Saving money while doing laundry...by hand??

So here's a crazy idea for you apartment-dwellers looking to save a few dollars: wash your laundry...by hand!  Now, I'm not expecting everyone to be on board with this idea, in fact I've only done it myself a handful of times, but it's worth thinking about.  Living in an apartment and trying to save money can be quite the adventure, and when you don't have laundry in your own apartment and you are forced to use either a laundromat or the apartment laundry facilities, it can become rather expensive.  In our apartment building, it costs $2.00 for each wash cycle and $1.50 for each dry cycle.  If you are doing two small loads of wash, you can sometimes dry them both in the same dry cycle, which is one way to save money.  That won't always work, however, so you'll have to experiment with your dryer and see if it's possible or if things are still left damp. 

On the other hand, items that are not heavily soiled can easily be washed by hand in a large bucket or even your bathtub.  You can then either air dry everything or just pay for the one dryer load, saving yourself a couple bucks!  The only supplies you need are a large mop bucket, a durable plunger (new, not used!), and your regular laundry detergent. 

Items that are pretty easy to wash by hand:
Towels
Washcloths
Underwear
Socks
T-shirts

First, throw everything into the bucket or bathtub - you can color sort if you need to - then add enough water (whatever temperature you'd like - read your tags!) to cover the items.  You'll then have to use some good ol' elbow grease to "plunge" everything in the bucket.  Just use a normal plunging motion to mix everything around, this motion will essentially pull the water through the fabric.  The basic idea is to get everything soaked and loosen stains - you may notice that the water will begin to get dirty as you are plunging away.  At this point you've completed your "rinse" cycle, so go ahead and empty the water, then add a normal amount of laundry detergent and refill the bucket with fresh water.  Once you've added fresh water in the bucket, plunge away for as long as you can - anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes is ideal, it will be a matter of whether you can go that long!  The next step is to let everything sit for another 10 minutes or so, then begin rinsing.  You'll want to empty the old water, then refill with fresh water, plunge for a couple minutes and repeat.  Do this as many times as you have to until the water runs clear.  Once finished, you can either air dry everything or just throw it in the dryer.   

Below is a video from Sandra, The Thrifty Mommy, showing how she does her laundry by hand in a bathtub.  Take tips from her video and this blog and save some $$ while doing laundry!!