- Manual washing machine to use for power outages or as a hand powered washing machine
- Hand washer machine for delicates and sweaters
- Hand washes clothes as well as a portable washing machine
- DIY laundry for camping, fishing, hunting, expiditions and RV trips
- DIY washing machine to add to your emergency preparedness supply list or 72 hour kit in case of earthquake, flood, tornado, hurricane, or other natural (or even not-so-natural) disasters
Product Features |
Frequently Bought Together
Product Information
Technical Details
| Brand Name | GetPreparedStuff |
| Model Info | Rapid-Washer |
| Item Weight | 2.4 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 24.4 x 7.1 x 8.7 inches |
| Item model number | Rapid-Washer |
| Part Number | Hand-Washer-Machine |
| Color | Blue |
Additional Information
| ASIN | B002QUAPSO |
| Best Sellers Rank | #9,938 in Appliances (See top 100) |
| Shipping Weight | 8.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) |
| Date First Available | September 29, 2009 |
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Product Description
For hand clothes washing, this simple hand clothes washer is more effective than hand washing laundry alone. The hand powered up and down plunger washer action uses the pushing and pulling of water through the clothes to get them clean without a lot of wear and tear on clothes or your hands. This non-electric washer uses minimal water and because of the agitation motion, less soap. It sounds like it's breathing with every clothes washing motion. Save a trip to the laundromat and use it in your sink, 5 gal. bucket, pail or tub to quickly and simply hand wash soiled and dirty clothes. More compact than a hand crank washing machine, the portable rapid washer hand washing machine is a great item to have included with your emergency preparedness kit or 72 hour kit and for those week long outdoor camping expeditions with scouts or hunters or just working on the homestead where a DIY washing machine is needed.
This modern breathing mobile washer version of the old rapid washer doesn't use tin plated steel in it's plunger style funnel cone construction so rust will never be an issue yet it's as durable to last and work better than those made in the 1800's. It's a great item to help you get prepared or just make your daily DIY laundry chores easier.
MADE IN USA
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
213 of 219 people found the following review helpful
By Spirit of 76
This item is actually the Breathing Mobile Washer, not the Rapid Washer that GetPreparedStuff misidentifies it as. The Rapid Washer is the original 19th century design made out of tinned steel, not plastic. That's prone to rust and dents and can damage clothes with its sharp edges.
I was looking for an inexpensive clothes washer because I was sick and tired of hauling clothes to the laundromat, and being in an apartment, I don't have room for a washer and dryer. Electric or hand-powered really didn't matter. What did matter was that hooking up to the faucet would be extremely difficult if not impossible since I already had a Clear2O filter connection on the spout. That ruled out things like the small Haier washers, which were too expensive as well. The electric Wonder Washer looked like an option, but had some bad reviews for its low capacity, sometimes poor reliability, objectionable noise and what looked like rather weak agitator action. Video reviews showed that it just swirled clothes around for a few seconds each way, not back and forth like a regular top-load washer. Think of an oversize stand blender. I considered the Wonderwash hand-powered washer, which received good reviews for its cleaning, but that seemed like it was rather tedious, with screwing and unscrewing the lid and installing and removing the drain tube and watching water drain in a thin stream. I settled on the Breathing Mobile Washer, which as a bonus was the least expensive option of all. (Just buy it direct from the manufacturer's website - breathingwasher dotcom - as mentioned in other reviews. Better to support the manufacturer and save yourself a little or a lot of money by cutting out the middleman. Don't mind their website. It's rather badly designed, but you're only going there to order.)
In my experience, the Breathing Washer works pretty well. For really dirty laundry, just pre-soak the clothing by pushing it down into the water/detergent with the Breathing Washer (15 seconds of agitation should do it) then let it sit for 15-30 minutes before doing the regular agitation cycle. A couple of minutes of agitation at about 30 strokes a minute really does do the job. In fact, the amount of dirt in the water from a bunch of socks each worn one day at the office can be alarming. I wouldn't want pillowcases that will eventually be against my face in that brown water. Again, really bad loads may need extra rinse cycles, but unlike a regular washing machine, you can repeat fill-agitate-empty rinse cycles until you can see the water is clear, rather than trusting the machine. A quick wring to squeeze out most of the detergent-laden washwater before rinsing makes additional rinse cycles less necessary. It's quick enough that I don't really mind doing laundry now, instead of wasting over an hour at the laundromat. The plunging action is surprisingly easy. No strain at all. At the end of two minutes, I'm not winded, thanks to the action using two arms rather than one. Users of the Wonderwash have complained of having a tired arm after two minutes of cranking. But who couldn't do with a little bit of exercise? I've done several consecutive loads without getting tired. It's quiet enough that I can do laundry late at night without disturbing my neighbors. All you hear is a little sloshing and the "breathing" noise as the air rushes through the small top vents. Put on your iPod and headphones and you'd be surprised how quickly and easily the process goes. Wow, it feels like I just started plunging but that three minute song has finished! Still, I do have to admit that really tough, ground-in dirt and grime (you've got ring around the collar!) may occasionally need a little extra attention with a small nylon brush, but only rarely.
