Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: Matthew on April 27, 2011, 02:01:45 PM
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It seems that many big families (for purposes of this post, we'll define it as having 4 or more children, spaced no more than 2 years apart) complain about how difficult it is to keep up with the laundry.
We have 4 kids 5 and under, and I notice we're doing a lot more laundry than we did 2 or 3 years ago.
HOWEVER...
I've heard the expression "4 loads by 4 PM" and such -- and she's talking about every day! One blogger with 8 or 9 kids said she does SIX loads of laundry every day.
The point I had for this post? That seems like a bit much!
I know that it probably qualifies for one of those "I'm a bad parent" (in the eyes of the modern world) things, along with letting your kid rid a bike without a helmet, letting them play outside without sunscreen, etc. but we don't give our kids a bath more than once a week usually. And each child has his/her own towel that is good for at least 4 baths. Do the math.
And we don't change our kids' clothes until they get dirty. Not filthy, but SOMETHING has to fall, spill, or drool onto them. Sometimes if the kids are not too messy at dinnertime (depends on what we're serving that week) we'll find that they're wearing the same clothes we put on them after their last bath day. We simply toss all their clothes in the hamper on bath day, unless we put them on them THAT DAY or so.
I mean, they're kids! They don't have B.O. yet.
And the adults are pretty conservative on laundry as well. We re-use bath towels 4 or more times. All you're doing is drying off a clean body, right?
We don't take daily showers. We don't even necessarily take showers EVERY OTHER day. It depends on what season it is, and how much sweating we've done. When I work outside, I always take a shower (pretty much have to). During the winter, twice a week is *plenty*, otherwise our skin gets dried out.
Ladies, please note: when you don't wash your hair too much, it stays much more healthy (softer, less dried out, less split ends, etc.). I guess God made our scalps produce oil for a reason!
Also -- science has learned that Vitamin D (vital for your immune system, preventing cancer, etc.) is only absorbed A) by direct sunlight, not sunlight that has passed through glass and B) TWO days after exposure to the sun. In other words, you have to go out in the sun, and then wait 2 days for most of it to be absorbed into your body. If you take a shower before then, it's GONE. No Vitamin D for you. Hope you have Vitamin D supplements. So the American habit of the "daily shower" is a bad one from a health standpoint.
We certainly don't toss our clothes in the hamper every night. We wear things until they are "worn" -- either they get dirty, smelly, or 3 to 4 days, whichever comes first.
When the kids play outside in the water and get soaking wet, we take the clothes off them and hang them somewhere to dry.
Hand towels last at least 4 days as well, and I'm talking about the high-traffic areas (kids' bathroom, kitchen).
Moral of the story: we might have 5 loads a WEEK, and that's with a baby that spits up on burp cloths, soaks through her diaper at night onto the comforter she's laying on, spits up onto her onesie, etc. The baby is probably 2/5 of our laundry.
Also -- we hang dry ALL our clothes. We don't own a clothes dryer. It's good exercise, the clothes last longer, and last month's electric bill for our family of 6 (all of whom are home 24/7) was only $42! (We don't have a gas bill either -- our house is all-electric). And of that $42, $15 of it was the monthly "customer charge" which can't be avoided.
There's a hint for you on how it's possible to live on one income!
(As an aside -- To state a simple fact, I am an expert on electricity conservation. It's my specialty. I've read everything I can on the subject. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a blowhard, and I don't say something unless it's absolutely true. Humility is about the truth, not about denying one's talents. All good things come from God)
I really wonder what these "4 loads a day" families are doing wrong.
Matthew
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I thought I was the only dinosaur left, who believed in once a week baths. My children and grandchildren shower morning and evening, to my astonishment. Granted I grew up in the old days when one carried water from the well to the house (about a block), but even still....
Bye the by...does each child get clean water, or is this a communal thing?
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I thought I was the only dinosaur left, who believed in once a week baths. My children and grandchildren shower morning and evening, to my astonishment. Granted I grew up in the old days when one carried water from the well to the house (about a block), but even still....
Bye the by...does each child get clean water, or is this a communal thing?
Morning and evening?! That is effeminacy right there. Excessively "soft" living.
The oldest (boy, 5) gets his own bath. The girls (3.5 and 2) share one, and the baby (3 months) still fits in a baby bathtub.
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Matthew,
Enjoy your water and electricity conservation now while your kids are young. Maybe you could put the $ that you are saving in an account to pay for the showers that they'll be taking when they get to their teen years. Oh, and their courting years!
