Design competition ..... The dirty laundry thread

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Do I win £5?
 
jdc said:
I have been pondering how to keep fit on long voyages, and being a keen rower have thought of adapting a Concept rowing machine to charge the batteries. But your competition gives me another idea: use a water friction machine and wash clothes! Shouldn't prove too hard to turn this
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into a washing machine!

PS: I mean the machine, not the girl...
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Ingenious. A rowing machine on a boat! Definitely, the leading contender for the heath Robinson prize!
 
slightly different when on a sahara desert rally once we would wash up after night time meal and one day the chef burnt the food in the pot and we had a lot of beer so I emptied a one of the big plastic cargo boxes around 600 x 500 x 500 put the plates cutlery pots ect in half filled it with water a big shot of washing up liquid put the lid on and placed it on the back of a support truck and after 8 hours and around 500 km of track it had a good swish about and came out clean , it is now the way we do it all the time so a big square cheap container half full with lid on tied down on the for deck might do the trick underway
 
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single said:
A crazy idea for underway but it should work. Buy a waterproof cylinder, make a nose cap, add swivel and fins and tow behind boat full of fresh water,washing and detergent.

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A definite contender for the design award. Couls also be used when anchoring in tidal streams. Especially if there is a spiral on the cylinder to make it spin on a swivel shackle!

The only problem I can foresee is Great White's lunching on my underwear! They would probably cough them up, though!
 
Vonasi said:
Every marina and nearly every cafe has a washing machine that meets all of your criteria. Just find the toilets. Select a bowl, lift the lid and (this bit is very important) check that there is only water in the bowl. Then dangle your clothes in the bowl, keeping hold of them (also important) and hit flush 3 or 4 times. Throw in some washing powder as it's flushing if you want really clean clothes. That's it job done, no motors, no effort.
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:D :D :D
This is one of those ideas that is technically 100% sound but, somehow seems a bit ......
Reminds me of a story of a guy who went to a girl's house for dinner and, when helping her stack the dishwasher, noticed a used toilet brush in the dishwasher. She pointed out that the dishwasher would sterilise anything. Of course, she was 100% technically correct, but he never went round for dinner, again.
 
paul-essex said:
slightly different when on a sahara desert rally once we would wash up after night time meal and one day the chef burnt the food in the pot and we had a lot of beer so I emptied a one of the big plastic cargo boxes around 600 x 500 x 500 put the plates cutlery pots ect in half filled it with water a big shot of washing up liquid put the lid on and placed it on the back of a support truck and after 8 hours and around 500 km of track it had a good swish about and came out clean , it is now the way we do it all the time so a big square cheap container half full with lid on tied down on the for deck might do the trick underway
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That idea is sensible to the point of spoiling all the fun of making disastrous prototypes. It meets the design criteria without any moving parts or bits that can go wrong. Is there no way that you can incorporate some pulleys, rope and breakable components into your idea?
 
Being serious about the problem it seems to me that the most useful part of a washing machine is the spin dryer. A spinner should not take too much electricity as it only takes a few minutes and would not require all that much power. The unbalanced load seems to be the biggest problem.
Now for washing if we assume thatat there is a limited supply of fresh water then you will be obliged to use the washing water several times then also use the rinse water several times which dictates that the clothes be transfered from one tub to another.
The actual washing can be acheived by putting it in a sealed container part filled and let the motion of the boat swish it around over time but it seems to me that actual washing is not so much of a concerm especially if it is perspiration or salt water you want to remove.
if you had room I would suggest an old Hoover twin tub washer. ie one tub for washing one for risnse and spin dry. I would reckon it would run on an inverter not using too much power. A hundred watts or so. Or replace the washing and spin motors with DC motors. However if that takes too much space then I would suggest a spin dryer would be the most useful gadget. Just rely on hand washing and rinsing in a bucket.
Currently here not so much of a concern here as clothes dry in minutes perhaps an hour if dripping wet.
olewill
 
William_H said:
Being serious about the problem it seems to me that the most useful part of a washing machine is the spin dryer. A spinner should not take too much electricity as it only takes a few minutes and would not require all that much power. The unbalanced load seems to be the biggest problem.
Now for washing if we assume thatat there is a limited supply of fresh water then you will be obliged to use the washing water several times then also use the rinse water several times which dictates that the clothes be transfered from one tub to another.
The actual washing can be acheived by putting it in a sealed container part filled and let the motion of the boat swish it around over time but it seems to me that actual washing is not so much of a concerm especially if it is perspiration or salt water you want to remove.
if you had room I would suggest an old Hoover twin tub washer. ie one tub for washing one for risnse and spin dry. I would reckon it would run on an inverter not using too much power. A hundred watts or so. Or replace the washing and spin motors with DC motors. However if that takes too much space then I would suggest a spin dryer would be the most useful gadget. Just rely on hand washing and rinsing in a bucket.
Currently here not so much of a concern here as clothes dry in minutes perhaps an hour if dripping wet.
olewill
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As in Oz, the drying is not a problem in Greece. Yes, a camping washer on an inverter would be possible, (although a bit bulky), but, you may have gathered that I am looking for a heroic failure to fritter away my time on. The depressingly sensible suggestion of a sealed container allowing the boats motion to do the work is worryingly close to making my life without purpose this summer. The sealed container could even have a solar powered element to heat the water.

