Washing Clothes by Hand

How do I wash clothes by hand?
1. The reason clothes used to be washed once a week (on Monday), was the enormous amount of work it takes. With this method it is only practical to change your clothes once a week.
2. Over a large fire or on the woodstove heat two large kettles of water to a boil. While it is heating seperate your colors and whites and scrub on the bad stains with your hands or stiff brush.
3. Soften the water of one kettle by adding a small amount of lye or ashes . You can skip this step if you are washing with rainwater.
4. In the other kettle put the clothes in to boil for about five minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Pour the rainwater or lye-softened water into the washtub and put the boiled clothes in with it.
6. Use soft-soap or strong lye soap to scrub the clothes with a washboard.
7. When washing quilts or heavy bedding, put them instead into a barrel and stomp on them with bare feet instead of scrubbing by hand.
8. Rinse (see below).

What hand-washing devices are available?
There are two main non-electric hand washing devices available today. There is a Wonder Washer which is a hand-turned sphere but which only holds about 2 pounds, and there is the James Washer which can hold 16 gallons of water and do much more laundry. You would scrub the clothes with the devices, and then use the regular rinsing techniques (see below).