he finds a washboard.
Who else has done the sink & hand soap combo when you realized you didn’t bring enough socks on vacation?
I still have a washboard! I do all my hand wash but at one point i washed all my clothes with a washboard ❤
What kind of soaps are the bars? I assume laundry detergent obviously but, brand?
Using zote really shows you know what's up
Thanks hun! I have things I've been washing completely wrong or ages- can you please do leather and faux leather xx
We just use our hands, i never knew about washer boards til I heard being used to describe someone’s abs
I hand wash all of my intimates, stockings and lace. I also happen to have RA. Oh how badly do I wish my machine had a handwash cycle.
I used to hand wash everything until I was 23, even my bedding. Now I only use washing machine and it makes me lazy..I really miss those days 😅
I have a cashmere sweater that pills when I look at it and I need a couple holes fixed… any ideas ( little tear at cuff a slit from a finger nail and a random infant button size hole. I love the sweater can’t find cashmere yarns to sew them up and I crochet not knit! 😢
You can also rub the fabric against itself if you don't have a washing board. It's a pain for sure lol
The chainmail one was giving hannah montana from the movie
My relatives in Mexico do it the third way. …I wish I was more appreciative of the things I have.
What kind of bar soap did you use for the last one ?
What do mesh bags actually do? I’ve never used one. 😅
The inner Jamaican in me was waiting for the Scroops hand washing method.
My anesthetic is 'survival of the fittest' . Everything goes in the washing machine and whatever survives is what I'll wear.
How do you clean crochet blankets/stuff?!?!