Domestic tips and tricks

[tango]

Buy food in bulk when it's fresh and freeze it for use when it's out of season.

 

[Stravinsk]

^^ and/or dehydrate. Properly done, no need to freeze for many products, excepting ones that contain fat.

Floor cleaning/mopping:

I mentioned this already but use just boiled water instead of hot water from tap.
Also - blending up a lemon (juice AND peel) and adding to mop water will give lemon scent, help with cleaning and will help mask vinegar scent if vinegar is used as a cleaning agent.

 

[~Jo~]

I clean my house all the time, with watered down white vinegar, it cleans everything and doesn't smell bad either, I clean windows with it to they shine after, I do use different things for my floors though because some are wood and others carpet, I dust with vinegar water on some things but use polish on others depending on the surface. I do use descaler in my toilet just because of what it is...and wash my floor with floor cleaners and a broom, and hoover...

 

[TurtleHare]

My quick tip to avoid doing any more domestic work around my home than I have to is to tie towels around my kids' feet so they can dust the floors as they chase after each other so they get playtime and cleaning done all at once. hehe

 

[Imalive]

My quick tip to avoid doing any more domestic work around my home than I have to is to tie towels around my kids' feet so they can dust the floors as they chase after each other so they get playtime and cleaning done all at once. hehe

My kids did that when they were younger. Can we help? Hey no problem. Then they'd put sponges under their feet like Pipi Longstocking and clean the whole floor. Now only the youngest wants to clean too if I clean and then he is so happy if I say he may do the windows. He spouts some kitchen cleaner on it and rubs on what he likes and it's totally fine w me.
I wanna buy these:

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

Okay tipsters and tricksters - here's one. I made a tragic mistake. The young kids where I live use an old T-shirt as a 'hot pad' for the oven. It reeked. So I washed it with a bunch of my stuff (can you see what's coming...?). My stuff reeks. Bad. After three washes. The landlord only allows cold water washes - he has the hot tap disconnected. What to do?

 

[Stravinsk]

Okay tipsters and tricksters - here's one. I made a tragic mistake. The young kids where I live use an old T-shirt as a 'hot pad' for the oven. It reeked. So I washed it with a bunch of my stuff (can you see what's coming...?). My stuff reeks. Bad. After three washes. The landlord only allows cold water washes - he has the hot tap disconnected. What to do?

Can't say this will work, but here's what I would do:

Boil enough water on your stove-top or other heating device to fill a large bucket. Put twice the detergent in the bucket with the hot water and mix. Add the clothes that can fit, stir, then cover. Let soak for an hour or so then drain water and repeat.

 

[YESLORDIWILL]

Okay tipsters and tricksters - here's one. I made a tragic mistake. The young kids where I live use an old T-shirt as a 'hot pad' for the oven. It reeked. So I washed it with a bunch of my stuff (can you see what's coming...?). My stuff reeks. Bad. After three washes. The landlord only allows cold water washes - he has the hot tap disconnected. What to do?

You can manually fill the washer with hot water, I've had to do that when our pipes were frozen.

 

[Stravinsk]

http://urbansurvivalsite.com/washing-clothes-without-washing-machine/

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

You can manually fill the washer with hot water, I've had to do that when our pipes were frozen.

I've done that a few times. There's no basin in the laundry room (fun!) so I lug it down the hall from the bathroom. I'm doing it in small loads with soap rubbed into the clothing - it's only cheap dollar store soap anyway - and double rinsed. That's working (no-one said I couldn't use as much cold water as I wanted!) I know, it's wasteful, but beats buying new stuff. Lesson learned.

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

http://urbansurvivalsite.com/washing-clothes-without-washing-machine/

Ah yes, good ol' scrub-board! That's where a basin in the laundry room would come in handy. I do tend to give my laundry a good 'shake' before washing and drying both, too

 

[Stravinsk]

http://urbansurvivalsite.com/washing-clothes-without-washing-machine/

Ah yes, good ol' scrub-board! That's where a basin in the laundry room would come in handy. I do tend to give my laundry a good 'shake' before washing and drying both, too

More options on that page than a scrub-board. I thought they were interesting.

Can't say this will work, but here's what I would do:

Boil enough water on your stove-top or other heating device to fill a large bucket. Put twice the detergent in the bucket with the hot water and mix. Add the clothes that can fit, stir, then cover. Let soak for an hour or so then drain water and repeat.

