Preparing for Winter V

Scrimps

pamsdish said:

Scrimps said:

Finally got round to caulking some gaps in the floor and skirting boards this morning. We do feel a tiny draft from there bout mostly its tobget rid of the errant slug that seems to come in every I night since we got the patio doors done. Obviously a gap was left. If this doesn't stop it we will have to remove the patio step and have a proper look outside as to how they're getting in...dont like the thought of them being under the floor boards but I guess the air bricks under the floorboards would provide an entry point if they were that keen anyway

I found when I had patio doors they would "ride" in on the inner slide, drop off indoors.

They're swing open close ones....French doors?  I would think youre correct in that they might be hitching a ride but its very consistent..  we have no pets but we do have kids who could bring them in on their clothing or shoes.  The slugs and snails are very bad in our garden, to the point I gave up a 15 year hobby of growing my own veg, we tried pellets, nematodes and collected and 'rehomed' over 1000 for 2 autumns to no avail before we gave up.

Well the caulking I did didn't work, there was a snail trail on the living room carpet again this morning.  I'll trace it back again to find where they're coming in but it certainly never happened before we had the windows turned into doors. 

pollyanna_26

Cornish Chick the brushed cotton I've seen doesn't compare with proper cotton flannelette bedding we grew up with. our bedding came from the Lancashire cotton mills and I still have some from back then and cut it down to make warm cot and pram sheets and pillowcases.for the children.

I've been collecting that bedding single and double for years and it's still going strong and very warm in winter. I found many outlets in Lancashire were selling it in out of season times much cheaper especially the mill outlets.

I know I'll be warm this winter.

When brushed cotton became a thing I tried some from Next then took it back for a refund just looking at it and feeling the fabric I realised it wasn't good quality.

Maybe some firms aren't so bad but I haven't seen any so far to equal proper cotton flannelette.

pollyx

WeegieWumman

This is what bedtime in winter means for me. -  Brushed cotton sheets + Electric under blanket + Winter duvet + Primark fleecy pyjamas + Fluffy socks.  Sheer heaven.  Goodnight .

London_1

Elisheba said:

London_1 said:

I just had my months duel fuel bill in and it was under £40 which I am quite happy about as I a pretty frugal when it comes to electricity, and use it only when needed

I cook with electric ,but use my Remoska and microwave mainly I recently bought an air fryer so that will help even more come the winter. I use my slow cooker quite a bit as well and my DD got me a 1 litre kettle so I only use enough for a cuppa at a time Or if I fill it up I use the residue in a flask for later.I try to be as zero waste as I can

JackieO xx

My goodness, Jackie! I thought I was frugal with energy, but my bills come to between £55 and 65 a month (before the Oct price rise). How you got them to under £40 is beyond me  .

Practice honey, many years of practice I cook 2-3 times more than I need and freeze surplus. I steam several tiers of veg at once, and either freeze or portion to use over several days via m'wave. I only have my tv on to watch what I want to watch ,once finished it goes off

 I have one wall light behind my chair when I am knitting ot reading and it doesn't go on until needed, tea lights are brilliant for ambient lighting (and a modicum of heat )
My main oven only goes on when I know I am doing a large bake up cake,biscuits etc and jacket spuds are always on the bottom of the oven at the same time cooking,(microwave them for 5 minutes first to soften up) and once cold are frozen.

Microwaving is your best friend along with a slow cooker, and a flask for boiling water from kettle I use my washing machine only when I know I can hopefully line dry clothes or they get dried on the airer in my conservatory which gets pretty warm 9 months of the year.

Hangers with tops go on the curtain rail in the sitting room before I go to bed I have 8'6" high ceilings in my house so stuff dries really well overnight and my sitting room is the warmest room in the house Doors and curtains are shut soon as possible to hold in the heat .any excess heat from the cooling oven usually has the airer in front with the door open so I can utilise ever scrap of heat available. Hot water bottle and throws are a must, and layering up works well as well. I remember all too well living in an uncentral heated house in the 1970s and the power strikes and how we managed to keep warm.As Martin says warm the body not the room. 

I do live alone so I don't have children running in and out and leaving doors open or lights on (my kids call me the 'Lighting police') Just think of heat as money escaping from your wallet and walk around your house and see where its leaking from 

JackieO xx

enkeltliv

Brushed cotton is, in very simple terms, a fabric that has had the fibres brushed to the surface. Those raised fibres trap air thus improving the insulation capabilities of the fabric. Brushed cotton has been brushed on the face side whereby flannelette has been brushed on both sides resulting in a thicker, warmer more breathable fabric.

Flannelette was most likely used decades ago and sometimes even containing wool.

The High Street are purveyors of cheap and favour the simpler process of brushed cotton using, as Laura said, shorter staple length cotton species. This is why the brushed cotton sheets today aren't a patch on the likelihood of having childhood flannelette sheets experience. The other issue that we have in modern Ist world Britain is that flannelette and brushed cotton are terms used interchangeably when, although mechanically applied the same, the fabrics aren't the same in terms of the end product.

