I found this video Doreena though I prefer to use a gamma lid.
This weeks preps check-in
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It's a garden sink. Stop it up, pour in hot water and take a plunger to it. The well house is behind it so has water right there. After washed and rinsed, hang on the line to dry. We had a gas generator that we plugged into the house, but it would not run a washing machine. Hunny installed the sink for me so that I could rinse off root crops from the garden before bringing them inside. It really became dual purpose.
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The old effective detergents were not poisonous to the environment, just the opposite in face. What made them effective was phosphates, and the concern was that the phosphates in waste water were feeding algae, causing algae blooms.
There have been studies that show that the reduction of phosphates in waste water from phosphate detergents has done absolutely nothing to prevent algae blooms. In some studies the algae blooms were actually worse afterwards.
You can buy trisodium phosphate (TSP) at a building supply place like Home Depot. It is used for a number of things, but one of the most important uses is prepping old paint for repainting. TSP was the most common source of phosphates in detergents.
There have been studies that show that the reduction of phosphates in waste water from phosphate detergents has done absolutely nothing to prevent algae blooms. In some studies the algae blooms were actually worse afterwards.
You can buy trisodium phosphate (TSP) at a building supply place like Home Depot. It is used for a number of things, but one of the most important uses is prepping old paint for repainting. TSP was the most common source of phosphates in detergents.
A washboard and two tubs on cinderblocks works real well.
Also, I think all of these prior points suggest an important principle about keeping clothing clean.
Washing clothes will not only help them last longer, but this will help prevent disease, as body lice flourish in unwashed clothes.
There are many diseases spread by body lice (head lice and pubic lice do not spread disease), such as typhus and scrub fever.
Also, fleas, ticks, and mites can be spread by clothing.
It may be a good idea for people to practice hanswashing now to get good at it.
Holding clothes over campfire smoke does the same thing if one is unable to wash with soap and water.
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Here is what my grandmother's washing machine looked like. A broomstick was the agitator 
She built a little fire under it in the back yard - added water, clothes and detergent, and then started stirring the pot.
She built a little fire under it in the back yard - added water, clothes and detergent, and then started stirring the pot.
Here is what my grandmother's washing machine looked like. A broomstick was the agitator
And after she washed the clothes, she used it to cook dinner. A nice pot of stew!
Here is what my grandmother's washing machine looked like. A broomstick was the agitator
That’s nice pot doc
I did wash a load of wool last night and that detergent really got sudsy, I was surprised but I have been making my own recipe that doesn't suds at all so that may be why I noticed it so much. I thought phosphates in laundry detergent were illegal now. I will price some Seventh Generation and see if I can afford it. but the other stuff I found ended up being about 2.4 cents a load rationing doses. Gain powder is 13 cents a load not rationing. Clean clothes are a good thing. I have to watch my budget so it must be cheap. Thanks for the storage idea, I have the buckets and lids. I will seal the best I can, as for purchasing dessicants, that probably won't happen, so I will have to make do.
I have the same recipe.
My handwasher was my grandmothers. Lehmans has new ones just like it, it is a half round tub with lid and the agitator swings back and forth with a handle from the top. I do not have a wash boiler which would be handy for the top of a cast iron laundry stove. Who wants to heat water outside over a fire if you don't have to. There is only one generation between me and my grandmother who used to heat water in the house on the wood stove. So I think I can do it.
It all depends on many things. In the old days bandages were cloth and washed and reused, also ladies sanitary items. I have rub boards as well, and have used them for cloth diapers, nothing cleans a dirty diaper as well, not even an electric washing machine. If people run out of disposable items, laundry becomes much more important. I have extra clothes pins and extra clothes line too. A good wash boiler with lid and some soap is what I need to add right now, but any pot will do if it holds water and you can apply heat to it. Not that you can't wash in cold you can, but the detergent doesn't work as well.
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I've only used Zote. I found it pretty darn easy to just shave it off with a knife, but now the store I would get it from no longer carries it
. Last batch I made was in Feb and still have a month supply still left. When we had gone to town yesterday hunny brought up that maybe the hardware store we were at may carry it. They didn't but they did have theFels-Naptha, so picked those up. Looks like you need three of those bars to make one of Zote.
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I do!
When it gets really hot, I sometimes use a propane turkey fryer in the back yard to make stew instead of heating up the house. Without A/C, the kitchen could get VERY hot while cooking in the dog days of summer. (hence the expression, "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen")
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Just got the AC installed in the cabin. AC is a beautiful thing!
I meant in the winter with the wind blowing , sleet and snow. It was in my head but didn't make it to my fingers.
Don't know about 3. my recipe just says same of each, your choice. I grate mine up with a hand grater that I crank. An old cast iron model, not a grinder a grater. Just to clarify The wheel part on the inside is tin the rest is cast. Have you ever calculated cost per load with making your own?I've only used Zote. I found it pretty darn easy to just shave it off with a knife, but now the store I would get it from no longer carries it
Fels-Naptha, so picked those up. Looks like you need three of those bars to make one of Zote.
I understand.
You may be interested in learning how to make soap with vegetable and/or animal oil and wood ashes.
Wood ashes can be saturated with water, allowed to sit, and the resulting lye (potassium carbonate/hydroxide solution) can be decanted off, combined with fat, and you get soap.
It's actually a lot more involved than I've led you to believe, but there are receipes out there that are fun to experiment with.
I've actually made soap several times, and I had a lot of failures before I was successful...but I'm grateful that I tried.
If you do this, wear gloves and eye protection because the solution decanted from the ashes can cause nasty chemical burns when you boil it down.
P.S. If you do this, try to use rainwater to leach the ashes, as hard water (like from a well) makes soapmaking difficult.
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A few years ago my housekeeper washed a load of wool blankets just like regular laundry. Of course they shrunk by about 30%. She had never seen wool before and didn't know any better.
I haven’t tried laundry soap but I make all our hand soap bars as well as shampoo bars. I cheat though, I buy my lye. And I use a submersible blender.
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I haven't broken down the cost per load on this but 3 cents a load is hard to beat. I have never heard of the Roma brand. I have recently read that you can actually make the Super Washing Powder. All it is, is Baking Soda that you put in a shallow pan in the oven at 400 until it turns. According to what I read, you will instantly know when that happens by the look. Baking powder is well powdery where we the soda is grainy. Last time I went to the store, they had baking soda in bulk so bought a bag. As much as we go thru with laundry, goats and cooking I hope they continue carrying it. That right there would cut cost, but like I said. . . 3 cents is hard to beat.
On line it was 1.47 but at brick and mortar it was 97cents. I will probably buy all they have out this weekend.
That's pretty funny,you would think a housekeeper would know how to "housekeep" which includes laundry and how to wash different fabrics. I wash mine in cold and then dry lightly, this is in order to "full" the fabric, I don't want it to felt, just full. This is also to remove any sizing in case I want to dye it. But I use it to hook rugs, I buy old clothes that are 100% wool, not worsted and recycle them into rugs. I imagine that one day finding old wool clothes will be very difficult, you don't see people wearing it much these days. They all want easy care fabrics today.
An outdoor sink would be grand.
There are some washable wool blankets and clothes, too. I had a blanket but I put it away for some organic cotton blankets.
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I will try it someday if I heat with wood. I don't plan on burning wood just for the ashes. LOL But yes, I have a friend that makes soap and sells it. I also have several books that have the recipes and how to make a trough for the ashes and how to leach, etc. I will probably revert to lye soap when it becomes necessary. then to find someone who is butchering a hog or raise my own.
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This girl was from Thailand and didn't know wool from any other fabric. Fortunately these were inexpensive wool lap blankets that I picked up in New Zealand, and not my good Point blankets.
I wear a lot of wool and wool/silk blend in winter. Natural fibres are always best as compared to the cheap synthetic crap made from plastic bottles.
I had a couple of point blankets and sold them. I have lots of blankets and quilts, etc. So the money from those blankets was used for something else. If I find more I will sell them to invest in other things. I usually wear whatever clothes I can find that look good and are inexpensive. I buy off the clearance racks or at charity shops, etc.
