greenmtnboy
08-24-2013, 17:26
I heard some do it yourself clothes washing methods to avoid the expense and trouble of laundermats:
Get a plastic 5 gallon bucket (at any hardware or paint store; Home Depot calls 'em "Homer Buckets.) and a toilet plunger (the old rubber type), and use laundry detergent with the bucket half or 3/4 full.
Use sun-warmed water and plunge the heck out of the well-soaked clothing in the bucket for about 5 minutes.
Works BETTER than a washing machine!
The Kent ACE Hardware carries the buckets and the plungers, and Hoosatonic River water works just fine!
I know this because I had some work shirts that even after 2 complete wash cycles in a $1000 front-loader wouldn't come clean. Used above method, and the bucket water was dirty from the "clean" shirts.
Yes, it's a hassle to buy a bucket (under $3), though the plunger can be disassembled and taken w/ you on the trail (weighs about 10oz total).
Another:
Hikers need an attitude adjustment.
I've been a hiker my whole life.
Wash your clothes in the rain when you can, or in streams you cross, there are plenty on the AT. Disinfect your clothing in the sun, or near the fire. It's not difficult, even in winter. Snow and crushed ice are abrasives, they make great soap for your cook pot as well.
If you're one of those hikers that needs mail drops, keep a clean set of clothes you don't wear on the trail in your pack for jaunts into town. Most hikers are allergic to carrying weight. It can be physical for some with smaller physiques. But it's mostly a problem of a weak will. It's mostly mental.
I'd rather no one off the trail even know I'm a hiker for personal security reasons. The odd times I went into towns was to get food resupply. I'd scrub down with a washcloth and soap and rinsed with collapsable water bladder similar to this, http://bit.ly/14y7vOu , put on my town cloths and left my pack in the woods.
I never needed a laundry mat, nor would I ever presume the town folk needed to bend over backwards for me. I don't expect that any other time, why would I expect it if I walked into an establishment disguised as a homeless person?
Most thru-hikers are complete slobs when they go into town. They spent months planning their trips, and their best plan involved doing laundry in a laundry mat where the owner is notoriously hostile to hikers? I don't really have sympathy for them.
Another:
"Good suggestions but the problem is often drying, the risk is mildew, with the nasty odor that is."
Pro tip:
All clothing in your pack is dry. The only wet clothing should be what you're wearing, or what's strung between two twisted bungees hooked to the frame of your pack. Twist the bungees, pull them across the back of your pack, then hook them to your frame. Then just hang your clothes like you would on a towel rack, only they're between the twists. Hike on.
If you don't have a frame, then punch some grommets in the fabric on the sides of your pack then use the hooks of the bungees in the grommets...2 grommets per side.
But an article today showed that even 'mats' don't really leave clothes that clean: http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/08/no_author/bacterial-soup%E2%80%A8/
Get a plastic 5 gallon bucket (at any hardware or paint store; Home Depot calls 'em "Homer Buckets.) and a toilet plunger (the old rubber type), and use laundry detergent with the bucket half or 3/4 full.
Use sun-warmed water and plunge the heck out of the well-soaked clothing in the bucket for about 5 minutes.
Works BETTER than a washing machine!
The Kent ACE Hardware carries the buckets and the plungers, and Hoosatonic River water works just fine!
I know this because I had some work shirts that even after 2 complete wash cycles in a $1000 front-loader wouldn't come clean. Used above method, and the bucket water was dirty from the "clean" shirts.
Yes, it's a hassle to buy a bucket (under $3), though the plunger can be disassembled and taken w/ you on the trail (weighs about 10oz total).
Another:
Hikers need an attitude adjustment.
I've been a hiker my whole life.
Wash your clothes in the rain when you can, or in streams you cross, there are plenty on the AT. Disinfect your clothing in the sun, or near the fire. It's not difficult, even in winter. Snow and crushed ice are abrasives, they make great soap for your cook pot as well.
If you're one of those hikers that needs mail drops, keep a clean set of clothes you don't wear on the trail in your pack for jaunts into town. Most hikers are allergic to carrying weight. It can be physical for some with smaller physiques. But it's mostly a problem of a weak will. It's mostly mental.
I'd rather no one off the trail even know I'm a hiker for personal security reasons. The odd times I went into towns was to get food resupply. I'd scrub down with a washcloth and soap and rinsed with collapsable water bladder similar to this, http://bit.ly/14y7vOu , put on my town cloths and left my pack in the woods.
I never needed a laundry mat, nor would I ever presume the town folk needed to bend over backwards for me. I don't expect that any other time, why would I expect it if I walked into an establishment disguised as a homeless person?
Most thru-hikers are complete slobs when they go into town. They spent months planning their trips, and their best plan involved doing laundry in a laundry mat where the owner is notoriously hostile to hikers? I don't really have sympathy for them.
Another:
"Good suggestions but the problem is often drying, the risk is mildew, with the nasty odor that is."
Pro tip:
All clothing in your pack is dry. The only wet clothing should be what you're wearing, or what's strung between two twisted bungees hooked to the frame of your pack. Twist the bungees, pull them across the back of your pack, then hook them to your frame. Then just hang your clothes like you would on a towel rack, only they're between the twists. Hike on.
If you don't have a frame, then punch some grommets in the fabric on the sides of your pack then use the hooks of the bungees in the grommets...2 grommets per side.
But an article today showed that even 'mats' don't really leave clothes that clean: http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/08/no_author/bacterial-soup%E2%80%A8/