Preparedness for when

RAS

One place I have not explored is scrap metal merchants. Someone I know got wonderful stainless steel buckets ( ex dairy I think) for £1; slightly less than perfect but flat based and perfectly functional.

GreyQueen

RAS wrote: »

One place I have not explored is scrap metal merchants. Someone I know got wonderful stainless steel buckets ( ex dairy I think) for £1; slightly less than perfect but flat based and perfectly functional.

I'd love a stainless steel bucket. Sad, but true.

mardatha

I wouldn't bother with all that but just dump washing in the bath to steep - go walkabout on it to help shift the dirt. Then rinse in there and hand out of the window to somebody and they hang it on the line.

RAS

GreyQueen wrote: »

Bar soaps, salt and sugar will keep indefinately as long as they're dry.

This reminds me of the situation in Eastern Europe when in Soviet control.

My friend's GF came over from Poland when he returned to the UK. After the Russians stopped Solidarity, she could not go back and return to the UK if she was on her Polish passport, so they married.

Eventually they got permission to go over and she rang her mum to ask what to take. Soap and matches said mum; I can barter anything for soap and matches. They were also advised how to get through road blocks; always have an open packet of fags on the back seat and if asked let the soldier have them.

So they stuffed soap and matches everywhere. Did not cost much but it was what was asked for. Mum was thrilled and refused any financial contribution for their stay as she could not convert cash as effectively. She could as she said get anything in exchange.

Strangely enough couples in Poland routinely started marriage with a full set of white goods; whenever an engagement was announced it was patriotic to help by filching the components of fridges, cooker and washing machines which were assembled by the workforce outside the factory. This massively reduced productivity at the plants and reduced income to the Government.

charlies-aunt

jk0 wrote: »

Ginny, I bought a galvanised mop bucket from the local hardware shop about a month ago for £12. I did not leave it full of water, but can you believe the galvanising has started to come off in places in the bottom?

I can now see rust spots, and it looks like the galvanising was only a 'paint effect'. A flaming waste of money, that was.

Can you take it back and get your money back?? - its reasonable to expect galvanised wear to last years and years - not weeks -before it starts to deteriorate. Its not "fit for purpose" otherwise.

I have three galvanised buckets and a wash tub from my grandma's house that I was given after she passed away over 40 years ago and they are still rust free & in regular use. They are probably twice as heavy as modern buckets and all have a thick rim around the bottom edge so the actual bottom of the bucket is off the ground.

If you don't want the hassle of taking it back - maybe could you salvage it with a couple of coats of Hammerite? - it makes metal stuff last years and years longer.

Also 'inherited' one big and one small copper hand "posh-ers" from Grandma's -fortunately they are only used as ornaments at the moment

GreyQueen

That's very interesting, RAS. I've heard similar stories from people I know who lived in the countries formerly part of the USSR.

It's often astonished me how that things which are genuinely useful and valuable can have a present price which is so incredibly modest. I've bought big pillar candles for as little as 20p. Hours of burning time. If the leccy is out, how valuable is that? If the electricity supply becomes unreliable and powercuts become the new normal, only a fool would donate a brand new candle to the charity shop or sell it for a pittance at the car boot sale.

What's cheap now could become dear in a crisis. What's expensive now, like high end electronics, becomes a fancy paperweight with no power. The thoughful person tries to come out on the right side of the equation.

I started a bar soap hoard in late 2011. I haven't added to it and have subtracted from it in use. Soap is my basic toiletry and cornerstone of hygiene. It has an inarguable value and utility in the way which many other things don't have.

*************

I was having a convo with my Dad at the weekend. He's a thoughtful man and a keen historian. The argument was they're not real pounds.

Nearly 50 years ago when I was a sproglette, Dad earned £16 a week as a builder's labourer. Our rent was £1 a week. These were pre-decimal pounds, but even then, £1 was cheap. Our neighbours in the other cottages on the row thought it was extortionate as they were paying half that in rent (10 shillings).

I can earn, net, in TWO HOURS what my father earned in a WEEK when I was an infant. But my rent for a tiny council flat is £80 a week. So I have to sell 10 hours' labour to pay a rent on a much smaller, gardenless living space. Dad sold 47 hours' labour a week for his £16 so he took 2.94 hours to earn the rent every week.

If money had smiliar spending power, shouldn't I be able to rent something simiar for about £24 a week? A two bedroom, one attic cottage with a large garden.

They're not real pounds. Your money in savings is depreciating as we speak.

craigywv

hi all i would like to source a goodgreen house for the side of my house its super sunny there and will grow tomatos in it , what i would like to know is whats best the plastic glass plexiglass? or the real glass i only want the tall narrow house not the full size thanks.

bluebag

mardatha wrote: »

I wouldn't bother with all that but just dump washing in the bath to steep - go walkabout on it to help shift the dirt. Then rinse in there and hand out of the window to somebody and they hang it on the line.

That takes me back to my student days when I couldn't afford the launderette.

Used to soak everything in a bucket with water and a bit of soap powder overnight then wash it out and rinse and spin it next day.

'Big' stuff got soaked as you describe in the bath.

I used to wash my smalls out every night in the bathroom sink using the same water after I had washed my face.

Never had any backlog of washing, but jeans had to go to the launderette, just didn't have the strength to do my Levis by hand.

Golden days.

ALIBOBSY

JayneC wrote: »

Just reading this and thought you lot may find it interesting
http://www.peakprosperity.com/wsidblog/82639/8-reasons-stockpile-diatomaceous-earth

We discover DE when we got the chickens, it works well in the coop against mites etc, great on them and if we suspect worms throw some on the birds and in the water/feed, works a treat. Great on the cats for fleas as well. Plus protects the chicken feed.

I have heard it would treat human worms, but wouldn't try it except in a SHTF situation. Definitely keep a tub on hand.

Ali x

[Deleted User]

thriftwizard wrote: »

Not to mention witch hazel too, which is gentler but still effective.

Handy for treating piles too.