Re: Homemade Toilet paper

[Northern_bushrat]

Doesn't sound too appetizing at first, but it's really no different from cloth diapers, so good on ya! Great idea. If we wouldn't live out in the bush I'd give it a try too, I think! But we already have to hand wash all our laundry...so we'll stick to the recycled toilet paper.

[sage_morgan]

Do you segregate urine-only and flannels used for more solid waste?
I am heartily sick of buying tp and the $ is going up, too, so I'm interested in more conversation on this topic.

What kind of buckets or pails do you use? Thanks in advance for more information.

[ArmySGT.]

I will keep this in mind , in case of a future need.

I have one concern Viruses and bacteria. Is your borax and laundry soap able to kill these? Your normal washer surely doesn't introduce water that is hot enought to kill them out right, so does the cheical set up do that for you? I would hate to get E.Coli just to save a buck.

[flatwater]

I use corn cobs. Two brown ones and one white one. You use the brown one first , then you use the white one to see if you need the next brown one.
Flatwater :o

[jjspirko]

Sorry, this is a bit to far for me. ??? Geez TP is pretty cheap. LOL

[nancy1340]

Sorry, this is a bit to far for me. * ??? *Geez TP is pretty cheap. *LOL

LOL


What would you use after TSHTF when TP is no longer available?

Not something I plan on running out and doing but it's a good thing to keep in mind.

[ArmySGT.]

There is no more of a risk of getting ecoli from a wipe than from using a washcloth that some one has used before, or a bathtowel that someone has used before.
If a member of your family has ecoli then the risk of you getting it could come from many sources. If they would get the smallest speck of feces on something and then you were to injest it, by mouth, then you may get ecoli. You are not going to get it by using a wipe on your bottom, even if the wipe was not clean. Don't use the wipe on your mouth, that might be a risk.
Many people are very squeemish about using these wipes. For many, many years babies were diapered and wiped with cloth. This cloth was washed and reused and even handed down to another baby.You may have been diapered this way too.TP has not been popular for all that many yrs. In the fiftys many homesteaders were still using corncobs, magazines and cloth wipes.
I am not trying to convince anyone, I am just sharing one of my homesteading ways that gets me closer to self-reliance.I think this is why we are here, to share our homesteading life.
Belle


No need to be defensive. I was asking a question. Since you weren't able to answer it, I will have to ask the question from someone else.

I have no concern of getting E.Coli from using a wipe that has been washed as a wipe again. Likely the wipes are of a different pattern or material and not to be confused with wash cloths. The wash cloth used to clean the body is highly unlikely to come in contact with as much feces (one hopes) and the contained viruses and bacteria. Yes I was diapered as an infant for a time in cloth diapers. The soiled diapers were rinsed out in a toilet then went into a bucket with strong bleach solution. The bleach solution kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. does your homemade solution do the same? That is the question? Since otherwise you are introducing those viruses to all of your families articles of clothing with the potential introduction of a sickening pathogen from every scratch.

After the shit hits the fan I guess I would use cloths as an option; though i would make sure the water was at a rolling boil for tens minutes. This would sterilize them, then wash them with regular clothes.

So to what degree is your solution capable of killing viruses and bacteria?

[jjspirko]

LOL


What would you use after TSHTF when TP is no longer available?

Not something I plan on running out and doing but it's a good thing to keep in mind.



Well of course if I lost the ability to run out and grab TP from the store I would "adapt, improvise, overcome" but for the time being I will stick to buying good old SOFT stuff from the store. For those that consider it expensive and choose another route that is fine, I do understand your view, I just don't share it.

"To each their own", could never be more true then decidiing what to wipe with, 8)

[pcrowder]

It's no different than cloth diapers, and my sons ALL wore cloth diapers. I have enough laundry to do with 3 grown men + myself in the house (farm clothes get soooo dirty!), but if TSHTF, I wouldn't hesitate to use the flannel squares homesteaderbelle mentioned in the least. As a matter of fact, I may make some, and just keep them in the storage closet until the next time we're "blizzarded in", and run low on TP. 'Course, I also have a 50# lard can in the basement with a teeny hole in it (I won't use it or flour or whole grains), so I flattened double rolls of TP and squeezed in as many of those as would fit....Those are to be used BEFORE the flannel squares, when TSHTF!!!!! Hey, any port in a storm, ya know? :-)

[pcrowder]

Also, if you hang them (either cloth diapers OR Belle's flannel squares) outside in the fresh air and sunshine to dry, they are naturally deoderized and sanitized. That is why it is recommended you dry cloth diapers outside in the sunshine if at all possible. I did that with my boys, and they never got ecoli or any other disease.

