That little washer from Lehman's won't wash enough clothes to do you much good. All you really need is two or three buckets. Put soap in one, and then one or two for rinse. Let the clothes soak for a maybe 30 minutes or so. Gently rub each item of clothing against itself to get out the dirt. You might have to rub harder to get out any tough dirt. A wash board would help. Squeeze it out, then put in the first rinse bucket. Rinse, squeeze out, then put in the second rinse bucket. Rinse again then hang to dry. When the soapy water gets too dirty, pour it out and add soap to the first rinse bucket. I used this method for over two years once, it's tried and true.

For washing your body, you can use a bucket or a shallow basin. Use a cup or your hands to scoop the water over you. Get wet, soap up, rinse off. It takes a little practice, but it will get you as clean as any shower, just takes a little longer. It doesn't use much water either, maybe two gallons. One of those solar showers will use even less water if you have one.

One trick I used was to boil some water in a kettle. I'd set the kettle in my wash basin being careful not get any wash water into the kettle. This would cool the water in the kettle while heating the bath water. So I'd get safe drinking water and warm bathing water while using a minimum of cooking fuel.

Yes, Joy, just regular old baking soda in the laundry water.

Michael C, the problem with bathing using soap is the rinsing, which takes quite a bit of water to do it right. A heaping teaspoon of baking soda in very warm water will do the same job without having to rinse. You can do a whole 'birdbath' with one quart of water.

Sue

It's not a mentioned use or really on point, but I like to mix baking soda with water and use it as a mouth rinse sometimes. It's what I do when I have had a cigar or two and the taste is still lingering in my mouth, either later that or the next day.