The Tahitian Style Washing Machine
By Ann LeFlore
@poehere (15123)
French Polynesia
November 5, 2015 5:41pm CST
My oh my I read so much talk about washing clothes and buying new washing machines. I decided to let you in on a little secret how simple life is here on the islands. We have the best of both worlds when it comes to washing our clothes.
No we do not sit by the edge of the river banging our clothes on stones to get them clean. We have this unique little gadget called an islands washing machine. Now this machine comes in 2 sizes – small is 5 kilo and large is 10 kilo.
Check out the modern day feature of this little island machine. It has a wash bin for your clothes that take 15 minutes to wash your clothes. Now on the other side we have a rinse bin and wring out bin all in one.
Just fill the large bin with water, add your clothes and some soap and watch how clean your clothes get in no time at all. Here this modern, unique washing machine sells for around 100 dollars for a 5 kilo machine and 180 dollars for a 10 kilo machine. This machine is made of plastic, it won’t rust, and it lasts for years. We don’t need hot water because we don’t have a hot water heater. So this machine is very economic.
Life is simple here in Tahiti and no need for some fancy washing machine that needs to be programmed each time you wash your clothes. I love this machine and it gets your clothes so clean. Simple to use and takes no time at all to do a weeks worth of clothes.
Who would love to trade in your fancy washing machine for one we use here on the islands?
Image source - personal image
19 people like this
20 responses
@antonbunot (11146)
• Calgary, Alberta
5 Nov 15
Wow! How come we don't have that machine here in Canada?! We bought our washing machine 3 years ago for 380 dollars. I guess I should move to Tahiti . . 
3 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
Maybe so this is a fantastic machine and doesn't hardly use any electricity at all. You can start a machine and finish it within 18 minutes top. That is washed, rinsed, and spun out. It is excellent and spins out clothes drier than the big machines do if you ask me.
4 people like this
@antonbunot (11146)
• Calgary, Alberta
5 Nov 15
@poehere What company manufactures that washing machine? Is that the one in the picture?
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@antonbunot Yes it's the one in the picture sitting in my bathroom. I took this to be funny. The one I have is made by Newtech. I have had this for around 12 years now and it still works strong. I like it because it won't rust and the parts are all made from plastic so it is perfect for the humidity here on the islands.
3 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
6 Nov 15
Hum, I think I'll keep my big washer!
2 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
6 Nov 15
@poehere You live a totally different life than most of us.
3 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
@AbbyGreenhill Yes I know this one. Here I have a beautiful outdoor bathroom made from lava rocks and coral tile on the floor. It has a shower that is outside and we can see the moon and stars when we shower. No don't worry we have a closed in and a door to the bathroom.
7 people like this
@GardenGerty (169528)
• United States
6 Nov 15
I bought a used machine for $50, but one like yours sounds great. I have seen some off grid type machines that you run by pedaling a bicycle. I would do that. It would be fitness machine as well.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
I think anytime you need to peddle to wash clothes it would be fitness. The faster you peddle the faster the machine run. I think this is a great idea and you can accomplish two tasks in one. I like this and would consider buying a machine like this next time. 
I have to do them myself 
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
6 Nov 15
yes, i have memories of women washing clothes by the river at my parent's hometown, but they use a short flat piece of wood then lay out the clothes on big rocks to dry.
we don't have hot water coming out of the faucet or shower either.
i think it all depends on the climate, as well as the pace of life in each country.
2 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
6 Nov 15
@poehere oh, i was just sharing that washing clothes manually differs in many places. 
like here, we have a palo-palo (the short flat wooden club). i know i've seen on tv people balling up wet clothes then smashing them against rocks in other countries. others step on the wet clothes. but i also understand that reading about these things might look difficult/complicated/inconvenient for some.
like here, we have a palo-palo (the short flat wooden club). i know i've seen on tv people balling up wet clothes then smashing them against rocks in other countries. others step on the wet clothes. but i also understand that reading about these things might look difficult/complicated/inconvenient for some. 1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
@hereandthere Here when we wash or they did wash clothes manually they had a scrub brush they used to do this one with. But for ever now we don't do this anymore unless the clothes we have can't go in the washing machine then certain ones are washed by hand
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
Yes it does. I was just joking when I wrote that about banking clothes on rocks next to the river. I had a person ask me if we have cars, live in grass huts, have electricity or even if we shop in stores. I guess that was one of the reason I added this to the post here was to be funny that we have a nice place to live and we have all the modern conveniences as the rest of the world. We have a state of the art hospital and the specialist from France come here to practice medicine. Just because we live on an islands doesn't mean we don't have the best of both worlds here.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
We don't have hot water and the top of the machine you put a garden hose on it or another type of hose to fill it with and then you switch it over to put the water in the spin bin to rinse and spin the clothes. It is fantastic and such a great little machine.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
Ouch washing clothes by hand for 6 people must of taken a long time. I remember my grandma had a scrub board she used to wash a few of her clothes with. She had a tub in the sink and her wash board. We had a washing machine I recall but she still liked to do some of her stuff on the wash board. As I grew older she stopped to use her wash board.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
6 Nov 15
How does it wring out the clothes? Do you then hang them on a line to dry? I like simple but this may be a little too simple for me!! lol Have you heard from your mom?
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
9 Nov 15
its made'f plastic?? i'd be happy with such myself now that its jest the hubs 'n me. might'a been a bit tricky (alrighty...time consumin') years back with 9 folks were doin' laundry here.
i aint got one'f those fancy machines 'n'll make repairs to this'un if need be (knockin' 'n wood coz its nearly 20yrs ol').
