TOILET PAPER AND YOU PREPPERS

Dump them in the laundry machine? Am I to infer that when TSHTF that whilst there is power For the laundry, no one is making TP? At the same time laundry soap and Oxiclean are available yet Toilet Paper just ups and vanishes?

Here is how it works:

Everybody gets a (one) Rag. After they do their business they (personally, not mom, not dad, not their spouse) cleans their rag for them. Rag is washed in cold water and if you are fortunately enough to know how to make bar soap, you use soap. Once washed, said rag is hung on a bar to dry.

We did this when I was a kid way back in the middle of the dark 20th Century. And this is really the reason why you are told to wash your hands after using the toilet.

IF you are really smart and clever and are raising things like wheat (rice, or other grains), you can use the chaff of wheat and even well cooked wheat stems to make a primitive paper.

Wheat and other grass leaves (not the rod-like stems) can also be weaved to make a loose 'cloth' then pounded with a rock until the fibers break down softening the material and tightening up the spaces between the warp and weave so less stuff gets through. Pre-boiling those materials means softer 'paper'. Its basically how papyrus paper was made back in the ancient days (About three minutes before I was born ;) ).

Now that works well for fecal matter. For women who also have the front to consider, before the days of TP, most women just got up and walked away. The rich however had special cloths that were left in the privy, those cloths (wash cloths) were left in either vinegar water or wine water. I suppose that lemon or other citrus water can be used.

Instead of just 'wiping' they washed.

oh yeah I know what poison ivy looks like, it doesnt like me so I have learned to stay away from it lol

Yes really. However they didn't just grab a corncob fro the cor crib. The cobs were boiled first (long time boiling) in some cases a hammer was taken to them - a wooden mallet. Not so much as to crush them, but to soften up the surface fibers.

Dingleberries

Plenty of neighborhood cats that look decently clean

Do you live in WV?

Washing and reusing clothes in the absence of soap is probably not possible for most people. The coliform bacteria that you're trying to avoid will contaminate your hands as well. Seems like a guaranteed way to spread around diarrhea from intestinal bugs and overall a bad idea.

If you're determined to do this, then I'd recommend making a mild lye solution from hard wood ashes or perhaps using pine wood ashes as they contain a natural cleaning agent too. This is far easier than soap. It is however a drying agent and will chap your skin over time. It's why fat is added as an emollient.

Soap will mean a lot of rendered fat plus lye to make it, and all of that means an abundance of trapping or hunting of very specific species of wild game. Most do not have lots of usable fat, that typically happened at harvest time as a community activity for the tribe or family as they slaughtered livestock. Otherwise fat will go bad quickly especially in warm weather as you're trying to accumulate enough to make soap.

It is far easier to use mullein, comfrey, or whatever plant works for you, rinse your hands in the mild lye or hopefully soap from your supplies. Some people are sensitive to mullein as well as other plants, so obviously test the inside of your wrist with some to see if it causes contact dermatitis. Mullein contains a natural emollient which helps with any chaffing from lye or otherwise.

I now understand why certain cultures only hand shake with one hand and others only bow. I'm grossed out. I take a shower after each time I go. I may follow the OP's plan in case of NWO war. Only.

just over 400 rolls of toilet paper stored out back, will be good for a little while

By the way, you haven't addressed waste disposal at all. You actually separate the urine as it makes good fertilizer, mordant for dying cloth, and a laundry soap alternative too. All three have been used historically.
[link to voices.yahoo.com]

Adding both urine and fecal matter together to your privy burial site will ensure it WON'T decay by bacteria as it should. If you do even the slightest research, you'll see that this is true. It's why lime (calcium oxide) from burnt eggshells or seashells was added to help sweeten the ph and help bacteria to break that down. We'll have to relearn something as basic as using the commode.

Prepping is about studying the old ways and also studying the modern methods used in places where there isn't that much technology or infrastructure. The simplest straight forward solutions are NOT always possible in the long run due to supplies and being able to replicate them.

