After bathing, laundry is one of the more challenging aspects of living on our off-grid homestead. Between having two kids, doing hard physical work (and sweating buckets in the summer time), and using cloth washrags for our milking routine, we generate a lot of laundry, typically between 3-4 loads per week.
Because we do not have pressurized running water, we are not able to run a regular washing machine. In our early days of living on this land, we had a beautiful dream of washing clothes by hand in an Amish-style washtub. The washtubs are quite dreamy, really. You simply fill one side with your washing water and soap, and let the dirty clothes soak for a bit. Then, you can use a washboard, or just agitate the clothing by hand. After washing, you run each piece of clothing through rollers to squeeze out the liquid, rinse on the other side with clear water, and then run the clothes back through the rollers to dry them before hanging on the line.
As beautiful and efficient as this sounds, the reality is, we simply don’t have time to wash our clothes by hand. We will occasionally do small loads, partly because it is truly fun, and the kids are able to participate fully in the entire process. I also love that I CAN do laundry at home, completely self-sufficiently, even if this season of our life doesn’t allow us to do so.
There are other off-grid laundry options. A friend offered us this small handwasher, but it only fits a few items of clothing at a time. For now, as unglamorous as it sounds, we do our laundry at the laundromat. Once a week we schedule our town errands such as laundry, library, and food shopping, and get everything done in one fell swoop. Instead of using the laundromat’s dryers, we head home with our wet clothes and line dry.
Even in the winter months, we hang clothes outside on the line. In the coldest weather, wet laundry will freeze-dry quite effectively. During rain or snow storms, we get quite creative, stringing rope from one end of the house to the other to form makeshift clotheslines.
This summer, we received a Homesteader Drying Rack from Homestead Store, and it has been an incredible addition to our laundry routine. Because we do so many loads at once, we sometimes run out of space on our (huge) clothesline. On those days, we set up the wooden rack on the grass. When it rains, I bring it into the house. The Homesteader model is so large that it fits about 2 loads of laundry, but it folds up to compactly store on hooks behind our tool shed.
Homestead Store also has an amazing assortment of homesteading essentials, such as books, DVDs, stainless steel kitchen tools, cast iron cookware, tools, beekeeping supplies, and so much more. I feel like I could spend hours dreaming over their assortment!
Homestead Store has also generously given us a discount code to use on their entire site. Enter the code “homesteadhoney” to receive 10% off your entire order at homestead-store.com.
Teri, my husband and I have been talking about making our home more off-grid. It amazes me that more people are starting to look into ways to be more self-reliant. We also don’t have any high pressure water on our property, it sounds like visiting the laundromat will be the best option for us right now.
I have a Maytag wringer washer washer I use. Once a week (on the sunny days) I drag out the generator, hook up the water pump, drag hoses out & plug my Maytag in and wash 3-4 loads, and then hang them on the line or on my pioneer rack indoors. I also use small round hangers which has 28 clothes pins on each. Great for socks and undies. I then hang that in our shower to dry. That way I have more space on my clothes rack. Now that winter has set in, I may have to make a few trips to the laundromat unless we get an occasional 50 degree day.
That sounds like a great option for when (if) we ever have running water!! I have seen people here using those round laundry hangers. They look very smart, and I really should go pick one up the next time I’m at the Amish store! Thanks!
I could use that too, I dry clothes summer and winter in my laundry room on hangers this would be very useful…..
I don’t see the rafflecopter either !!!!l
It is a great rack! The giveaway is over, but the discount code is still valid 🙂 “homesteadhoney” for 10% off.
We’re 100% solar and just a gravity fed well, and we are not in an area with a lot of sun, so we take ours to the laundromat in town, too. And I have a wringer washer – if only I could get enough water and power to run it. Oh, and time, because with four little ones I don’t have a lot of that. 😀
Yes, indeed! Not a lot of time when you’re raising little ones!
Oh how I would love one of these durable racks! I line dry too, winter and summer.