:roll-laugh1:
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Matthew,
Enjoy your water and electricity conservation now while your kids are young. Maybe you could put the $ that you are saving in an account to pay for the showers that they'll be taking when they get to their teen years. Oh, and their courting years!
:roll-laugh1:
Well, I don't know if it will be an issue by then. The whole "big top" might have long since crashed by my kids' teen years -- by then, everyone will either be living a "survival" lifestyle, or dead.
What I'm doing is preparing them well for the world they'll be living in. A world of drawing water from the river (or running water that costs 5000 times what it costs today, due to fresh water shortages) is NOT a world where daily showers are common or expected!
I'm doing them a service by preparing them for a world of frugality and scarcity.
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Well, I don't know if it will be an issue by then. The whole "big top" might have long since crashed by my kids' teen years -- by then, everyone will either be living a "survival" lifestyle, or dead.
What I'm doing is preparing them well for the world they'll be living in. A world of drawing water from the river (or running water that costs 5000 times what it costs today, due to fresh water shortages) is NOT a world where daily showers are common or expected!
I'm doing them a service by preparing them for a world of frugality and scarcity.
I am in total disagreement here sorry Matt. I don't think the reason you don't require your kids to bathe every day is because of this, but because of the cost involved in showering right? (Not being rhetorical, and answer would help clarify your point for me)
While you may think you're doing them a service for preparing them for a world which you can only imagine right now, is not really a service. 'Cleanliness is for Godliness' right? I make sure my children bathe at least once a day- sometimes more, and they're (she more specifically) isn't as old as your older ones- whom I would imagine cand find a LOT more things to get dirty with huh? lol .
The point is is that a shower doesn't need to take more than 2 minutes- EVER, but in my opinion, it should be taken at least once a day for hygiene's sake. To go to a bed when you're dirty a few nights in a row is very unclean, and can cause all sorts of side effects in the form of getting sick more often (to an extent of course). Plus- think of all the things you do as a kid (think of all the things you did) that gets them dirty. They take that dirt with them to their beds... No I don't believe that's right. When it comes to showers, they should be taken at the end of the day, but instruction in water management is imperative. 2 minutes- if you're not done, you're coming out soapy and you wont do that mistake again. But you're not going to bed dirty...
You can call that old school, but my grandfather had a saying: "Just because we're poor, doesn't mean we're dirty" So as many holes in my mothers' and her sister and brothers clothing as there was growing up in Mexico, they were still clean clothes.
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I mean, they're kids! They don't have B.O. yet.
I think there are things worse than BO...
Enjoy your water and electricity conservation now while your kids are young. Maybe you could put the $ that you are saving in an account to pay for the showers that they'll be taking when they get to their teen years. Oh, and their courting years!
I have a friend who gives his children allowances (I'm not saying I'm for or against them) of a modest $5 a week and every time he walks into room with a light they've left on, he takes $x.xx from their allowance untill its all gone. He said they've learned QUICK on turning lights off in the house. I think thats a pretty good way to get it in their heads!
Morning and evening?! That is effeminacy right there. Excessively "soft" living.
Sorry, its not effeminacy- its cleanliness. My father is the most masculine man in the world and I don't think I've ever seen him a day without a shower in the am and pm. You should meet him- it'd change your view for sure. And its not soft living- if you have the means you have the means. If you don't, do what you can. He doesn't go powder his face after, he takes a super quick 2 minute shower in the morning, to start the day fresh, and a quick one when he comes home after work, to end his day and go to bed clean. Again, not soft, just clean.
I'm doing them a service by preparing them for a world of frugality and scarcity.
Again, I believe you're justifying your actions here in the wrong way. Its not wrong to prepare your children for the future that we know will come. But I wouldn't use this as the excuse as to why my children don't shower every day. Frugality and scarcity are separate from being clean. If a future world prevents us from washing every day, thats a different subject. While/if we have the means, we should teach our children to be clean.
You can also install water-saving shower heads. Here in California, the gas company will actually do this for you (to my surprise and after ripping me off every month!)
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We have 5 children ranging from age 10 to 18 (the oldest has just graduated from our homeschool and she is preparing to enter the convent in August) and we generally do a load of laundry each day except on Monday when we have to do extra laundry since we don't do laundry on Sunday.
I have no idea why families would have to do 4 loads a day unless they have the older model small capacity washers.
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Well, S2srea, I guess I have to disagree with you as well.
