Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.

[memmey]

This is our new thread to share hints, recipes and information to promote a more responsible earth conscious cottage life.:)

[memmey]

I guess I am first and I hope not the last...:).

If there is anyway you might add a small clothes line to your enviroment. You can purchase a retractable one if you think it will spoil your esthetics. Even if you work you can wash your heavy hardest things to dry early before your coffee and with practice you can hang them out in a flash. I dry all my jeans and heaviest towels outside. They smell wonderful and no electricity.
Back in our grandmothers time there was an art to hanging things out . Clothes line envy. Everything orderly and neat.
I am off on Mondays and that is the day I wash and line dry my sheets.
My grandmothers rule of thumb to me was everything needs to hung out before 2 o'clock in order to dry before dusk.
Downhere it is hot till 8 pm but in the fall I follow that rule.
Sunshine whitens a whole lot better than bleach.;)

[Hillary Black]

Thanks for starting this thread, Memmey!

I love, love, love the smell of my clothes, sheets and towels after they've dried on the line outside. I also like the ritual of being outside, hanging them out and taking them down. I even have favorite clothes pins I got at a garage sale. They are old ones with a much stronger metal spring.
I have a tisket-a-tasket basket that I corral them in. Don't leave the pins on the line or they will deteriorate!

Another thing I've started doing is as soon as the washer is full of clothes and water, I stop it to let the clothes soak. I think it makes much better use of the water and gets the clothes cleaner, too. After about fifteen minutes, I start it up again to go through the cycles.

I usually do mine on the weekend and get them on the line by 10 am.

Another favorite Earth-conscious habit is composting which I learned from my dad a long time ago.

;-)

[Gigi]

Memmey- I truly LOVE this thread and hope to hear lots of tips.

I also am a BIG fan of line drying! Nothing is better than washes sheets, and clothing and watching it blow in the wind to dry....

I actually have my grandparents wash board (wood and glass)- and darn I wish my mom had kept my grandparents original crank washer.... that would be really neat to have now.

Okay for a tip: IF---IF you have to dry- and you are washing an item with lots of lint, or washing pet washables---CLEAN out the LINT TRAY at least 2 times during the drying cycle to be more efficient.

Now a question: AS I mentioned- I LOVE to line dry- but jeans- always dry stiff- so I usually have to pop them in the dryer for 10 minutes before putting them on the line.... ANY tips for this????

AND OH I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION---I JUST PURCHASED A NEW WASHING MACHINE- NOT A FRONT LOAD, BUT A "TOP FRONT LOAD" WITH A WINDOW- THAT SAVES 29 GALLONS OF WATER PER WASH- I LOVE IT!!!!!

[Gigi]

Since we are on the subject---I love taking pictures of line drying :rolleyes:

Dog toys at sunset, and everyday drying....1574

1575

[ChapterTwo]

Hey, Memmey...you stole the Depression era motto I mentioned in the July/August thread, without so much as a credit line. lol :rolleyes:

[memmey]

Please don't be mad I mentioned it another thread that it was wonderful. Offically let me give Chapter Two the credit for posting that WONDERFUL slogan. I completely stole it without mentioning her name and I apologize. It is a perfect title for our thread...thank you Two:):)
I was so amped up about this I didn't ask if she minded.( how rude huh?)
I'm sorry....

[yarborough house]

OH cool I love this. I don't really have much to offer as I am new to this stuff. Well not new to line drying at all. Growing up we used clothes lines all the time on base houseing. But here where I live in historical district hell they don't allow it. But you know what? I am tired of their stupid rules that are just stupid and well there is more to it than that. So, anyhow the majority of the homeowners are wanting this local deisgnation to go away and we have refused to follow them so I might just put up a clothes line..heck with them. Why save these old homes if there isn't an earth for them to be on right?

[memmey]

I just started buying powder soap again. You know everything used to be powder. I think they started saying that powder left residue and we should use liquid but if you put your powder in first it will dissolve as it fills...duh?
I remember when I was young I would wash everything in the washer and not separate anything. My Mama told me one day my clothes were dingy. What??? I was so embarrassed.
I know a little vinegar in the rinse water will cut the soap and make clothes soft. I read about vegan dryer sheets and really didn't know that dryer sheets were not vegan. Why are they not vegan???What are they made of?