I got some funny looks, but when my grandmother passed away, I asked for her old clothes wringer. We aren’t off the grid yet…but if we ever had to be, I’m ready! What a great way to save energy AND water! Win-win. 🙂
I used to have a small, cheap-o drying rack, but it collapsed and broke. This one looks really sturdy!
Ooooh, I would love to have that pasta machine. There’s no way I can roll dough out that thin by hand!
I LOVE THE DRYING RACK. I WOULD USE IT AS IT SHOULD BE BUT THEN AGAIN, I LOE TO MAKE NOODLES AND THEN IT IS A DRYING RACK FOR THAT PERFECT! NOW I WILL GO TO THE STORE AND BROWSE.
Actually, I would love to let my husband choose some bee keeping supplies. He’s interested in getting started in beekeeping
I would love to have that wringer. My washing machine broke in January and I haven’t replaced it yet. I’ve been going to the coin laundry in the meantime, but I still wash small things in the bathroom sink. I also don’t use big towels anymore since they are so bulky. Instead, we use those white hand towels that you can buy in bulk. When you don’t have access to a washing machine, you definitely are more conscious about using clothes as much as possible before tossing them in the laundry basket.
I love the drying rack. I snooped around your store a bit and believe the cast iron jambalaya pot might be my next item on my wish list.
I would love to try the drying rack. I also like the corn cutter that they have and the pasta machine. I always wanted to learn to make pasta.
ANYTHING in the stainless department! lol.
That drying rack is pretty amazing. Since we can’t have a clothesline in our subdivision, this would allow me to dry many items at a time! Very informative blog, thanks!
I really enjoy your blog and a glimpse of your homesteading life. Thanks for the opportunity to win the drying rack.
I live in AZ, my clothes would dry practically instantly on the Pioneer Drying Rack. =)
The drying rack is awesome, but honestly, almost everything from the homestead-store is wonderful! I could easily use everything they have (minus beekeeping; if I wasn’t allergic that would be great too!).
I would love the beehive kit. It’s a little dream of mine!
I would love to have the Perfection Custom Size Kerosene Cook Stove. It looks so nice!
I would love to try out a homestead dryer in our rv.
So glad I came across your site! I really want to start homesteading!
In the winter, we have a smaller rack like this one that we modified to hang in the highest part of our ceiling. It dries clothes in one day as long as we have a fire at some point to heat the house. SO handy- we never need to use an electric dryer.
I’d love the drying rack. I also would really like the pressure cooker for canning from the homestead store.
Would love one of these, along with hand wringer! love love love.
that is a good drying rack, but I would need the largest, with our growing family. The wringer is also pretty cool. We’ll be moving to our old farmhouse soon, and while we will have a washer and dryer, I’d like to be able to do my laundry should the power fail, as it sometimes does in bad weather.
The clothes wringer would be a huge time-saver as I line-dry my clothes! 😀 I love that people still celebrate and use these things!
Wow! We are putting an offer in on 8 acres and this would be a fabulous addition to our new homestead!
I’d LOVE this drying rack. It looks amazing. Loved hearing your laundry story. 🙂
The drying rack is awsome. We hang out clothes as often as possible and do run out of space too. This would be awesome in the winter to use indoors.
This is my clothes drying dream come true! I have no place for a nice clothes line. This rack is amazing!
I’m drooling over the Bee Thinking Top Line bee hive! I want bees so badly!! That hive is gorgeous!
Definitely would like to have another marble cheese slicer!
I would love to have the cast iron baking pan.
I love the Homestead Store, I ordered my hand wringer from there and they were wonderful. Would love to win a drying rack
Thank you so much for a chance to win one of these! We are also on a homesteading journey and adding another drying rack to my laundry routine would be awesome! Your blog is great and I always look forward to reading them. They’re super informative and entertaining 🙂 take care
thank you!!!
I love this and would love a drying rack that size! Clothes just have an amazing smell when they are dried outside.
I love drying my clothes outside! There’s nothing quite like the smell and feeling of laundry dried in the open air. I could really use one of these drying racks!