I am well acquainted with the comfortable, clean feeling you get after you shower. Just like the comfort you feel when you wear soft, comfortable cotton clothing (T shirt and shorts). Also similar to how you feel after a nice, satisfying meal. Might as well toss in a glass of alcohol in there, too! That also makes you feel good and relaxed. And let's not forget how good it feels to be in a nice, cool, dry 75 degree house when it's 98 and humid outside.
All of the above describe a life the OPPOSITE of a life of mortification and penance. Experience those "simple, licit pleasures" too much, and you become "soft". Americans, as a whole, are very "soft". With the exception of the satisfying meal and the alcohol, FEW PEOPLE experienced the pleasures I listed 150 years ago. Showering was more rare when you had to heat & pour a bucket of water in an Old West-style shower.
And let's be objective -- the clothing most of us wear on a daily basis is softer and more comfortable than what King Louis XIV, Nero or Herod could have got his hands on centuries ago. And who got to change their clothes every day? Probably not very many.
After The Fall, one's body is at war with one's soul. You can only favor one or the other -- you can't serve both (but you can try!) I like the term "Brother Ass" for one's body -- that's what a saint called it. It's a good analogy -- your body must be fed, watered, etc. but what man spends all day grooming his donkey, putting soft clothes on it, being concerned with its utmost comfort? Who installs A/C in his barn? No, as long as the donkey will be OK, you leave it be.
And I'll have you know that A) my kids aren't dirty, not by any stretch, B) they don't stink, C) we've not had any problems with above-average bouts of illness (or lice, for that matter). If anything, my kids are healthier. They hardly ever get sick.
And "cleanliness is next to godliness" is a protestant idea. It has no basis in Catholicism. About the closest you could get would be "prudently taking care of one's health" but like I said, science has proven that it's HEALTHIER to take less frequent showers, now that we know how Vitamin D is produced and absorbed -- and the important role Vitamin D plays in preventing illness and cancer.
Moderation in all things.
BTW, the SSPX handbook, handed out to seminarians, states that "A shower once a week is usually plenty, unless one has perspired much."
Yes, the American seminarians had a good laugh with that one (laughing at the obvious French influence) but the handbook DOES have a point. Why didn't the handbook read: "Showering twice a day is optimal -- Cleanliness is next to godliness, boys!"
You know, I really hate that phrase, and I'm a very clean (and perfectionist) person. So I'm being *VERY* objective here.
That phrase leads you to believe that a dirty bum on the street is bound for hell. After all, he's filthy and dirty; he smells. You couldn't imagine anyone wanting to embrace him, much less God, right?
My point: That phrase comes from Calvinism. And I hate Calvinism, being opposed as it is to the truth.
I'm not saying you're Calvinist, but I am saying you're American, and Calvinism is in the very air we breathe here in America. You can't avoid not absorbing SOME of it, when it's in your milieu.
P.S. Although I still hold that it's part of the textbook definition of effeminacy to pursue comfort, a more accurate term would be "fastidious".
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Matthew, what you're saying sounds a bit Puritan to me, that part where you criticize having a drink as being "soft." Might as well stop eating entirely, since after a burger you'll feel content, satiated and therefore wuss-like.
Moderation in all things, sure, but each person has to decide what that is for himself in accordance with the will of God. I go out to nice dinnerrs sometimes with Catholic friends, because it would be pompous not to, bit on my own I rarely if ever go to fancy places. That is enough to keep me detached in my heart, along with other penances.
As for not showering, let me just say this -- Alex must have lots of Vitamin D! Private jests aside, I confess I take a long shower everyday. I want to progress to a quicker shower. As for my clothes, I wear nice-ish dry-cleaned shirts when I go out, then when I get back, I hang them up and re-use them the next time I go out. I get about four excursions out of each shirt, depending on how funky they get. So I look presentable without spending an exorbitant amount. At home, I wear the wrinkly ones in the dry-cleaning heap. The next step is to learn to iron.
I'd say my life is too soft at the moment, in some ways, though in others it is intense. Rushing into more asceticism and piling it on is often a trap of pride. It can eventually lead to an inverse reaction -- more sloth. Humility is understanding your limitations.
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I should also point out that America has many issues with over-killing germs. Livestock are routinely fed antibiotics, and everyone uses anti-bacterial soap.
The result?
Now we have superbugs that NO ANTIBIOTIC MAN POSSESSES will kill. So Nature is having the last laugh. Wait until just one of those superbugs gets widespread -- nothing we have will be able to stop it.
Reality always comes back to bite you.
