Posted on 10/07/2012 12:20:20 PM PDT by Kartographer
There are some topics that people maybe sometimes do not want to read or hear about, or other folks just thinking that is not too important when SHTF. Hygiene is something that we all agree is important, but how dirty is gonna be is other thing.
If you look for example to definition of Cholera you can see this: „Cholera is an acute enteric infection caused by the ingestion of bacterium Vibrio cholerae present in faecally contaminated water or food. Primarily linked to insufficient access to safe water and proper sanitation, its impact can be even more dramatic in areas where basic environmental infrastructures are disrupted or have been destroyed.„
I already mentioned that I suffered (together with lot of folks from that time) few serious cases of diarrhea, I mean cases when you can not lift your head up for days, i was so exhausted.
Did I have Cholera? I do not have clue, no hospitals, no labs, no doctors. Probably yes. All what I could do is to take fluids, menthol tea, chamomile tea and „Rosa Canina“ tea.
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfschool.com ...
>> “but the spell checker didn’t like either one.” <<
.
The FR spell checker is a bit lame.
It has difficulty with all contracted words, and many verbs in anything but present tense.
Yes, but serious washing requires a strong enough base to break water’s surface tension, and most wood ash is a bit weak in that area.
Anyway, for the wise, preparation.
I AM NOT MAKING SOAP, FOR GOODNESS SAKES! There is liquid soap available cheap in almost every store in the US. I have enough to wash the whole country. I AM NOT MAKING SOAP!
See, I remember my mother making soap. I remember her saving animal fat. I remember a huge black iron kettle outside for boiling clothes and/or making soap. I remember a black lady coming to help her do all those chores. I will do everything I can to prepare so I never have to do that. As Patrick Henry said, “Give me bought soap or give me death.”
My wife and I just bought a big supply of dish soap and hand soap. You’re going to use it anyway and it doesn’t get old. Just keep a good supply on the shelf and you’ll never run out and be prepared for the worst.
The wood ash is used to make lye. The lye and the fat are used to make soap.
/johnny
I have mondays set aside as 'wash day'. ;)
/johnny
Good point — the contents label is your friend. However, pool water can be swallowed in large quantities, so algeacides are at low levels, only. The chlorine is the primary algeacide.
Not an expert. Not at all. But the Clorox page or any other page I can find, doesn't say word much about sunlight other than high temperature accelerates the decrease. Do you have a source?
http://www.clorox.com/blogs/dr-laundry/2010/10/07/shelf-life-of-clorox-bleach/
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/04/03/chlorine-bleach-shelf-life.htm
When I can find stuff that won't go bad on sale, that I normally use... I buy what I can afford. I'll store it, and be money ahead over the years it takes to use it.
/johnny
Even today, it’s best to wash your hands before putting away items from the grocery store.
Lye is a strong base.
Wood ash has very little sodium hydroxide (lye) in it. It comes from the burning of sodium.
“However, pool water can be swallowed in large quantities, so algeacides are at low levels, only. The chlorine is the primary algeacide.”
Pool water is safe to use for washing but it really shouldnt be used for drinking. Without electricity the water will quickly turn to green gunk and unsafe to drink.
Many pool shocks and other cleaners have chemicals besides chlorine which are bad for you.
But hey, each to their own.
/johnny
You are talking smart. I think some people (and I don't mean Johnny), have an idealized view of the “old times” like they would “enjoy” going back to the old ways. I am old and I remember what adults had to go through to have a decent life. After their jobs, their time was taken up in chores to have as comfortable a life as they could.
Most women stayed at home and worked all day to provide these things and the father used his time to keep the garden growing their food. My mother constantly worked so hard to keep the family going in clean clothes and cooked food. There were no boxes of food to dump in a skillet and the meal was done.
It is very emotional for me to remember how hard both parents worked and it never ended. I have no romantic feelings about those years - I do not want to go back to 1933 when I was born. The death rate of babies was much higher than it is now. I had an older sister I never knew - she died at 3 yrs. from the “bloody flux” as they called it, which was likely just diarrhea but it went on long enough to kill her. I am lucky I lived long enough for new medical methods to combat those things that killed babies and young children.
We don't want to go back to that time when people died needlessly and they had no time to read or study - they just worked to stay alive.
I covet some of the non electric clothes washing items in Lehmans
I have washed in bathtubs...when my then husband was cleaning chickencoops...Years ago when we were young and broke.
The laundry soaps receipes make for huge amounts of soap.
I keep it all stored at home.
With several decades of IBS, see if you can get your doctor to give you a prescrition of LOMOTIL........its about the best out for now. Imodium doesn’t work anymore for me...doctor is sending me to GI specialist...there are other drugs stronger but they have narcotics in them...LOmotil is a schedule drug not OTC most GP’s will prescribe it.....
and it must be kept out of the sunlight, thats why it comes in a brown bottle.
I'm all for making sure I can get modern convienences going, should they stop.
I do actually enjoy having the old skillsets in place, should I need them, though. It gives me options.
/johnny
I call them the tiny little pills that turn into basketballs when they hit the colon. ;)
/johnny
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