Perhaps, I will need to find a different hair brained scheme to squander my time on, this summer. I rather like the idea of having a collapsible tender that is assembled from other things on the boat. Tender, washboards, sprayhood, passarelle, etc. Yes, that sounds like a project that is safe from sensible suggestions from engineering types.
 
Spirit of Glenans said:
When our kids were very young and we used to go on camping, later campervan, holidays in the south of Ireland and western France, the most useful item we brought with us was a hand-operated washing machine. It was simply a cylinder, like an old hand-churn , about a foot in diameter and about 18 inches long, with a screw-on lid, fluted vertically down the sides , mounted on gimbals and had a handle with which to tumble it. It wouldn't fit your "no manual labour" condition, but was quite efficient for washing a few small garments at a time, provided you put your back into it. I have no idea where it came from or whether they are still made.
Now that I think about it, it may still be in the deeper recess of our attic. If it is, I'll try to get a photo on here.
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There might be an answer to the no manual labour requirement. Is it sealable and can it roll - if so pop it on the cabin sole and go sailing.
 
A stout laundry filled bucket hanging under the engine exhaust, some saltwater soap, bit of battery charging at anchor, adjust rpm ......

The challenge will be attaching a spin dryer to the alternator pulley...
 
It takes a genius to ask the right question ( apparently)

Seriously, clothes have been towed in a string bag to some effect but what is needed is a clothes wringer device. The bigger the squeeze, the less dirt and salt has to be displaced by valuable and tedious freshwater rinses..

Some people claim to ' fling off' the salt from a saltwater tow-wash by simply hanging stuff up in the rigging and letting it flap ... I think what is acceptable in the balmy tropics is less so in a damp cold northern altitude ...

I have tried leaving stuff soaking in a bucket as you sail along and giving it a prod and a stir every so often ... Then twisting it dry... It does not compare to 40deg spin cycle in a Bosch...
 
KellysEye said:
We had a hand turned washing machine but didn't use it so sold it. There are places called laundrettes which involves no work at all, which is what the OP wants.
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Anywhere there is a launderette, there would also be a Taverna. With a limited budget and the price of washing in Greece, hygiene never wins out in the battle of priorities. Hence, the reason for me handwashing.

Blueboatman said:
A stout laundry filled bucket hanging under the engine exhaust, some saltwater soap, bit of battery charging at anchor, adjust rpm ......
The challenge will be attaching a spin dryer to the alternator pulley...
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To think that Swan pay their designers huge salaries and they have never come up with stuff like this! If I can venture to suggest a modification, the engine outflow could fall in a larger open bucket that contained a taller / sealed freshwater bucket with the clothes. A heated freshwater washing machine.
 
Blueboatman said:
It takes a genius to ask the right question ( apparently)

Seriously, clothes have been towed in a string bag to some effect but what is needed is a clothes wringer device. The bigger the squeeze, the less dirt and salt has to be displaced by valuable and tedious freshwater rinses..
.
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We wash our clothes by hand, preferably but not necessarily while underway under engine, for free hot water. We do have a wringer, and it is wonderful and squeezes out all the water between and after rinses. Made by the Acme Wringer Co of Glasgow, it should probably be in a museum, but then some would say that so should we.
 
Well I have heard of wringing the last ounce of speed out of some old scallop dredger and hanging all the rags in the rigging.... This is clearly a winner .
The Better-Than-Swan heat exchanger bucket-in-bucket is genius .

And I am dead impressed with Normans proper wringer . Respect, not returement to a theme park!
I have a few handtools of my grandfathers era and should prob be in a museum but, my goodness, they don't half hold an edge .
Sounds like we all clean up rather well then, potentially !
 
NormanS said:
We wash our clothes by hand, preferably but not necessarily while underway under engine, for free hot water. We do have a wringer, and it is wonderful and squeezes out all the water between and after rinses. Made by the Acme Wringer Co of Glasgow, it should probably be in a museum, but then some would say that so should we.
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I like to think that you inherited that ringer from Wile E Coyote of Glasgow. ;)
 
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