For the poor college student... or just the poor person in general... washing your clothes can be a real pain in the wallet and butt. Usually the apartment complex where you live charges so much money that you are forced to go to a cheaper "laundr-o-mat" and share space with some of our wonderful fellow earthlings of the same socio economic class... which is, to say the least , less than pleasant!

At the same time us poor slobs don't have enough money to go to a gym... and yet we sit on our fat cans waiting, what seems like a lifetime, for the laundry to be washed by a machine.

So why not wash your clothes yourself in the comfort of your own home with an EXERCISE BIKE THAT IS ACTUALLY A MANUAL WASHING MACHINE?!

Simply put your clothes, hot water and detergent into a plastic tub that screws shut... then affix this into your specially designed exercise bike and set for 5 miles.

When done, drain this water into your sink or bathtub and repeat as necessary. Complete with a water draining spin cycle.

Hang to dry.

Now... not only are your clothes spring-fresh... and your pockets full of cash... you could out run an olympic class sprinter!
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 24 2003

Pedal Power http://www.humboldt...edalpower/home.html
A few washing machine links near the bottom. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004]

Pedal Washing Machine http://www.lboro.ac...pedal-wash-main.htm
With a small photo. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004]

If you have money for an exercise bike you should have money for the laundr-o-mat. If you want to be cheap get a nice big trashcan ($10 at your local Wal-Mart), fill it up and start stomping on it. You even get extra clean feet that way, your room/house mates will appreciate that.
Hint: Use the trashcan to collect water from your shower. After adding detergent that water is still able to pick up more dirt.
-- kbecker, Dec 24 2003


Another way to do it would be to have a device that couples to your own bicycle. This would be even cheaper but not as tidy as the all-in-one design.

kbecker... I can only speak for myself but I wouldn't want to do the tub version... this is basically an update to ancient history. Just a minor improvement on ancient history, if you will. Also... you can buy exercise bikes for around a 100 to 150 dollars. Most importantly it would be an alternativee to the highway robbery of laundromats as well.
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 24 2003


hmmmm. tentative +.

lurk a little longer!

merry xmas and if hb suddenly goes down, it's nothing you did, ok?
-- po, Dec 24 2003


"lurk a little longer!"

Hope I didn't make somekind of "faux pas". I have run across this site quite a few times doing searches.

Great site btw... and Merry Christmas.
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 24 2003


Nice one o!

That makes me consider the possibilty of making some type of modular system that works with your automobile, motorcycle/scooter or even a Segway or something.

http://www.segway.com/
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 24 2003


no faux pas.

its kinda very much like - but in a novel way... //redundant - a very similar idea already exists on the halfbakery. Any idea involving back windows of cars and LEDs spelling out messages is likely to earn this tag. Other frequently posted ideas: exercise machines that generate electricity //

but hey, you can do my laundry any day!

merry xmas - LDV
-- po, Dec 24 2003


Yeah... the concept isn't anything earth shattering or anything. lol

I guess the thing that I feel is inventive about it is the logic of it.

The things we do as a society are so backwards and illogical sometimes.

We pay all this money to have our laundry washed or to buy a laundry machine... and then we pay money to go to a gym to keep from getting fat. Pretty strange. And there just hasn't been any kind of improvement to hand washing your own clothes other than a washing machine. And a lot of people can't put one in their home because there is no plumbing hook up.
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 24 2003


Great info, humanbean. :D

I wonder if there has been a more modern, polished, mass-produced incarnation of something like this?
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 24 2003


Already baked are tightly sealable washing canisters into which you can toss your clothes and a pinch of detergent, then shake -- by bicycle would work great. The tight containers produce heat through the friction and vibration and pressure.
-- GnoLackawitz, Dec 25 2003


Do you have a link to that thing? or know what it is called?
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Dec 25 2003


my dad once had a white trash air-conditioning system. he took a wall unit AC. he then took a piece of plywood, and cut it to the dimensions of my front door. he then cut a hole the size of the AC in it. stuck the AC in, and then cut a hole and used some pipe for ventilation. it was funny.
-- irollerblade, Dec 25 2003


Good idea.Does anyone own the patent?
-- python, Dec 25 2003


hey [da] i liked your idea. though it might not work. you are new here, welcome. + on first day.
-- nomadic_wonderer, Dec 25 2003


//Good idea.Does anyone own the patent?//

I am guessing that some form of this kind of device has been patented... but probably not the way I envision it.

Does anyone else worry about posting their ideas for fear of losing rights to it? I have a lot of ideas I would like to post on here but don't want them to be stolen.. so I only post my "more" half baked ideas.

Are there any inventors on here?
-- Leotardo Da Vinci, Jan 14 2004



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