[sage_morgan]

My family and I started doing this because of all of the chemicals the toilet paper companies use on the toilet paper to get it white. We figured it was not good for our bodies or for the environment. ... Belle

To me the cleanliness issue is not such a big issue; of course that has already been covered. And if I was worried about being clean vs. feces, I could use tp for feces and flannel for urine.

On an 11-day hike, we used tp and packed it out with us, but it was also suggested that a successful strategy is to have two bandannas of different colors, maybe ... one yellow and one brown for clarity ... and make do while hiking.

And I think some of us have skimmed over the issues of pollution:

Like the idea that Dioxin, a bleaching byproduct, is one of the most toxic human-made chemicals known. Once released into the environment, it is persistent because natural bacteria can't break it down. It is found in the manufacturing processes, its wastes and even in the paper products themselves.

There are other toxins including Dioxide in chlorinated (bleached) toilet paper because most pulp and paper mills use chlorine-based chemicals to bleach pulp white.

The end result is that when we buy toilet paper bleached with chlorine (any white tp), we support pulp and paper mills that pollute our environment with dioxin and other toxic chemicals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm doing it too. Planning for a change. What we don't know, we can't change.

[VillageIdjit]

No need to be defensive. I was asking a question. Since you weren't able to answer it, I will have to ask the question from someone else.

Your own bodily wastes NORMALLY contain ONLY your own pathagens. I am certainly not advocating throwing away all traces of cleanliness, just trying to note the relative lack of danger of washing and reusing cloth wipes. I certainly would not share reusable wipes with strangers, but with my family who are exposed to all the ills that I am exposed to does not worry me too much.

Have you ever kissed a baby? Do you know where his hands have been? I am less concerned with my own than with others.

Outside aired laundry is nearly always 100% germ-free, boiling water is always a washing option.

Vic

[FirestarterKY]

I really like the idea of using cloth.
Whatever tips I can get that keep me from pulling into a store and going in.....I will consider. Thanks for the idea!!!

Yes, the sun is a natural disinfecting agent.
Why vultures will at sunrise, when the sun is at its highest medicine, raise its wings and turn in a circle, for disinfecting.
I've never seen one do this, but heard they do.
I'd love to witness this!

You all take care!

Karen

[Danielle]

Karen, I've seen buzzards do that a lot but I never would have thought that they were disinfecting themselves. Buzzards are so gross. I think they'd be offended to find out someone thought they were disinfecting. I'm pretty sure they take great pride in NOT being disinfected LOL. :P
Ok...back to the TP conversation.

[Hauseienda]

It was great to read all of the conversations on this topic as I too have thought about this need if TSHTF. Gave me good ideas and the best laugh of my day.

[tn_junk]

It's amazing that we, as a society, become so used to niceties so quickly.
Do you think Jim Bridger carried a case of TP with him while he explored the mountains? The Mormons who settled the salt lake area surely didn't carry several wagon loads of TP with them. What 'bout the common poor folks of 150-200 years ago. Think they had TP?
Only a few, very few, generations ago TP was unheard of, now we (and here I do me me also) can't do without it. Promise you that when I plan a camping trip one of my first chores is to secure a place for the TP.
Are we becoming spoiled?

alan

[MotherCharlotte]

So does anyone here use this besides myself? :D
Belle
Hi Belle,
We use cloth toilet paper in my house too. We just started doing it, and so far we are just using it for urine. I cut up an old flannel crib blanket for this purpose. I find that the flannel is way softer than any brand of toilet paper, and way more absorbent.