Because it's so adjustable in terms of the amount of water and clothing, it's great if you need to do some "emergency" laundry, like if you need a certain garment clean for tomorrow or if you spilled something on your favorite shirt. No need to wait for a full load for the washing machine.
In terms of reliability, this is as tough and simple as it gets. No moving parts at all and it assembles in seconds. The blue parts appear to be made of heavy gauge polypropylene almost 1/8" thick (3mm for non-Americans). I can't imagine this ever breaking short of being run over by a truck. There are some reports of broken parts on the Wonderwash, which is one reason I decided against that. The only other thing you need is a bucket, and buckets also last pretty much forever. The square plastic pails that 22 pound clumping cat litter comes in are a good fit, just a little wider than the 8" diameter of the blue cone. At first, I was afraid the newer, slightly rectangular pails litter makers are switching to might be too narrow, but it turns out they're even better than the old, square buckets. The square ones didn't leave much room around the Breathing Washer, so water would often squirt up and out in the corners if you push hard and fast. The newer pails have more width, so water can move to the other side rather than squirting upward. Some people use the five-gallon buckets sold in home centers, but I don't really like those. Too big and cumbersome for me, but you may not mind.
A couple of tips: The first thing I would recommend is replacing the handle if you intend to use it on the floor. Your local hardware store or home center should have longer screw-in broom handles. I bought a 4-1/2 foot tubular steel handle from Lowe's for $5, which should last the rest of my life. The longer handle lets you stand upright and close to the bucket rather than having to stoop forward and down. This eliminates stress on your lower back. With the longer handle, the power comes from your arms, not your back. Or put the bucket on a platform to raise it up if you want to use the included handle (which is a few inches longer than your average toilet plunger). The first few loads I did without the longer handle, I just put the bucket on my bathtub rim, which also made it quick and convenient to fill with water and tip to dump out when I'm done. The bucket can't fall off the rim. If it slid towards me, bending my knees slightly stops it from falling. If it tilted away, the handle of the Breathing Washer gives me enough leverage to easily pull it back. In fact, even with the longer handle, I prefer to work with the bucket inside the tub, so any splashing is contained and, again, I have easy access to the tub faucet and drain (have to stand inside the tub to agitate, though). I can also wash larger items like comforters directly in the tub thanks to the longer handle. The long handle also lets me space my hands further apart for good control. I grip it with one hand at about shoulder level and the other at waist level, which would be nearly impossible with the original, short handle.
Don't go overboard with detergent. The manufacturer recommends only a couple of teaspoons per load. Using too much doesn't get your clothes cleaner. It's just excess detergent you'll have to spend extra time and effort to rinse out of your clothes. The easy way to know if you're using enough is to look for suds at the end of the wash cycle. If there's a just little bit of suds left, the water still has a bit of cleaning ability, which is perfect. You don't want no suds because that means you didn't use enough and the washwater is completely spent. Lots of suds means you used too much detergent. (The exception of course is if you're using the newest high efficiency detergents that create very few suds, which means you'll just have to measure the detergent.) A regular washing machine doesn't let you see if there's any residual detergent anyway. Once it's finished with the spin cycle, you just don't know how detergent-free the clothes are. In fact, there's a video demonstration that shows machine-washed and -dried clothes being put into a bucket of water then a few strokes with a Breathing Washer pulling enough detergent out of the fabric to create suds. Tweaking the amount of water also takes a bit of experimentation. I've found that too little water means the strong suction action on every upstroke tends to lift the entire bucket. That leads to more splashing and banging as the bucket falls back down. At least 2 to 2 1/2 gallons seems to be the minimum in my bucket even if I'm just washing one garment.
