Whiteley Creek Homestead

These vintage child's clothespins that I scored on eBay longingly remind me of the first warm day of spring when I can resume using my outdoor clothesline. Until then I will happily use my new laundromat-style washer and dryer.

In addition to the ecofriendly attributes including low water level and reduced energy usage, my HE (high efficiency) "Energy Star" qualified front-loading washer uses very little detergent. It has no agitator as traditional washers do, so laundry doesn't show wear as quickly and delicates don't have to be hand washed. Despite the gentle sloshing in very little water, soiled laundry comes out cleaner than I have ever experienced in a traditional washer. Our dryer hadn't died yet , like our washer had, but… okay, I wanted a matching pair. We did give our dryer to a family that needed one. The cleaning cart I created uses a vintage shopping cart that was used by women in earlier days to haul their groceries and other items home when one-car families were commonplace. The carts come in different sizes. This one is a smaller one so that a dishpan fits perfectly at the top to hold my cleaning products.  I hung my cleaning bucket from a detachable metal ring on the side, I clothespinned a garbage bag on the opposite side, and safety-pinned a pillowcase onto the handle to store items that need to be delivered to another part of the house. The idea is not to leave a room until you have completely finished cleaning that particular room. Presently, I have cleaning rags in a basket at the bottom of the cart. However, I think it will work better to possibly store them in the cleaning bucket hanging from the side to free up the space inside the cart to hang a laundry bag where bedding, towels, etc. could be placed. I got the idea for the cleaning cart from Confessions of an Organized Homemaker by Deniece Schofield.