Some of the bags of clothes waiting to head up to the charity stores in Maleny.

Living like a backpacker

Back in the early 1990s, Evan and I were travelling around the world a lot with our backpacks and lived amply on a handful of simple clothes. However, since we’ve had kids and settled a bit more, things have accumulated. As much as I promised myself this would never happen, it did. It was definitely time for a big clear out. I’m pretty sure what I’ve kept would be able to fit into a backpack again.

I love wearing sarongs here in the subtropics – they are lightweight and easy to store and care for.

Special souvenirs of musty space-fillers?

Not only were my own clothes filling up the wardrobe space, but clothes I had kept from when our children were little – things I thought were special souvenirs of their baby days. What they had become really were musty, stained and old (storing things in humid subtropics is difficult). I have kept just a few really special items and packed them very well.

Getting up my nose

All these surplus clothes were collecting dust which I was really starting to find was getting up my nose – literally.  Today, everything got washed with soapnuts and eucalytus, and the entire wardrobe and room was wiped down with diluted vinegar. It feels so fresh again.

How did I sort through it all?

Basically I just made one big pile on the floor  in the middle of my bedroom and methodically went through each piece.  It took me half a day to sort, wash and clean out all the dust from the back of the wardrobe  – a big commitment of time, but one that is going to save me lots of washing, sorting, putting away etc. later.  

As I went through the clothes I placed them in nine different piles and bags: 

• Keepers –  I went through this pile a couple of times to refine my choice to pick natural fibres, ethical items and ones that are biodegradable.
• Storage box – a selection of a few things for different seasons and some favourite skirts which will be good when I lose a few kilos (!?)
• Gift bag – almost new children’s clothes that are suitable for friends with young children.
• Hand-me-down pile – some retro pieces of my clothing that now fit my daughter
• Charity store bag – all the good quality clothes that were left
• Upcycling box – a few pieces I liked that had fabulous fabric, but no longer a good style are awaiting redesign (when I get a new sewing machine pedal – Monty was experimenting with scissors recently).
• Rag bag – too bad to fix but good for rags.
• Worm pile – too bad to fix and fully biodegradable.
• Rubbish – too bad to fix and not good for rags or worms. (thankfully this was the smallest pile)

My small selection of clothes for storage for another season.

This is all that is left in my wardrobe –  a couple of skirts, shirts, singlets and long sleeve tops – and my favourite jacket with all the pockets for collecting seeds while I’m out and about.

The post How I downshifted my wardrobe by 80 percent. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I am paying attention today because they are so cracked and sore, and because we made some lovely scrubs and salves yesterday at a workshop I held here in my garden (DIY Natural Health and Beauty Products) – just what my feet are calling for. These things can be made easily and cheaply.

Homemade mint sugar scrub – see below for instructions.

I knew my feet were in need of attention, but I recently bought a new pair of summer season shoes that seem to be ripping up my soles and aggravating the problem.  Back to closed shoes I think and a week of intensive care….

I’m going to take pictures every day and show you at the end of the week how well this has worked.

This is my three step process. It’s easy to do in the evening while I sit here and write, and catch up on emails.

1. Apple Cider Vinegar Soak

The warm vinegar soak softens the skin making it easier to remove the dead skin. I put in half a cup of vinegar into enough warm water to cover my feet and soaked them for 15 minutes.

2. Mint Sugar Scrub

This was the biggest hit of all at the DIY Natural Health and Beauty Products yesterday class I think. It immediately makes your hands and feet feel great, and it’s super easy. Immediately after the vinegar soak, while my heels are soft, I am using this scrub to help remove the dry skin and to soften, revive and nourish too.

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp raw sugar
• 6 leaves chopped mint
• zest of half a grapefruit (optional)

Soften the coconut oil if solid (I put the coconut oil in a bowl, then place this bowl in hot water till softened), then mix in the other ingredients. Store the scrub in a sealed jar/tin in the fridge and soften just before use.

NB: Make sure you don’t add the sugar to hot oil otherwise it will melt and not be a scrub, and don’t soften later in hot water either.

Collecting fresh ingredients from my garden for making herb oils for homemade beauty products.

3. Herb Beeswax Salve

• 1/2 cup olive oil infused with comfrey, chickweed and calendula infused oil. (see my previous post on how to make a simple cold infused herbal oil http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/making-comfrey-oil.html)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup pure beeswax
• 2 tbsp cocoa butter

1. On a double boiler (or with a ceramic bowl over boiling water), gently melt the beeswax, coconut oil and cocoa butter.  
2. When fully blended remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. When still runny, but warm (not hot) add the herb infused oil.
4. Pour into jars or tins and allow to cool and solidify.

I’ll be repeating this every night for the next few days and going to bed with more salve and bed socks.

These are the things we made in the workshop. Everyone went home with a collection of herb oil, healing salve, hand and face cream and lip balm.

At the end our our day together, this was our board of things we covered.