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I don't think the reason you don't require your kids to bathe every day is because of this, but because of the cost involved in showering right? (Not being rhetorical, and answer would help clarify your point for me)
The only real cost involved in showering every day here is the indirect cost of the laundry it creates. Even if my kids wanted to shower twice a day and put their not-so-dirty clothes back on, I still wouldn't let them because it's not good for them.
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Matthew, what you're saying sounds a bit Puritan to me, that part where you criticize having a drink as being "soft." Might as well stop eating entirely, since after a burger you'll feel content, satiated and therefore wuss-like.
Moderation in all things, sure, but each person has to decide what that is for himself in accordance with the will of God. I go out to nice dinnerrs sometimes with Catholic friends, because it would be pompous not to, bit on my own I rarely if ever go to fancy places. That is enough to keep me detached in my heart, along with other penances.
As for not showering, let me just say this -- Alex must have lots of Vitamin D! Private jests aside, I confess I take a long shower everyday. I want to progress to a quicker shower. As for my clothes, I wear nice-ish dry-cleaned shirts when I go out, then when I get back, I hang them up and re-use them the next time I go out. I get about four excursions out of each shirt, depending on how funky they get. So I look presentable without spending an exorbitant amount. At home, I wear the wrinkly ones in the dry-cleaning heap. The next step is to learn to iron.
I'd say my life is too soft at the moment, in some ways, though in others it is intense. Rushing into more asceticism and piling it on is often a trap of pride. It can eventually lead to an inverse reaction -- more sloth. Humility is understanding your limitations.
No, it's NOT puritan.
Alcohol and food are licit pleasures. My point is that those pleasures should already meet one's "pleasure quotient" for the day, because multiplying licit pleasures = living a soft life, one in which it will be more difficult to avoid sin (illicit pleasures).
All the saints taught that LICIT pleasures must be curbed, in order to avoid consenting to illicit pleasures.
The puritans would say that licit pleasures are not licit to begin with. That is not true.
"Humility is understanding your limitations."
And discussing the truth -- the Ideal -- is CathInfo. :)
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We have 5 children ranging from age 10 to 18 (the oldest has just graduated from our homeschool and she is preparing to enter the convent in August) and we generally do a load of laundry each day except on Monday when we have to do extra laundry since we don't do laundry on Sunday.
I have no idea why families would have to do 4 loads a day unless they have the older model small capacity washers.
I think it is for separating colors. We have pets, and they definitely cause more laundry and more cleaning of everything.
I am a firm believer in regular bathing, and I sincerely thank God for the luxury of running water. I have never taken it for granted, not since I spent a month in Jamaica and another month on a tiny island with no running water.
Also the tenant farmers at our old farm only had a pump and an outhouse when I was little. It was so daggone hot I don't know how they survived growing tobacco, except it was very clean overall, and the water came from an Artesian well.
I get being frugal and think it is prudent to teach our children to make sacrifices, though.
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Think I got ya all beat! Im off grid so generator goes on for 2hrs in the evening. Only 1 load is all I can manage with the 5 kids ages 2 to 10. We use a solar pump and cistern system so I use about 60gall (canadian) per day. I have found (we live on a farm) that plastic pants, overalls etc help ALOT with dirty clothes.
When my temper flares though I do go into their rooms chuck it all in a bag and each child is allowed 3 farm outfits and 3 church outfits THE END. When they show me they can be responsible about their clothes I slowly allow them more variety.
Its always a constant battle but hey it comes with the territory. Being simplified makes life easier for sure.
The bathing issue well when they are dirty u have no choice. When we go out especiall to church they have no choice. One bath does em all. The oldest goes first followed by the youngest. A good rinse under the shower is all they need.
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I should also point out, S2srea --
We're not dirty either. You seem to be assuming we are. I am in agreement with you about being physically dirty.
Soap, water, bleach, ammonia don't cost that much! If you're poor, use washrags/washcloths/re-washable rags of some sort to clean your tables, counters, floors, for dusting, etc.
One does NOT have to buy modern "specialty products" to clean each thing in the house. Buy a gallon of bleach, a gallon of vinegar, and maybe one of ammonia and you're good to go!
Padre Pio lived simply. The simple furniture in his cell might have been old. But I have a hard time imagining a saint leaving pizza boxes all over the place, piles of dirty laundry on the floor, etc. I'm sure the saints would use a dusting rag once in a while -- not a neurotic, antiseptic germ-killing frenzy like the modern American suburbanite -- but keeping things decent and clean.
We don't want people to think Catholics are slobs! That would be a legitimate scandal.
All Catholics should be familiar with the spirit of poverty. It's very close in meaning to being frugal -- it's using things with care; not wasting anything.
