HELP- cold water washing - whites are now grey!!

[warthog]

Hello all, I'm a newbie and living in Belize. My hubby and I are retired, just started keeping chickens, going out tomorrow for a few goats. Just thought I would start with a little introduction. Oh btw we are British and have been in Belize for 2 years now.

We have been in Belixze for the last two years and I have been doing my laundry in cold water and my clothes are now full of stains and the whites are a lovely shade of gray

I am using a detergent, but have gone over to using vinegar instead of fabric softener.

I would like to make our little plot (not so little 28 acres) as eco as poss, obviously start small and branch out. Any suggestions on the laundry problem please.

 

[freemotion]

Do you dry in the sun? That will bleach things somewhat. Can you use hot water just for the whites??

Personally, I would just phase out all the whites!

 

[keljonma]

warthog!

My sister-in-law married a Brit and lived in London for 20 years. During that time, she became a citizen and started a charity called CaringMatters for families that needed information to getting help when they needed home care. She did this in response to my brother-in-law's illness. Anyway, five years ago, she moved to Argentina where she owns a small hotel. But that is another story and enough about my in-laws.

For the laundry, hydrogen peroxide added to the wash load might help the grey dingies. We wash nearly everything in cold here and the hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar are what we use with our homemade laundry soap. Line drying in the sun should help some also.

I am looking forward to hearing about your life in Belize; and jealous of your 28 acres!

ETA the only thing I wash in hot water is our dog's bed, as a preventative to kill any bugs he might have brought in from the farmyard and pastures.

 

[big brown horse]

HI from WA state, I love Belize!! Welcome aboard!

Can you get bluing there? I use it for my white horse's tail and it comes out lookin great! I think it is eco friendly too.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree with the other folks about the greying of the laundry. I had the same problem until I slowly fazed out the whites. I don't know if its washing in cold that does it because I've always washed in cold water. It may have more to do with your water quality or your detergent. Mine started when I moved to this house so I don't know if its the homemade detergent or my water.

I just gravitated towards buying more coloreds.

 

[warthog]

Thanks everybody for you help and quick replies. I do line dry, but maybe whites have got to grey for the sun to do much good.

Can't get bluing here, or at least have not found it yet, but I live in hope, it's amazing how things turn up when you are not looking for them.

I will try the hydrogen peroxide and phase out the whites as I go along, pity I do like white expecially sheets, nothing like a nice crisp CLEAN white sheet.

It could also be the water, we have a well and it goes through three filters before it reaches the tap, so we will see.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree on the white sheets.....love the crisp feel of white linens! For those kind of specialty items I use a store detergent that has no dye or scent and rinse with distilled vinegar...this seems to help. I also line dry those items.

I do not use any fabric softener, as the oils tend to build up in the fabric. If anyone doesn't believe this, try buying second hand clothing where someone uses FSers on a regular basis....nearly impossible to get that smell out of them! Many washings and vinegar rinsings later, you can still smell that smell ever so faintly.

Fabric softeners used in cold water could be your culprit, I don't know.

My well water is great tasting and seemingly pure but it leaves a silt sediment in my toilet basins, so I think it contributes to my greys....er...whites.

 

[warthog]

Keljonma,

Please don't be jealous of our 28 acres, yes it's nice but hard work, Belize is a lovely place if you are prepared to step back in time and obviously become more self sufficient. A lot of things we are used to having in Britain and USA are just not available here, but it does make you realise what a wasteful society we have become.


With regard to the 28 acres, we didn't intend to buy so much land, but it was cheaper to buy 28 acres of bush than say 4 acres of partially cleared land. We have selectively cleared about 2/3 acres and had our house built, we are currently getting in some animals, already got 12 chicks, tomorrow hopefully 3 or 4 goats. I am currently working on three patches of land, one for a lawn area, another for a vegetable plot (only this now temporarily houses the chicken coop until we can get another peice of land ready, ) and the third piece of land I am working on is for a garden nursery for seeds and cuttings etc, which maybe in time I can sell some and earn a few extra dollars.

So yes it's wonderful, but after a 12 or 13 hour working day, you wonder what happened to retirement.

 

[keljonma]

So yes it's wonderful, but after a 12 or 13 hour working day, you wonder what happened to retirement.

my sister-in-law says that about the hotel too! I am not officially retired yet, but somedays our 2 acres wipes me out!


Are you really putting in a lawn? Or will it be more like pasture for the chickens and goats? We have been planting more forage grasses so we don't have lawn upkeep.

There are a number of members here who grow in greenhouses for sale. I'm sure they'll chime in soon.

 

[warthog]

Yes I am really putting in a lawn, I want to make a grassed area with table for eating and palapa for shade. It will also be for our two bigs dogs and 3 little cats to have some shade.

I will use the goats instead of a lawn mower, initially that's what we want to goats for, to help keep the bush and weeds back, eventually, when we know more about keeping goats, maybe we will breed from them for meat etc.

With regard to growing, I grew some habenero peppers, just really to get somethign easy into the ground, they thrived and I sold some to the local village shop, I made the princely sum of $4.25 (there are two of our dollars to one of yours), it was the best money I have ever made, went round with a smile of my face for days.