So back to the clothes line...I have a visor and sunglasses in my clothes pin bag . The sun down here will kill you and white sheets will blind you at 11:00.
Some of my favorite towels are kinda shabby and I think I need to use the good ones so I don't look like I am hanging hobo clothes on the line.
Look there is Mem clothes ..awwwh she is so poor she can't use her dryer. Poor thing.

[memmey]

Yar there is some sort of clothes line lobby effort. Really. I think Two posted a link once about it. Also Sunday morning did a piece about a woman who was breaking the rules in her neighborhood with a clothes line. Bill Guist did the story I think. Maybe that was what she posted somebody did I can't remember. I have sleep since then....:o

[Gigi]

My daughter lives near an upscale community- This community announced it will allow clotheslines----

SO I drive by this community every time I visit my daughter- AND I don't see one clothesline....ummmmm....

SO with all the effort, and acknowledgement it took to "gain" this acceptance in the homeowner's manual---WHY don't I see ONE clothesline????

P.S. Memmey it's in an area you may have passed thru....

[ChapterTwo]

Offically let me give Chapter Two the credit for posting that WONDERFUL slogan. I completely stole it without mentioning her name and I apologize. It is a perfect title for our thread...thank you Two:):)


Thanks. The problem nowadays is that people are sooo spoiled. I think another catchphrase, this one from the recent past, says it all: "Have it YOUR WAY". People want everything tailored to them (because they're so "special"). HaHa!
Technology has added to this self-absorbed state. Every gadget has to do EVERYTHING. God forbid someone has to look something up, manually! :eek:

[ChapterTwo]

Yar there is some sort of clothes line lobby effort. Really. I think Two posted a link once about it. Also Sunday morning did a piece about a woman who was breaking the rules in her neighborhood with a clothes line. Bill Guist did the story I think. Maybe that was what she posted somebody did I can't remember. I have sleep since then....:o

Yes, I did. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xVANxusfMk

[ChapterTwo]

Yar there is some sort of clothes line lobby effort. Really. I think Two posted a link once about it. Also Sunday morning did a piece about a woman who was breaking the rules in her neighborhood with a clothes line. Bill Guist did the story I think. Maybe that was what she posted somebody did I can't remember. I have sleep since then....:o

Yes, I did. Here's the link again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xVANxusfMk

=

[RoseMary]

I hang my clothes out year round, too. I love the way they smell. And I'm a pretty picky about how they are hung:). All washcloths together, all towels together, etc. That way, I can fold them and have them in neat stacks as I take them off of the line.

[memmey]

Rosemary did you give us a recipe for our own laundry soap? Or dish Soap? I googled and found a green site that says you need "washing soda" as part of the recipe. I am wondering if Drug Emporiums health food section will have it. It is a store within a store. Pretty good prices.
I think I will go and look tommorrow.


So the hints need to move forward and here is one I shouldn't tell but I am.
I don't know if I have told ya'll this before, if I did maybe you have forgotten.:p
Do not hesitate to buy really nice shampoo. If you buy from your salon go ahead and get the REALLY good stuff. Walmart shampoo is no good. It will clean your hair of oil and products but it won't do anything to enhance the condition of your hair. I promise it mostly smells good and takes the tangles out but the ingredients needed to keep your in the best conditon cost way more than the shampoos sell for in Walmart or the grocery.\

NOW having said that you need to buy a gallon of distilled water, only distilled...only distilled. Clean an old bottle out and dry it completely. Add one half good shampoo and one half distilled water and roll it slowly between your palms to mix it. DO NOT SHAKE IT. Now you have 2 bottles of really good shampoo for the price of one. If half and half is a little to thin for your taste then you can vary the porportions. Do not shake it or it will break down and not mix correctly. It will start to activate into a lather and you don't want that till you pour it into your hands. BTW pour your shampoo into your hands and rub your hands together before you apply it to your hair TO activate the lather.

