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Post by goodnight on Aug 18, 2012 11:27:57 GMT -5
Talking about flour sack dresses on another thread made me think about what other ways that people back then made do with what they had.
My grandma told me about someone who saved twine from packages from the store and mail and crocheted a bedspread out of it, probably like the one that Martha Corinne gave to Esther.
I think I have actually seen a sheet that was probably made of sacks, in the house that my grandma grew up in. You could see where 4 seperate sections were sewn together.
Remember back in the 70's when sometimes you would get a pretty towel or a glass in a box of detergent.
Does anyone else have stories from their families or elsewhere about ways that they reused and recycled.
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Post by carol on Aug 18, 2012 22:18:30 GMT -5
My grandparents lived on a farm near an old land fill and my grandmother found so much useful stuff there. She found furniture that she reupholstered and it looked as good as new.She had at least one chair that she reupholstered until she died in 1989. A shoe company dumped a load of shoes. They were seconds meaning they had small but barely noticeable flaws but they were perfectly usable. She took them and kept what she wanted for herself and the family and gave away the rest. I got a rocking horse for Christmas when I was little that I found out years later was pulled out of the dump. All it needed was springs and a coat of paint.
She also made attractive flower beds out of old tractor tires
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Post by goodnight on Aug 18, 2012 23:02:31 GMT -5
I have heard of tires being used as flower beds also.
Washing clothes and hair in rain water.
I have heard of taking soap when there was only a sliver left and grating it up for soap powder,
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Post by goldenslumbers on Aug 19, 2012 18:03:59 GMT -5
Whatever happened to people darning socks? Got a hole in your sock? Sew it up!
I'm amazed at how many people do not know how to sew on a button. And I'm a guy! Does anybody still use a clothesline?
How about fixing a toilet? I can do that...so can you. It's actually very simple.
I know of no one who uses ammonia to clean up, save myself. Bathroom cleaners are so unnecessary (and expensive). I buy a gallon of ammonia for 89 cents. How much is that Fantastic cost you? You'd be surprised at how well ammonia removes burnt food of pots and pans.
Use bar soap (Dial especially) to clean stains off counters. Works great. Rub the bar right on the stain.
Ammonia also works great to clean windows and mirrors (houses and cars).
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Post by grtgzu on Aug 20, 2012 6:45:55 GMT -5
I agree with you about the ammonia! There's also some stuff called Awesome that is cheap (a buck) and gets the job done as well....Please tell me how to fix the toilet so it stops clogging...Tried a snake - no use...Do I REALLY have to buy a new "loo"?
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Post by flyaway on Aug 20, 2012 7:23:57 GMT -5
Still use a clothes line and in winter a clothes drying rack, and the chairs around the dining room table  Use ammonia and vinegar for cleaning. Nothing shines everything like vinegar. have used Awesome and what a great stain remover that is. For you toilet try dumping a quart or so of white vinegar in it and let sit for a few hours then flush. Tried to darn my socks but the way they're made today the threads just pull apart. |
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Post by grtgzu on Aug 20, 2012 9:04:23 GMT -5
If nothing else I ALWAYS keep a BIG JUG of vinegar.....Love the way it cleans my "winders"...(forget Windex)...Never knew about using it in the toilet though....Must.try.TODAY. (thanks for the tip!!)Clothesline still hanging up in the backyard by the "mighty oak"....have you seen the cheapo clothespins made today though? They break in an instant....Useless...
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Post by goodnight on Aug 20, 2012 10:28:47 GMT -5
Still use a clothes line and in winter a clothes drying rack, and the chairs around the dining room table Use ammonia and vinegar for cleaning. Nothing shines everything like vinegar. have used Awesome and what a great stain remover that is. For you toilet try dumping a quart or so of white vinegar in it and let sit for a few hours then flush. Tried to darn my socks but the way they're made today the threads just pull apart. goodnight wrote ____________________________________________________ At the restaurant where I used to work, they had tile and grout floors. If someone spilled something with sugar in it like tea or soda, the chemical floor cleaners did nothing for the stickiness. The best way to get it up was clean scalding hot water and vinegar and a clean mop. |
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Post by mercantile on Aug 20, 2012 12:41:39 GMT -5
Our neighbours probably think us old fashioned; we seem to be the only people in the street who recycle as much as possible, two washing lines for drying the clothes, fruit and veg hand sown and harvested in the garden, water saved in a water butt, plus hand washing our own car.
Now I know that sounds pretty ordinary, but as an observer I can honestly say nobody else does this. I find it a bit depressing, but then I still expect people to stop and say hello as they live within yards, but they just don't seem to manage the basics anymore. Confused? You bet!
mercantile
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Post by carol on Aug 20, 2012 16:55:29 GMT -5
I recently got two new clothes hampers. The old ones are over 10 years old and were cracking. I didn't throw them away. I now use them for the recycling. One for plastic and bottles and one for paper.
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Post by Rhonda on Aug 20, 2012 19:00:46 GMT -5
We try to make things last as long as possible and give thanks that they do. Carol, it's funny that you said that about your hampers ~ cause, I just recovered the lid on ours. It had split around the edge and I had the perfect sized and color towel to cover it.
Just this last weekend I helped my folks can grape juice and pears. We ended up with 19 quarts of undiluted grape juice and (insert drumroll) 62 quarts of pears!! I hope to have half of my Mom's energy when I'm her age (70). Oh, Heck! I wish I had half her energy now and I'm 52!
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Post by ForeverWaltons on Aug 21, 2012 11:07:18 GMT -5
My Mom always washes out her empty plastic bread bags & reuses them. Growing up she always added crushed up saltine crackers to hamburger meat to make it "go" further.
Personally, I still have a clothesline & I also hang clothes around the house to dry. I always "wash" out all the empty ketchup bottles to use the ketchup that's left in my homemade chili. I use old sandwich bread to make toast.
I am also amazed at how many people can't/don't sew/mend anymore! They just trash it & buy new again. I have always replaced buttons, patched holes, sewn up rips/tears, etc...in all of our clothing. I have sewn table runners, mantel pieces, dresses, shirts, etc....Both my Grandmothers taught me to sew plus when I went to school they actually had sewing in Home Economics. Now my daughters take it & all they do is study fashion magazines, plan meals, use imaginary money to purchase things, etc....
I use Gorilla Glue to repair my kids shoes, toys, etc....
The glass I use to drink out of was my paternal Grandmother's....It has a handle & peanut butter originally came in it. I have several of them & my husband has several of his Great Grandmother's that jelly originally came in.
When my folks built their house in 1978, the land had been a "dump" site back when there was no garbage pickup. My Dad & I found lots of old brown glass clorox jugs, glass soda bottles from the 1940's, old glass medicine bottles, glass cups & dishes, etc.....all of it perfect, not a chip or nick! We just had to clean it all up.
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Post by goodnight on Dec 5, 2012 12:10:23 GMT -5
Speaking of uses for vinegar. My aunt rinsed her hair with vinegar after she washed it. Her hair was as soft as a baby's hair until the day she died at the age of 88.
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