Category Archives: Self-Reliance

Experimenting with the Easiest Homemade Laundry Detergent

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I had been wanting to try making my own homemade laundry detergent, but wanted an easy one.  Many recipes require grating soap, or boiling the soap mixture, which I wanted to avoid.

Then I found a super easy laundry detergent recipe over at Backdoor Survival.  Survival Woman’s recipe, found in The No Mess No Fuss Method of Making DIY Laundry Detergent did not involve grating soap or boiling ingredients.  The best part was, I already had these materials on hand.

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You will need:

1/2 gallon container (recycled juice bottle will do)

3 TBSP Borax

3 TBSP Washing Soda

2 TBSP dishwashing detergent (Dawn Dishwashing Liquid was recommended in the article and that is the one I used)

8 cups water

Directions:

  1. Boil 2 cups water (out of the 8 cups).
  2. Using a funnel, pour the Borax and Washing Soda into the bottle.
  3. Carefully pour in the 2 cups of boiling water.  Shake well until powders are dissolved.
  4. Add the dishwashing liquid and mix some more.
  5. Finally, add the remaining 6 cups of water and mix well.  That’s it, you’re done mixing.
  6. Use about a quarter to a half cup of this laundry detergent to a load of wash.

The Test

First, I washed a load of colors with the homemade dishwashing liquid, at the cold water cycle.  Our machine is just a regular washer.  I noticed the mixture is more watery than store bought liquid laundry detergent.  It is also odor free.

The second load consisted of whites.

The Result

The load of colors came out clean, with surface dirt removed.  I did not have any heavily stained clothes but any dusty pants and minor dirt came off.

The whites were clean enough, but because I did not use bleach like I normally do for whites, they are not bright white.  To be fair, the homemade laundry detergent results were about the same as store bought without bleach.

If you are used to heavily fragranced clothes, the unscented mixture may be an adjustment.  For myself, though I like the scent for fresh laundry, I used to get an allergic reaction when using too much Downey or heavily scented detergents.  I think we get conditioned to store bought products and expect cleaners to be extra sudsy and fragrant.  They do not need to do these to clean properly.  I believe the homemade laundry detergent worked as well as commercial detergents but is certainly much cheaper to make.

This homemade detergent experiment was certainly a success!  Thanks Survival Woman!

 

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Save some Money: Make your own Homemade Dishwashing Powder Detergent

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Trying to free up money to for emergency supplies means cutting back on expenses elsewhere.  One thing I am trying is to cut back on commercially made products, and replace them with homemade substitutes.  One project that turned out well was to make homemade liquid soap.  I found a good recipe for homemade dishwashing powder over at Survival Common Sense.

Most of the grocery and Target stores in my area did not have Borax or washing soda but I found them at Wal-Mart.   They can also be found on Amazon.

You will need a clean empty jar (I used a recycled plastic jar), a measuring cup and a measuring spoon.

Here are the ingredients I used:

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

1/4 cup store brand kosher store

2 packets of lemonade flavor unsweetened Kool-Aid  (1/4 cup citric acid can also be used but Kool-aid was easier for me to find)

White vinegar (as a rinse aid)

Mix all together in a jar.  Measure two tablespoons of the mixture into your dishwasher’s  soap compartment, along with three drops of dishwashing liquid.  Important:  do not put more than three drops of dishwashing liquid, as this will overflow your dishwasher with suds.

Add vinegar to the rinse aid receptacle to make sure your glasses are spot free.

I ran a dishwasher full of dirty dishes at the normal cycle.  After washing was completed, I checked the glasses.  They came out clean.  I had one that had chocolate milk stains all over it when I put it in:

This is how it came out.

No chocolate milk stains were left in the glass.  They were not completely spot free, about one to two spots appeared in some of the glasses; but for everyday use, I’d say the homemade dishwashing powder worked just fine.

A note about storing homemade dishwashing powder:  I  initially stored the powder mixture under the sink with the rest of the cleaners.  The next day, I took it out to use it for the next load, I noticed the powder was starting to clump.  I think the humidity may affect the powder and cause clumping if left too long.  This does not have chemicals to keep it free flowing.  I shook the jar vigorously and most of the clumps disappeared so I will be able to continue using it.  If you live in a humid area, you may want to cut the recipe in half.   I moved it to another spot that has less humidity.

I consider this experiment a success and will continue to use the homemade dishwashing powder.

