I ordered a Rapid Washer last week. It arrived yesterday, just in time to give it a test run with that day’s laundry. For those of you who don’t know I’ve been favoring the plunger and bucket method of washing clothes over spending lots of money using our building’s washer and dryer, which don’t work half the time. The techique goes as such:

1. Loosely fill 5 gallon bucket with clothes to within two inches of lip.

2. Place bucket in bathtub and fill with water the tempurature appropriate for clothes, adding just enough detergent to get minimal sudsing.

3. Agitate with (clean) plunger for 1-2 minutes.

4. Soak for 30 minutes.

5. Agitate the fuck outta clothes for 15 minutes.

6. Wring clothes and place into second bucket for first rinse.

7. Fill bucket with water and agitate for 1 minute. If water is reasonably clean wring out, place in third (or rinsed out first) bucket and repeat. Otherwise repeat Steps 1-6 (except 4, a second soaking isn’t necessary) before moving on.

Washing clothes this way has allowed me to get them cleaner than the machine, as well as work off stress (along with a few calories!). Anyway. Back to the Rapid Washer.

I am absolutely amazed at how well this thing works! Yesterday I did a load of whites which, ironically, are our dirtiest clothes. In just two minutes the Rapid Washer had created so much agitation that I was able to flush out as much dirt as I normally remove by the end of my “wash cycle” with the plunger. Needless to say, by the time I got to the end of that cycle with the Rapid Washer the water was black! Once done, the boys’ tidy whities where almost as clean as they were when they were bought. Considering their state when they went in this is saying alot!