Cleaning supplies

[UrbanHunter]

I was thinking about cleaning supplies, in a long term limited access event how do you maintain your home, clothes, and other things that need to be clean.

For example, how would you wash clothes, do you have a hand crank wringer? clothes lines? how do you maintain you hygiene without generating a "signature" that draws attention. Looking for ideas and identifying supplies you would need to have in place to make it all work to your advantage.

 

[Rebecca]

Could you just clarify "signature" as many things I can do out here would be obvious and draw attention in an urban environment.
I already only use a cloths line, outside in summer, inside in winter. My solar will in no way run a dryer and I am not turning on the generator for something the wind will do for free. So the drying part would not change for me in a long term event.

If we are talking really really long as in use up all the washing powder etc I have stored than I will revert to good old wood ash and lard to make soap. Just wood ash and water can clean some things but this is obviously not something you allow to get on your skin. I know a fire produces smoke which is a signature, but for me in winter it's have a fire or die...so there will be ash.
Edit to add it doesn't have to be lard, most oils and fats will work but as with everything, learning before it becomes critical is a sensible idea.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Signature.... There is no water, no power, and I am hanging clean clothes on the line in the yard.....

I have been thinking about going dark, which would mean that I would hang my laundry in the basement....

 

[Rebecca]

I also have a couple of wash boards. But a simple trick for clothing that is not hectic dirty is a 5 gallon bucket and a plunger like you use for drains or toilets (do buy a new clean unused one lol) and use the plunger to agitate the clothing in the water.

 

[dademoss]

I have done clothes in everything from a one gallon ziplock bag to a washtub. Hand wring, no mechanical wringer. clothesline and pins. Dish soap , not laundry soap. got one of these(Breathing Mobile Washer) and ropes, buckets and clothespins. It's not pretty, but it is effective.

 

[UrbanHunter]

So how do you make soap? I really don't know...
What would you use for dish soap, clothes soap.. floor cleaning, bowl cleaner... I'm just so lost on the subject.
Does store bought soap have a long shelf life? We keep a couple of cases of soap powder and I use it very sparingly same with oxi-clean. Should I have a shelf just for a couple years supply of cleaning chemicals?

And don't get me started on tooth paste....

 

[Tootsie]

Toothpaste is actually one of the easiest. Baking soda, which is less abrasive than toothpaste. That came from a top notch dentist.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

You are over thinking it. A good rinse in the creek or a bucket, hang to dry on the nearest something. If you are short on soap, save it for the undies. A little dab will do you.

If things are that bad, you have bigger worries. I grew up as one of those dirty, barefoot bush babies. My clothes could stand up by themselves and no one cared. They tended to clean up a bit when I went for a swim in the lake. I tend not to worry about this stuff so not one to give good advice on it.

If a lack of soap concerns you, stock a lot more of what you deem important and learn what the bare minimum to use each time is. It will run out, so learn to make some or simply do without. You will live either way.

Sand and water is a time honored way to wash dishes. It works.

Tooth paste = charcoal+salt. Or stock up a bunch of commercial; it lasts practically forever.

 

[Rebecca]

The reason my end plan is wood ash soap is because I literally don't have to stock anything for it. The ash is just a by product of something I would do anyway..fire. It needs water which is also a must long before you run out of soap..so rain water, stream water, well water..whatever your set up is. It needs some type of oil, so either from processed livestock or from hunting. If it's got that bad even racoon, bear, deer, whatever you got to eat that has fat that can be rendered. Sunflower oil, olive oil if your in a place to grow olives etc etc.
Basic instructions are easy to come by online, and I am sure there are much better soap makers than I on here. I will note though that a great majority of online instructions use sodium hydroxide, this is not a must, it's a modern convenience. Homemade potassium hydroxide from wood ash and water will work just fine.

Homemade soap can be either liquid soap or bars depending on the recipe... or if something went slightly wrong lol as has happened to me.

Some basic equipment is a help though. Buckets, stainless steel pots, wood spoons and a glass measuring jug. In good times, PPE, at the end of the world, still nice but not a requirement, just be careful.