 

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Homemade Liquid Hand Soap (from a Soap Bar)

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I tend to get itchy, chapped hands so I wanted to see if I can make an inexpensive liquid hand that is gentle and non-drying.  I am a big fan of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Magic Soap, as you can see from this review.   So I used the soap bar version as a base for my liquid hand soap.  Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1 bar of soap – I used Dr. Bronner’s Almond Bar Soap      2 tbsp glycerin (can be found in most personal care sections at groceries or drug stores)

12 1/2 cups of water

You will also need:  cheese grater, large pot, large funnel, liquid soap dispenser (I used recycled empty ones)

Directions:

1.  Grate the bar of soap using the cheese grater.

2.  Boil 3 liters of water.

3.  Add the grated soap and stir well.

4.  Add the glycerin.

5.  Continue boiling until the soap melts.  The water will be a bit bubbly but overall somewhat clear.

6.  Let stand overnight.

6.  When I checked it the next day, the liquid had become filmy.  It needed to be mixed so I used a fork to stir it up.

 

 

 

 

 

6.  Using a large funnel, pour the liquid soap into a large empty jug for storage (best done over the sink.)  The liquid tends to pour in large quantities so do it very slowly.  Once it’s in a more manageable container, fill up a recycled soap dispenser.   Don’t forget to wash your cheese grater and all other utensils before using for food.

I estimated how much this whole project cost:  $4 for the soap and a few cents worth of glycerin (it was $3 for the small bottle of glycerin):  $7 total initial outlay made 3 liters of liquid soap, which equates to about $40 of liquid soap.

More importantly, did it work?  I had never tried this before so I wasn’t sure if it would turn out well.  I tested the new hand soap:  it lathered up just enough and smelled clean.  It felt a lot like store bought liquid soap but not as strong and drying.

Additional Notes:  This was my first try so I am not sure how other soaps would work.  I would think other soap brands would work just as well, as long as they are not overly moisturized such as Dove soap, as that would change the consistency.  I also thought adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil would work.  If you like it extra sudsy, use a foaming soap dispenser. 

 

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Self Sufficiency Project: Preserving Eggs

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I like eggs for breakfast, especially “over easy” eggs.  Dehydrated eggs are great for scrambled eggs but I have not found a dehydrated egg product that can make eggs over easy.  So when I saw that Doomsday Preppers episode with Kellene Bishop explaining you can indeed preserve whole eggs, I knew I had to investigate further.

I checked online and found her site and the Safely Preserving Eggs post.  All you really need are fresh eggs and mineral oil, so I went and bought them.  Mineral oil is found in the first aid section of a pharmacy or even the grocery store, next to stomach remedies.   I did some more checking and found the article Preserving Eggs for the Long Term that included some caveats about preserving only eggs laid within 24 hours.  Unfortunately I do not have access to egg laying hens, so I had to settle for what I can find in the city.

Here are the steps that I took:

  1. I found out that you can check an egg’s freshness by dropping it in a jar of water.  If it sinks, then it is fresh.  If it floats then it is no longer fresh.  So I tested the egg prior to oiling it.

This egg sank so it is fresh.

2.  I dried the egg and put on some gloves.

3.  I poured about a quarter size amount of mineral oil into my palm and rubbed it all over the egg, and repeated the process on six eggs.

That’s it!  I am leaving the eggs on the counter and I will check them weekly.  I will turn the container over once a week to ensure the coating stays even.  I am not sure how they will turn out.  It is starting to get humid and warm around here.  With air-conditioning, the temperature in the kitchen is around 75-78 degrees.  I will test the eggs for freshness in two weeks.  In the meantime I will do some more research on other ways to preserve eggs such as pickling etc.

I will definitely keep you posted!

Update after two months:  So far the eggs are still fresh.  No unpleasant odors or changes; I tested one and it sinks to the bottom of the cup of water so it is still good.
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Make Cereal in your Apartment Kitchen

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Even though we can’t truly be self sufficient we can reduce our dependence on the system by making certain foods ourselves.  I always enjoyed granola cereal and always bought Quakers brand.  I found out it’s actually very easy to make it yourself.  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup dried cranberries (raisins or other dried fruit would work too)

1 cup nuts ( I used macadamia.)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cube butter

1/4 c lightly packed brown sugar

1/4 c honey

1 tsp vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheet with foil.  Grease the surface with oil or cooking spray.

2.  Mix oats, cranberries, nuts, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

3.  Combine butter, sugar and honey in a medium saucepan, over medium heat.  Stir until butter melts and begins to boil.  Add vanilla and stir.  Remove from heat and pour over oats.  Make sure oats get coated well.

4.  Transfer mixture to pan, spreading flat in an even layer.

5.  Place in preheated oven and check after 15 minutes.  Stir in any edges that are getting too brown.  Return to oven and bake another 10-15 until top is golden.

6.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Break into chunks.

The first time I tried this recipe the cereal came out a bit darker than I planned, as the oven tends to overheat.  It still tasted good.  I made a second batch and removed it from heat sooner and the color was just right.  You will have to check a couple of times to gauge how your oven heats up the oats.  Now I have lots of good granola cereal.   Buying the dry ingredients from the bulk bins at the grocery store is the most inexpensive way to go.  The best part is I know exactly what ingredients went into it.

 

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Book Review: How to Live on Wheat 3rd Edition

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I received a reviewer’s copy of How to Live on Wheat, 3rd Edition by John Hill, which was released December 2010.  I must admit I had not heard of this book before, and likely would not have read it:  in my mind, “living on wheat” seems like one of those “advanced” activities, far above my preparedness skills.

As it turns out, I am happy to admit I was wrong about my initial impression.  Live on Wheat has a lot of good information for the beginner.  It includes a lot more information on various types of grains, food storage, and how to cook them.  Chapters include:

  • Introduction to the various types of grains and legumes
  • Nutritional considerations
  • Grain and legume storage
  • Making and cooking with sprouts
  • Sourdough
  • Cooking grains and legumes
  • Baking bread
  • Making noodles, pasta and dumplings
  • Making gluten meat substitutes
  • Cooking with corn
  • Tempeh
  • Cast iron cooking and baking
  • Essential tools and supplies

Since I am highly interested in developing some bread making skills, this book is helpful to me.  The section on sourdough bread has great information on making a starter dough.  I am also planning to try my hand at sprouting and unlike some sprouting books I have seen, the book is quite honest about which ones are tasty and which ones taste nasty.  The chapters are brief but packed with a lot of information.  You will appreciate this if you are not into fluff, and do not have a lot of time to pour into complicated instructions.  As someone who does not have a lot of space, I was also encouraged to know you do not need a lot of new equipment to try the sprouting or bread making recipes.

Live on Wheat is practical and quick to read, and has good recipes for everyday use.  It would be a great addition to your kitchen and survival library.

Beware of Prepper Overload

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There are a few stages you may go through when you first start the preparedness journey.

1.  You notice things that never caught your attention before.  You look at your pantry and begin to calculate how many days your food and water will cover.  You notice the grocery shelves get low on Sunday night, and know that there isn’t any stock left in the backroom until the delivery trucks arrive.  You watch the news and wonder how much of it is “happy talk” and question in your head how the statistics came about, when previously you accepted the news as is.

2.   You start looking at international news and other websites and blogs, as you seek information the main stream media does not cover.  Because of the wealth of information you are getting, you become even more worried you don’t have nearly enough supplies.

3.  You read more websites about preparedness, and what the “advanced” people are doing:  buying bug out retreats, learning skills like canning,  then you start to feel insecure about how much you have to do, and overwhelmed about how much there is to be done.  Then you wonder, “When will I ever have the time to learn all that stuff, I got to work 12 hours a day, and I barely have any money left at the end of the month.  I am stuck in the city, I have no funds to buy a bug-out retreat, I will just become a refugee… Everyone else is way ahead of me, why even bother?”

The 3rd stage is the danger zone.  This is where people may lose sight of the goal and become discouraged.  Do not fret, these are all normal thoughts and feelings when a lot of things seem to hit you all at once.  When this happens, take a step back to sort out these thoughts.

  • Do not compare yourself to others, instead, think about how much you’ve done in a week, a month or however long since you started.  If you’ve just picked up a few canned goods and bottled water yesterday, then you are already better off than you were a week ago.
  • Take all the scary predictions and consider where the predictions are coming from.  Some of these “experts” are  trying to sell something, and fear is a good way to motivate people.  Do not give in to the scare tactics.  This happened to me a while back, but that is for another post.  Suffice it to say, a year ago when I first started, there were lots of dire forecasts, and now, a year later, things are still tough but we are still here.
  • Lots of people are ahead of you in preparing, but lots of people are not prepared at all.  It can be intimidating reading articles or listening to podcasts by people that sound like they “have it made” they already have several year’s worth of food, ensconced in their bug out cabin in the woods.  But they had to start somewhere, and once, they were in the same shoes were are in, beginning or intermediate.
  • Keep the discouraging thoughts away but considering what things you do have control over:  use of your own time and resources and totally within your own choice.  If you don’t have the money to take a class to learn a skill, why not learn from someone for free – coworkers who are excited about knitting or quilting would be excited to share knowledge with you, parents or grandparents who may be into breadmaking or canning.
  • Consider why you wanted to be prepared to begin with.  If you want to protect your family, don’t let these discouraging thoughts stop you.  Be grateful for the blessings you do have, and the time that you have today to prepare.

When you do get over the initial overload stage, you get into a more consistent routine, then you will actually start to enjoy newly acquired skills, along with the feeling of security of having a few emergency supplies set aside.

A Review of MD Creekmore’s Survivalist Blog

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A few months ago, when I was first starting out, I felt overwhelmed with all the expenses associated with preparing, and what seemed like a mountain of stuff to acquire.  Then I discovered M.D. Creekmore’s Survivalist Blog http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/.  I found that he has a lot of informative articles on getting started, AND he emphasized the low cost and easy ways to begin the preparedness journey.

I really appreciated such articles as:

Stocking the Survival Pantry http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survival-food/stocking-pantry-for-survival/

10 Thing to Do Now! http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survival-food/survival-food-storage-walmart/

How to Survive TEOTWAWKI in 14 Easy Steps http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/this-n-that/how-to-survive-teotwawki-in-14-easy/

The articles are written in a practical and down-to-earth manner, that even a person who has no idea where to start would not feel intimidated.  If you are a just starting out, I would recommend the section called TOP POSTS as a good place to start reading.  From there you can just click on the topics the interest you.

There is a multitude of articles that would be of interest to people in various stages of preparedness.  More on the “advanced” category, he also has articles regarding relocating to a survival retreat (as an example, see Advice on Relocation http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/uncategorized/advise-on-relocation/) which may not apply to me right now, but he does show that it is doable.

Is there anything I don’t like about this site?  I am not as partial to the guns and ammo type of articles, but they are still informative, and my husband likes those sections.  Whether you are a beginner or advanced in your preparedness efforts, you will find the Survivalist Blog a great resource.

I Read The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse

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I finished reading The Modern Survival Manual:  Surviving the Economic Collapse by Fernando “Ferfal” Aguirre.  He runs the Surviving in Argentina Blog http://ferfal.blogspot.com/ (I don’t know him personally, just giving credit.)

An economic collapse is one our our fears; this is a book written by someone who has already experienced it.  Argentina, a once prosperous country, went through its economic collapse in 2001 and it has never been the same since.  Mr. Aguirre describes in detail the aftermath of the collapse:  food and water shortages, frequent power outages, and above all, a large increase in crime.  He describes the mindset that he has adopted to survive and learn to thrive in this situation.  It is interesting to see that life does go on, but in a much altered state.

I found it interesting that the author disagrees with the idea of having a remote retreat location in the event of a collapse.  In his country, those living in isolated areas are more vulnerable to becoming victims of crime.  He lives in the suburbs and indicates that being well prepared with a good mindset, you would actually be better off than if you were in a remote location.  This actually gives me hope that in spite of the ensuing troubles, if an economic collapse were to occur we will be just fine as long as we are well stocked and mentally prepared.  What I do wonder about is, while Argentina underwent an economic collapse, they fortunately did not have a complete societal collapse.  If a societal collapse were to occur, I would think staying in or near a city would be disastrous.

Could a similar thing happen here?  If can.  After all, The Great Depression already happened once.  Lots of other countries are interdependent with the U.S., a collapse in the U.S. would have more far reaching consequences.

I thought the book had a lot of good tips, and made a lot of sense.  Because of their high crime rate, he discussed self defense, knives, guns at great length.  He also made a lot of good points on the mindset that has helped him survive all the turmoil.  All in all, I would recommend the book to anyone who is worried about an economic collapse as the book provides a vivid account and good perspective.

Books I am Reading

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Right now I am reading The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse [Paperback] http://astore.amazon.com/apartmentprep-20/detail/9870563457 by Fernando FerFal Aguirre.  I bought it for myself for the holidays and will post a review once I finish it.  There is a link to the book in my Amazon store.  Please consider clicking through my link to Amazon if you are interested in making a purchase.  It does not cost you anything, and will help support the site.

I received a review copy of the Third Edition of Live on Wheat:  The Complete Guide to Storing, Preparing and Cooking Whole Wheat, Whole Grains and Legumes by John Hill.  I will post a review as soon as I finish that as well.