Buying a $10 "Swiffer" when a bucket of warm water with a squirt of dish soap and a mop would do -- that's rather wasteful. If you HAVE such money to spare, why not save the money, and donate the $10 to a good priest or poor person? They need it much more than SC Johnson Wax.
Matthew
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To me, it's ungrateful to God when we waste the material things He has provided for us.
If you bought a gift for your nephew, and he said with a sneer, "Thanks, sucker!", gave you the middle finger, and closed the door to his bedroom, would you be inclined to continue buying him gifts? I didn't think so.
Ingratitude hurts -- it's nice when we can experience it, so we know something of how God feels when WE are ungrateful to Him.
Matthew
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Well, if you've seen what dust mites look like under a microscope, you'll want to throw your bedding in the wash using very hot water. :shocked:
And clean sheets feel and smell so wonderful.
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Matt-
I'm sorry that I came off as insinuating or demeaning. I'm sure you're not a bad parent- on the contrary, I've read a lot of your postings which have made me question how I will bring up my own children believe it or not. I don't know if this is a cultural (even micro-cultural since we both are American) issue- maybe maybe not.
I guess where I disagree is that because (in this specific case) we have the ability to be clean in our day in age, and because we are more comfortable in doing so, we should do it less. No Louis XIV wasn't as comfortable in his clothes as we probably are today, and yes if he could've he probably would've got his hands on some nice cotton shirts. But I have to believe that St. Louis IX might have done the same, and a long list of other monarchs. Would it make them less saintly? No- its all a matter of how you approach everything- with or without God at the forefront. You sir, are especially well (objectively) of putting Christ before all, and that is commendable- I can only hope to be a strong as a leader for my family as you seem to be for yours.
After The Fall, one's body is at war with one's soul. You can only favor one or the other -- you can't serve both (but you can try!) I like the term "Brother Ass" for one's body -- that's what a saint called it. It's a good analogy -- your body must be fed, watered, etc. but what man spends all day grooming his donkey, putting soft clothes on it, being concerned with its utmost comfort? Who installs A/C in his barn? No, as long as the donkey will be OK, you leave it be.
This is great insight and I really enjoyed this. Point taken.
And I'll have you know that A) my kids aren't dirty, not by any stretch, B) they don't stink, C) we've not had any problems with above-average bouts of illness (or lice, for that matter). If anything, my kids are healthier. They hardly ever get sick.
And "cleanliness is next to godliness" is a protestant idea. It has no basis in Catholicism. About the closest you could get would be "prudently taking care of one's health" but like I said, science has proven that it's HEALTHIER to take less frequent showers, now that we know how Vitamin D is produced and absorbed -- and the important role Vitamin D plays in preventing illness and cancer.
Moderation in all things.
So... I didn't know this was a Protestant saying. I will make sure not to use it anymore!
BTW, the SSPX handbook, handed out to seminarians, states that "A shower once a week is usually plenty, unless one has perspired much."
Yes, the American seminarians had a good laugh with that one (laughing at the obvious French influence) but the handbook DOES have a point. Why didn't the handbook read: "Showering twice a day is optimal -- Cleanliness is next to godliness, boys!"
Again, could this be cultural? I'm not sure, but my mind puts me in that direction when reading this.
That phrase leads you to believe that a dirty bum on the street is bound for hell. After all, he's filthy and dirty; he smells. You couldn't imagine anyone wanting to embrace him, much less God, right?
I do not and would not ever believe this, I'm sorry I made you think it.
My point: That phrase comes from Calvinism. And I hate Calvinism, being opposed as it is to the truth.
I'm not saying you're Calvinist, but I am saying you're American, and Calvinism is in the very air we breathe here in America. You can't avoid not absorbing SOME of it, when it's in your milieu.
Well thats wrong- I am able to embrace the poor and my heart pours out to them strongly when I see them (not bragging or being prideful). So while I may be American, I only live here, I AM NOT american in spirit or mind. You live here too (right?) so this would have to apply to you as well and I do not see it whatsoever in anything you've said. My parents (especially my mom's side) come from true poverty and she has instilled many principles in me which I hold dear.
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Well, if you've seen what dust mites look like under a microscope, you'll want to throw your bedding in the wash using very hot water. :shocked:
And clean sheets feel and smell so wonderful.
If you looked at anything under a microscope it looks unclean including your fingers after you have washed them well, the spoon you just washed well, the pot you washed well, etc....
The point being that the world is made up of bugs and without them we would not be here.