Now that is a drying rack! Nothing like the smell of clothes dried in the fresh air. My mom had a similar one when I was a kid. Funny how times change. She dreamt of a dryer, and I still dry outside or in the room with the wood stove in winter.
We had one of these on a very small scale when I was growing up because of not having running water. I’d love to have one of these now as I’m working on being more self sufficient.
I think doing laundry may truly be the most challenging part of living off grid.
Thanks for the insight!
This is a super cool give a way!!!
I had a cheap, small version of this a while ago. I have no idea what happened to it. The things you lose in an unorganized move! I’d love to win a huge one.
Amazing Drying Rack!! And Love your site- you always have great information!
As a mom to an OffGrid living family of nine we generate a lot of laundry and do it all by hand so this would be a great win. I also love that brass pump offered in the store!
I love the smell of clothes after they have hung out on the line. Right now my clothes line consists of t-posts and binder twine.
This drying rack would be a great addition to my homestead! I run out of room quite often so this would definitely come in handy.
One thing on my wishlist is to get a hand pump for our well.
I’ve been using homemade laundry soap for a few months, and with my huge family, a large clothes drying rack would be a great help!
this is awesome ! we don’t have a dryer, and i love that the rack has the tallest option for womens pants. 🙂
I love the free sunshine for drying clothes. Good for you!
line-dryingin the summer is the best – no heating up the house and lower energy bills!
Besides a drying rack I would like to have a square outdoor patio stove.
I have been drying all of my laundry outside or near the wood stove in winter for several years now. My old fold out dryer has recently been broken. I would love an efficient rack like the one in the photo to replace it.
would love to win one of these.
Also, the link for your instagram for homesteading in Oregon is invalid. It’s missing the underscores.
Thanks for letting me know!
Oh my, what an awesome piece of kit! I’m moving to the countryside with my (very electronically oriented) husband, and I have almost convinced him that we can do without a dryer for the summer months… Since they’re spendy, and the house we’re buying doesn’t have one. The drying rack would go a long way towards convincing him! ?
Thanks for the chance to win the drying rack! We are currently building on 4 acres and it would come in handy! I’d love to purchase a water pump from the homestead store. Our well should be complete this week and the pump is on our list of things to purchase.
I so enjoy your post. Keep them coming. I would love a drying rack!
I have a very small drying rack & would love to win this big one!
Love drying racks
Would love a top bar hive
We line dry in the summer. I am working on reducing the clothing we own so washing isn’t as much of a pain. We are constantly overwhelmed with laundry. Dirty and clean.
As a child, we only had a washer. Of course that was in FL and there was no winter lol
In the summer we have taken to teaching pioneer skills to my son and niece.. drying racks and clothes lines are big essentials for us as they learn and we practice our own skills.
Thanks for the honest look at how you manage your laundry. One can quickly see why almost everyone in the old homesteading days hired a laundress! Love the drying rack 🙂
I line dry and have two racks, but they’re cheap dollar store ones that like to collapse and get our clothes dirty. Ugh. I’d love a big sturdy drying rack!
That looks great! I could really use a rack like that for overflow and for the winter… Thanks so much, my fingers are crossed!
I could really use one of these. I love to hang dry out sheets and bedding outside but because we live in the mountains and my husband has awful allergies I tend to dry most things in the dryer. I would love to hand some items to dry.
Where do i start? A grain mill, a drying rack, stainless steel everything…great site! Thanks for the opportunity!
Oftentimes I have access to a washer but no dryer, and I have to try to find places to hang all my clothes to dry -and it’s not easy and leaves my small space feeling cluttered! A drying rack would be fantastic.
What a wonderful giveaway!!! I have been wanting one of these for years and have been following them thru 3 different owners. I would also love to have the new wall mount as well as ALL the Harrison’s homesteading videos and the herb videos 🙂 Thanks for the chance to win such a great product!
I’d love to win this, I hang our laundry out all year too and we live in Colorado. The airs so dry that even in winter when it’s super cold, the clothes still dry (eventually).
