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Post by lilolpeapicker on Feb 22, 2021 16:39:53 GMT -5
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Post by reuben on Feb 22, 2021 17:12:42 GMT -5
Have any of you used NO detergent? It's worked quite well for me.
Wash - cold water (over 90% of the time), no detergent, normal wash.
Dry - air/rack/line.
I will use detergent on rare occasions when I have some particularly nasty stuff to wash, but it's a rare occurence.
Soooooooo much better for the planet, and my electric bill, and the power company.
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Post by emmsmommy on Feb 22, 2021 17:32:35 GMT -5
I wash my towels in hot water and vinegar only. They smell much fresher and actually are softer now, though part of that may be the wool dryer balls which have slowly dwindled down to one.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Feb 22, 2021 20:53:58 GMT -5
lilolpeapicker , thanks for the references. Of those listed, I'm only familiar with Tide and Seventh Generation. There's a Mrs. ??? (can't remember the name) brand of allegedly environmentally friendly products, but it's outrageously expensive. It's ironic that the more friendly brands (and sometimes the same with food) are more costly than brands with undesirable ingredients. It's good to learn about other detergents that might be good candidates. Did some checking to see if I could buy the Clean People brand but it doesn't seem to be sold in Michigan, but it is available online. reuben , is the no detergent policy for all laundry (including gardening clothing) or laundry that doesn't really get dirty?
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Post by desertwoman on Feb 22, 2021 20:59:50 GMT -5
emmsmommy , I, too, wash towels in hot water and vinegar, but haven't gone to reuben's cold water only, for clothes. You've piqued my curiosity reuben ,. May experiment with a couple of loads and give it a try if I can get over (the brainwash, perhaps?) the idea I need detergent for clothes to be clean-actually, though, I think its the cold water I cant quite get past edit: (though now that I think about it, I've seen plenty of women washing clothes in cold rivers and pounding them on rocks. Have done it myself when trekking the Himalayas and Andes.)
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Feb 22, 2021 21:15:08 GMT -5
emmsmommy, is white vinegar used? (I'm assuming cider vinegar wouldn't be appropriate.) That reminds me that I'm old enough now to take cider vinegar and honey for arthritis. My father took it for years and despite having been D'X'ed with arthritis, he never had any pain, discomfort, or physical restrictions until his much later years.
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Post by reuben on Feb 22, 2021 21:23:29 GMT -5
No detergent is dicretionary, but it works for me 99% of the time. If you've been kneeling or sitting in the dirt all day you might want to think about detergent. Or just hose them off real well, let them stay outside, and then bring them in for a no detergent wash. I've never done that, but I've thought of it.
I don't know if that extra water usage would be worse than detergent. For dw in the desert it would probably be worse. In that case a good option might be to let them sit outside overnight or for a day to dry out, then beat the worst dirt off before a no detergent wash. I've done so with good success.
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Post by armjr on Feb 22, 2021 23:02:20 GMT -5
#1 wife washes her stuff. I do two days of jeans, shirts, underware and socks all in the same load every third day and they go straight into the dryer. I use whatever detergent is sitting on top of the dryer. It is unscented, usually Arm and Hammer. I figure I'm helping the environment around here more by having clean clothes than any harm I'm doing by using soap. We have a separate drain field for the graywater from the washer. #1 wife has a small line in the garage to dry her stuff that, for whatever reasons, can't go in the dryer. I don't wear anything that can't go in the washer and dryer.
Alan
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Post by gardendmpls on Feb 23, 2021 0:17:20 GMT -5
My choice of detergents is based on does it clean well, smell good and not add to the budget. I can recycle plastic bottles in a lot of ways and can plant my own trees, thank you very much.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Feb 23, 2021 5:12:08 GMT -5
Did some checking to see if I could buy the Clean People brand Never heard of that brand but I will go back to using Seventh Generation.
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Post by emmsmommy on Feb 23, 2021 6:03:59 GMT -5
Yes. I buy it in gallon jugs and get the food-grade instead of the cleaning vinegar. I mainly just use it on towels though when my daughter was younger I added vinegar to her clothes as well. When I was thrifting jeans and clothes for our business I'd also use it if anything had a cigarette odor. As for the rest of our clothes, I use an unscented detergent or a baby detergent.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Feb 23, 2021 13:06:44 GMT -5
armjr, I'd be interested in knowing how you created and connected the graywater line and field, especially the connections. I used to save water for gray field watering, but I used the old fashioned and tiring method of pouring it into buckets and hauling it outside. That method didn't last too long, especially if I stumbled and ended up with graywater on me, or worse yet, on the floor. This is off the topic but I can't help thinking of something that's so irritating. When I drive down the local trunkline highway, which is the best route to get anywhere in this area, I pass through a few wealthier communities. During the summer and fall the boulevarded areas almost always have sprinklers going, not just for the floral arrangements, but for the grass. It's such a waste of water.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Feb 23, 2021 15:27:05 GMT -5
I'd be interested in knowing how you created and connected the graywater line and field, especially the connections. armjr I'm interested too, as I'm looking at a seperate graywater line soon.
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Post by armjr on Feb 23, 2021 22:01:54 GMT -5
I wish I could take credit for it but it came with the house. The washer and dryer are in the garage and the line runs under the concrete walkway out to the side yard. There is a main holding tank that feeds several in ground barrels that act as drain field. We are on a very sandy hill so drainage is never an issue.
Alan
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Post by desertwoman on Feb 23, 2021 23:26:59 GMT -5
We also have the washer draining as greywater. Instead of the drain tube going down through the floor into your sewer or septic, you head it out through the wall and into the yard. Our tube empties into a french drain and waters trees. It was installed before we moved in so I don't have pics that show the installation but here are a couple that give an idea of what can be done. I landscaped the yard after we moved in, (the flagstones were already in place) but you can also simply drape the tube along the top of ground to where you want it to empty. That little white flap on the wall, where the metal sun hangs, is the clothes dryer vent. The washer tube comes out that wall under the flagstones part way into that bunch of river rocks (near the orange day lilies). Those rocks are where the french drain starts. The french drain continues across the flagstone path to the trees
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