EMPs, Solar Flares, and Laundry
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a party with some friends, one of whom is the head of a local utility company. I had just completed a magazine article about EMPs and Solar flares and I am well aware that I will receive some mail telling me I am a fear monger, so I wanted his reaction. I told him I had just finished the article and he looked at me with very serious eyes and said, “It is a huge problem”. He went on the describe a situation several years ago when the grid went down in Canada because of a solar flare. The transformer was at capacity when the flare occurred it caused an overload and, poof, no more transformer.
Today we ask: After an EMP attack or solar flare how would you wash clothing?
As one of the Seven Steps to getting prepared, during 2008, we collected five gallon buckets from local bakeries and delis. You can often get them for free. At that time I warned that buckets which had contained pickles could not be used to store food. They are, however, perfect to make a clothes washer.
It is so simple…Take the lid from a five gallon buckets, cut a round hole, about 3 inches wide, in the center of the lid, place a new plunger in the bucket. place the lid on the bucket with the plunger handle through the hole, click the lid in place and you have a washing machine.
I have also heard of those who have industrial buckets with ringers to use for laundry. These are the buckets used for washing floors and wringing out the mop. This method will be great for wringing out clothing, helping it to dry faster on the wash line, but it is messy and you need to scrub each piece of clothing.
If you don’t have room to store both I recommend the bucket and plunger. You don’t even need to store a separate bucket, just a new plunger. When an emergency arrives just empty out a bucket you already have something stored in. Dump the food into pots or bowls and use the bucket for washing. When it is time to wring out the clothing get another person to help and ring it over a bucket and save the water for cleaning.
Now that the washing is done it is time to dry clothing. You will need rope and clothes pins. That’s it! Simple. During the winter you can hang your line over the bathtub or near the fireplace to dry your clothes. Actually hanging laundry near a fire adds moisture to the air which is a good thing as a fire can make the air very dry. .
Following are a few tips and recipes for homemade laundry detergent
You will need:
Bar Soap: Fels-Naptha, Ivory soap, are the best but Sunlight bar soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, and Zote are also good choices. These can be found in the laundry isle or in the case of Ivory, in with the other bar soaps. Don’t use perfumed soaps or soaps with lotions in them.
Washing Soda: Washing soda and baking soda are not the same thing, don’t confuse the two. The purpose of washing soda is to help remove dirt and orders. In most places it can be found in the laundry section of the grocery store. If you can’t find it you can order it on line. I know you can purchase it on-line, even through Amazon.com. I would also suggest asking your grocery store manager to order some for you. You may need to purchase a case but this might be a good time to get together with friends and learn together. During an emergency they will want clean clothes too and this detergent is cheaper than the stuff from the store so even your non-preparedness buddies who are trying to save money might be up for the challenge. The cost of homemade laundry detergents is about $0.02 per load, yep, 2 cents per load.
Borax: is a naturally occurring mineral, Sodium Borate. The role of borax is as a laundry whitener and deodorizer. Again, you should be able to locate this in the laundry detergent aisle, or ask the grocer to order some to go along with your order of Washing Soda. If you have hard water or well water you may have to adjust recipes, if the clothes look dingy, and add more borax.
You will also want to have some large containers on hand to store your detergent. For liquid detergents you will want to use containers small enough for you to shake before use, as the detergent gets thick.
Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent
2 cups Soap finely grated
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
Use 2 tablespoons per load.
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
1 1/2 cups washing soda
1 1/2 cups borax powder
Grate the soap and place it in a large pot. Cover with water and heat until the soap melts. Add 1 gallon of very hot water to a five gallon bucket. Add washing soda and the borax and stir until dissolved. Add soap mixture and stir. Add enough hot water to fill the bucket. Stir well. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours or until it gels. Pour into plastic bottles filling bottles 3/4 full. Add water to fill the container, cap and shake well. Use ½ cup per load to begin with and increase the amount if you need more.
I like to store both as during an emergency you may not have the means to heat water enough to melt the powdered variety. I like the powdered to store because it is less messy and takes less room. My advice again, get some friends together and share so you have some of both.
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When washing clothing in the winter, you can hang them outside and let the water freeze on the clothing. Then take something – like a bat – and beat the clothing – releasing the ice. Then bring in the house to finish drying. It is a lot quicker with most of the water off of the clothing.
I am in no way making fun if this idea but I just can’t help laughing as I have visions of smashing the ice and having the clothes explode into little pieces like a slow motion special affect in a B rated movie. I really have never heard that advice and since i don’t live were it freezes more than a few days a year I guess I’ll have to let others experiment. Thanks for the tip.
If you are washing clothes by hand you might also be mending clothes by hand. I vote to have more thimbles in stock, one to fit every clothes-wearing person in the home–so they can help with their own clothes.