Rub-A-Dub-Dub, Doing Laundry in the Tub

In preperation for the wedding and the two weeks worth of packing that needs to be done, we finally decided to tackle the overwhelming mounds of laundry we'd been building up for the last couple of months. Only this time I wanted to try something different. I finally got fed up with feeding the laundry mat meters 30 dollars ever time we went, only to have 10 of those dollars eaten, never to be returned, because of the 50/50 chance of it being out of order. Instead, we decided to do it ourself at home in the tub! After seeing it done on a documentary called No Impact Man, we tossed a load in bathtub, put the normal amount of detergent, and ran the water. Once all the clothes were covered with water, we rolled up our jeans, hoped on in (with clean feet of course!) and giggled with each other as we held hands for balance and walked all over them. When the water started losing it's bubbles and turning brown, (gross, right?!) we drained it, repeated step 1, drained it again, and then used the shower head to spray it clean one last time! That whole part was fun and easy and I found myself asking why we hadn't started this sooner. Drying the clothes however, was a different story. That thing that washers do at the end of each cycle, where it spins really fast to get all of the water out of the clothes....totally necessary. We had to squeeze the water out of each individual garment, then hang them on the line to dry, only to continue dripping from there. If you're going to try this, be prepared to wait overnight (or two!) before these clothes are dry enough to wear. They also dry a little stiff when you air dry, but it's nothing a little shake and heat from the hair dryer won't fix! We decided that if we're going to keep this up for awhile, we;re not going to let our laundry basket overflow before doing it. We're also going to put aside $30 every time we do a load at home, to go towards our "Washer and Dryer Fund." Hopefully it won't take too long!

Drey $ Nicole