Now you can use the $20 shampoo because really you got 2 for $20...:)

[vintage girl]

What a great thread. Unfortunately I can't dry my clothes outside. We are on the horsetrail and everything and I do mean everything gets covered with dirt since we do not have sidewalks. Even though we have an acre, our property is a corner lot, with all the common areas in the front and sides of the house. DARN!!! But we grow our own veggies. Lettuce, peppers, carrots, beets, broccoli, cabbage, watermelon, eggplant, etc. We also grown our own apples, oranges, lemons, pears, tangerines, and tangelos. I attempt to repurpose everything and buy secondhand all the time. We also compost and I give all my grass clippings to my birds in my outside aviary. I live in a small house, 1100 square feet, and do not have central hear or air. We use fans and have window air units when it gets unbearably hot. I use all natural cleaners and of course Gigi's wonderful laundry soap:D Hubs and I service all of our own vehicles and do all our own work on our home. It is way more than just saving money and the earth, we get a sense of pride in doing something ourselves. You can pay anyone to do something, but to learn to do it yourself is amazing. I do use platic bags at the grocery store, but I recyle them and use them over and over. Our cars are paid for and we do not replace them, we fix them, unless we have no choice.

[shabbychick]

Vintage Girl, I'm in awe of how much you reduce, reuse, and recycle. I don't have the skills to be all that self-sufficient. I pay to have my car serviced, and there are some things within the house (like anything to do with electricity or plumbing) that I have to pay someone else to do. I also pay someone else to clean just because I hate cleaning, but I don't feel bad about that because I'm giving someone else a job, and I give her a good tip each time. I don't have a lot of room to grow my own food, so it's mostly herbs, but I have just been involved in planting a community garden at school, and we're actually getting some peas coming up. I feel good about that, as I'm not much of a gardener. This is a learning experience for me.

We have rules in my complex, so I couldn't dry on a clothesline even if I wanted to (and where I live, it's pretty damp most of the year anyway) but I try not to run the dryer longer than I have to. I'm slowly learning how to be more green, but for someone with not much knowledge or experience, it's a slow process.

I'm learning a lot from you guys about all this. Thanks, Memmey, for the tip on shampoo. I do get mine from the salon, so I'll remember your tip.

You guys rule. You should write a book.

[Gigi]

Love the shampoo tip- AND the tip about leaving clothes in the wash for 15 minutes to soak....

[RoseMary]

I did give a recipe for laundry detergent on here, probably this section somewhere. I now dilute it in half and it does just as well. You can just substitute baking soda for the washing soda if you can't find it. You can actually make your own washing soda by taking the same amount of baking soda and baking it in your oven at 450 degrees for a half hour. I just use baking soda and it works fine.

Also, for my liquid fabric softener, I mix one cup of softener, 1 cup of vinegar, and two cups of water and use as usual.

Thank you for the tip on the shampoo, Memmey. I used to buy my shampoo at the Sebring (sp?) place where I got my hair cut, but it closed and I've since bought my shampoo at Wal Mart.

Like Vintagegirl, we use window a/c and fans (sometimes together in this heat), as it uses a lot less electricity. Also, we are beginning to replace our windows with more efficient ones as ours are only single pane, but that will take a couple of years.

[RoseMary]

A couple of other things I do to be thrifty: I stretch my butter by combining one cup of softened butter, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1/2 cup of buttermilk. Mix butter then add oil, then buttermilk. I keep it in a pint glass canning jar in the refrigerator. It's good on toast, biscuits, baked potatoes, etc, but you can't cook with it.

Also, I make a dark furniture polish by combining one cup of light olive oil (cheapest I can buy) with 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. Shake together before each use and rub on with a soft cloth. I use this on my dark wood furniture once a month. You can use white vinegar in this recipe for lighter colored furniture.

[Gigi]

To young mommies or grandparents:

If you do a wash with crayons in it- IT can be a mess- but IF you soak the clothing with a cup or two of baking soda AND soak OVERNIGHT- the crayon will come out of the clothing, then run it through a regular wash.

