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The name of those outdoor sinks


cedros

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I can never remember the name of those outdoor sinks unless I see it written down. The ones made of concrete, divided into two parts-one part without a drain the other part with a drain and built in scrub "board"?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hola, Kosika:

Yup. There should be a drain on it now a days, or at least a version of it with a drain.

These were used since the times when we had no running water or sewage.

First, people carried all their clothes down to the lake, made a nice pile of rocks at the shallow end, washed everything and carried it back home.

Then, people started to build these piles of rocks at home, and carried the water home, filling a big container next to their nice scrubbing rock. So no one else would get ther first and screw your day,  waves would not destroy your work, etc.

Then,  many similar "prototypes" were bulilt out of wood and other materials until someone really smart started making this "lavaderos" and soon there was not a house without at least one of them.

People would fill the "pila" (deep end) with clean water using buckets. That water was used up and refilled many times a day since they washed everything in it; dishes, food, clothes, babys and even themselves. Therefore, there was no need for a drain really. And it still works that way in rural and less fortunate areas where there is no running water or sewage. 

Now, for many people they are just a built in piece of history, a nice alternative to have when the washer brakes or when you have some really hard core scrubbing to do.

I hope this helps to answer your question. ? ¡Saludos!

 

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Miriam, that was an awesome explanation. I have used mine in many houses i have lived in. I'm with Kosika. Why aren't they constructed with a drain? Who knows... I am wondering if there is a way someone could take the proper tool and cut out a drain. I'll admit that i use the laundermat because i live on second floor and have really nowhere to hang the laundry. I can use the downstairs line until the place gets rented then back to hanging on patio railings. I did not mind using mine exclusively when it was in an open air patio in other houses and the lines were right there. I used to challenge myself, and then the money I saved I used for fun money. I realize the majority of people would not at all be entertained by this. I am losing interest myself and plan to buy a washer when I move to my next casa soon. I do like using the lavadero for many other things though and am going to explore having a drain hole cut into it.

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On 10/12/2016 at 7:46 PM, virgogirl said:

Miriam, that was an awesome explanation. I have used mine in many houses i have lived in. I'm with Kosika. Why aren't they constructed with a drain? Who knows... I am wondering if there is a way someone could take the proper tool and cut out a drain. I'll admit that i use the laundermat because i live on second floor and have really nowhere to hang the laundry. I can use the downstairs line until the place gets rented then back to hanging on patio railings. I did not mind using mine exclusively when it was in an open air patio in other houses and the lines were right there. I used to challenge myself, and then the money I saved I used for fun money. I realize the majority of people would not at all be entertained by this. I am losing interest myself and plan to buy a washer when I move to my next casa soon. I do like using the lavadero for many other things though and am going to explore having a drain hole cut into it.

Based on my experience living in Bogota, Colombia, the washing was done on the scrub board side while the deep side without a drain was filled with water which was then scooped out with a bowl to wet the clothes on the scrub board side to then apply detergent to scrub the article being washed.  Then water was scooped out of the deep side and poured over the garment various times to rinse it.  You never put detergent or items to be washed in the deep side as it was ONLY for clean water, which is why it doesn't need a drain.  A couple of interesting things: 1.  In Colombia the deep part to hold the clean water is called "la alberca."  Here in Mexico alberca is used for a swimming pool.  The word for swimming pool recognized in all Spanish-speaking countries is "la piscina."  Imagine the Colombians surprise and laughter when I said I liked to swim in an alberca.  Since then I have always used the word piscina because every Spanish speaker will understand me and I won't be misunderstood as I was in Colombia.2.  The concrete scrub board is very hard on clothes.  My Colombian mother-in-law scrubbed the stripes right out of her daughter's shorts!  3.  I have heard these lavaderos referred to as a "Mexican Maytag."

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who did you have do it? (install drain) I loved BDL's post. I always soaked the clothes in the alberca with soap, then rubbed on was board side. then used hose to rinse, then ran to clothes line after ringing out with clothes still dripping. sloppy as it was , i made i work. nice to know how the real deal is done. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had a drain installed in the lavedero as well. They are great to wash by hand but the emptying by hand does not get it . Any plumber can do it.

I France the water end was way deeper.like 3 feet deep so we could soak sheets..we also had drains.. I guess the lavadero here reflect the fact that many houses did not have running water so you did not soak clothes  and you did not use a lot of water to wash.

The board is great for heay clothe like jeans but I would not use it in delicate fabric,

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 year later...
On 10/14/2016 at 7:17 AM, nothernewbie said:

It is easy enough to have a drain installed.  We did it because the standing water was obnoxious and possibly attractive to mosquitoes.