I do laundry every day, and I just throw the pieces of flannel into the wash. I am not the least bit concerned about a little bit of urine. I'm very happy with this setup because we're saving a lot of money in toilet paper--maybe this is too much information, but since I am pregnant I need to go pee VERY OFTEN! ;D And conserving paper as well. Not to mention the nasty chemicals that are used in the production of bleached toilet paper.

I also have some old, gently used pieces of flannel that I am thinking of turning into hankies to reduce how many Kleenexes we have to use. I already have a few cotton hankies that I purchased, and I love them because they work so much better than the flimsy paper tissues.

[rubestr3]

I grew up in a poorer household and when we could not afford even TP, we used washcloths. We washed them well...and all 4 of us in the house used washcloths. I am alive and well 20 years later. I'll do it again if I have to.

Great topic and eye opener!

[reyecat]

I use cloth toilet "paper". We are sold!!!!

Way less itchy (down there) than before. All those wood fibres irritating my nether-regions have dissappeared!

for now.... we dissinfect by throwing our used wipes in a bucket with a few drops of Teatree oil in water. then when it's time to wash we run a spin cycle to get the teatree oil water out..... i fill the washing machine to whatever amount of water I want then soak in H2O2 (hydrogen Pyroxide). i throw 2 cups in and let the washing machine go for a minute then let it soak. 1/2 hour to and hour and everything fer sure will be dead, then .... throw all my other stuff in there and add my soap and rinse with vinegar and dry.

sounds complicated but it's not.... it's what I do with undies and dirty socks anyway so.... no biggie.

[macgeoghagen]

Id consider it, but i dont have any flannel to use. I guess I'll have to scoot my rear across the grass like a dog if i run out of TP money. That said, if i ever run out of money to buy TP and im too pathetic to steal it from a public bathroom, wiping my butt will be the least of my worries.

[Steve_L]

;D I think this is a good idea. I mean, most of us knew it would be the way to go if we couldn't get toilet paper.

Toilet paper really is a waste of a good tree.

One day, after the economy collapses and all our jobs move to China or (for those jobs that must be done here) are done by illegal aliens, we won't be able to buy TP. It pays to be ready.

[bee_pipes]

I once dated a gal that was used to using a bidet. We ran in different circles, but by that time I knew what a bidet was for. Well anyway, when she stayed at my place, she kept a plastic squeeze bottle on the sink in the bathroom. That was her "hand-held" bidet. For you ladies considering alternatives to TP, this rinse might get you more mileage out of your front-end wipes. Just a thought.

We know folks that are financially strapped, and have decided that TP is a luxury they can't afford. They use the cloth wipes described in this thread. It isn't a matter of being cheap, dirty, or careless with hygene - it's a matter of doing what needs to be done. We have forgotten so much about what people had to do to get through life, day-to-day. This throwaway society has changed all of us for the worse.

Regards,
Pat

[Drawbar]

Just for clarity here, the paper industry and chlorine bleach, have gotten a lot better on that. With all the environmental regulations and costs of moving and using tons and tons of expensive hazardous materials, they have found that by buying high grade wood, they can cut their chlorine costs significantly.

About 10 years ago a local papermill decided that they were no longer going to buy wood with "red heart" in it. They found out that red heart caused too much discoloration and thus the first year they stopped buying red hearted wood, they saved themselves over a million dollars in chlorine costs.

Still this is not a TP touting reply. Oh no. I admit I will never give up my TP, but if the SHTF then I just might make my own toilet paper.

I guess the question here is, just how easy or hard would it be to make your own toilet paper? I know wood fibre paper was invented by a NH farmer who watched a punky board be beaten with hail one afternoon so how hard could it be? I would think getting the volume you needed might be a problem.

I guess if the SHTF I will first:

Raid my grandmothers house and steal her 1 million rolls she has stored in there....

Rob the bark off every White Birch and Yellow Birch Tree in Maine....

Start raising miniature rabbits (so you can grab them by the years and you wipe)

Make my own paper.

[snuffy]

I'll jump in with a suggestion that I'v given on this subject on other forums; there is something in almost every household that could be used in hard times. When I was a yonker, we used the sears catalog. Now they're gone but we all have a phone book. The white pages are thin clean paper, maybe not as soft as tp but what the hey? I have a collection of old ones I've saved for my own use and for trading if (when) the shtf. I've got an idea, I'll be popular come those days. lol

Snuffy

[hardrock]

Sounds like a good alternative to me.