NOw thats a great tip

LOL not the best advice if you are in australia wipe your arse with the leaves of a giant stinging tree and you will
be lucky if you just go into a coma.

Humans are so incredibly intelligent and dexterous they can use soil, rocks or sticks to wipe their arse.

Pick up used bed sheets at Goodwill, and other second hand stores. Buy them cheap, they can also be used for bandages and other things. Wash or throw away.

Of course. Take up yoga so you can become flexible enough to lick your own butt. Problem solved!

One of my friends is a serious prepper, and she's shared many ideas with me.

Toilet paper is expensive because it's meant to break down quickly in water. For sewer/septic systems.

However, napkins are much less expensive & they do not break down as easily. Yes, eventually you will run out of them too, however, you can buy much more stock if you invest in buying napkins instead of the much more expensive toilet tissue.

If you still have inside bathroom facilities after SHTF, you're just not gonna want to flush them down the toilet.

Wow you Americans are uber retarded and devolved..

using paper to wipe your behinds and spread it all over the rest of your body and clothes?

Fair Warning. Mullein is considered a sacred plant. Using it for toilet paper can, in a short time, come back to you in most uncomfortable ways. Tom Brown calls it "poetic justice" to hunters who use this sacred plant for toilet paper.

A bigger problem than toilet paper for people who are on a city sewer system is having a working toilet to put the paper in. A while after the pumps stop, the sewage would start backing up. Better plan on a bucket to go with the paper.

Ladies: You can use a squeeze bottle filled with plain water to hose down the area after you pee. This is more sanitary than just walking away and leaves you with a nice clean feeling. Kind of like a mini-bidet.

For number 2, leaves of a known tree are OK, but soft cloths are better in the absence of corn cobs and old phone books. Keep a stack of six inch by six inch cloths next to the toiler, and a covered pail with a strong vinegar or salt or clorox/water solution. The cloths go into the pail until laundry day. Then are rinsed well, to get as much mess as possible out of them, then washed in a separate wash, not with other laundry. Rinse as usual after laundering, then boil them in their own kettle or bucket, not a kettle that will be used to cook with.

The idea of everybody having their own cloth is a good one too. Sunlight kills germs, so hanging them on the line is a great strategy.

We used to wash, then boil our cloth diapers before disposables, and nobody ever got any kind of sick from it. We would rinse the diapers in the toilet before we put them in the diaper pail, but if times get bad, there might be no flushing toilets. But that is how it was done for a long, long time.

If you can stock up on borax, it is an excellent "diaper pail" additive. It keeps the pail from smelling bad. Also works in garbage pails. Do not throw water with a lot of borax in it on plants or grass you want to keep, it will render the soil sterile.

Small metal tube like a paper towel roll cardboard center to fill with water and flush ass crack over and over till clean.

I've tried wiping with leaves once out in the woods and they are not very effective..

No, actually the paper is flushed down the toilet. Did you think we kept it in our pockets and reused it?

We are taught to wash our hands after using the toilet to avoid spreading germs. These habits that residents of other nations laugh at keep us relatively free from dysentary, cholera, and other diseases that are common in nations that use their fingers to wipe rather than toilet paper.

Leaves of three, leave them be.

the quote above is not mine
it is from the site i posted it from

one thing
about storing excess food like all that rice and beans
and boxed foods etc
has expirations dates
and it would go to waste if not used

GO to any indian reservation and learn how they deal with this issue 500 years ago.

TTOWNGIRL should change her name to TPTOWNGIRL

This is why I love GLP the only place where you can discuss politics, niburro and TP

WHATS FUNNY IS HOW I HAD 5 STARS FOR THIS THREAD
THEN COME THE TROLLS

one thing
about storing excess food like all that rice and beans
and boxed foods etc
has expirations dates
and it would go to waste if not used



I agree. It's ok to have boxed food, but I poke a small hole in the bag to release any air that may be present, then vacuum pack it and put it back in the box.

I do the same with beef jerky that is sold in bags. Even though it has an O2 absorber in it, there is still air in the bag. Just poke a hole in it, release the air and then vacuum pack it. I think it will last even longer this way.