This "crayon" mishap happened to us, and this worked like a charm. ;)

[memmey]

Rosemary :) the polish recipe sounds like salad dressing...lol
Does it leave an oil surface when you finnish or does it soak in? Do you buff it? I wonder why it is mixed with vinegar? I am gonna try it on a piece of wood to see if I like it Oh does it smell vinegary when your done???

[RoseMary]

Mem, the pieces of furniture that I use it on have a tung oil finish on them and it soaks in and doesn't feel oily after a few minutes. I usually do 'buff' it with a soft cloth after about fifteen minutes. I'm not sure why vinegar--I imagine you could substitute lemon juice. I first heard of the recipe on the Rebecca's Garden program.

I haven't had any trouble with a vinegar smell. I've used it on my unfinished floors in spots and it soaks right in and makes the floor just a little darker (I'm using apple cider vinegar in the mix), but not oily. If you use it on a highly polished surface, you may have different results.

[ChapterTwo]

I use white vinegar and water (equal amounts in a spray bottle) for general cleaning - microwave, stovetop, fridge, counters, etc. There is a website with 1001 vinegar tips: http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

The pickley smell goes away quickly! ;)

[Gigi]

ChapterTwo- Great link!

[memmey]

I made the paste!!!! It works wonderful. I cleaned the sinks, counters, stove and microwave. I love this hint!!!!!!! I put the vinegar on a papertowel to wipe the micro and counters and it goes into my compost pile when I am done. Thanks Rosemary!!!:D:D

[cycle1667]

My wife bought all of the ingredients to make her own laundry soap but I can't find the recipe.

[cycle1667]

I think it had castille soap, borax and something else. I think it was 3 ingredients.

[RoseMary]

I think someone else gave the paste recipe, memmey~I scrolled back but I'm not sure who gave it.

Have any of you stopped buying paper towels? I'd love to, as I use too many of them, but I keep thinking that it will add another load per week to my laundry if I have to wash everything I clean with a cloth.

Gigi, thanks for the tip on getting crayons out with the baking soda. I wonder if it will work on other greasy spots, too?

[cycle1667]

My daughter"s school has a basket full of clean wash towels rolled in a basket and a basket on the floor for disposal. I think they end up doing one extra wash load a month.

[memmey]

Moving this thread forward :). I have my utilites averaged so each month I already know what my electric bill is going to be. Well in the summer my house is old and if I cooK in the evening it heats up the house too much. I try not to use my oven. I am in the deep humid South and even the nicest AC is strained at peak times.

I went to Walmart on-line and I read the reviews of the electric skillets. The Rival 11 ich for $21.96 got perfect reviews. At the store it was still cheaper at $18.96! Since it is vegetable time and there is such good produce now I am cooking a light supper in the skillet and even making cornbread in it. It doesn't heat the kitchen and the food cooks great and fast with little clean-up. Tonight I smothered fresh zucchini and made a cornbread .I also sliced a fresh tomato to go with it. It tasted wonderful if I do say so my self.:D
I heated olive oil in the skillet and added an onion. I sauteed it till it was almost carmelized and then added the thinly sliced zucchini. Seasoned it will sea salt and red pepper flakes and let it smother down till I could mash them up easy and cooked them a little longer. I put them in a covered dish, wiped out the skillet lightly and then added my cornbread and put the lid back on . When the side got done like a big pancake I flipped it over.
That maybe too southern for some of your taste but it was sooooo good and fresh and no mess . No extra AC, no oven for the cornbread and no gas used on my stove.
I am thinking that I am so smart about right now...LOL and full ;)

[shabbychick]

Sounds like a great meal, Memmey. I did use the oven to heat up sweet potato fries, but it's raining and in the 60s here right now. I cook my meat on my George Foreman electric grill more often than not, which is very quick. Tonight I had buffalo Can't make cornbread on it, though. :(

[chyna]

thanks for the update on the weather in Seattle, now I feel vindicated for when it was yucky here and you guys were enjoying the sunshine.:)

we have started using the grill for dinner here. Now if I could just get my dh to boil water and so forth out there we'd be golden.