Just an aside on staple length of cotton fibre. The staple length is determined by the species of cotton fibre used. Gossypium Barbadense is used for it's long staple. A helpful hint in trying to find it on the high street would be to look out for bedding named as Egyptian, Pima and Supima cotton as they're manufactured using the species Gossypium Barbadense.

pollyanna_26

enkeltliv said:

Brushed cotton is, in very simple terms, a fabric that has had the fibres brushed to the surface. Those raised fibres trap air thus improving the insulation capabilities of the fabric. Brushed cotton has been brushed on the face side whereby flannelette has been brushed on both sides resulting in a thicker, warmer more breathable fabric.

Flannelette was most likely used decades ago and sometimes even containing wool.

The High Street are purveyors of cheap and favour the simpler process of brushed cotton using, as Laura said, shorter staple length cotton species. This is why the brushed cotton sheets today aren't a patch on the likelihood of having childhood flannelette sheets experience. The other issue that we have in modern Ist world Britain is that flannelette and brushed cotton are terms used interchangeably when, although mechanically applied the same, the fabrics aren't the same in terms of the end product.

Just an aside on staple length of cotton fibre. The staple length is determined by the species of cotton fibre used. Gossypium Barbadense is used for it's long staple. A helpful hint in trying to find it on the high street would be to look out for bedding named as Egyptian, Pima and Supima cotton as they're manufactured using the species Gossypium Barbadense.

Proper cotton flannelette is what myslf and my sisters grew uo withand I've used ever since. As the season turned we'd look forward to snuggling down in the warm flannelette with a stone hot water bottle at our feat . o central heating then an Ironbridge range heated downstiars and had a side bread oven that things other than bread could be cooked in if mum wasn;t using the gas oven. I spent many an evening making toast on a toasting fork for our supper and it was the best toast ever,

As the season turned the Egyptian cotton would be back on our beds lovely and cool on hot nights.

At some point not sure if it was the 50s or 60s mum came home with something she'd spotted when shopping fitted nylon sheets and pillowcases . The woman in the shop had told her they dried very quickly compared to traditional bedding. They were horrible both the feel and the fact they kept unfitting themselves and half the bottom sheet would be halfway up the bed bunched up under us.

My younger sisters and I were horrified and moaned about them and one day they were gone. My mum was someone who would never sit at the table until she'd taken hot meals to some of the families who;d lost the breadwinner in WW2  or the breadwinner was unfit to ever work again she wouldn't eat until they were fed too.

I often wondered if that was were the bedding had gone.

pollyx

florianatwobob

Oh nylon sheets were awful! When my grandparents house was cleared out in the early 80s Mum came home with huge amounts of bedding. The ancient stripey brushed cotton sheets were lovely. The nylon sheets were not popular and very soon left the house. They were also bright orange! 

florianatwobob

This has also reminded me that my yellow cellular baby blanket ended up under my bottom sheet when I moved out of my cot into my single bed. 

annieb64

florianatwobob said:

This has also reminded me that my yellow cellular baby blanket ended up under my bottom sheet when I moved out of my cot into my single bed. 

I sewed a large loop of elastic on  each corner of my DDs old cot blanket and put it on her single bed as an underblanket. The elastic looped over the mattress and kept the blanket in place

Wednesday2000

London_1 said:

Elisheba said:

London_1 said:

I just had my months duel fuel bill in and it was under £40 which I am quite happy about as I a pretty frugal when it comes to electricity, and use it only when needed

I cook with electric ,but use my Remoska and microwave mainly I recently bought an air fryer so that will help even more come the winter. I use my slow cooker quite a bit as well and my DD got me a 1 litre kettle so I only use enough for a cuppa at a time Or if I fill it up I use the residue in a flask for later.I try to be as zero waste as I can

JackieO xx

My goodness, Jackie! I thought I was frugal with energy, but my bills come to between £55 and 65 a month (before the Oct price rise). How you got them to under £40 is beyond me  .

Practice honey, many years of practice I cook 2-3 times more than I need and freeze surplus. I steam several tiers of veg at once, and either freeze or portion to use over several days via m'wave. I only have my tv on to watch what I want to watch ,once finished it goes off

 I have one wall light behind my chair when I am knitting ot reading and it doesn't go on until needed, tea lights are brilliant for ambient lighting (and a modicum of heat )
My main oven only goes on when I know I am doing a large bake up cake,biscuits etc and jacket spuds are always on the bottom of the oven at the same time cooking,(microwave them for 5 minutes first to soften up) and once cold are frozen.

Microwaving is your best friend along with a slow cooker, and a flask for boiling water from kettle I use my washing machine only when I know I can hopefully line dry clothes or they get dried on the airer in my conservatory which gets pretty warm 9 months of the year.

Hangers with tops go on the curtain rail in the sitting room before I go to bed I have 8'6" high ceilings in my house so stuff dries really well overnight and my sitting room is the warmest room in the house Doors and curtains are shut soon as possible to hold in the heat .any excess heat from the cooling oven usually has the airer in front with the door open so I can utilise ever scrap of heat available. Hot water bottle and throws are a must, and layering up works well as well. I remember all too well living in an uncentral heated house in the 1970s and the power strikes and how we managed to keep warm.As Martin says warm the body not the room. 

I do live alone so I don't have children running in and out and leaving doors open or lights on (my kids call me the 'Lighting police') Just think of heat as money escaping from your wallet and walk around your house and see where its leaking from 

JackieO xx

I met a woman last night who said her bills are about £30 a month but they are predicted to go up to £80 a month. She lives in a similar size house to us now so we really need to do better and be more careful with our energy use!