I’m still addicted to my dryer and I hate it! I am going to either win this rack or build a clothesline 🙂
Love reading your posts…usually with a cup of coffee…before I head outside. Bees, chickens and dogs…yep, a drying rack would be so nice. We have a small one that we use to hang our candles on between dipping into the bee’s wax. So, do not use that to hang clothes on anymore.
That’s such a thoughtfully designed drying rack. We have a washing machine, but we chose not to buy a dryer and instead dry everything on a clothesline. We are always out of space, though. This drying rack would be perfect, especially when we relocate off-grid someday.
This is such a great giveaway Teri! I loved learning about your homestead laundry routine. It must be so empowering to know that you can still have clean clothes no matter what happens. That roller really does look like fun but I don’t blame you for not wanting to hand wash all the time!
This is a beautiful functional piece. Would love it!
I would love to win one of their beautiful racks. I have one from college, many years ago, that is finally breaking. It’s great to have on rainy days indoors when clothes line use is not possible. PS. I think that outdoor laundry just looks more fun than indoor laundry! 🙂
What a beautiful rack, I would love this for hanging clothes on during the winter inside!
I Love that it takes up a small footprint while add more room than a traditional rack! Love it!!
I have been trying to figure out a drying system and this looks wonderful. Thanks for inspiring all of us.
Is it wrong that I thought “quilt rack” when first seeing that picture?
want that rack!!! love your site!! <3
We have 6 littles, and this would help with laundry immensely! I’d actually have a place to hang the clothing rather than draping them over doors and chairs 😛
I have been admiring these racks for some time!
I always thought I could use the laundry rack for both laundry and pasta….making it a multi use tool! Thanks!
This looks really neat and handy to have.
Finally, a drying rack with a serious bit of space.
Thanks for introducing me to homestead-store.com. They have so much to offer and at very reasonable prices. I am eyeing their dutch oven!
I love the wall mount drying rack!
I’d love to have this laundry rack. That’s what I’d purchase, too.
I love hanging my laundry out to dry! But, I, too, hang laundry inside on rainy days. I also have a retractable clothesline on our back porch.
My wife really wants one of these!
Awesome! I dry outside too.
where exactly do i enter for the pioneer drying rack? At the homestead store? if so, where on the site. i didn’t see any place to enter. Do i enter here? if so where? I clicked on rafflecopter and that wasn’t right. Thanks. And I do follow u on facebook.
Hi Cindy,
Scroll to the bottom of the actual blog post on Homestead Honey. Under the photo of the drying rack, you should see a Rafflecopter widget. With Rafflecopter, you either have to give your email, or you have to be already logged into Facebook. But you WILL need to enter through Rafflecopter, otherwise, your entry won’t count, because Rafflecopter randomly pulls the winner from all of its entries. Hope that helps!
thanks!
Funny the widget wasn’t there last night… there was a link that said rafflecopter, but when I clicked on it, it took me to another link that said rafflecopter. Of course that was very late last night and maybe the widget hadn’t been hadn’t been really put up yet. Oh well. I entered. 🙂
I use a very small drying rack inside near my wood stove in the winter when it’s snowing. I do use my clothesline year round as well. I hang some clothes on hangers and hang them on a cutout near the wood stove…on the frame. The hangers seem to stay on the woodwork of the cutout (window type thing to the kitchen… no window though.) I mean… why use a dryer when you can use sunshine and/or heat? It’s free for gosh sakes! I did use my dryer once in a great while when I need something fast. But the dryer has stopped working, and I will not pay for someone to come look at it. Too tempting to use it again when in a hurry. So it sits. People just don’t understand how nice it is to have fresh outdoorsy smelling sheets, and all other laundry! This gal doesn’t use fabric softener either. I would make my own laundry soap, but since it’s just me, not sure it would really be worth it.
The homestead store really does have lots of cool stuff! Bad thing is, I want all sorts of things there….and I’m trying to purge so much “stuff” so I can live much more minimally. 🙂
Love a,good drying rack. My old one has seen better days (it was my grandmother’s). They last forever… Almost.