Doing Laundry On the Road - Winter 2018

This morning was a chilly 38 degrees
at Hi Jolly Campground
in Quartzsite, Arizona
this morning!

It was also laundry day. 

Luckily I brought a 50 foot line of paracord. 

I hung one in from a tree and one and from my van.

I separated my items and decided to do underwear first, 

then blouses, then pants, then socks. 

I did my sheet last because I wanted to let it soak.

I put about 3 inches of hot water in my black bucket and put in my underwear. After letting it soak for maybe 10 minutes, I used the plunger “washing machine“ that I purchased to agitate the clothes. It actually worked great and I’m really happy with it. I originally brought a top for the bucket. It went to my son’s beer making kit but I quickly learned that the hole for the handle of the plunger needs to be in the center not around the outside edge. Oh doh!  When you’re getting ready to do this van dwelling trip, there are things that don’t occur to you until you’re actually in the middle of the process.

After plunging the underwear then I washed each piece separately. It’s much easier to plunge one item at a time than to try to fill the bucket and plunge it. I think the clothes get cleaner doing one item at a time. Luckily, with this lifestyle, there are not huge piles of laundry.

After everything was washed I fed my water to a local tree and put 3 inches of clean water in the bucket. I wrung as much water out of the clothes as I could and then added each piece to the clean water. This would’ve been a great time to have my great grandmother’s wringer to wring those clothes out. 

But I managed OK.

I used safety pins to hang my clothes out. This was a trick I learned on the Camino Santiago. It’s especially handy for here in the desert where the wind can quickly ruin your wash by knocking it off the line.

So that’s it. My laundry is finished. The sun will come around this way in about an hour and I expect everything to dry quickly in the breeze.  It feels so good to have it done and I actually enjoyed this experience. And an extra bonus is that wonderful smell of clothes that have dried in the sunshine.  

I’ll sleep really good tonight!

Ma Cato used to tell me I was born in the wrong century and that I would’ve been a great pioneer. I can remember her saying, “most people couldn’t live that way, Sis, but I believe you could and you’d be happy!”

I agree with her. 

I love being out here in the wilderness. 

And I’m happy to do these menial chores without the modern conveniences.

I’m using the rinse water to give my van a quick wash on the inside 

and get some of the desert dust out of it. 

So laundry day also turned into cleaning day a

nd I finished by 10 AM. 

Not bad!

View from my van door: