Try to live like we used to, back in the old days…

JBR said:
I think the Iroquois principle makes a lot of sense. And if we use the estimate that generations follow one another in a 30-year span, then seven generations is 210 years. Trees can certainly live and fulfill functions over that length of time, and some trees have lived for over a thousand years.

(Please excuse my interest in and keenness for trees.)
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I share your keenness for trees and am happy to report that at last count I have 50 new trees in my backyard, most volunteer, some that I planted, various types. I’m trying to create my own nature preserve!
 

I have cleaning rags and dish towels, and paper towels too which I use sparingly.

I use a sink full of hot soapy water for all my kitchen cleaning. Make my own spray cleaner with Dr Bonner’s eucalyptus liquid soap mixed with water. Lovely fragrance and cleans well.
 
I try to be as environmentally conscious as I can, but some things are just too inconvenient. I have to drag clothes down a couple of flights of stairs, which are accessed from outside our building, to do laundry, . I'm not about to make extra laundry by using cloth hand towels all the time although I have them. I reuse paper towels for clean ups around the house.

Also, I used to hate it when we hung clothes out on the line to dry back in the day They'd be hard and very wrinkled, which made them extra hard to iron. When I take clothes out of my dryer, many garments can be hung up without having to iron them. All of them are nice and soft, a must for me. I have a friend who would love to go back to the olden days. Me....not so much.
 

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We tried to homestead. I think we did pretty good with what we had. For about 14 years we raised tons of vegetables. Then when the "master gardner" died, we started including livestock. The old way. Raise what you eat. So we did.

About 80% of our building, car, tool repair, furniture, was DIY. This might be called self reliance and it is, but we tried to live as close to the earth we are living on.
 
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I also try to be very prudent with resources and do much of what has been listed. A few different items:

As @OneEyedDiva said, clothing that goes directly from the washer to line drying can be stiff and wrinkled. Running loads through the dryer for just ten minutes (Alexa reminds me) helps that. They finish drying on a pole or rack. Watered down Dawn dish detergent makes an excellent spot remover.

I concoct foaming soap using a small amount of clear, unscented dish soap and water. For bathroom sink soap, I also add a smidge of lemon or rose scented liquid soap. Kitchen soap remains unscented.

Love my Keurig, but hate the waste, so have been using refillable pods for over a decade. So much better for the environment and waaaay cheaper. I dump the grounds in the food and lawn waste bin, then rinse the pods and give them a swipe with an old toothbrush - the rinsing water I catch in a bowl to water outdoor plants.

I hit the library weekly for books and DVDs.

I rinse out ziplock bags for reuse. Even sandwich bags.

My husband is a really good fix-it guy and is able to repair most non-electronic appliances, gizmos, GK toys, etc.

Our family shares streaming and online news subscriptions.

I use a Brita instead of buying bottled water.

In the car I bring along my refillable water bottle or insulated mug (with hot coffee or tea).
 
StarSong said:
I also try to be very prudent with resources and do much of what has been listed. A few different items:

As @OneEyedDiva said, clothing that goes directly from the washer to line drying can be stiff and wrinkled. Running loads through the dryer for just ten minutes (Alexa reminds me) helps that. They finish drying on a pole or rack. Watered down Dawn dish detergent makes an excellent spot remover.

I concoct foaming soap using a small amount of clear, unscented dish soap and water. For bathroom sink soap, I also add a smidge of lemon or rose scented liquid soap. Kitchen soap remains unscented.

Love my Keurig, but hate the waste, so have been using refillable pods for over a decade. So much better for the environment and waaaay cheaper. I dump the grounds in the food and lawn waste bin, then rinse the pods and give them a swipe with an old toothbrush - the rinsing water I catch in a bowl to water outdoor plants.

I hit the library weekly for books and DVDs.

I rinse out ziplock bags for reuse. Even sandwich bags.

My husband is a really good fix-it guy and is able to repair most non-electronic appliances, gizmos, GK toys, etc.

Our family shares streaming and online news subscriptions.

I use a Brita instead of buying bottled water.

In the car I bring along my refillable water bottle or insulated mug (with hot coffee or tea).
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Good for you Star. I also use a Brita pitcher and only keep a case of bottled water for emergencies. Within the last couple of years, we've had two water emergencies, one boil water mandate lasted several weeks. I also carry reusable bottles of drinks with me when I'm out and about. Your comment about the Keurig reminds me that I stopped buying one of our cat's favorite foods because it came in plastic containers that were not recyclable. I felt guilty every time I opened one! By trial and error, I found another variety that comes in cans and she loves it.

I also reuse zip lock bags. I no longer buy CDs and DVDs due to the fact that this is the digital age and so much content is readily available to stream. I'm currently also making my own body wash using all natural soaps I use to market. I add a little bit of Shea Moisture Bubble Bath. Shea moisture products are known for not containing harsh chemicals.
 
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hollydolly said:
I've never heard of vinegar on a face cloth being a substitute for a Dryer sheet... how does that work ?
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Hi HollyDolly, this is from a website https://greatist.com/health/dryer-sheet-alternatives and this what they say: When it comes to natural household cleaning, the answer is always vinegar. Unsurprisingly, vinegar is a great replacement for dryer sheets! Either add 1/4 cup of vinegar to the wash cycle for softer clothes or dampen a washcloth with vinegar and throw that into the dryer..

And it works, I don't have stuff clinging to my clothes/sheets like human hair and there is not any static cling also for my hats.
 
I used to use my mum's old spin drier between getting stuff out of the washing machine and putting it into the tumble drier. It saved a lot of money doing that as it got the clothes almost dry. Sadly, the spin drier seems to have died recently so we're back to using the tumbler for everything. However, we do now have 3 balls (tennis ball sized) made of some kind of white stuff, that live in the tumbler, and help to keep everything separated so that it dries quicker. Seems to help, but I'm not sure that it will ever replace the spinner.

Next year when the weather warms up I'll take the spin drier apart and see if I can find out what broke and fix it if I can.
 
Those commercial dryer sheets contain some chemical that I am apparently allergic to. Years ago, I went through several months with eczema, which the dermatologist couldn't figure out. Finally it dawned on me that it was only on the parts of my body in contact with clothing. Arms, legs and face didn't have it. I thought it might be the detergent I was using and switched to All, which is non-allergenic Made no difference.

Finally, duh! The culprit occurred to me - it was the dryer sheets. I ran my commonly used clothes through the washer and dryer, minus the non-cling sheets, and hooray! The eczema disappeared almost immediately. The cling sheets were never used again. But I do like All, and still use it, about 30 years later.

This mystery was probably easier to solve because it was summer and I wore shorts most of the time.
 
BJintheUK said:
I used to use my mum's old spin drier between getting stuff out of the washing machine and putting it into the tumble drier. It saved a lot of money doing that as it got the clothes almost dry. Sadly, the spin drier seems to have died recently so we're back to using the tumbler for everything. However, we do now have 3 balls (tennis ball sized) made of some kind of white stuff, that live in the tumbler, and help to keep everything separated so that it dries quicker. Seems to help, but I'm not sure that it will ever replace the spinner.

Next year when the weather warms up I'll take the spin drier apart and see if I can find out what broke and fix it if I can.
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I never heard of a spin dryer before. Is it something like this?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Panda-3...110-Volt-Capacity-0-6-cu-ft-PANSP22/304851092
 
The old days …as a child living in the 1950’s, on a large dairy farm in Ohio, I never felt like I was missing out on anything.
Life was good, and I kept busy with school, family and friends, and lots of animal companions.

… and thinking back now … it was a downright wonderful life.
 
@Sunny, the same thing happened to me about the same it did you, LOL. My doc told me to switch to Dreft which I did & problem went away, but I couldn't stand the smell. That's when I found All Free & have used it ever since. Anything I buy I make sure is dye & scent free.

After another thread I started to use vinegar for a softener & I've been happy with it. Hubby didn't know I switched until I told him. A while back, I bought wool balls for the dryer & I need to use those more too.

I put veggie trimmings in the compost pile & old bread out for the birds. I use cloth towels more than anything in the kitchen, but I have paper towels for some things. We use a mesh filter for the coffee pot & glass to store leftovers & general food storage. Our milk & heavy cream come in cardboard cartons which last longer than in plastic. I used to buy milk in glass bottles that I took back, but that has gotten really expensive. In general, I try to buy things in glass & metal which can be reused or recycled.
 
LoveTulips said:
Hi HollyDolly, this is from a website https://greatist.com/health/dryer-sheet-alternatives and this what they say: When it comes to natural household cleaning, the answer is always vinegar. Unsurprisingly, vinegar is a great replacement for dryer sheets! Either add 1/4 cup of vinegar to the wash cycle for softer clothes or dampen a washcloth with vinegar and throw that into the dryer..

And it works, I don't have stuff clinging to my clothes/sheets like human hair and there is not any static cling also for my hats.
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Thanks LT..however I'm still struggling to understand how a vinegar soaked rag can remove the wrinkles from the clothes... as a dryer sheet does :unsure:
 
BJintheUK said:
I used to use my mum's old spin drier between getting stuff out of the washing machine and putting it into the tumble drier. It saved a lot of money doing that as it got the clothes almost dry. Sadly, the spin drier seems to have died recently so we're back to using the tumbler for everything. However, we do now have 3 balls (tennis ball sized) made of some kind of white stuff, that live in the tumbler, and help to keep everything separated so that it dries quicker. Seems to help, but I'm not sure that it will ever replace the spinner.

Next year when the weather warms up I'll take the spin drier apart and see if I can find out what broke and fix it if I can.
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you need to get a washing machine with a better spinner... my washing comes out of my washer almost dry... it only needs about 30 minutes in the tumble dryer...
 
Murrmurr said:
Vinegar can prevent static and it definitely deodorizes, but it doesn't prevent wrinkling.

side note: Dryer sheets are not good for dryers. Eventually, dryer sheet gunk will build up in the vents and exhaust system.
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Well my numero uno reason for using dryer sheets is to prevent wrinkling so I don't have to iron anything...:D

No gunk has built up in my dryer over 25 years... I'm very good about cleaning the machine after use
 
Lots of people also use vinegar to clean their Keurig machine periodically. I haven't tried it yet. I'm a little afraid that my coffee will come out tasting like vinegar!
 
Sunny said:
Lots of people also use vinegar to clean their Keurig machine periodically. I haven't tried it yet. I'm a little afraid that my coffee will come out tasting like vinegar!
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I run 1 cup of vinegar & the rest water in my 10 cup regular coffee maker & then I run a pot of plain water through it. It cleans it & no vinegar after-taste.
 

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