If we become paranoid about germs it can become OCD and that is not healthy either.
We have to be exposed to germs in order to boost our immune systems and like Matthew said, when we try and kill off all the bugs we only actually make them stronger and more resistant to the chemicals and in the end it will be us who suffers.
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Since people think my family is borderline dirty, I should point out that I vacuum the main areas of the house regularly; the kitchen almost every day (since it gets crumbs under the table), we wipe the kitchen counter and table every day, and the dishes never sit around in the sink for more than a half-day.
I regularly dust our bookshelves, tables, and other surfaces that collect dust (which happens after only 2 weeks, believe it or not!)
The kids are made to pick up their toys (and anything else they "got out") every night. I know this changing the subject from dirt to clutter, but it affects the overall "clean look" of the house.
Ethnically, my wife and I are mostly German. Among other things, that means we're clean (I heard that 100 years ago, you could "eat off the streets" in some German cities).
I'd like our house to be clean -- not antiseptic like a surgical room or hospital, but clean. No clutter or mess, and no dust or particles of "stuff" that need to be vacuumed. It should be clean like an 1850's German home :)
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Very interesting topic.
I'm in the habit of taking a shower each morning. Its always very, very short (less than 5 minutes) and *usually* cold (I take hot showers when I am ill - usually its less cold *after* I get out of the shower than when I am in it!). Usually, I will skip the daily shower on Saturdays or any other day that I don't need to go out in public.
For those of you that don't take showers daily, doesn't your hair get really oily? How do you comb it so that it doesn't look like you don't maintain hygene?
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For those of you that don't take showers daily, doesn't your hair get really oily?
Having oily hair and skin is not a bad thing as God designed our bodies with a natural moisturiser.
Its funny when you think that people de-oil their bodies and then go and buy expensive moisturisers that aren't natural and may possible be toxic for the body.
That does not mean we shouldn't shower but it just seems to be another example as we as humans have become so removed from nature.
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Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what people used to use in the old days to bath and shower with? They probably wouldn't have used shampoos, conditioners, and all the rest of the chemical based products.
My guess is that they probably would have used more natural products.
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Well, if you've seen what dust mites look like under a microscope, you'll want to throw your bedding in the wash using very hot water. :shocked:
And clean sheets feel and smell so wonderful.
If you looked at anything under a microscope it looks unclean including your fingers after you have washed them well, the spoon you just washed well, the pot you washed well, etc....
The point being that the world is made up of bugs and without them we would not be here.
If we become paranoid about germs it can become OCD and that is not healthy either.
We have to be exposed to germs in order to boost our immune systems and like Matthew said, when we try and kill off all the bugs we only actually make them stronger and more resistant to the chemicals and in the end it will be us who suffers.
Oh, I agree with those statements. I stopped using antibacterial soaps after reading about the problems with overusing such things. We also use mostly natural cleaners for the house, such as vinegar, salt or baking soda.
I think that the main concern with dust mites is the possible allergies to them.
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Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what people used to use in the old days to bath and shower with? They probably wouldn't have used shampoos, conditioners, and all the rest of the chemical based products.
My guess is that they probably would have used more natural products.
Plain old castile soap, made from water, lye and lard. You can use it to clean almost anything.
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When your hair gets oily, throw it up in a ponytail! ;)
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Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what people used to use in the old days to bath and shower with? They probably wouldn't have used shampoos, conditioners, and all the rest of the chemical based products.
My guess is that they probably would have used more natural products.
Soap has been around for quite awhile, but making your own lye is a lot of work. Now you would only make lye for a hobby, because you can buy it for soap making.
Baking soda and apple cider vinegar work great for cleaning hair.
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Matthew said:
We don't take daily showers. We don't even necessarily take showers EVERY OTHER day. It depends on what season it is, and how much sweating we've done. When I work outside, I always take a shower (pretty much have to). During the winter, twice a week is *plenty*, otherwise our skin gets dried out.
Even if one doesn't take a shower everyday, I would think that at least a sponge bath would be necessary, especially for those areas of the body prone to B.O.
Ladies, please note: when you don't wash your hair too much, it stays much more healthy (softer, less dried out, less split ends, etc.). I guess God made our scalps produce oil for a reason!
Depends on how you define washing your hair too much. Personally, I have always had oily hair and when I was younger I absolutely had to shampoo daily. Now that I'm more mature, I still have oily hair but not as bad. After two days my hair needs a good shampoo.
