A Simpler Life 2018

CRANKY40

Bluegreen143 wrote: »

EDIT - slightly related re the turn-out of one's children - I very deliberately keep my two-year-old son a bit scruffy as part fo my simplification regime. He has a capsule wardrobe consisting only of items that are comfortable, promote freedom of movement and allow as much independence as possible in dressing and pottying (promoting independence is of the values I really adhere to as a parent). So basically all he has is comfortable cotton elasticated jogging bottoms, a range of t-shirts in short and long sleeves, plain white vests, plain cotton pants, socks, PJs and some jumpers, mostly hand-knit by my mum.

When my small person was at this stage I didn't bother with underpants, I just put his jogging pants straight on. One less thing for him to fight his way out of simplified the potty training even further.

Bluegreen143

Cranky great tip. I actually did that when we started. I’ve moved to pants now as he’s starting to get the hang of it as well as being easier for dressing, I found at the beginning he seemed much more aware of needing the toilet if he wasn’t wearing underpants.

[Deleted User]

DD2 has simplified life by deciding NEVER ironing the childrens clothes, they always look clean (except for noses but that's only normal) if a little wrinkled round the edges. the Zebra child calls jogging bottoms 'tricky trousers' as when he first decided that what he liked to wear he couldn't say track suit. It's stuck ...

moneyistooshorttomention

wort wrote: »

I use an eco egg for washing I've had no problems.
I sort lights and darks clothing. But do separate wash for bedding and towels 60°.
I have to say it's not just whites that look grubby, the uniform we have at work includes a cream blouse, and the number of women that are now sporting a grubby looking blouse is amazing!!! We know who sorts their laundry out!

Though I could sympathise with those that don't wear pale colours of themselves - and might very well take the view "If my employer has decided I will wear pale colours for work = on their head be it and they can just put up with whatever-way-I-personally-choose-to-wash-them".

I know that's exactly what I would do personally - ie decide that I wasnt going to change my housework routine in the slightest because of Someone Else's choices (ie my employers choice that I'd wear pale colours at work). Down to the employer if anyone didnt like the way I was dressed in those circumstances - and no reflection on me personally at all:rotfl:

Whew - thinks back to the couple of battles I had on my hands with employers trying to dictate how I dressed at work back in the day - and thanks heaven I'm now retired and there's none of that going on any more:rotfl: Remembering a couple of employers that even thought I should spend my own money on "their" clothes for work - they never managed to get me to do that at least:rotfl:. MY money - so I'd only spend it on clothes of my choice:D

SmlSave

Thank you for commenting about your laundry Bluegreen143. I was thinking that I'd like to join and to simplify my life but they'll never let me join.....don't iron, often wash on 20 and only started sorting my laundry this year! *

I promise that I'm in good health and don't smell, may I stay?


*Only do a hot wash to clean the machine or when the nappies needed stripping

Cottage_Economy

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

One of my favourite 'presents' is a magazine subscription which usually involves some sort of 'offer' for the first 6 copies and getting a magazine through the post once a month feels like 12 presents rather than just one!

A woman after my own heart. Even better when it comes with access to a digital back issue archive

Over the last few days, I've been identifying a few areas I could simplify:

• Simplifying my laundry. If I put slightly less clothing in the washing machine and get to it quickly enough after it finishes to 'flap' out the clothes, I won't need to iron a good proportion of them.
• Simplifying my reading habits. I have an online subscription to a weekend newspaper. It's got a bit hectic lately and I haven't looked at it since before Christmas so that can go, saving me £13 a month.
• Simplifying what I cook. Instead of making a shepherd's pie the other night, I cooked all the ingredients up and served it 'deconstructed' Took half an hour instead of the usual hour. I shall be looking for other recipes to 'deconstruct'.
• I'm currently getting 25 plus emails day so I am unsubscribing to as many as possible and dumping others into spam. It is always bad before and after Christmas.
• I have a lot of DVDs to weed out. I made a start this evening and have about 40 for a car boot sale now. Seven of them are going to Ziffit.
• [deep breath] Confession time. I am a bibliophile and slightly addicted to charity shops. I did a 'stocktake' on paper books and there are a whopping 104 waiting to be read so I'd like to carve out enough time to sit quietly and read 1-2 books a week. I need to spend less time online and more time reading. And no more buying books until these are read. I haven't counted up what is waiting to be read on the kindle or computer. Not brave enough yet.