The last two workshops for the year are:

• The Simple and Abundant Garden on 29 October 
• Harvest to Table on Saturday 12 November. 

There are still places on both of the these if you’d like to come and spend a day in my garden with me learning and creating. We have fun, learn a lot from each other and eat deliciously healthy food!

Workshop participants collecting herbs and flowers in my garden yesterday to make the products. The lovely ladies at the DIY Natural Health and Beauty Products workshop yesterday putting their hand and face cream in jars.

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We’ve been enjoying some family reading and experimenting with vinegar lately…. cleaning the stench of old possum wee out of a yacht, cleaning a tooth for the tooth fairy…

Here are 10 great uses for vinegar in relation to health and personal care that I’m experimenting with or will try soon (there are so many many more too!):

1. Vinegar is a deodorant

Use white vinegar on underarms as a deodorant to neutralise odour, although it won’t stop perspiration – which seems a bit unnatural anyway.

2. Vinegar strengthens brittle nails

Put vinegar directly on nails to strengthen them if brittle. My gardening hands and nails might benefit from this. I have a thumb nail particulary prone to splitting – I will use this as my test case.

3. Vinegar stops chapped skin

Liberally put on sore spots and they will heal quickly. It also helps with those sore little splits at the ends of your fingers.

4. Vinegar heals split heels

Soak your feet in a glass bowl of diluted vinegar (and some coconut or olive oil to moisturise) for 15 minutes. Use a pumice to scrub your heals. Repeat again the following day and your heels should be much softer. Do this at least once a month to maintain your heels.  My heels are a disaster as I mostly do barefoot gardening.  I will do an experiment with before and after shots and post soon.

5. Vinegar heals coldsores

Douse a cold sore with vinegar often and it will dry up. If taken regularly, it should eventually prevent further outbreaks.  (I am going to test this one next time I get a coldsore – this is the first thing that happens to me when I am feeling a little run down.).

6. Vinegar and hair care

Wash your hair with a mixture of vinegar and water to add shine (and remove dandruff). Vinegar removes surplus soap and also neutralises the alkali left by shampoos.  Use a tablespoon to two in the final rinse – the smell doesn’t linger.

With so much hair in this household, some simple ideas for hair health is welcome.

7. Vinegar relieves nasal congestion

Many people who suffer from nasal congestion experience relief simply by adding apple cider vinegar to their diet. I know it has already cleared Maia’s throat tickles in the morning which I think in her case were related to nasal congestion.

8. Vinegar eases nausea

To ease nausea, sip on a small cup of water mixed with one teaspoon of vinegar with some added honey (to improve the taste). Perhaps I should take a bottle of this with me when we drive up our windy mountain roads and see if it helps.

9. Vinegar soothes minor burns

If you burn yourself cooking, splash some white vinegar on a tea towel or paper towelling and put it on the burn. Straight away it stops hurting and if you keep it on it will not blister. I usually reach for the aloe vera growing right outside my door, put I’m willing to give this a go next time.

10. Vinegar stops hiccoughs:

Apparently hiccoughs have been stopped by drinking a teaspoon of cider vinegar straight. Gargling cider vinegar is also effective. Worth a try for a serious case of hiccoughs. Hugh often suffers from hiccoughs, so I’ll offer him a vinegar gargle next time – as well as keep on encouraging him to eat more slowly and mindfully, rather than gulping his food so fast that he takes in too much extra air.

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I have been singing this song my entire life. I only know these two verses but apparently there were 15 originally. As a kid I often wondered why Jack would want to put vinegar and brown paper on his head.  I also wondered why they went up a hill for water.

Anyway, I’d forgotten about these wonderings until we recently borrowed a book from the library – 1001 Uses for Vinegar. Evan has been reading this to the kids at bedtime and out of the blue this morning, Hugh started singing Jack and Jill. The ‘vinegar and brown’ paper line stuck in my head. Finally I looked it up to appease my curiosity.

The vinegar and brown paper remedy is a type of poultice used for sprains, bruises, bumps and bangs – the olden day version of the ice block.  (Very rarely though can I get them to keep the ice block on their sprain or bump).

The poultice is made out of strong brown paper that can soak up the vinegar and not fall apart. The vinegar was warmed for a few minutes and the paper soaked and softened. Apparently using sage infused vinegar adds extra healing value.

Several strips of vinegar soaked brown paper were applied to the wound and wrapped up with an old cloth to help hold it all in place. This was applied twice a day at least until the swelling and bruising had eased. I’ve read that the beeswax infused wraps (sold as zero-waste food wraps) are excellent for covering these types of poultices.

A vinegar compress is still considered an effective remedy for easing sprains, as vinegar brings bruises to the surface and helps to cool and reduce swelling. I will try this next time and cut up some large brown paper bags into strips to keep in the first aid cupboard. Worth a try.

I’ve been inspired actually to experiment a lot more with vinegar thanks to this little gem of a book. I’ll keep posting about interesting vinegar uses for a little, but for now, about going up the hill for water…. must explore the reasoning for that a little more.

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