Reminds me of my Grandmother.........
When I was a child of about 4 or 5, we were out in the
back yard by the old outhouse pulling weeds.
(Her favorite pastime!)
We used it for storing garden tools in those days, but I asked her what is was made for.......really.

She told me what that little house was for and told me all about the pit below, how it worked, etc.
She told me about going out to the "house" in the dead of winter, wading through snowdrifts, barely able to feel her hands it was so cold.
In those days they had no TP. She told me they used the pages out of the Sears or Monkey Ward catalogs.
I was amazed that people actually went out there at night, in the dark..... and in the cold, cold winter, even!

Never even looking up, she just smiled, continued her weeding, and said "Wasn't that bad.............till ya thought ya had a handful of catalog and found out it was just a moonbeam..."

Grandmas.........gotta love'em!

[GoodDaughter]

I've *used the yellow pages phone book before. Just wrinkle it up between your hands and rub back and forth vigorously to 'soften' it. *Like when you're in a public restroom and there's no tp and you have to use one of those folding paper towels. *Works ok.

I've given thought to making my own tp, considering the amount of white paper I get in the mail like the white envelopes the bills come in, the free local paper that's thrown every Wednesday (if you want it or not!) and the rafts of local phone books I get (I live in one of those areas where I get a separate little phone book for each wide-spot in the road, as well as the cinder-block sets that come from the metroplex area--you know, 2 mammoth yellow page books + 2 mammoth white page books + a 'business white pages').

I have a couple of books on making paper but they mostly cover making decorative stationary type paper, cutesy poo wrapping paper, etc., but there are a few 'recipes' for plain old writing paper. I think if one were to throw in some cotton somehow, it might make the plain white paper a bit softer?

I really need to try making some, take some pics of the paper making process, just for fun, see how it turns out, and maybe 'test drive' some (no pics of that, though).

[hardrock]

Hi Belle,

I've always had an interest in things of days gone by.
Especially old buildings. Always thought is was so neat that
outhouses ever existed.
As odd as it sounds, over the years, I've rescued a few from being torn down or discarded.
I asked for, and was given the one from the local cemetery association.
Nice two holer.... we planted it in the garden for a tool shed. We tell the young'ns it's an old timey phone booth...

[LeatherneckPA]

Back in 1971 (Feb 22 to be exact) our house burned down, all except the kitchen and the living room. So Mom, Dad, four brothers, and two foster kids moved into a 10' x 50' trailer someone in town made available to us. Crowded? Not nearly a strong enough term! So come April 15th we moved back into the remaining two rooms. Back then upstate NY had real winters, and there was still plenty of snow on the ground. We all laughed because Dad, who was famous for reading a couple of chapters on the throne, didn't even take a book out to the outhouse with him. No sirree. Out, finish his business, and back in. Even he thought that was pretty funny. Somehow he didn't see the humor in it when I observed it was the only time it was safe to follow him at anything under an hour interval?

[hardrock]

[An old timey phone booth?!? That is cute!*Belle[/quote]


Yep, that all started with a trip to Amish country.

The boy noticed the small Amish phone booths every couple miles or so throughout the settlements.

The GF mistakenly told him they were community outhouses, and that several families shared them.
I never bothered to correct her............ ;) ;D

Onery as I am, back home, I told him that the old outhouse in the garden was actually an old timey (Amish) phone booth......

Just throw in a copy of the yellow pages, and there isn't a whole (hole) lotta difference! :D

[JAK]

hmmm

What do people with composting toilets use?

[LeatherneckPA]

hmmm....What do people with composting toilets use?Newspaper? That's all it's really good for anymore anyway.

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Forum Members,

Unfortunately, I haven't fully kicked the fast food habit, but when I do go to a fast food restaurant, I make sure to ask for extra napkins. *Over the course of a few months, I have Zip-Lock bags and Zip-Lock bags of the napkins and have used them when the toilet paper ran out. *

I also keep a couple bags on the road for work-a-day spills or window-cleaning.

