Alternatives for when the supermarkets sell out....

DUKE · 18 March 2020 at 3:06PM

thriftwizard said:

I popped into a large supermarket earlier to pick some tins up for my elderly mother, and was utterly baffled by the shoppers barging their trolleys down the almost-empty pasta aisle, yelling, "OMG! There isn't any pasta!"
There was a full shelf of 55p macaroni... do people not see macaroni as pasta?

People appear to be ignoring the tagliatelle too, it's 59p in Tesco & Home Bargains.

DUKE · 18 March 2020 at 3:10PM

Wednesday2000 said:

You can use baking soda as toothpaste. I think you have to be more gentle if you use it. My dentist told me years ago that he doesn't even use toothpaste, just his electric toothbrush.

I realised I had run out of foil yesterday and I actually stood and thought what did people use before foil? I wrapped my husband's work lunch in an empty bread bag.

Speaking of bread, I am going to stock up on crackers for my store cupboard as they keep a lot longer than bread and I often want carbs for breakfast.

I noticed that the chemist was out of body scrub (it's weird as the makeup section looked very sparse too, strange thing for people to panic buy!) so I bought some ordinary salt from the shop and mixed it with body lotion.

Tesco have loads of the cheap 50p toothpaste.
I was thinking of crackers too.
Luckily I got a stash of toiletries in the boots sale. I felt a bit guilty about my stash at the time as I didn't need it, but now ....

DUKE · 18 March 2020 at 3:19PM

Don't forget noodles. Although God knows what we'll do if the electricity goes down.
You can always trade with a neighbour.
Use hairspray to remove nail varnish, not that it's particularly important if we're all starving.
Add a bit of water to shower gel to make to go further, or go back to using soap as it lasts a lot longer.

Wednesday2000 · 18 March 2020 at 3:28PM

DUKE said:

I noticed that the chemist was out of body scrub (it's weird as the makeup section looked very sparse too, strange thing for people to panic buy!) so I bought some ordinary salt from the shop and mixed it with body lotion.

Tesco have loads of the cheap 50p toothpaste.
I was thinking of crackers too.
Luckily I got a stash of toiletries in the boots sale. I felt a bit guilty about my stash at the time as I didn't need it, but now ....

I looked and I have lots of some toiletries like moisturisers and only one bottle of face wash! I have some almond oil that I could use with some warm water to wash my face. I'm not going to be wearing a lot of makeup (probably not any mascara) while I'm mostly at home anyway.

I already did the thing of filling up half empty cleaning spray bottles, shower gel and hand wash containers with water to make them last longer as you said.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys · 18 March 2020 at 4:09PM

greenbee said:

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

The cheeky wipes are a cotton washable wipe that you re use. Haven't bought baby wipes since my eldest was a month old. I thought I would try and do the same with tissues for blowing my nose so had a look in the supermarket for some old fashioned handkerchiefs but no luck. I'm glad they didn't have any to be honest as I remembered that I have a bag full of muslin cloths that I have saved from every time they include them with a cleanser. Perfect hanky size and they are just sitting in the cupboard anyway.

I've just told my mum NOT to use hankies at the moment - you need to do the catch it/bin it/kill it rather than blowing your nose on something that hangs around. (I take a small bag with me when I travel to put used tissues in). Hankies are fine for wiping your eyes but NOT catching coughs and sneezes, or blowing noses. Believe me, I go for the sustainable option wherever possible, but tissues are one thing I DO buy. I don't buy travel packs though. I buy big packs and shove a whole lot in a bag to take with me.

At the risk of making myself look stupid.. How does throwing a tissue in the bin kill the germs better then washing a cotton cloth on a 60 or even 90 degree wash? If im only using them when at home and they go straight into the washing machine after use I don't see how this is a problem. Can someone explain where I am wrong?

tboo · 18 March 2020 at 7:54PM

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

The cheeky wipes are a cotton washable wipe that you re use. Haven't bought baby wipes since my eldest was a month old.

Thanks for the clarification, I have had a look and I'm pretty impressed, I used terry nappies and reusable clicky nappies for my 3 and I would have loved to have had reusable wipes

I shall keep this in my mind and recommend them

tboo · 18 March 2020 at 7:56PM

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

greenbee said:

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

The cheeky wipes are a cotton washable wipe that you re use. Haven't bought baby wipes since my eldest was a month old. I thought I would try and do the same with tissues for blowing my nose so had a look in the supermarket for some old fashioned handkerchiefs but no luck. I'm glad they didn't have any to be honest as I remembered that I have a bag full of muslin cloths that I have saved from every time they include them with a cleanser. Perfect hanky size and they are just sitting in the cupboard anyway.

I've just told my mum NOT to use hankies at the moment - you need to do the catch it/bin it/kill it rather than blowing your nose on something that hangs around. (I take a small bag with me when I travel to put used tissues in). Hankies are fine for wiping your eyes but NOT catching coughs and sneezes, or blowing noses. Believe me, I go for the sustainable option wherever possible, but tissues are one thing I DO buy. I don't buy travel packs though. I buy big packs and shove a whole lot in a bag to take with me.

At the risk of making myself look stupid.. How does throwing a tissue in the bin kill the germs better then washing a cotton cloth on a 60 or even 90 degree wash? If im only using them when at home and they go straight into the washing machine after use I don't see how this is a problem. Can someone explain where I am wrong?

Quite alot of sites state to use a paper tissue but don't go into the reason as to why

but this site states it up to you (is for the flu though)

https://www.health24.com/Medical/Flu/Spreading-the-flu/tissue-or-handkerchief-which-is-better-20170601

thriftwizard · 18 March 2020 at 9:01PM

Back in the Olden Days, we used to boil our hankies - and also facecloths, and even tea-towels - which I'm pretty sure did sterilise them quite effectively as well as cleaning them; same with terry-towelling nappies, which I did try to use mostly. I still have the old saucepan I used for hankies & facecloths out in the shed somewhere. It only takes a few minutes, then they can go into the main wash with everything else.

greenbee · 18 March 2020 at 10:09PM

I think hankies are probably fine if you're at home and can put them in the laundry basket and get a clean one. Not so good when you're out and about and it has to go back in your pocket/sleeve for the duration. My mum used to boil my dad's hankies.