Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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White trash washing machine

Pedal your clothes clean AND get a work out!
  (+1)
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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]

[link]






       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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