Laundry

Greetings again from Dublin, in Ireland.

I'm writing this time to provide a summary of information I've
obtained to date about moderately portable laundry facilities for
durations of travel that are not conveniently located near automatic
facilities. Many people were very very helpful in their replies.

There is a small portable automatic weighing about 20 pounds on the
market. That's the Nova Miniwash Super 2000. That company doesn't
ship individually outside Belgium or the Netherlands; however,
evidently the product is available in BHV Rivoli, in Paris. I'm
trying to make contact with them on the basis of quite positive
recommendations.

A comparable product is the Explorer MW100 and MW200. The difference
between these two is that the latter has some sort of drying facility.
The former operates on 100 watts (compare with a standard hair drier),
and the latter on about 1500 watts. This is available from North
America (ABS Alaska), and thus requires consideration about shipping
(and possibly a transformer for power conversion).

Asia seems to have a lively market for these things in that there are
any number of gadgets essentially resembling automatic blenders. I've
not had any feedback on their functionality.

What I have tried is the pressure washer. It's a manually operated
thing -- essentially an enormous plastic pickle jar with a tight
sealing lid. It's in a cradle that abets rotating 360 degrees in two
directions on one axis. In itself, it works shockingly well. It's
also lightweight and when in transit can obviously be stuffed with
socks. Rinsing is somewhat less fun. Wringing still less. However,
the hand crank wringer associated with the James Washer is rather
effective. The trick there seems to be getting a sturdy bucket. I've
sampled a thin plastic bucket with perfect dimensions, but found that
hot rinse water makes the bucket so wiggly it's only slightly less
messy than plumbing one's house with a long Slinky. It also makes a
mighty shriek -- it ensures one meets the neighbors, but it works
quite well for the intended purpose of wringing, all the same. Again,
a company in North America, in Ohio, called Lehman's is a possible
source of both products. The wringer is heavier than the washer.

Simpler solutions were also pointed out -- such as a plunger and
bucket combination. I'm thinking about this for my next rinse cycle.

It's worth owning a good auxiliary tool -- a hook, or pinchers -- if
one is obsessed with washing things in nearly boiling water.

In any case, I am very grateful for all of the thoughtful replies to
my original question about painless and portable laundry facilities.

With kindest regards,

Carl