Sanitation: One of the most important preparedness discussions.

[hatidua]

I keep a 6oz bottle of Lemon Joy in my travel bag: you can wash anything in that stuff, even in saltwater (hair/body/clothes/dishes/-anything). It might not be the 'perfect product' for some purposes but it's the best jack-of-all-trades soap I've used and if I only have space for one soap, it's going to be Lemon Joy. As far as washing clothes, soap up while wearing them in the shower, even if it's an outdoor shower devised from hanging a bag of water from a tree limb.

[Wulf202]

Clothing uv exposure is better than just cycling them.
I.e. its better than nothing.

Turbidity renders uv water treatments useless or at very least questionably. Turbitity and chemical treatment requires increased contact time

[rbeau30]

So I am bringing this thread back from the dead. For washing clothes I am going the route of making my own laundry detergent. The three ingredients can be kept dry and separate until you need to make more.

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/hom...intable-label/

It is what Wulf202 mentioned earlier in the thread.

If this isn't good for SHTF scenario, at least I will be saving money for more SHTF stuff.

[Wulf202]

"Washing soda" is also "soda ash" or in the pool world "ph up" you can get it at any pool supply shop in quantity.

[Irving]

We tried this but I don't think it cleaned our clothes as well as we liked so we never did it again. My laundry bucket is now my brass bucket. Let us know how you like it. I've still got some fels naptha around as well. I'd also like to try the dry version.

[TheGrey]

Ladies will also require a way of washing clothing- especially when they first reach the age of menarche. Not to be gross, but there is a learning curve involved, and clothing will need to be washed.

[TheGrey]

I make our own laundry soap. It's dry, not liquid, and it lives in a 5-gallon bucket. Our HE machine gets 1 Tablespoon per load. Clothes come out clean-smelling and it works well!

Guys, if you're putting away laundry soap, get an extra bottle of Woolite for ladies delicates.

I've seen all sorts of recipes online. Instead of "1 cup of this" and "1 1/2 cup of that", here's what I do:

1 box of Borax
1 Box washing soda
3 lbs baking soda (1/2 of those big bags you can buy at Sam's club)
1 tub of generic Oxyclean cleaner (not absolutely necessary)
4 bars grated Fels Naptha

Dump everything into a 5 gallon bucket. Mix the ingredients by stirring, or putting the lid firmly on the container, turn it on it's side and rock it back and forth until it's mixed.

This stuff lasts, and goes a LONG way.

I also use white vinegar as a rinsing agent. White vinegar is terrific for sanitizing.

[Wulf202]

I'll be trying the oxy clean addition. Thanks

[rbeau30]

After I do the Liquid version I think we will try the dry version. That seems a lot less messy and fussy. The only concern I had was with dry detergent, does it dissolve well even with using cold water cycles?

[TheGrey]

After I do the Liquid version I think we will try the dry version. That seems a lot less messy and fussy. The only concern I had was with dry detergent, does it dissolve well even with using cold water cycles?

I not only use the cold cycle for most of my cleaning, but I utilize the "quick wash" cycle, that cleans things n 25 minutes. I still wash my whites in hot water, still use bleach for that cycle with the dry detergent, and I've not had any issue with detergent not dissolving. I think the trick is to use no more than a tablespoonful per full load, and use vinegar for the rinse cycle.

An FYI, with likely TMI: we have an older cat that was frightened by one of our newer cats- he peed in his kitty cuddler. I took the cuddler and threw it into the washer by itself, put in a tablespoonful of the detergent and vinegar in the rinse cup, and I added a splash of vinegar directly onto the cuddler in the washer. I washed it in warm water and extra high spin cycle on the "casual" setting....and there was no odor or pee in the cuddler at the end of the cycle. I checked with a black light, just to be sure.

I hope it works out well for you. I make detergent about twice a year- and I wash all of our linens, blankets, curtains and such at least every three months to keep the cat hair and dander down.