Pretty much right after I typed the above quote I tried this with a small load of laundry. After soaking maybe 10 minutes in hot soapy water with the lid on, I gave the bucket a few semi-turns back and forth. Not even a minutes worth, so barely an effort. Not everything was clean (socks still somewhat dirty) - but everything was *cleaner* than it was, and the water I dumped was dirty. I reckon with more effort in turning the bucket - maybe 2-3 minutes and/or 1 repeat of fresh hot soapy water, things would have been fine.

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

More options on that page than a scrub-board. I thought they were interesting.

Oh, absolutely. That just stood out to me. My mom had me using one when I was a kid instead of a longer cycle. And it'd be good for dirt/mud around pant-cuffs

Pretty much right after I typed the above quote I tried this with a small load of laundry. After soaking maybe 10 minutes in hot soapy water with the lid on, I gave the bucket a few semi-turns back and forth. Not even a minutes worth, so barely an effort. Not everything was clean (socks still somewhat dirty) - but everything was *cleaner* than it was, and the water I dumped was dirty. I reckon with more effort in turning the bucket - maybe 2-3 minutes and/or 1 repeat of fresh hot soapy water, things would have been fine.

I'll do that with my 'whites' soon. They need it badly.

 

[Imalive]

Ah yes, good ol' scrub-board! That's where a basin in the laundry room would come in handy. I do tend to give my laundry a good 'shake' before washing and drying both, too

That is a smart tip! Twice I had to fix the washing machine and let all the water get out of it on the kitchen floor cause there were tiny things in the kids' or my pockets. It did get the kitchen floor clean btw.

 

[Imalive]

Okay tipsters and tricksters - here's one. I made a tragic mistake. The young kids where I live use an old T-shirt as a 'hot pad' for the oven. It reeked. So I washed it with a bunch of my stuff (can you see what's coming...?). My stuff reeks. Bad. After three washes. The landlord only allows cold water washes - he has the hot tap disconnected. What to do?

Bring it to a laundromat.

 

[Lamb]

Okay tipsters and tricksters - here's one. I made a tragic mistake. The young kids where I live use an old T-shirt as a 'hot pad' for the oven. It reeked. So I washed it with a bunch of my stuff (can you see what's coming...?). My stuff reeks. Bad. After three washes. The landlord only allows cold water washes - he has the hot tap disconnected. What to do?

Try putting baking soda all over it and put it in a plastic bag for a week. Then shake it out and wash it and see if the smell dissipates.

 

[tango]

Okay tipsters and tricksters - here's one. I made a tragic mistake. The young kids where I live use an old T-shirt as a 'hot pad' for the oven. It reeked. So I washed it with a bunch of my stuff (can you see what's coming...?). My stuff reeks. Bad. After three washes. The landlord only allows cold water washes - he has the hot tap disconnected. What to do?

Buy a hose and connect the hot tap?

ETA: In England it's increasingly common for washing machines not to have a hot water intake at all - they draw cold water and heat it as required.

 

[Imalive]

The landlord only allows cold water washes. What is this?? May you shower warm or also only cold?
Gosh some people. My brother used to live in a house w a hospita and after 5 mins showering she was like: so, that's enough already and turned the hot water off.
:=D:

 

[tango]

^^ and/or dehydrate. Properly done, no need to freeze for many products, excepting ones that contain fat.

You write about dehydration quite a bit. Can you recommend a dehydrator for someone (like me) looking to start out that isn't going to cost the earth but isn't something I'm likely to outgrow in the first few weeks? If not a specific make, any tips for things a good dehydrator should have and things to avoid?

(Feel free to take the credit for inspiring me to actually get started rather than looking at them with a little intrigue )

 

[YESLORDIWILL]

You write about dehydration quite a bit. Can you recommend a dehydrator for someone (like me) looking to start out that isn't going to cost the earth but isn't something I'm likely to outgrow in the first few weeks? If not a specific make, any tips for things a good dehydrator should have and things to avoid?

(Feel free to take the credit for inspiring me to actually get started rather than looking at them with a little intrigue )

You can just use your oven. 140° is ideal, but most ovens only go down to 170°. Just use a wooden spoon to prop the door a bit to vent, works like a charm.