Running out of clean socks on the Ross Ice Shelf? Camp mini-washing machine to the rescue!
When you’re camping in the field in Antarctica for as long as the SWAIS2C on-ice team – 6 weeks or more – clean washing is a luxury. But as we’re already making hot water from snow to drill a hole through the ice shelf, we can use this ready supply for our little camp washing machine and shower.
Today was an exciting day, with hot water driller and electrician Hedley Berge taking the machine for its first spin on a load of tea towels for Chef Al. It’s a small capacity machine, strictly for underwear, socks, next to skin layers and tea towels – outer layers have to get by with a spot clean.
The washing machine is situated in a corner of the drill tent, and the water is brought in from the heated tank outside that was used to make seed water for the flubbers.
In a few days our shower will also be ready to run!
