Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Day 9

Laundry

This I can say that I am pretty good on. I have a line outside and lines strung up in the basement. I haven’t had a dryer since we moved in here, that was almost 11 years ago. ( I have an electric dryer and a gas line. Never got around to either getting a gas dryer or putting in an electric line. ) I have a wash board and I have a mop bucket to wring the clothes out. Now I haven’t had to use either of these items as I still have use of my washer. I have them none the less if the need arises.

As for laundry soap, I have what I use normally about a 2 month supply. Then I have the washing soda, borax and fels naphta. That should last me another year. ( I have made before, so am use to using it. ) Then I also know the how to’s of making lye and using animal fat to make real lye soap. This I have never done but I do understand the principles behind it. So hoping that I should be fine for washing clothes!

Need to Do or Get
  1. Learn to make lye
  2. Learn to make soap with said lye
Yart

1 comments:

dreaming in maine said...

I also went 12 years without a dryer, and only recently got one! It was actually a tough decision, because I worried I was taking a 'step backwards', you know? I rationalized my purchase this way:

1. Our laundry has been backed up so much that often clothes mold before they can get either washed or dried.

2. When the weather is poor, clothes go moldy before becoming fully dry. I do have some tricks to avoid this or manage it in a pinch.

3. I've gone 12 years without one, and so I am VERY well-versed in how to hang and dry ALL of our clothes if the need arises. We've learned to wear certain items 2, 3 or even more times before washing them.

I currently make about half of our laundry soap right now. Admittedly, when I wash things like sheets and comforters or jackets (that I wash very infrequently), I like to use scented soaps and softeners so that they smell good for long periods of time. I'm trying to work on that particular 'addiction' of mine!

I think it is incredibly handy to be able to make soap AND to be comfortable drying your clothes. I still plan to hang my clothes in front of our heater this coming winter, because it puts humidity back into the air and utilizes heat that is already getting pumped into the room.

I love your ideas, as they help me focus on my own goals of preparedness and living more gently upon the earth (even if I sometimes make a step in a different direction).