James,
In reading the letters on this subject, the responses seem to center on alternate technology to complete the task. When I first saw the topic, my thoughts were to my OCS [1] class in Camp Upshur in the summer of 1987. One of the challenges was to keep yourself in clean clothes, given a limited number of washing machines (I think it was maybe 8 machines for a platoon of 55 to 60). I was waiting to do laundry and noticed a long sink with trays by it. We had scrub brushes and laundry detergent, so I took the opportunity to wash my clothes “on a rock in a stream” as I described it a the time. They were dried on a line, ready to wear in little time at all. Technology is not the answer to all problems – sometimes it’s prudent to look at all of the alternatives. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, – Mark in Florida