Like a true pioneer woman...

I know some of you enjoy reading the Pioneer Woman blog as much as I do, and today, I felt like I was one step closer to becoming a true pioneer woman myself! Why, you ask? Well, in the absence of a laundry machine or a laundromat anywhere near the hotel (and because we're WAY too cheap to have the hotel to our laundry at $1-3 per piece!), Brian and I decided we'd try to handwash our clothes in the bathtub. 

For those of you who find yourselves stuck in a hotel without any clean underwear left (TMI?) or just longing for simpler times when you could scald yourself with hot water and soak your hands in abrasive laundry detergent while trying to get out the grime of two weeks' worth of wear and tear on your clothes (how did women DO it back then??), then here's our step-by-step lesson, complete with photos, for all of you true pioneering spirits out there.

Step 1: Buy your favorite laundry detergent. 



Step 2: Make sure the bathtub you are using is clean. Turn the water on hot, hot, hot and, as the water is filling up in the tub, pour in the amount of detergent you'll need for your load(s) of laundry. For a medium-sized load, the tub should be about halfway full. Make sure you don't have too much water, or during the "agitate cycle," (see Step 5 and 6), you'll end up with more water OUTSIDE of the tub than inside!

Step 3: Using your hands, mix the soap and water together until the soap is completely dissolved.




Step 4: Add your clothes and let them soak for 15 - 20 minutes.





Step 5: Ideally, you'd use one of these. If you don't have one of those, do what we did. Using your hands, your feet, or we've even heard of using a (clean!) toilet plunger, put the clothes through an "agitate cycle" for about 5 minutes. 











Note: Channel your inner Italian (or Lucy and Ethel) here and pretend you're mashing grapes to make wine. Subnote: hot water is really uncomfortable on bare feet. Youch!

Step 6: Drain the dirty water. Fill the bathtub up again and repeat Step 5. Repeat as many times as needed until clothes appear to be clean. We recommend 2-3 "agitate cycles."

Step 7: Ring out the clothes and attempt to hang them anywhere in your hotel room where you have space. I recommend the smell-the-armpits-of-your-husband's-shirts method to see if you've gotten them clean.