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If you have a pair of scissors. There were no barbor shops nearby so I just started doing it myself and the wife helping to reach some areas. But could do it well enought myself. Close to 30 years. Could not stand to drive to a barbor shop now and sit still or wait.
It's the cutting the back of the hair which perplexes me. I suppose it depends how picky one is. I know if the hair is a mere one-eight inch crooked in the back from one side the the other, you can notice it. It's kind of hard to cut in a perfectly straight line 90 degree angle doing it yourself in the back of the head.
This aside from also necessitating two mirrors (one in front, one in back) so you can see the back of your head to cut it evenly. Then you have to fashion stands, or whatever, to hold both mirrors up at just the right height, since holding a mirror while cutting would seem a pain.
I'll have to try it one of these times as an experiment.
It's the cutting the back of the hair which perplexes me. I suppose it depends how picky one is. I know if the hair is a mere one-eight inch crooked in the back from one side the the other, you can notice it. It's kind of hard to cut in a perfectly straight line 90 degree angle doing it yourself in the back of the head.
This aside from also necessitating two mirrors (one in front, one in back) so you can see the back of your head to cut it evenly. Then you have to fashion stands, or whatever, to hold both mirrors up at just the right height, since holding a mirror while cutting would seem a pain.
I'll have to try it one of these times as an experiment.
The two mirrors is the method that works without the wife, it is tedious though. The wife can get the back easily. Without her help it can be done but takes longer.
Passable but not a high quality cut in any event. At best a midrange. Works well enough to blend in, but not stand out.
One day I travelled too far to and got a not so good haircut and have rarely went to a barber sharp since then. The money saved may even add up to something over the past 30 years.
I suspect for HE you would just cut the amount of water in the solution (or evaporate it down) and use less of it in the load as one does with the retail soaps labeled specifically for HE. It might take some experimentation. Less would be more so that you don't end up with soapy clothes at the end of the cycle.
I suspect for HE you would just cut the amount of water in the solution (or evaporate it down) and use less of it in the load as one does with the retail soaps labeled specifically for HE. It might take some experimentation. Less would be more so that you don't end up with soapy clothes at the end of the cycle.
Yes, but soap and detergent are different. Machines are intended to take detergent, whereas soap will build up in the machine.
However to my experience soap cleans better and is safer. I don't use a machine; I wash with soap by plunger method.
I am quite fond of my HE machines. They are front-load, which a lot of folks say makes for a really bad smell in the washer... mostly because the water and detergent don't seem to drain completely out. I use bleach in my last load, which is always 'the whites' and our water is very pure anyway, so I don't have a problem. They take VERY little detergent and water, which saves me a lot of money, especially in the winter when we have a lot of HD loads.
Let's assume for a moment that you were in a situation where you no longer had to go to work regularly, and so had no real pressure to conform to being super clean and prepped every day to look good. How frequently would you do things such as the following?
Brush your teeth?
Wash up lightly, but not take a full bath/shower?
Take a full bath or shower?
Change your clothes?
Wash your clothes?
Since we're off-grid and have to haul our water from a community well, our "norm" has become closer to what most people would consider "emergency"
Brush your teeth? -- 2-3 times a day
Wash up lightly, but not take a full bath/shower?
Face in the morning & before bed.
Hands before eating or prepping food, or after working with something nasty. Mostly with COLD water and plain old soaps.
Scrubbing the stinky parts with soap, a washcloth and washbasin and a little (pint each) of warm water, once or twice a week.
Full "bucket baths", including hair, with soap & shampoo and lots (i.e. a gallon each) of warm water, once or twice a month.
Take a full bath or shower? Once every 1-2 months, since we have to pay for this luxury at the local laundromat or hot springs. So we normally reserve this for times when we have been working with really grimey/stinky gunk or need to go into town and deal with "civilized" folks.
Change your clothes?
Socks and undies every few days
Everything else - whenever they totally reek or can stand up on their own from the dirt and grime.
Again, if we have to go into civilization, we do try to put on clean(er) clothes so as not to offend the city folks
Wash your clothes?