You could also use gauze rolls of cotton in a pinch, so to speak, but that could get pricey as a long-term strategy.

The French use an attachment to their toilets called a bidet (pronounced "bid-ay.") *It's basically a shower-head on a swiveling pipe or in a basin inside the toilet. *If it is a pipe-mounted bidet, before you flush, you bring it down to butt level while you're still squatted down, then flush and it squirts water down and (so they say) it cleans you off. *

If the bidet is in a basin inside the toilet, it basically bubbles and jets up water at a fixed level like a water fountain. *Here's the description of how to use a basin-based bidet:

How to Use a Bidet
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Bidet

I can't see using something like this myself. *The pathogens in the water after someone has used it are what resolves the issue for me.

:-X *:o

Even worse than this, though, I read somewhere that the Romans used a communal brush and bucket for their toilet tissue! * Ewwww! *Small wonder that people lived such short lives back in the day!

:o *:-X

I look at it this way: If you work hard in other areas of survivalism and disaster preparedness, you need a reward for your efforts and this one little modern convenience of napkins or toilet paper is nothing to feel guilty about at all, especially considering the alternatives.*

To my way of thinking, "from my cold, dead fingers" applies to a roll of Scott's as surely as it does to a Colt Peacemaker.

;D

[LobsterPond]

Wow - this has solved 1 of my biggest if TSHTF problems.

I had a "keep stocked up list" that included tp, chocolate, coffee and tea and a few things like cinnamon, salt, meds and such . . . as almost everything else I could self-supply for shelter, food & heat.

That's a really good long term solution. Thanks!

[RobertRogers]

I would use leaves. Here in northern NH in the Fall season leaves drop off the trees by the trillions and remain dry on the ground for over a year. This allows me to not have to carry toilet paper when out in the woods, and I use them as such dozens of times every year.

In the fall simply gather up a large pile of clean, dry, fallen leaves. Store in a dry place, and presto: plenty of good toilet paper that is also biodegradable.

[cubcadet]

Hey, just buy it when it`s cheap, get the bulk size. Anyone ever thought about learning to manufacture paper, get the process down pretty good, then when the shtf, you will have a skill and a product that everyone will trade with you for. You`d be a valued member of your community that people will appreciate.
My dad used to use newspaper when we ran out. That would be another commodity worth stockpiling.

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear RobertRogers,

Howdy, RobertRogers!

You wrote:

I would use leaves. *Here in northern NH in the Fall season leaves drop off the trees by the trillions and remain dry on the ground for over a year. *This allows me to not have to carry toilet paper when out in the woods, and I use them as such dozens of times every year.

In the fall simply gather up a large pile of clean, dry, fallen leaves. *Store in a dry place, and presto: plenty of good toilet paper that is also biodegradable.

If you know which leaves you're picking up, that is a possibility.

Remember the old woodcrafter's rule about poison oak, though: "Leaves of three, leave them be." *I don't know if they manufacture a Calamine lotion enema.

:o *;D

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Cubcadet,

You wrote:

Hey, just buy it when it`s cheap, get the bulk size.

Always do. 20 pack of Scott's does the trick for at least 2-3 months.

Anyone ever thought about learning to manufacture paper, get the process down pretty good, then when the shtf, you will have a skill and a product that everyone will trade with you for. You`d be a valued member of your community that people will appreciate.

I was assuming this was just for home use, so I figured making a toilet paper factory just for yourself would be cost-prohibitive. But as a survival profession serving hundreds or thousands, if you know the technique for making toilet paper, that is a great idea.

My dad used to use newspaper when we ran out. That would be another commodity worth stockpiling.

As vile as the newspapers are getting nowadays, I would want just the paper without the ink.

;D

[cubcadet]

Hey ,TheUnboundOne,
After I posting, I realized that nowadays, there`s alot of coler ink in newspapers. When Dad was still kickin, That wasn`t the case. He used newsprint for washing windows too. He explained to us that the ink was a good window polish and did actually foam up as we used it for washing the truck windows. Sometime back I read that many outfits that print are now using soy based inks. I don`t like that. Soy has been shown to castrate men and de-feminize the gals. Soybeans is related to the rape group of plants, I`ve read. Ironic, ain`t it?