Also, other users have complained that the handle loosens during use. I haven't had that problem myself. Screw it on tightly the first time. Grip the "strainer" part, not the cone, when tightening. That's the part that's actually screwing into the handle, after all. Hold the cone and it'll just spin around the handle before it fully tightens. If you do have trouble with loosening, try winding a layer or two of Teflon tape around the threads before assembly (an old "plumber's trick" to keep threads from loosening; pick it up at the hardware store when you buy the longer handle), or smear some toothpaste on the threads before screwing the handle in, then let it harden for a few days before using again. This acts as a threadlocker compound. (Ever notice how tough it is to re-open a tube of toothpaste after some gets dried onto the threads?) This last may make it harder to unscrew if you ever need to disassemble it, but the Breathing Washer doesn't take up much space, so I don't expect to ever have to anyway. It's only a little bigger than a broom or a mop. Superglue or Gorilla Glue should also work, if you already have them, but that will definitely be permanent. Read more ›
I was looking for an inexpensive clothes washer because I was sick and tired of hauling clothes to the laundromat, and being in an apartment, I don't have room for a washer and dryer. Electric or hand-powered really didn't matter. What did matter was that hooking up to the faucet would be extremely difficult if not impossible since I already had a Clear2O filter connection on the spout. That ruled out things like the small Haier washers, which were too expensive as well. The electric Wonder Washer looked like an option, but had some bad reviews for its low capacity, sometimes poor reliability, objectionable noise and what looked like rather weak agitator action. Video reviews showed that it just swirled clothes around for a few seconds each way, not back and forth like a regular top-load washer. Think of an oversize stand blender. I considered the Wonderwash hand-powered washer, which received good reviews for its cleaning, but that seemed like it was rather tedious, with screwing and unscrewing the lid and installing and removing the drain tube and watching water drain in a thin stream. I settled on the Breathing Mobile Washer, which as a bonus was the least expensive option of all. (Just buy it direct from the manufacturer's website - breathingwasher dotcom - as mentioned in other reviews. Better to support the manufacturer and save yourself a little or a lot of money by cutting out the middleman. Don't mind their website. It's rather badly designed, but you're only going there to order.)
In my experience, the Breathing Washer works pretty well. For really dirty laundry, just pre-soak the clothing by pushing it down into the water/detergent with the Breathing Washer (15 seconds of agitation should do it) then let it sit for 15-30 minutes before doing the regular agitation cycle. A couple of minutes of agitation at about 30 strokes a minute really does do the job. In fact, the amount of dirt in the water from a bunch of socks each worn one day at the office can be alarming. I wouldn't want pillowcases that will eventually be against my face in that brown water. Again, really bad loads may need extra rinse cycles, but unlike a regular washing machine, you can repeat fill-agitate-empty rinse cycles until you can see the water is clear, rather than trusting the machine. A quick wring to squeeze out most of the detergent-laden washwater before rinsing makes additional rinse cycles less necessary. It's quick enough that I don't really mind doing laundry now, instead of wasting over an hour at the laundromat. The plunging action is surprisingly easy. No strain at all. At the end of two minutes, I'm not winded, thanks to the action using two arms rather than one. Users of the Wonderwash have complained of having a tired arm after two minutes of cranking. But who couldn't do with a little bit of exercise? I've done several consecutive loads without getting tired. It's quiet enough that I can do laundry late at night without disturbing my neighbors. All you hear is a little sloshing and the "breathing" noise as the air rushes through the small top vents. Put on your iPod and headphones and you'd be surprised how quickly and easily the process goes. Wow, it feels like I just started plunging but that three minute song has finished! Still, I do have to admit that really tough, ground-in dirt and grime (you've got ring around the collar!) may occasionally need a little extra attention with a small nylon brush, but only rarely.
Because it's so adjustable in terms of the amount of water and clothing, it's great if you need to do some "emergency" laundry, like if you need a certain garment clean for tomorrow or if you spilled something on your favorite shirt. No need to wait for a full load for the washing machine.