Hey a thought on the clotheslines, maybe that subdivision has clothesline but they are retractable. Once the monsters I got in the back go away that is my plan. I hate looking at those poles and they take up too much of my yard. Shame to put in your wants for a house to have a big backyard for your kid to play in and then take up room with something in the way. Plus ours is dangerous, I have to hang stuff off the cross beam so nobody accidently walks into it. I have nightmares about eyes being poked out or faces maimed. :mad:

I don't know what is different about dreft but I swear by that stuff for tough stains or smells. :p

[RoseMary]

Memmey, your supper sounds wonderful! I love this time of year with all the fresh produce.

I do a lot of summer cooking in the crock pot. I put the food in and then take it out on my porch and plug it in. Everything cooks good and the house stays cooler.

I sometimes make cornbread in my waffle iron/maker during the summertime. It looks a little odd, but still tastes great.

[Carrie]

Memmey? Have you though of a small convection oven? I live in hot climates too so turning on the oven isn't a good idea. Convection ovens take up less power and generate less heat.
I brought a green house, so when buying appliances I made sure they were green. Other than that, I "recycle" old furniture and household items. Some of the stuff I've recycled is better made than a lot of the new stuff out there.
I grow an organic garden, canning the fruits and vegetables I can't possibly use. Who new that the times I spend with mom and grandma canning would come in handy?

[vintage girl]

Memmey, what time should I be there for dinner:D:D I use a rice steamer and make an entire meal in it. I put in the rice and than put a chicken breast and cut up veggies on top of the rice. Works just like a steamer. If I want a potatoe instead, I put in the water, add a sweet potatoe and chicken and veggies or a pork chop and veggies. Sprinkle spices over all and cook away. I also cook my artichokes this way, that way I do not have to turn on the stove. They also cook up better in my opinion. This time of year we also eat a lot of salads. I take strips of chicken and add them to salads along with corn, grapes, apple, raisins, sunflower seeds, poppyseed dressing. I call it a California Salad. Fruity and just a little to the left;);) I also make a lot of tuna salad and egg salad and we put it in pita bread with fruit and veggies and dip on the side.

[shabbychick]

Ooh, Vintage Girl, I'm coming to your house for supper!!! Those sound yummy.

I have to get back into healthy eating habits. I've been eating the South Beach Diet way for years and lost a lot of weight, but since this fall when I had to have that cast on my foot, I've put on about 12 pounds and have been exercising less and eating more junk. For me, using the oven isn't usually an issue because it's rarely that hot here, but what is an issue for me is time. When I get home from work, I'm usually ravenous, and the thought of waiting for anything to bake in the oven just makes me go, "no, I think I'll eat out!" And that, of course, is a good way to lose money and gain weight.

I have a crock pot and even a cookbook for it, and I should use it more often. I have a tendency to cook things to death in it so should probably buy a timer or something so it isn't cooking from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. I've ended up with a lot of rubbery chicken doing that.

Salmon is my go-to meal when I'm being lazy. Six or seven minutes for a fillet in my George Foreman grill, a quick salad, and a sweet potato in the microwave, and I've got a good meal. Well, it's good after I pour the wine. Before that it's just healthy. :)

[memmey]

Vin I have a little rice cooker....how much water do I know to put in it when you add veggies????? Mine is a little one. I only use brown rice and I know that I add a little more for that. Do I just add the veg. and no extra water??? I want to cook something like that! Could I put shrimp? I only eat seafood but it seems that seaffod has it's own water in it. Do I not add extra?
I NEED to know how to do this chaer.:D

Carrie I have been wondering about a convection oven are they expensive? Do they take up alot of room on the counter. I hate appliances on the counter.

[shabbychick]

Memmey,

I have the same problem with the rice cooker. I only eat brown rice, and it never gets done with one cycle in the cooker even when the water disappears. I tried adding beans and chicken once, and they got done but the rice didn't. I don't like crunchy rice, but it's hard to plan the timing of the rest of the meal around the time the rice finally gets done.

