Towels!!!!

[Filbert]

Help!!! My washing machine has just literally blown up and I desperately need to wash towels. How do I hand wash them effectively? ta

[boxtops]

Hot water - lots of, in bath
washing powder

soak, then rinse thoroughly

I only ever wash my towels at 40 degrees anyway, so the temperature isn't a problem.

[fliptheswitch]

No idea, but let me know when you find out.
Mine decided to completely breakdown this morning... which is kind of how I feel now.

[Filbert]

Thanks, on some sites it says cold and on others it says hot so wasn't sure. I'm off to try it now!

[firewatch]

the biggest issue is getting them rung out sufficiently. i lived recently for three months with no washing machine and a toddler i soon realised how greatful i was for a bloody washing machine. best way to ring them is to wrap them round something like a washing pole and ring that way. x

[Mosaic]

Effective wringing needs two people - one to hold, the other to twist. Stand over the bath and twist each towel till it creaks - te creaking is the warp threads beginning to stretch, so don't over-wring or you'll break these threads and holes will develop in the towels.

[Filbert]

Fab thanks all. Will wait for hubby to get home from footy, yes I'll have to wash his sweaty kit as well :-(

[boxtops]

The really easiest thing to do would be to take them to the launderette....

[Anngel123]

Is there not a laundrette near you? I know it is a pain. But well worth it to avoid all the hassle of doing it yourself. My advice : take a good book or someone to chat with. Think of it as "me time"

[Filbert]

unfortunately there is no launderette near me :-(

[firewatch]

have u not got a friend close who can help?

[maggiebee]

Well when I was growing up we didn't have such a thing as a washing machine. Scrubbing board, large tin bath and a wringer. Plenty of elbow grease using a bar of sunlight soap. Oh the good old days. Suggest you go to the local laundrette or ask a friend to help out!

[starone]

I agree with maggie. If they were colour fast we used to boil them in a large boiler which sat in the corner of the kitchen, with some persil of course. Then thoroughly rinsed in a tin bath. They came out lovely. Hard work though. Mother was washing all day Monday. Fry-up for dinner! No time for anything else.

[Mosaic]

Another way to cut down on the elbow grease is to use a hand-held plunger to pound the wet washing. A sink plunger will do fine. So make a bathload and leave to soak in detergent solution - after a decent interval, pund the washing 100 times, leave it to think about itself, then repeat, and rinse.
Smaller items in the load can just be hand wring and chucked in either the handbasin or a bucket, filled with clear water. Bigger items like sheets and towels need a helping hand, as above, to wring them out.

Or if you can afford to ry one of these: http://www.supaprice....table+washing+machine