In terms of reliability, this is as tough and simple as it gets. No moving parts at all and it assembles in seconds. The blue parts appear to be made of heavy gauge polypropylene almost 1/8" thick (3mm for non-Americans). I can't imagine this ever breaking short of being run over by a truck. There are some reports of broken parts on the Wonderwash, which is one reason I decided against that. The only other thing you need is a bucket, and buckets also last pretty much forever. The square plastic pails that 22 pound clumping cat litter comes in are a good fit, just a little wider than the 8" diameter of the blue cone. At first, I was afraid the newer, slightly rectangular pails litter makers are switching to might be too narrow, but it turns out they're even better than the old, square buckets. The square ones didn't leave much room around the Breathing Washer, so water would often squirt up and out in the corners if you push hard and fast. The newer pails have more width, so water can move to the other side rather than squirting upward. Some people use the five-gallon buckets sold in home centers, but I don't really like those. Too big and cumbersome for me, but you may not mind.
A couple of tips: The first thing I would recommend is replacing the handle if you intend to use it on the floor. Your local hardware store or home center should have longer screw-in broom handles. I bought a 4-1/2 foot tubular steel handle from Lowe's for $5, which should last the rest of my life. The longer handle lets you stand upright and close to the bucket rather than having to stoop forward and down. This eliminates stress on your lower back. With the longer handle, the power comes from your arms, not your back. Or put the bucket on a platform to raise it up if you want to use the included handle (which is a few inches longer than your average toilet plunger). The first few loads I did without the longer handle, I just put the bucket on my bathtub rim, which also made it quick and convenient to fill with water and tip to dump out when I'm done. The bucket can't fall off the rim. If it slid towards me, bending my knees slightly stops it from falling. If it tilted away, the handle of the Breathing Washer gives me enough leverage to easily pull it back. In fact, even with the longer handle, I prefer to work with the bucket inside the tub, so any splashing is contained and, again, I have easy access to the tub faucet and drain (have to stand inside the tub to agitate, though). I can also wash larger items like comforters directly in the tub thanks to the longer handle. The long handle also lets me space my hands further apart for good control. I grip it with one hand at about shoulder level and the other at waist level, which would be nearly impossible with the original, short handle.
Don't go overboard with detergent. The manufacturer recommends only a couple of teaspoons per load. Using too much doesn't get your clothes cleaner. It's just excess detergent you'll have to spend extra time and effort to rinse out of your clothes. The easy way to know if you're using enough is to look for suds at the end of the wash cycle. If there's a just little bit of suds left, the water still has a bit of cleaning ability, which is perfect. You don't want no suds because that means you didn't use enough and the washwater is completely spent. Lots of suds means you used too much detergent. (The exception of course is if you're using the newest high efficiency detergents that create very few suds, which means you'll just have to measure the detergent.) A regular washing machine doesn't let you see if there's any residual detergent anyway. Once it's finished with the spin cycle, you just don't know how detergent-free the clothes are. In fact, there's a video demonstration that shows machine-washed and -dried clothes being put into a bucket of water then a few strokes with a Breathing Washer pulling enough detergent out of the fabric to create suds. Tweaking the amount of water also takes a bit of experimentation. I've found that too little water means the strong suction action on every upstroke tends to lift the entire bucket. That leads to more splashing and banging as the bucket falls back down. At least 2 to 2 1/2 gallons seems to be the minimum in my bucket even if I'm just washing one garment.
Also, other users have complained that the handle loosens during use. I haven't had that problem myself. Screw it on tightly the first time. Grip the "strainer" part, not the cone, when tightening. That's the part that's actually screwing into the handle, after all. Hold the cone and it'll just spin around the handle before it fully tightens. If you do have trouble with loosening, try winding a layer or two of Teflon tape around the threads before assembly (an old "plumber's trick" to keep threads from loosening; pick it up at the hardware store when you buy the longer handle), or smear some toothpaste on the threads before screwing the handle in, then let it harden for a few days before using again. This acts as a threadlocker compound. (Ever notice how tough it is to re-open a tube of toothpaste after some gets dried onto the threads?) This last may make it harder to unscrew if you ever need to disassemble it, but the Breathing Washer doesn't take up much space, so I don't expect to ever have to anyway. It's only a little bigger than a broom or a mop. Superglue or Gorilla Glue should also work, if you already have them, but that will definitely be permanent. Read more ›
130 of 134 people found the following review helpful
By Dave Jones
Amazon Verified Purchase
My son is fighting at a tiny combat outpost in Afghanistan. They have no washers, no amenities. I ordered this and had it directly shipped to my son. He called me and told me it works very well!