[vintage girl]

I don't add any extra water when I put in meat or veggies. But when I do bronw rice, I let it cook by itself for a few minutes and than add the meat and rice. When I cook a sweet potatoe or artichoke, I just put enough water to cover halfway. Another really really good meal for either the rice cooker or a crockpot is to put a chicken breast in the crockpot or the rice cooker and than pour salsa over the top of it. No water, just salsa. It is delicious. If you want to cook rice with it, just put the chicken on top of the rice, and than half water, half salsa. For the crockpot, you would have to cook the rice seperately.:)

[shabbychick]

Thanks, Vintage Girl, I'll try some of these soon. The weather is finally, finally heating up here (first sunny day today in weeks and weeks, and the whole week is supposed to be the same), so I will want to move away from the oven soon.

[ChapterTwo]

The weather is finally, finally heating up here (first sunny day today in weeks and weeks. )

I'm glad for you. Here, we're hoping it cools down! It's 99 here, with heat and air quality advisories.

Shabbychick, I guess you're familiar with Vashon Island? I touched base with my second cousin, who lives there now.

[Carrie]

I got a convection oven for about sixty dollars. I think for larger, it can go up to more. I work in retail and am a bargain shopper. It takes room on the counter when it is out, but I have really deep cabinets under my counter that I put it away when it cools. I don't have a lot of room in the house. so clutter shows easily.

[Seattle Cottage Lover]

I have a studio in a cottage complex that was built in 1929. Our plumbing is 80 years old and we are as gentle as we can be on our old pipes.
We clean our drains out with baking soda, vinager, and table salt. Then we flush that out the drains with boiling water. We've been doing this every month and knock on wood, no bad stopped up drains.

I've been using baking soda in my laundry wash cycle for about 6 months now and I've noticed things appear whiter. I don't use fabric softener anymore, since I read about the residue it leaves on skin. My clothes smell better anyway.

I also use baking soda and white vinager to clean my sinks with. I still use Ajax cleanser for the toliet though. I use white vinager and newspapers to clean my windows. I then compost the used newspaper.

I use a combination of white vinager and water to clean my hard-wood floors.

I love the magazine and have been reading it since Issue #1!

Thanks for a great product!

April

[ChapterTwo]

Welcome, April!

Another good product for laundry is borax...half a cup of that, along with detergent, works wonders to brighten everything!

[vintage girl]

Welcome April:) I use vinegar a lot to clean also. I haven't tried the baking soda in the laundry, but will give it a whirl.

[RoseMary]

My homemade laundry detergent has both baking soda and borax in it and I think it cleans better than the commercial products. And it's a lot cheaper, too:).

Sometimes I just use vinegar as a softener in the rinse water and it works great.

[Seattle Cottage Lover]

Thanks for the great welcome!
My vet recommended I sprinkle Borax into my carpets and then vaccuum it up to kill fleas. It works great!

[shabbychick]

Welcome, April. It's great to see another Seattleite on the forum! What neighborhood are you in? I used to live in Wedgwood in a great house that was built in 1925. I loved it (except for the scary basement).

[memmey]

I have a question???? If I use vinegar in the final rinse when I am washing clothes can I put it in the fabric softener receptical in the washer???I wonder how much to use? 1 cup? Less?

[Seattle Cottage Lover]

Hi Shabbychick,
I live in the UDistrict. There are some great old homes out here. I am a big fan of Anhalt buildings.

[shabbychick]

Yes, the UDistrict has lots of great old homes. I went to the UW back in the dark ages and lived up near U Village for ten years. I used to walk back and forth around all those great houses on Greek Row and wish I could see inside. One of the really nice things about that area, including Wedgwood and everything up to Lake City Way is that they're not tract homes. They're nice, older homes and a mix of styles and ages.

Are you growing a garden?

[Carrie]

I too use baking soda and vinegar in the drains. I used to use Draino, but when I ran out I remembered someones suggestion of using it down the drains. It worked! You can use it to clean the microwave too, just put it in a bowl with some water in a microwavable bowl turn it on and let the steam soften the food. Take the bowl out of the oven afterward and wipe with a clean sponge. You can even use the vinegar and water to clean with when it cools some. Need to clean the diswasher? Add a cup of vinegar and lemon juice and run it on and empty cycle. Cleans build up. Same with your washer. My high efficiency washer needs to be cleaned out every now and then. Unfortunately because the washers use less water, there can be build up. You can use the vinegar in water and run through an empty cycle with hot water, vinegar and lemon juice.

