The small, forgotten things

[coastiemike]

So, we all know the pillars are important - shelter, food, water, protection.  But, I’m curious to learn skills I don’t have.  I like to call them the small things.  They make a world of difference even though they aren’t thought about too often.  I’m hoping people can put their advice on how to handle the small things so we can all hopefully learn things we didn’t know before.  I know I feel so far behind on long forgotten skills and knowledge.  So, I will start.

I took some time to learn how to wash clothes by hand, using an old scrub board.  It definitely is much harder than one would think, especially if you have used a washing machine your entire life.  And then I came across a question I didn’t have an answer for.

Drying clothes by hanging them on the clothes line during the summer is easy.  How did people dry clothes during winter times before dryers were invented?  Hanging wet clothes in 30 and 40 degree weather just won’t cut it.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Now, your turn.  What are some long forgotten skills that might be useful for others here?  What questions do you have that someone might have an answer for to help expand your knowledge base?

[Ravenwood1950]

Women would hang clothes near whatever heat source the home had. The standard of cleanliness we have was not the norm in years gone past if you had to do laundry by hand. I have been watching a series on YouTube from ‘Absolute History’ that shows how life was in the Tudor period but I bet a search on YouTube will lend a wealth of knowledge on many ways of doing laundry.
Ravenwood

P.S. I bought the medium clothes drying rack from Lehman’s, I think it was them, to dry things inside.

[RWS]

It is 38 F here this morning.  The washing machine is running.  We will hang them out on the clothes line when it is finished.  If it is too cold or raining you have to hang them inside.  Have an attached garage??  I have been married over 50 years and we have never owned a clothes dryer.

At my BOL North Ga mtns, 3000 ft I will have an outside clothes line behind the building out of sight from the road.  I have already planned for an inside clothes line down stairs and for the first time an LP dryer upstairs in the bathroom.  The bathroom is much larger than the one I have at home in Region 8.  When I confronted the builder, he said the extra space was for a washer and dryer.  I had requested a smaller bathroom and a larger kitchen.  He does not hear very well.  You can get used to it..  I don't have a television either.  Nothing on it but sex and violence...and news commentary lies...

[Starlady]

I grew up in Connecticut.   As long as it was above 32F, the clothes got hung on the line!   Until I was 15 and we finally got a dryer.

[Abigayle]

My grandmother had a wringer washer when I was little.  We lived with my grandparents.  My parents were married when my Marine (proud of that) father came back from the war in 1946.  But I digress....again.. When she got an electric machine, she still used the old wringer for lots of things.  We lived in the Milwaukee area, not far from lake Michigan.  We froze dried the wash on the line, brought it in, hung it up.  Sheets were laid on the bed until any dampness was gone.  We had coal heat, so dry air.
Now we have a clothes line, a wash board, home made laundry soap and a rinse pan.  We also bought a Wonder Wash, directly from the CO.  They are a great small business, paid like $2.00 more than Amazon. You can do maybe two outfits at a time, depending on the size and weight.  It is very heavy plastic.
When you are using a scrub board, please do not get too carried away with the scrubbing!  You will wear out today's fabrics very quickly if you do.  Let the clothes soak a bit.
Skills to hone in on..Knife sharpening.  We do it outside to avoid slivers in the house and don't do it where your chickens' graze.  I never see shards, or silvers but they have to be there.  Do it while things are safe, because you may not want to have any extra exposure sitting outside your house, at certain times.
I asked about raising rabbits, but no one replied.  I also have difficulty with homemade sour dough starter in winter.  I can't seem to keep it warm enough to keep it "working", so any advice on that would be welcome.  Just got an extra forty pounds of bread flour  and pastry flour (15 pounds) with two more people.  Got more powdered milk and yeast, just keep plugging away.  Oh, if you have a greenhouse, you probably have a narrow walkway, in which to hand some clothes. Our allows for one, twelve foot length, not much space, but hey...

[RWS]

For those that don't want to hang out clothes,  Please go to the hardware store and buy some wire with the plastic coating used to make clothes lines and put it up for WHEN.  Add to that a couple packs of clothes pins.  Then if the need ever arises, you can quickly put a line between two trees.

[Abigayle]

I like the thicker rope for a line.  It is coated also,  I buy the wooden Amish cloths pins.  They will replace them if they break.  I have never broken one.  I use the cheap plastic ones to hold covers over loops in the garden.  They break left and right.