The laundry plunger makes a satisfying splurp-splurp sound as you push it into the clothes, watching the suds come up, it is a meditative act. I remember making my own laundry soap and attaching a two compartment hand washing bin on wheels to the hoses where a washer would have stood. The plunger-like tool to wash the clothes was great and our clothes were never cleaner. Rinse them in the second bin, wring them out best I could, and to the clothes line I went.

Doug and I have always tried to live as sustainably as possible. And back on our Kiowa homestead, we did pretty good. Eventually, I did get a new washer. I used a clothes line for several years until I got a wee Pyrenees puppy who shredded any clothes put on the line! He’s long since passed away, and there isn’t a clothes line at my new cottage (which surprises me since it is from 1910), but I do miss one and I may try and get one put in. The winds here are such that the old cemented in t-posts are the only kind that work here. The nice thing about the high desert is that clothes dry very quickly.

I have fond memories of hanging clothes on the line. The wind sweetly touching my face in the summer, the sun shining on me. One place we lived, a glorious buck used to lay close as I hung the clothes on the line under the stars. There is great peace in mundane acts of housekeeping.

Here, we have a very old washer and dryer that make me miss my handwashing bins and a clothes line, but they do the trick! Still wanting to be as sustainable as possible, I tried the laundry sheets instead of the plastic bins of soap. I’ve been using them for years. They work amazingly, to my delight. Instead of dryer sheets, we use wool balls. They, as well, work great. You can use them for six months or better. Because of the dry climate, we have enough static cling that if we rub our hair with a towel, we can get it as high as we wore it in the eighties. I have found that putting a little lavender oil on one of the wool balls before use takes care of most of the static and my clothes smell wonderful.

So, if you were wondering if the more natural products work, you can bet they do! They create considerably less waste and are better for your skin and the environment. Happy laundering!