 

It's funny as I had to Google this to find the answer.  I just bought a new and modern apartment in Zapopan and I was stumped when I saw this sink.   I can't understand why anyone these days would want a sink with no drainage.   If you want standing water you can just plug it and then drain it when you're done.  It would be a pain to constantly try to get all the water out.  I was thinking the same thing that having standing water not only looks bad but might attract bugs.  I was really surprised a super modern new construction would have a sink like this.

 

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On 10/13/2016 at 9:27 PM, bdlngton said:

The concrete scrub board is very hard on clothes. 

 

True if you scrub clothing with them. The scrubs are to secure the fabric from moving while the cleaning scrub is cloth to cloth.

 

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On 10/12/2016 at 4:22 PM, Miriam Beltran said:

And it still works that way in rural and less fortunate areas where there is no running water or sewage. 

Ummm...I have a lavadero, which I use daily, in my laundry room in my 8th floor apartment in Mexico City.  There is NOTHING like a lavadero to get one's clothes super-clean, to wash cleaning rags and mops, and to rinse out things you don't want to drip all over, like the measuring top of a bottle of detergent. 

I have running water, a washer/dryer, and sewage lines--and need I say it isn't rural here in the middle of the Gran Tenochtitlán.

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  • 4 weeks later...

the part where you store the water is called pila. people  scoop the water from the water reservoir and pour it over whatever they wash. The deep end is to store clean water not to wash clothes.. the scrubbing part is to wash clothes.. I had the plumber drill a hole in the pila and I have a a rubber cover so I can use that part for washing.. I see a lot of people in the communities and no one has a hole put in them as they are not made to empty the water but to be kept full. Recently I was in an indigenous home and they offered the lavadero to wash our hands before eating. I noticed that the  Mexico city  man who was with me used his hand to scoop the water on the other side..contaminating the pila when  the indigenous used the plastic cup to scoop the water to the other side and pour the water over their hands  so only the plastic cup ever entered the clean water.

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49 minutes ago, bmh said:

the part where you store the water is called pila. people  scoop the water from the water reservoir and pour it over whatever they wash. The deep end is to store clean water not to wash clothes.. the scrubbing part is to wash clothes.. I had the plumber drill a hole in the pila and I have a a rubber cover so I can use that part for washing.. I see a lot of people in the communities and no one has a hole put in them as they are not made to empty the water but to be kept full. Recently I was in an indigenous home and they offered the lavadero to wash our hands before eating. I noticed that the  Mexico city  man who was with me used his hand to scoop the water on the other side..contaminating the pila when  the indigenous used the plastic cup to scoop the water to the other side and pour the water over their hands  so only the plastic cup ever entered the clean water.

My housekeeper always sponges out and cleans the pila after every use of the lavadero for washing the mop.

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1 hour ago, AngusMactavish said:

My housekeeper always sponges out and cleans the pila after every use of the lavadero for washing the mop.

Or put a bucket (without a hole) in the pila and water the plants with the remaining water.

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On 5/17/2018 at 1:49 PM, bmh said:

the part where you store the water is called pila. people  scoop the water from the water reservoir and pour it over whatever they wash. The deep end is to store clean water not to wash clothes.. the scrubbing part is to wash clothes.. I had the plumber drill a hole in the pila and I have a a rubber cover so I can use that part for washing.. I see a lot of people in the communities and no one has a hole put in them as they are not made to empty the water but to be kept full. Recently I was in an indigenous home and they offered the lavadero to wash our hands before eating. I noticed that the  Mexico city  man who was with me used his hand to scoop the water on the other side..contaminating the pila when  the indigenous used the plastic cup to scoop the water to the other side and pour the water over their hands  so only the plastic cup ever entered the clean water.

The correct way to use the pila is exactly what you said: only the plastic cup or bowl should enter the clean water.  When I was first living in Mexico, I lived in a house where there was no running water other than one cold-water faucet for the pila, outside in the dirt-floor patio.  We used the pila for everything: washing dishes, washing clothing, washing hands, filling a bucket with cold water to warm in the sun so that we could bathe--and only the cup ever touched the water in the storage side of the pila.

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  • 9 months later...
  • 5 months later...
On 9/26/2016 at 7:22 AM, cedros said:

I can never remember the name of those outdoor sinks unless I see it written down. The ones made of concrete, divided into two parts-one part without a drain the other part with a drain and built in scrub "board"?

In Colima we use “pila”

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