What do you use that other people don't?

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What do you use that other people don't?
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wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 05 10:45 am Post subject:

Hmmmm - I just feel some of those are a little obsessive - I felt before looking at other sites that this kind of thin becomes a means in inself. I think its almost as depressing for everything to be focussed on spending money, as the current comsumer society is on spending it. I think its a rather sad to give everthing a monerary value - some things have value that ourweighs their cash one!

And some of its counter productive - I mean recylcing dryer softener sheets as tissues - surely it would be better not to buy them in the first place, and not bother, or substitute with something reusable, like an old hanky (or I just shove esential oil on the toe of a sock or something) Oh well - each to their own!

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 05 10:57 am Post subject: what do you use............
a few months ago there was a lot of rewiring done here and there were 2 large cable drums made of wood left outside....and they were going to throw them away...... smallholder/downsizers dream.................. they both came home with us and are now in the goat pen for the pygmys to play on

tawny owl

Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 563
Location: Hampshire

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 05 12:03 pm Post subject:

wellington womble wrote:

Hmmmm - I just feel some of those are a little obsessive -

Well, yes, but that is why I found it quite entertaining!

Andrea

Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 2260
Location: Portugal

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 05 9:21 pm Post subject:

wellington womble wrote:

And some of its counter productive - I mean recylcing dryer softener sheets as tissues - surely it would be better not to buy them in the first place, and not bother, or substitute with something reusable, like an old hanky (or I just shove esential oil on the toe of a sock or something) Oh well - each to their own!

Someone bought me some of those dreadfully wasteful use once Olay face wipe thingies, and they've been through the washing machine about a million times & still going strong! I keep them in the bathroom as sort of cotton wool replacement for taking off mascara.

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 05 10:35 pm Post subject:

when dd was still in nappies (cloth) we decided that if homemade wipes we good enough for her they were good enough for us. since we were already putting nappies into wash all the time it wasn't much effort to wash extra wipes as well

we bought about 6 flannel sheets from various charity shops and cut them into large squares. we had a stack of dry wipes and also a tub with wet wipes in the bathroom

the wet wipes had the same mixture we used for the baby wipes which was basically 2 squirts of homemade liquid soap and 1 squirt of veg oil mixed well in a basin full of warm water. we soaked them in this for about 5 minutes then squeezed out most but not all of the water and put them in the tub
after we used each one they went into the nappy pail next to the toilet. normally we'd have enough for a load of nappies from the bedroom and wipes from the bathroom every 2-3 days.

after the wipes came out of the wash (usually a 60C wash, though every few weeks we'd run a 95C wash) we'd unfold them then hang them to dry in little piles of about 10-15. they dried fairly quickly on the pully, faster on radiators or outside. sorting out the nappies and wipes to be dried was something i'd do when i was watching a movie so it's not like i was spending any extra time doing it.

it felt weird at first using them but to be honest, i got to the point where i strongly prefered them to regular toilet paper. they were soft and really cleaned you well whereas toilet paper felt rough and not so hygienic

unforunately, the flat here in edinburgh does not have a washing machine or even connections for one. we have a laundrette with only 3 washers and 4 dryers to serve 42 families

we also are not allowed to have pulley's or any laundry lines outside.

and since corie doesn't wear nappies anymore it's not only impractical to wash them but it's too expensive to do so

the whole house would stink before we could fill a load in the washers, we'd have to buy twice as many sheets to use because we'd have to only wash once a week, the wipes would go mouldy and we'd have to dry them in the dryers as well

one load would cost us £1.40 to wash and £1 to dry and seeing as we'd have to be doing that on average 2.5 times a week we've had to stop

shame though, i'd go back to it in a heartbeat if we had our own washing machine and laundry line

culpepper

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 638
Location: Kent

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 8:02 am Post subject:
buttery,what about a twin tub? They arent plumbed in.Our neighbour has one that uses the taps for filling and a hose into the sink for emptying.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 8:25 am Post subject:

I've been looking for something to replace those wipes for ages - I tried chamomile toner and those sugaring strips frmo the bodyshop, but they're not hemmed, and all frayed in the wash, and the toner seemed to ferment! I'll track down somme flannel sheets (guess there's a reason why flannels are called flannels!) I've been trying to avoid the fabric shop, so thats pefect!

What box did you put them in buttery? I know some of the nappy wipe ones are reusable.

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 8:51 am Post subject:

culpepper wrote:

buttery,what about a twin tub? They arent plumbed in.Our neighbour has one that uses the taps for filling and a hose into the sink for emptying.

how big are they? i don't know that we'd have the space either which is a shame... we'd also still have to dry them in a dryer, i really resent not being able to line dry my clothes

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 8:54 am Post subject:

we originally had them in one of the huggies style nappy wipes containers but eventually we just wound up using them out of an open plastic tub. i wouldn't make up too many at once or they start to smell

we had a small basin so i just did a basin load which was a bit more than the amount that would fit into a nappy wipe container ... it also depends on how many people you have using them...

it's sorta hit and miss in the begging. if they do start to smell just toss them in the wash again

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 8:18 pm Post subject:
BHS We did something similar to you, but we used old t shirts for the material. One of my failings is bleaching t's when cleaning the bathrooms in the B&B so there is never a shortage. We also use childrens ones that can't be passed on anymore.

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 8:33 pm Post subject:
oooh nice to know i'm not the only one who's done it! t-shirts are a good idea, especially when you have kids in the family as they're always outgrowing clothes and the charity shops just send anything stained to the rag man anyway... don't think i could bring myself to use the tshirts though, not thick enough for my tastes...guess it's the 'ick factor'

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 9:00 pm Post subject:
How thick is your paper toilet paper?

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 10:25 pm Post subject:
touche!

hils

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 05 10:38 pm Post subject: Re: what do you use............

Nanny wrote:

a few months ago there was a lot of rewiring done here and there were 2 large cable drums made of wood left outside....and they were going to throw them away......

I am obsessed by these things! I've got a medium ish one which is my coffee table - i've put 4 casters on it. The space between the top and bottom circle accomodates an average wine bottle very nicely. The hole left at the top is a great place to put a terracotta plant pot to keep thing in!

The really big reels you can make into a double bed somehow - I'll try and find the website...

tawny owl

Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 563
Location: Hampshire

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 8:38 am Post subject: Re: what do you use............

Nanny wrote:

I've got a medium ish one which is my coffee table - i've put 4 casters on it.

I saw one of those in a gardening mag used as an outdoor table, and of course it already had the hole for the parasol. Looked v. nice - painted pink.

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