Moral of the story: we might have 5 loads a WEEK
I only have two children and when they were young each week I had six loads of laundry. One for the sheets, one white load, one load of jeans, one load of towels, and one load of dressier or work clothes and lastly one load for things like blankets. I could never understand why some people had to do laundry everyday. If I had done the same, there wouldn't be enough of each type to make a full load. I only did laundry once a week on. Also we never used things like towels more than once and changed our clothes everyday. I must have had a machine that could accommodate extra large loads.
There's a hint for you on how it's possible to live on one income!
I was a stay at home mother at the time and we managed to live comfortably on my husbands income. Of course our income was supplemented a little bit by my babysitting a couple of kids.
Morning and evening?! That is effeminacy right there. Excessively "soft" living.
The oldest (boy, 5) gets his own bath. The girls (3.5 and 2) share one, and the baby (3 months) still fits in a baby bathtub.
I know from experience just how dirty little kids can get in a day. I used to give my kids a couple baths a day when the weather was warm. Okay I admit maybe the morning bath wasn't always necessary.
All of the above describe a life the OPPOSITE of a life of mortification and penance. Experience those "simple, licit pleasures" too much, and you become "soft". Americans, as a whole, are very "soft". With the exception of the satisfying meal and the alcohol, FEW PEOPLE experienced the pleasures I listed 150 years ago. Showering was more rare when you had to heat & pour a bucket of water in an Old West-style shower.
I'll have to keep this in mind. Offer up my greasy hair as a penance. Btw, wasn't there a saint who never bathed and had maggots crawling on himself. He had been so fastidious about cleanliness in his former life that this was his way of doing penance. I think his name was St. Leonard something.
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Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what people used to use in the old days to bath and shower with? They probably wouldn't have used shampoos, conditioners, and all the rest of the chemical based products.
My guess is that they probably would have used more natural products.
http://www.soaphistory.net/
History of Soap and Soap Interesting Facts
An excavation of ancient Babylon revealed evidence that Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. Babylonians were the first one to master the art of soap making. They made soap from fats boiled with ashes. Soap was used in cleaning wool and cotton used in textile manufacture and was used medicinally for at least 5000 years.
The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) reveals that the ancient Egyptians mixed animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to produce a soap-like substance.
According the Pliny the Elder, the Phoenicians used goat's tallow and wood ashes to create soap in 600BC. Early Romans made soaps in the first century A.D. from urine and soap was widely known in the Roman Empire
The Celts made their soap from animal fat and plant ashes and they named the product saipo, from which the word soap is derived.
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For those of you that don't take showers daily, doesn't your hair get really oily?
Having oily hair and skin is not a bad thing as God designed our bodies with a natural moisturiser.
Its funny when you think that people de-oil their bodies and then go and buy expensive moisturisers that aren't natural and may possible be toxic for the body.
That does not mean we shouldn't shower but it just seems to be another example as we as humans have become so removed from nature.
My mother used to claim that because I washed my hair so often it actually caused the oil glands to become more active and produce even more oil. I'm not convinced about this argument however.
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Since people think my family is borderline dirty, I should point out that I vacuum the main areas of the house regularly; the kitchen almost every day (since it gets crumbs under the table), we wipe the kitchen counter and table every day, and the dishes never sit around in the sink for more than a half-day.
I regularly dust our bookshelves, tables, and other surfaces that collect dust (which happens after only 2 weeks, believe it or not!)
The kids are made to pick up their toys (and anything else they "got out") every night. I know this changing the subject from dirt to clutter, but it affects the overall "clean look" of the house.
Ethnically, my wife and I are mostly German. Among other things, that means we're clean (I heard that 100 years ago, you could "eat off the streets" in some German cities).
I'd like our house to be clean -- not antiseptic like a surgical room or hospital, but clean. No clutter or mess, and no dust or particles of "stuff" that need to be vacuumed. It should be clean like an 1850's German home :)
Just make sure that when you wipe down the stove and counters that you use some kind of disinfectant. I used to mix bleach and water but ended up ruining too many clothes with big bleach spots. Guess I should have been more careful. I now use a mixture of equal parts of white vinegar, water and rubbing alcohol.
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The Celts made their soap from animal fat and plant ashes and they named the product saipo, from which the word soap is derived.
This is technically how all soap is made. You need a fat source (plant or animal) and Sodium hydroxide (lye) which is made from ashes.
Soap making is great fun. :smile:
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Something I see with plain families is they have many hooks in every room. This really makes it easy to hang clothes back up again for the next day.
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Something I see with plain families is they have many hooks in every room. This really makes it easy to hang clothes back up again for the next day.