This is a good start I reckon.

suki1964

Ladies, I have posted this before on other threads, my gynaecologist advised me to wash underwear on a minimum of 40. They grow cultures at 30 in labs. You need to wash undies at a hotter temp to kill any nasties. She explained that thrush for example was becoming more of a problem since low temp washes were becoming the norm.

Charis

GreyQueen wrote: »

When homes had no hot water, and sometimes no piped water at all (like my great-grands' place) keeping self, clothes and homes clean was a tough job, but women had enormous pride in keeping up appearances. Keeping a clean and tidy home was part of the way you maintained your reputation as a decent person, and people cared mightily about being seen to be respectable, even in living memory.

I had a moment of deja vu there GQ. Giggling secretly at my dad combing his hair before going out to the coal bunker to bring in a shovel full of coke. Back in the 50's and 60s both genders lived in mortal fear of being thought of as below local standards, especially if they felt they had done a bit of social climbing.

Charis

Cottage_Economy wrote: »

A lot of the books I buy are often out of print and secondhand, so I can indulge myself. I know my family would refuse to buy me a book if it was secondhand and printed in the 80s, even if I insisted I wanted it!

That reminded me of the satisfaction I felt when I recently bought an old Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing the 1991 reprint of a 1988 classic, because the reviews mentioned it was better than the latest edition. It was a real trip down memory lane, took me right back to my secondary school and learning pattern cutting, and I hope to start dressmaking again when I can source some fabric in the spring. It was inspired by Kittie's Sewing Thread and is a sister book to to the Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework (hand sewing) which I also bought second hand from Amazon some years ago. It was recommended by the lovely Rhonda Hetzel, who has a delighful blog on simpler living called Down To Earth and she lives in Australia.

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

A quick comment re the 'whites' - in olden days :rotfl: those whites were likely to be cotton or linen. These days they're more likely to have polyester or man made fibres included, and it's usually not appropriate to wash them at 60 deg. The man made fibres can attract other colour from the water, and that's why white bras (for example) often end up looking dingy and why it makes sense to wash whites separately.

I never though of that. I thought it was the washing liquid, although I do use a leading brand. It does annoy me that especially on dark, plain tops the slightest grease mark will not wash out, even at 40 deg, let alone 30 deg. I have never been happy with a mixed load at 30 deg, I reckon it's the detergent manufacturers' way of getting us to do a wash load every day. Convincing us that we are saving the planet. Most real stains don't shift without the new range of prewash stain shifters (more to spend on and find storage for) and who really believes that things get clean at a temperature that isn't as warm as our blood? I have found an excellent stain remover for food stains in baby clothes. I tried everything to remove a big, deep orange stain from my baby gd's pink dress, but was about to give up when I put it in the sunshine on a bedroom window sill. The dress didn't fade, but the stain disappeared.

I use Napisan in my white washes, and it keeps things looking nice and bright. For those washing everything at 30 deg, it's worth doing a hot wash occasionally for the sake of your machine, which can develop a bad smell. I do sheets and towels at 60, everything else at 40.

Very very true. I went to stay at my young son's flat and his washing smelled horrible. the kitchen, which was a fair size, smelt horrible too. Because the smell had built up gradually he hadn't really noticed it. After checking for blockages in the WM sump and pipes, which were clear I suggested he did a 90 deg wash. It seemed to do the trick. A while after I had left he reported that it was still fine. In fact he managed to sell it a few weeks later to the incoming tenant for a few £ because his new place already had one.

jackyann

Hello all, back after best part of a month without internet access, and have decided that on the whole, the internet makes life 'simpler'. Reading above, we see that we all have to work out our own best way to live a simple life.
Suki - that is quite correct (and helpful) but may not be necessary for those who don't have a tendency to get vaginal thrush. I have always worn cotton knickers, avoided tights as much as possible, and only had a very few bouts in my life.
I mostly wash whites separately, but do wash white bras in the shower if I need to. I also do 2-3 hot washes a week: towels & bedding, coloured kitchen stuff, and a white boil. I have photovoltaic panels so try to do that when the sun is shining!
For many years we have tried to shop with re-usable bags, and our little store of plastic bags is running low. Whilst sorting my fabric stash, I cam across some waterproof fabric so I made a bag for sopping wet swimming costume.
I then decided to cut some circles, put elastic round the edge, and use as food covers. I also cut up some more old net curtains to make small veg / fruit bags.
Saluting all your efforts!