Laundry Washboard

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

My washing machine broke down so I made this little item out of a pine board in a hurry earlier today.

It is about 18 inches or 45.7 cm long and 5 3/8 inches or 13.6 cm wide.

Measurements were not real critical and I could have made the ridges a little straighter.

Scrub surface riffles are about 11 inches or 28 cm top to bottom.

I used hand tools only except for the hole on handle.

Used it for first time after rounding edges and sanding it smooth, no finish needed.

It fits in a bucket very well and would be a very good camp item.

I was quite shocked on well it cleaned some small cotton clothes using a Naptha soap bar.

Anyone else use these things?

 

[SDSmlf]

Guessing there are no female inhabitants in the household you live in? At least none with what could be called upon to perform what we would call traditional laundry duties? Remember wash boards in my grandmother’s and mother’s laundry tubes, but have no memory of them ever being used.

Realistically, can not imagine making a ‘little item out of a pine board’ as a substitute for the washing machine that broke down. If your muzzleloader broke down, what would you do? Get your head out of wherever it is stuck and put down the video game controller. Time for for a new washing machine.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

Here is a young man from South Korea who probably has a better choice of wood for this kind of tool than I chose.



Here is also a website regarding the history of these tools: https://ourpastimes.com/the-history-of-washboards-12212074.html

I find it curious for a website that often extols the virtue of self-reliance to have some members that would deride it.

There are two females in my household and one probably would not fare too well being a late aged octogenarian subjected to the misogynistic rigors of a manual laundry day as she can only stand for a couple of minutes at a time and the other being a youngster who sleeps at the foot of my bed and only dreams of having opposable thumbs so she could open a refrigerator whenever she wants while wagging her tail.

I have been waiting for a couple of weeks now after paying for a repairman contracted by a home owners warranty insurance company who then told me the washing machine is too old to get parts for. So, yes it is time for a new washer and I do take the laundry a mile or two away while waiting as the home owners warranty insurance company drags it feet in what to do next.

This is not the first time I have had to improvise and adapt in regards to washing clothes.

Bucket washes are mainly for small items and it sure beats washing skivvies in a cement sink where drain off water is shared by many people scrubbing them with a brush.

I am not one of these people who wants to live off the grid. As I live in a desert this would be a dangerous and potentially fatal manner of living to those weaker than myself.

This thread is only to describe what could be a camp tool to some people who prefer not to stink while engaged in outdoor activities.

 

[Zonie]

"I find it curious for a website that often extols the virtue of self-reliance to have some members that would deride it."

I think it's great that you took the trouble to build it.

It's probably a bit rough on the cloths that get washed on it but making something to get the job done is always a neat thing to do.

 

[SDSmlf]

No intent to put down your wash board as a camp or primitive tool. Kind of neat and definitely better than a rock or whatever nature may provide. From the OP thought you were suggesting as a substitute for a broken washing machine...... Have had plenty of experience here with washing machine breakdowns, so kind of a hot button.

Here comes off topic rant, apologies offered beforehand.

Started with one of those high end glass top models. Won’t mention the manufacture, but they had a problem with tops of their machines flying off and punching holes in walls. But before that recall even started, there was grief. Maybe two months after purchase let’s say the transmission locked up. Under warranty so not to worry. Except no repair techs in the area. Local shop where we bought it hauled it and the 30 gallons of water in it off and replaced it. They couldn’t make any repairs because they weren’t an ‘authorized service center’. About two months later we get a call from an ‘authorized repair tech’ needing our address as they were ‘on the way’. They were located in Chicago, the city in Illinois. We live about an hour from Charlotte, North Carolina..... A month or two later there is the recall mentioned above because of the ‘tops flying off’. Machine is replaced as part of recall (we were offered a coupon for a fraction of what we had paid if we didn’t want the replacement). Good to go. Except the replacement unit now needs a ‘recall repair’ because of the ‘flying tops’. Told not to use the washer. We chose to stay out of the laundry when it went into the spin cycle and it played Mission Impossible theme music. Couple months later, we get ‘the call’ that it is our turn for recall repair. A satellite dish company’s repair truck shows up??? Apparently subcontracted to make repair. Tech asks us for the repair parts we were supposed to receive. Nope. Nothing delivered. Local appliance place swaps with another machine (same make). About a month later we get a call from another repair service (the household laundry department as been all over the manufacturer, all the way to their board of directors and had involved three states attorney general’s offices by this time), they want make the warranty repair. Told them we were good, machine was replaced. No, they had to confirm. Turns out the ‘repair’ wasn’t installed at the factory. Reinforcement brackets and a new face for the control panel......

Good luck with the purchase of your new washing machine.

 

[Zonie]

Well, to say the least, washing machines are a bit far from traditional muzzleloading and reenacting but for anyone curious like I was, here's a link to a short video about them.



Now, lets get back to the old fashioned board wash board. I'm sure it's top won't fly off.

 

[tenngun]

Townsend ran some vids on a lady camp follower/ laundress.
We tend to reinact the fun parts of life I. The past, even when it means a short time in unpleasant conditions on a trek or at an event.

 

[SDSmlf]

Well, to say the least, washing machines are a bit far from traditional muzzleloading and reenacting but for anyone curious like I was, here's a link to a short video about them.



Now, lets get back to the old fashioned board wash board. I'm sure it's top won't fly off.

I did apologize before my rant and didn’t name any manufacturer.

The washboards I remember seeing (never used or saw one used) had a metal ridges that would tear anything up. Think about driving over a washboarded road at high speed.

 

[Nyckname]

The washboards I remember seeing (never used or saw one used) had a metal ridges that would tear anything up. Think about driving over a washboarded road at high speed.View attachment 17258

My mom used one of those in the bathtub when the machine broke down. She learnt to use it when she was a kid.

 

[Blogman]

Yup, have one in the garage, never used it though.

 

[Gun Tramp]

I think it's a grand idea. I can imagine a fellow camper, "hey, can I borrow your little washboard thing for a minute if you got it with; I was going to make one cause it looked kind of handy but I didn't and could sure use one now..."
I'm copying your idea, thank you Cpl.

 

[wiksmo]

...I made this little item out of a pine board...It fits in a bucket very well and would be a very good camp item...I was quite shocked on well it cleaned some small cotton clothes using a Naptha soap bar.

Anyone else use these things?

Nice wood tool build, Cpl. It would be quite handy on a tent-camping trip. When my wife and I took those trips, we did a lot of wood fire cooking, and always had a bunch of towels or rags that needed washing after meal times.

I had used a washboard quite a lot growing up, but not a portable one like yours. When I was a kid, my folks had a dual basin concrete laundry sink with the right side having a built-in washboard. Found this photo on the web, and it looks exactly like what they had in their basement. The washboard was almost as large as the front panel of the right basin.



Mom had her round-tub Maytag washer to the right of the laundry sink. I was the oldest of five, and got washboard laundry duty quite often whenever us boys brought in dirt-covered and stained knees on our bluejeans. Then Mom used a hand-turn wringer to squeeze water out of the clothes before heading to the clothesline. There were tons of uses for the tub, of course, and the folks had it their entire lives.

I wish I had that deep washtub in my basement today. It would be perfect for cleaning my muzzleloader!

wiksmo