how to handwash your clothes, aka SQUEEZE

I, being the queen of cardigans and a lover of all things knitted in general, am a handwashing fiend. This habit of mine arose out of a lack of funds for dry-cleaning, and a desire to preserve my precious sweaters from the beating they could take in a dormitory laundromat. It's very important to me to take care of my clothes, so I can wear them for a good, long time. And carefully handwashing is the best way to do that. Sometimes it's even safer for knits than drycleaning! Plus you get to avoid all those nasty chemicals, another pet peeve of mine.

SO, how to handwash?
I start by sorting all my knits into piles by colour. (that's right I have enough knits for piles. Let's not talk about it too much.)
Then I fill the sink with the coldest water I can stand to put my hands into. Temperature is important, because hot water is a fast track to shrunken clothes.
I add to the water a miniscule amount of my hyper-concentrated, no chemicals, only the happy tears of vegans detergent. I've never had a problem using my regular detergent (as opposed to one specifically for delicates), because it's already very gentle and free from harsh soaps. In addition, I really only use a very few mililiters. My clothes always come out clean.
I put one or two of the lightest coloured garments into the water. Make sure they are completely submerged. Let them soak for five or ten minutes.
Carefully squeeze the soapy water through the garments. Carefully. Like the sweaters will break if you squeeze too hard.
I then put the garments in another container (I have a big mixing bowl) until I am done washing all the same garments in the same water. I like saving water.
When you have soaked and squeezed all your knits in order from lightest to darkest, drain the sink and fill it with plain, cold water. Dump the garments into it. If some are bleeding colour (which they shouldn't, if you're using super cold water) don't put them in together.
Squeeze the clean water through the knits.
Drain the sink and let the water seep out of the sweaters.
Gently squeeze the remaining water out. When you can't possibly squeeze any more water out, lay the knit flat on a clean towel. Roll up the towel and squeeze it gently. Yes, there is a lot of squeezing. I'm pretty sure I have muscles in my forearms entirely from handwashing.
Then lay your knit flat to dry.

TA-DA!

It seems time-consuming, and it is, if you do all your sweaters at once (and you have as many as I do.) I just do a few at a time, and it works out fine.

Here are a few links about handwashing that might also be useful:

The
Laundress

eco-friendly detergent ideas