We do that! I thought it was just my strange idea. We have a "hat rack" mounted in each bedroom for the purpose of hanging partially used clothing.
This is especially handy when you leave the house daily and don't want to wear the same thing consecutively.
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:reading:
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I'm with you Matthew & Mater on this bathing, laundry business! My daughter-in-law uses a new bath towel every day. Drives me crazy. They also wear their clothes only one day & it's in the hamper. My friend was telling me that her daughter is the same way. When they came to visit her, her grand-daughter wondered what she was going to wear that day & my friend suggested the same outfit she had on the day before since there was nothing wrong with it & the 4 year old replied, " I can't - I wore that yesterday'. They learn early! To be washing clean clothes & towels & wasting water, soap & time borders on sin to me. My son-in-law took 20 minute or longer showers every day when they were here. My gas bill doubled. Wastefulness really bothers me. At the end he had cut it back to 10-15 min when they saw my displeasure.
When my kids were young they were outside playing all the time so they did have a daily bath with their bare feet & all. Each had their own bath but I only put a couple of inches of water in the tub & were then rinsed off with clean water. Does a little kid need a tub full of water?!
Nuns took baths once a week. Did you ever meet a smelly nun? I don't know what the NO ones do now with their coiffed hair & such.
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I normally get at least 2 good days on shirts and slacks......more on towels,etc...
I get maybe 2 hrs out of work out clothes......
shorts/pants/shirts for laying around house and/or yard work, more maybe.....
work has new policy on clothes, so no more jans fridays,etc......we wear business casual....too many were wearing razy stuff not suited for office work.....
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I agree a little bit with everyone.
Adults need to use their own discretion. Adults have very varying degrees of PH and sweat. Some people sweat easier, more profusely, more smelly. Adults' levels of activity and types of activities vary. I think adults know themselves well enough to know when they need to shower and I have no problem with them showering daily.
Having said that, I don't believe hair needs to be washed daily. At least long hair anyway. I don't think it matters too much with short hair but long hair gets stripped way too often of its natural oils and ends up dry and "needing" hair conditioners and oils and treatments to re-condition it. Same with soap. We use oil-based soaps to try and prevent that whole vicious cycle.
I don't believe most normal kids need to bathe every day. They need hands, face, feet washed but not necessarily a whole bath. They usually get more in the summer than the winter which makes sense but they don't have funky PH yet and their little bodies don't NEED a bath every day just because. And two is truly excessive for a child imo.
Their clothes on the other hand...I'd rather have the extra laundry than put them on again the next day. I realize there were days past when that was necessary and there may be days in the future when it's necessary again, but for the present, it isn't necessary and I do find it unhygenic. Adults can get away with it if they've had a non-active day but kids? I don't know how anyone who has children running around out in the dirt, mud and slime outside, then dropping food and drink and God knows what else on their clothes can put them on again the next day. And babies! With their spit up and blowing through diapers, they require one or two changes in a normal day. And that includes using receiving blankets that catch most of it. I am not afraid of germs but I'm not going to let them fester overnight and have the kids rewear them either. A lot probably depends on the ages of the kids and whether they spend relatively inactive days in school or not but at this point in my family, we change clothes daily.
I think those mulitple daily loads are not just about clothes though. By the time you add up facecloths and towels (daily), kitchen cloths and towels (daily), cleaning rags (daily), sheets and blankets (weekly, unless you have a bedwetter or a baby going through receiving blankets daily) it can rack up very quickly. I also wash our kitchen, entryway and bathroom mats every other week because they get gross pretty fast.
I'm with Elizabeth thanking God daily for running water. I think it's all part of His command to dominate the earth and I believe not using these gifts would be ungrateful. Some may think it's luxurious to change clothes every day. I disagree. I don't believe having more laundry is luxurious lol! But it is part of my duty of state and taking care of my family the best I can.
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As a teacher in a Catholic school, one of the biggest complaints I heard about was the uncleanliness of the children of bigger families...and I saw it. I'm sorry, but children should be playing outside, and their clothes should be free from food and dirt. Many preschoolers still wet the bed, and smell of urine if they do not bathe, and eek, change into clean clothes. Now I, too, have a color coded hook for each person in the family, and they use the same big bath towel for several days...I also do not wash levis after every wear, but smelly children with oily hair give the impression that the family neglects their children.
The original poster also had younger children--as the kids grow they will sweat, and girls will have womanly issues that will change that laundry and bathing schedule (hopefully...or the poor kids will catch a lot of grief).
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:shocked: