This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com
Hygiene is a big concern in a survival situation, as it must be maintained in order to stay healthy and keep up morale. So when I had an opportunity to read Survivor’s Jane’s Guide to Emergency/Survival Hygiene, I jumped at the chance: I was interested in finding out what Survivor Jane’s solutions would be.
Who is Survivor Jane?
Survivor Jane runs the Survivor Jane site, which covers topics on how to survive everything from disasters (man-made and natural), to pandemics, riots, economic collapse, home invasion, self defense, weapons, food storage etc. Survivor Jane also chronicles her journey from being a complacent city girl to an independent homesteader. She has appeared in a recent episode of National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers (Season 4).
Now for the book discussion…
The book contains all you need to know about keeping yourself clean all over, in a disaster or survival situation, when you don’t have access to grooming products: hair, skin, feet, body, teeth; it even covers looking and smelling great using everyday ingredients you may already have in your home.
Although the book’s title says “emergency/survival hygiene,” I think the usefulness of this book is not limited to disaster type situations. You can actually use these recipes daily, even if nothing happens and things are “normal.”
One of the hot topics in the preparedness community involves the use of toilet paper. For one thing, toilet paper is not easy to store especially if you have limited space like I do. But many of the offered suggestions out there are unappealing to me such as leaves, torn up newspaper or phone books (who keeps phone books these days?) Survivor Jane’s idea for toilet paper substitute that she describes in this book is by far the best one I’ve found. There is nothing gross about it and it is super easy to do. I am not going to give it away, you will have to read it for yourself.
She also gives a nice variety of recipes under each category such as facial care, body scrubs, acne remedies, hand care, foot care to name a few. For the ladies, there is a whole section for making cosmetics such as lip gloss, blush, foundation, mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow. There are so many choices that if you don’t like one or don’t have ingredients for something, you can always find an alternative in another page.
I liked that the ingredients are all either things most households have, or very easy to obtain. The instructions are easy to follow and you do not need any special equipment.
I am definitely going to try making several of the recipes such as: mouthwash, toothpaste and deodorant.
If you don’t want to stink and look like a scary mess in the event of a disaster when there are no hygiene products available, you’ll want to read this book. The ability to create hygiene commodities would be a handy skill to have if things became scarce. Or, if you are just interested in cutting expenses by making your own grooming products, using simple but effective ingredients, this book will help you as well.
© Apartment Prepper 2014
Hygiene in hard times is definitely a valuable skill. When in the field, when you’re actually working and sweating all day but with no access to a hot shower, it’s not as easy to be clean. It improves morale and can keep health problems at bay. I’ll definitely look into this book, thanks!
Hi Pierce, It has a lot of good info – I should mention the lady of the house may get more out of it-there is a large section on cosmetics, body treatments and such. Good to know nonetheless, as I mentioned some good commodities/barter items can be made if things become scarce.
I might need to pick this up. I tend to neglect the hygiene part of prepping. Not glamours and tacticool