When we have absolutely nothing clean in the dresser and the stuff in the hamper has it's own ZIP Code. Maybe once a quarter, up to 6 months in the winter since we either have to pay at the laundromat or make several trips to the community well. Once we have our own well, this won't be such an ordeal to do manually at home more frequently, since it's the large amount of water needed not the scrubbing labor that's the main issue.
We do wash socks, undies and washclothes in our Wonder Washer more frequently (maybe once a month) and either hang to dry outside or on a rack by the woodstove.
You forgot about dishes -- we scrap into the compost pile and usually let the dog lick bowls/plates/pans so stuff doesn't dry all crusty on them (or rinse with greywater or wipe them out), then stack them to actually wash a full load (like 3-4 sink loads) with hot water and soap once a month or when we finally run out of silverware. If we need a dirty pan or utensil (usually together, like the skillet and spatula) before "dish day", we'll add a small amount of water to the pan and a little dot of detergent to the sponge, and heat that up on the stove to give it a scrub, then rinse with the least amount of cold water as possible.
Again, this is a water and fuel for heating issue, not really a manual labor issue... once we get our well instead of relying on hauled water, it'll probably be at least once a week, esp. in winter when we can easily set a pot of water on the wood stove since it's already going. In any case, "dish day" normally takes 2-3 gallons of water, which we heat in our big stock pots and keep simmering on the stove to swap out when it starts to get cool or icky.
The last/cleanest wash and rinse water from laundry and dishes gets used to clean surfaces and mop the floors. When water isn't plentiful and it takes some significant effort and fuel to heat it, and your greywater is can't be toxic because you need to use it in the garden, you really start to realize that our culture's obsessive antiseptic cleanliness is wasteful and potentially hazardous... you can keep yourself, home and food hygienic, healthy and safe with way less
OP I do find that very interesting and thanks for posting that. I do find myself spending a huge amount of time in the shower shaving and cleaning so I don't know what the heck I would do if I didn't have a generator that would allow for long warm showers I wonder how do other women handle leg, bikini (and more) underarm shaving? I also have colored hair so I need to use the right kind of shampoo and conditioner and let it sit on my hair for a bit of time I'm interested to hear what other people have to say
When I lived on a boat we used a 5 qt shower. Warn up the water, and then use a cup. Start at the top and wash the hair. My hair is short so it was quick, them rinse. Your body is now wet. Cut a extra fine sanding sponge in half and put a little shampoo on it. Diluted shampoo by 1/2 rinses easer than soap and is not as hard on your skin. When you are done use a spray bottle to put diluted hair conditioner on your hair. spray lightly and do not rinse it. It is the same thing as the detanglers they now sell.
Another idea is the 2 pot shower. I was living in a storage bay and needed a shower I took a 5gal bucket and put one of the long line shower heads in through the bottom. Then you put it up on 4x4's. This is a gravity feed so the bucket must be elevated. Two pots (hence the name) through the coffee maker and the 5 gal was warm enough to shower. You could paint the bucket black and put it up on the roof or out in the sun in the morning.
Personal cleanliness is not some thing you do for others. If non of us bathed we would all smell the same and no one would notice. It is very important for personal health.
Finally, someone else who admits to the dog-cleaning of plates!
Our dogs know the meaning of the words, "Clean your plate" and will use their teeth to scrape off stuck-on bits. Our year-old dog will even flip the plates over to make sure the bottoms are clean, too!
Finally, someone else who admits to the dog-cleaning of plates!
Our dogs know the meaning of the words, "Clean your plate" and will use their teeth to scrape off stuck-on bits. Our year-old dog will even flip the plates over to make sure the bottoms are clean, too!
Our cats relish cleaning the plates when it is something they like.
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The Two Mirrors works
2 showers for your use
I'm interested to hear what other people have to say
I was living in a storage bay and needed a shower I took a 5gal bucket and put one of the long line shower heads in through the bottom. Then you put it up on 4x4's. This is a gravity feed so the bucket must be elevated. Two pots (hence the name) through the coffee maker and the 5 gal was warm enough to shower. You could paint the bucket black and put it up on the roof or out in the sun in the morning. 
Animals Precleaning the Plates
