Some people have a negative attitude about their moms raising them with
"Depression Era" consciousness. However many years ago when I was washing
clothes in my bath tube, instead of my attitude being "poor me" I realized how
much better so many things I was doing that I learned from mom, or picked up
from "necessity is the mother of Invention" and "waste not want not" were so
right for the environment,. Making me feel good about doing it, and changed my
outlook on all of it.
So here's my morning, sharing this hopefully to help inspire you. It's chic
to be green, and Ethnic ways are very in. Which I really believe was more of
what my mom was doing then about cost of living. She did what she saw her
Sicilian mom do. And thus I do.
Dusting I used to buy a package of cloth diapers just to use for cleaning.
Now I recycle old T-shirts cut up and best are flannel shirts. These are my
dusting tools. I lightly dampen the flannel pieces and away I go, dusted the
whole house with just this damp cloth. It picks up dust without hurting
anything. I went from hard woods, to book case, book spines (Oh Books I
learned from the book repair people at the library, should be shelved on their
sides. This eliminates stress on the spines of the books and the books last
longer and less dust collects on books stacked this way)
Continued dusting..plant leave, glass jars and glass boxes, picture frame
and glass on entertainment system . Also OK to dust my oil paints and acrylics
that are not behind glass.
Now into the bath areas. Here all I use is white vinegar and or 10 Vol.
hydrogen peroxide, both very good to disinfect and inexpensive. Shower doors and
all, then to rinse instead of wasting all the water to rinse off chemical
scrubbers, I recycle my liquid dish detergent bottles, fill with water then
squirt to rinse shower walls, doors and great on those glass shower door tracts
that are hard to clean. The pressure from the squirt bottle is enough to get
those hard to get places. So now shower is clean and hardly any water was used.
Of course you can shower and clean shower all at the same time, I've done this
too. Thus saving water, squiggie glass doors and walls of shower. Or dry with
towel or be lazy like me and let them air dry, actually it adds moisture in my
home and here in AZ that's a good thing.
Also I learned from the cleaning crew at an apt. I lived at, we had really
hard to clean windows, no matter what I used they looked streaked. I asked what
they use, all they used was rubbing alcohol in a bucket of water or spray bottle
and a squiggie. Looking good!
So what do I have white vinegar, 10 Vol. hydrogen peroxide. When I wash
floors I use one of the swifter mops my husband bought me, he said I shouldn't
be on my hands and knees and he was right. But instead of buying refills of the
cleaning solution and refills for the pads. Again I use some liquid detergent
and white vinegar in the refill bottle. Instead of the pads I use T-shirts or
old towel pieces I push those into the sockets where the pads are supposed to
grab onto. Works just fine and I wash and re-use of course.
When I do spot cleaning on kitchen floors I wet a cloth using my left over
dish washing (OF course I don't use a dish washer, goodness how much does that
cost our environment$$$)
And I put the wet rag on the floor and with my foot I clean up spots.
Now think about this, in my years of learning Yoga and Chi Kung and
acupressure meridians, I realized I was healing myself while I was cleaning the
floors with my feet.
Meridians end at the foot, hands, and ears. so massaging and rubbing
feet/toes/hands/ears, work on ALL the internal organs and thus a healthy
you.
Cool!
So at 62 years of age, I can still lift my leg to clean my feet in the
bathroom sink. My toes and hands are Arthritis free, and my whole body is limber
and relaxed and I am healthy. The environment is healthy and everything is
happyand healthy....just being silly now.
I also did a few loads of laundry, this too is energy cost effective.
Haven't used my dryer much at all, saving many dollars, putting moisture in my
home. I only wash on cold setting and use "delicate" cycle=shortest cycle. I
might use dryer just to fluff towels, and the guys pants are all cotton with
those pockets all over. But no longer than 3 minutes, then I hang up and they do
not need ironing. Dress shirts and all my tops and slacks I hand wash in bath
tube. By colors. My tops I have made over the years from batik cloth/sarongs,
made in Bali. I fold in half, cut a 7" hole for head, and sew up sides leaving
about 10" for my arms to go through. This I saw in Ethnic Custom and Costumes
books. And I first bought a few then when I found a place here that sold the
sarong material I started making my own.
So because the material is not color set I have never put them together in
a washing machine. The colors would run and it would wear out the fabric. I
have had these tops for 10-15 years now and they still look new.
Remember folks LINT from dryer is your fabric threads wearing out. WHY do
this??
Keep the environment healthy, and save some $$, and keep cloths looking
new. now how much common sense is in this...LOTS I'd say mom was very smart and
kind to the environment....cool!
So I hope this helps you to be green and save some bucks and feel really
chic and hip, being
Ana
2 comments on "Ethnic" and "eco-chic "
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All great tips! I, too, have no dishwasher...although, not by choice, the apartment didn't come with one. But, it's just two people here (with only me at home for most of the time), so it's almost foolish not to do dishes by hand anyway.
I do wash a lot of manageable garments at home and then hang them to dry. I have to go to the laundromat for everything else, but I almost always use only cold water and a baking-soda based detergent.
LOL, I use old t-shirts for dusting, too! And, oh, I love this...I use old cotton, non-linty socks for dusting...they slip on the hand like a dusting "glove" and they work so well. Just a dampened cloth most of the time, too. If something is really much dirtier and it can be washed, I'll wash it with gentle dish soapy water and then dry instead of dusting with strong chemical stuff.
I try to clean bath/shower whenever I'm showering, being sure to squeegie or completely towel down after. Being in a more wet, humid area than you, this helps fight off mold which can be a major problem. At times there are more drastic steps that must be taken, but this can almost eliminate all or most mold in the bathroom problems.
This was a very good post, ana. I did pick up some tips from you and I am going to try them. Thank you.
I'm thinking about showering with my clothes on and cleaning the shower at the same time. Save water shower with your clothes on...bumper sticker anyone?..green enough?