But all that aside, Clem is right, a stream and some sand will do wonders, on pots, dishes or your body if need be.
Toothpaste is also well covered above, charcoal, baking soda... whatever your preference there.

 

[Neb]

When backpacking I used the sand from a stream bed method to clean up after dinner.

My mothe and sister made bar soap just for fun a while back.

The Princess has an agitator

and a drying rack

she purchased from Leyman's

Ben

 

[jazzy]

ive been making my own dry laundry soap for years, just the old recipe of washing soda, borox, some baking soda and oxyclean. works real good, i mix up a years worth and store in juice jugs., i can wash my clothes in the sink or bucket if needed. done it tmany times. i dont have a dryer so i hang clothes on a rack inside. i got bars of castile soak and can amke up a liquid shampoo or body wash. im used to being close to broke nad making my own or making do with what i got.

 

[Amish Heart]

For storing, I store laundry soap bars. A buck a piece, and they do tons of loads. I also have some washing soda and borax around. Emergency Essentials sold a hand spinner washer that a bought a while ago, looks like it could do a couple of towels at a time. I've used a laundry line for drying for years. When we moved here, the last owner took out the old T Posts for the line and took them with him (along with other stuff). So I use the line for the dog zip line when the dog isn't on it. It works great. If it's too cold, wet, or if it's Sunday, I use the drying racks indoors or on the back deck. I also have a stand up pole thing that I hang up shirts and dresses on. A long time ago people didn't use liquid dish soap. They had a metal stick and basket thingy that a bar of castille or ivory type soap fit into. When running the hot water for your dishes, just run it over the soap in the basket thingy for bubbles.
I would probably get a wringer washer locally if the power went kaput for a long while. My cousins all use them. They also use a spinner to get more water out of their clothes. That's a little box type thing that you put clothes in after they are washed, push the button and it spins more water out of them. Spinners are very popular here, and are run by car batteries. Car batteries are recharged by solar panels. The bummer is making sure you have access to hot water for the wringer washer. Boiling it and bringing it to the washhouse is no fun and was done here all the time. Nowadays most ladies have hot water in the wash house and it makes it easier.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Every year I plan to put in a set of 4 20' lines in the basement, and every year it fails to make the completed list.... It just does not rise to the gotta do it list...

I do have 4 4' Hygiene / cleaning supply storage shelves, try to keep at least a dozen bottles of dish soap, 6 dishwasher soap, 6 bowl cleaner, an assortment of moping products, a bankers box of hand soap bars, hand sanitizer, shaving stuff, ....... any way the shelves are full.

We keep the laundry supplies near the laundry area, I have 2 of those 3 bin clothes sorting racks, and I use them religiously as the wife hates GRAY whites......

 

[LadyLocust]

Every year I plan to put in a set of 4 20' lines in the basement, and every year it fails to make the completed list.... It just does not rise to the gotta do it list...

I do have 4 4' Hygiene / cleaning supply storage shelves, try to keep at least a dozen bottles of dish soap, 6 dishwasher soap, 6 bowl cleaner, an assortment of moping products, a bankers box of hand soap bars, hand sanitizer, shaving stuff, ....... any way the shelves are full.

We keep the laundry supplies near the laundry area, I have 2 of those 3 bin clothes sorting racks, and I use them religiously as the wife hates GRAY whites......

There is a soap making thread on here somewhere. I make my own soap and use virtually the same soap for just about everything except dishes just because it's easier. What I keep that serves the whole of our hygiene needs is: lye (sodium hydroxide -or ash like @Rebecca mentioned), fats (olive, tallow, lard etc.), baking soda and vinegar. I do keep washing soda and borax but in such a situation, that's just a luxury. I also make my own toothpaste and deodorant. Like @dademoss mentioned no equipment is really necessary, but I do have both an electric wringer and a hand wringer and I seldom use our dryer. As a side note: the lye is handy on a multipurpose level & can be used in the preservation of food and is sold as drain cleaner. I think that's everything we have for cleaning ourselves and our home.
PS- if you knew what was in commercial toothpaste, you probably wouldn't put it in your mouth.

 

[Neb]

Buttons!

Not for washing but if you are using a wringer it is only a matter of time before you will be breaking buttons.

Ben