[RoseMary]

Memmey, you can fill up the receptical, and it does fine, but I think it's really better to use a half cup of full strength vinegar if the clothes were sweaty or stinky when you washed them. I do sometimes add a whole cup to the rinse water in my towels and washcloths if they are drying too stiff from the soap in the wash.

[memmey]

Thanks!:) I REALLY love using this hint. I bought a gallon of vinegar for $2.00 and my firend picked me up 13lbs. of baking soda at Sam's today for $6 and some change. I think I am gonna get some Dr.Bonners peppermint castille soap to add to the mixture.
My drains are so clean because I pour whatever is left after cleaning down the drain.
Do you think that it will fade my clothes to use the soda and vinegar regularly? I hope it will not but I wonder. Arm and Hammer has a detergent that has baking soda in it so what is the difference? Right?
I first time I used the soda and vinegar in my wash and hung them on the line in the hot sun to dry I was so impressed. They smelled so clean. AND they still smell clean clean even after days in the towels closet.:)
I have this little crystal bottel with a glass stopper, it is so cute. I put my vinegar in it tonight and sat it by the sink. Now it is easy and right there.
For those of us that iron their clothes...have you ever bought the sta-flow liquid startch? I mix it in a spray bottle to the strength I like and I keep it in the fridge so it doesn't sour. Now here is another thing that I LOVE. A fresh ironed cotton shirt that was dried on the line.
Have any of you bought the startch that you have to cook? I would like to try it because I don't want to buy the other in a plastic bottle, if I can buy one in a paper box that I can recylce in my compost.

[cheapdiva]

The back seam of my favorite p.j. bottoms split last week (yes, my behind has gotten bigger!!). They are a wonderful soft cotton from so many washings. While I am not a blue person, the print is a very soft blue with a pale yellow and soft orange plaid with a darker blue stripe in the plaid. I've decided to start cutting up old soft cotton clothes and table cloths, etc. and start making things like pillows, napkins, placemats, possibly even window treatments.

I use to quilt and sew EVERYTHING and the last few years have done almost no sewing. I am going to buy a rotary cutter tomorrow and start cutting up fabric. You all need to "bug" me about these projects. I'm so busy that I have stopped doing many of the things that used to really make me happy. Anyone else find themselves missing things that kept you sane???

[vintage girl]

Funny you brought this up!!! I was just thinking that I need to read more. I love to read and used to read every single day. But I have not done this for a while and I am going to start again. I also need to get out from in front of the TV and start listening to music more. I think with our very busy lives, we just do what is easy and convenient. And sitting in front of a TV could not be any easier:rolleyes: Tonight I am going to sit outside on my patio, read and listen to the radio. It is cooler outside and way more healthier. You have inspired me:D

[cheapdiva]

VG -

Good for you! We watch too much t.v. also - but in the form of Netflix movies and instant downloads! Frankly, by the time I get home I am exhausted and am lucky to throw myself on the sofa.
I also need to lose 40 pounds and that might be a big part of the reason I'm exhausted!

Okay, where are the rest of you? What have you neglected doing that you love?

[yarborough house]

I have not time to read and I watch too much tv. I wish I could garden more as the garden needs some love but I just can't handle the heat and humidity that is killing us right now.
I am a total painting freak right now so that keeps me busy. I have been looking over the tv dish that we have and realize that we as in the whole family watch too much tv..so I think we may cancel it and just go with basic cable. It will be hard at first but I think we can handle it.

I really miss baking sweets for the kids but since it is so hot and I am so overweight - that can not happen. ME = no willpower. :(

[memmey]

Me too...crackers and bread :(

[cheapdiva]

YB -
We gave up the cable a few months ago and bought a TIVO. In part to cut down on the t.v. watching!! Now, if we give up Netflix we'll actually stop watching t.v.! Though I do read - a LOT! I'll start a new thread on that.