He said you put your water, soap clothes in bucket of water. You plunge up and down which causes a suction in the water. The water actually is sucked through the clothing and removes dirt. He emptied his bucket of water and soap and repeated until the water stayed clean. Then he poured rinse water in the buck and repeated to remove soap. All the guys at the outpost are actually excited over this litter device! No more soiled, stinking clothes!
He said you put your water, soap clothes in bucket of water. You plunge up and down which causes a suction in the water. The water actually is sucked through the clothing and removes dirt. He emptied his bucket of water and soap and repeated until the water stayed clean. Then he poured rinse water in the buck and repeated to remove soap. All the guys at the outpost are actually excited over this litter device! No more soiled, stinking clothes!
74 of 78 people found the following review helpful
By Justin Hale
Amazon Verified Purchase
I have purchased a washboard and this item. I have done two loads with this device. It is as fast as stated earlier. After a few seconds the water turns brown or gray. After a few minutes the clothes are clean enough to rinse. I have washed jeans, artificial materials, towels, and delicate shirts. All are handled gently while still getting them clean. The suction and expulsion action must be the way to go, apparently. I just fill up my bath tub and plunge in.
The plastic is actually very thick, which pleasantly surprised me. The metal that connects to the wooden handle wiggles slightly and the plastic needs to be tightened once or twice throughout the wash, but other than that it works better than I imagined. For the price it can be beat. I wouldn't use a mechanical washer after trying this.
Unless you have a way to plunge close to your body it will give your arms and back a good work out in that short time. Also keep in mind that although hand washing is simple easy and cheap hand wringing is time consuming, distorts cloths, and often leaves cloths dripping still. This goes double for jeans. A spin dryer may be a good idea. I just tried a mop bucket ringer and it fails to outperform hand wringing in any way, especially for items with buttons and such.
The plastic is actually very thick, which pleasantly surprised me. The metal that connects to the wooden handle wiggles slightly and the plastic needs to be tightened once or twice throughout the wash, but other than that it works better than I imagined. For the price it can be beat. I wouldn't use a mechanical washer after trying this.
Unless you have a way to plunge close to your body it will give your arms and back a good work out in that short time. Also keep in mind that although hand washing is simple easy and cheap hand wringing is time consuming, distorts cloths, and often leaves cloths dripping still. This goes double for jeans. A spin dryer may be a good idea. I just tried a mop bucket ringer and it fails to outperform hand wringing in any way, especially for items with buttons and such.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
rapid washer - diy manual hand washing machine
I bought this to use for some very nasty washing such as grease rags and shop towels and dust rags. I found this to be very good for those kinds of things. Read more
Published 17 days ago by mary gage
4.0 out of 5 stars
This thing is the bomb!!
I am deployed to Afghanistan and sometimes have to do laundry in a 5 gallon bucket. The only complaint I have is that the handle is a little cumbersome and it looks like you are... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Slim R
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great product
Assembly is easy, just 4 parts to fit together. It beats hand washing by far, by my estimate it gets my clothes as clean as using a washing machine and in less time when the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mary H Young
3.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful Product
I have been hand washing my daughters cloth diapers. I needed a bit of help. This does help with washing. I use a wash board for scrubbing the dirtier diapers. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. Ambrosi
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for small loads, or a few pieces of clothing.
And as the clothing obviously needs room to move around, it's best to put them in a wide container. The "machine" does do a good job of pushing and circulating, and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by crazybrit
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic!
I have been using this for 2 weeks and it really does a great job! My clothes are coming out very clean. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tim
5.0 out of 5 stars
easy to use
easy to use and cleans well. Not hard to use and not strainfull on your back or arms. lightweight and portable
Published 2 months ago by calebshae
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works well!
I used this with a five-gallon bucket from a hardware store to wash clothes when I run out of time and/or money to go to the laundromat. Read more
Published 2 months ago by April
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seems to work fine, fast shipping
This seems to work fine. Not sure if the whole physics of the water sucking through etc. is hype or real, but seems to do the job either way from using it one time thus far. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Michael J. Troutner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rapid Washer Works Well
The Rapid Washer works at described. Videos on how to use this product are useful. Getting a 4 1/2' broom handle from a Hardware Store is handy to have for when you wash & rinse... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Eyes