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
9 Nov 15
@poehere indeed, i might need to look online to see if'n i can get my hands'n such. with all those folks livin' here 't the time though, i fear it'd been 'round the clock washin'. i've'n o'ersized washin' machine :)
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
9 Nov 15
@crazyhorseladycx This one does come in a large tub too. That is what I have the bigger model for me. I am not sure if there is even a larger one than this but you can check it out.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
9 Nov 15
Actually you'd be surprised how fast it is. Takes only 15 min to wash a load of clothes. Move them to spin bin and put the water in. Allow them to spin and rinse and then hang then out on the line. I find 18 min a lot faster to wash a load of clothes than the 45 min the other machines here on the islands can take. In less than 1 hour and maybe 15 to 30 min I can make 4 loads of clothes and get them all out on the line to dry. Now I call that fast.
1 person likes this
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
6 Nov 15
That's wild! And in this discussion you tell us more about what we what to know about living on a South Pacific island. You don't beat your clothes on a rock.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
That was a joke sort of directed towards a comment you made to me about walking, having a car or living in a grass hut. Now none of this exists here on he islands. We are very modern and we are a part of France. We are French and we have a lot of French influence here on the islands. It is our homes are different then your because we don't need to prepare for winter like you do.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
@RichardMeister You do need a car here if you want to go around our island. We have a bus system that runs from our village to the center of town which is Papeete. But then if we watn to go to the other side of the island we need to switch buses and take another one. This can be a long adventure on a bus and it is so much nicer to drive a car.
2 people like this
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
7 Nov 15
@poehere I figured you were only joking about washing your clothes by beating them on a rock and I was only joking about the grass huts. I was just trying to get you to open up and tell me you lived in something other than a grass hut. As far as walking, I didn't know if the island was so small it was worthless to have cars–not that you were so backwards you didn't know what cars were. I guess I shouldn't have been such a blockhead and looked Tahiti up on a map to see how big it is.
@carexing25 (1822)
• Philippines
6 Nov 15
how I wish I could have one.. my laundry schedule is either Saturday or Sunday, that's the only time I have for washing clothes so I usually get mountains of clothes to wash on that day. that kind of gadget is very expensive here in the Philippines..
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
It takes no time at all to wash in this machine. I am not sure how expensive one in there what you live. My brother bought one for his girl friend last year for Christmas and she loves it.
@celticeagle (189927)
• Boise, Idaho
9 Nov 15
It looks like an ice cream maker. Nice price. With my GS's dirty clothes it would be filled daily. For the warm, light weight island type of clothes you folks wear it is probably great.
@celticeagle (189927)
• Boise, Idaho
10 Nov 15
@poehere ....But, I will wager you don't have the amount of layered clothes and big and bulky sweaters that we have here. Cold. Already in the 40's here daily. Brrrr!
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
10 Nov 15
@celticeagle I am sure we don't. I am happy for this one too.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
6 Nov 15
Of late, we got one similar to what you describe. Pricing again is very similar to yours - 200 USD. I had always been washing clothes by hand. She too had been using the same way since she was a child.
The washing clothes with hands was a healthy thing no doubt, but eventually, technology takes over. Now we are able to clean clothes faster, and they even take a less time to dry up. And all this without taxing our bodies - probably we have got more busy with other things or even grown older
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
Yes I can see this one. I do clothes once a week if the weather permits. If it is raining then I need to wait because all clothes are dried on the line. We don't have gas on the islands so we use propane. so a electric or gas dryer is very expensive and not really needed here. Our clothes dry in no time at all out in the sin and I like this better than putting them in a dryer.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
@thesids Yes we use propane tanks for our hot water heater. It is a very small unit that we light to heat our water. We even cook with propane thanks. A tank of gas runs around 25 dollars and it lasts around 4 or 5 months for cooking or to heat the water for our showers.
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
6 Mar 16
I also have one of these but it is just one drum.
I do not use it anymore however, as it is a bit noisy for these apartment living.
Sad, I want to sell it.
@valmnz (17095)
• New Zealand
6 Nov 15
They certainly do the trick. My first washing machine after getting married was a similar twin tub and oh my goodness, it was hard on the clothes! My washing machine now is basic, throw the clothes and powder in, turn on a switch and walk away. It does it all for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
@valmnz Humm funny I think I have it all here. I have a giant flat screen TV, plenty of computer to keep me entertained, an Internet connection, a cell phone, a nice stove to cook with and a great outdoor bathroom that is build from lava rocks and filled with plants. I hve a car and there is giant markets for us to shop in. I sort of look at it like I have the best of both worlds. May I ask you what you feel like we do without here on the islands. We have movie house, night clubs, local dances and a variety of different activities we can join in on.
1 person likes this
@kevinakash (2084)
• Sri Lanka
7 Nov 15
washing machines are good. but i believe that washing our clothes by our hands can teach us many
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
You might be right on this one. If you washed you clothes by hand you sure would consider changing your clothes 3 or 4 times a day.
@Auntylou (4262)
• Oxford, England
6 Nov 15
Great price for a useful machine! Would like some of your sunshine!
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
Lately this last month we haven't had so much of that. In October it is normally our rain month here on the islands. Today we have a lot of sun and a nice breeze to go with it,. Yes this machine is very handy and useful and it is a great price for sure.
