Incorporating the Simple Living Review, the Preparedness & Self-Reliance Review, as well as the Outdoor & Survival Review
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Make your own glass cleaner, and get beautiful, streak-free windows for little money.
You will need only two ingredients and one further item:
- White vinegar
- Water
- A spray bottle
You fill the spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water and then you use it as you would any other glass cleaner.
The benefits of using vinegar as a glass cleaner are that it inexpensive, contains no harsh chemicals or fumes (though the smell of vinegar is not everyone's cup of tea), it effectively removes fingerprints and other window grime and it does not leave streaks.
It is generally recommended that, for safety, you do not reuse empty cleaner bottles, as the vinegar can react with the residue of the chemicals that were in that bottle previously. Ideally you should buy a new bottle for your glass cleaner. I must say here though that I just thoroughly wash such a bottle and then use water in it a couple of times before I use it for anything else. I, fir instance, have used such spray bottles for use with washing up liquid for black fly and such on beans, etc.
Also, always label the contents of your cleaner bottles, regardless of what cleaner they may contain, and always keep out of the reach of children and pets.
A special word of warning here: Many recipes for glass cleaners that can be found on the Internet contain ammonia and/or isopropyl alcohol. Those ingredients are, so it is said, poisonous when swallowed or inhaled in large quantities. Ammonia is a very nasty substance that, while it has been used in cleaners for a long time, inhaled or ingested is poisonous, as said. Not something that is very safe to have around and definitely not safe for the environment.
© M Smith (Veshengro), July 2008
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by Lawrence Marsh
I would like to share with you all some of the thoughts and beliefs that have helped me move toward an even more simple and peaceful lifestyle. I have never been more happy in my life = thanks to these ideas…
1./ A wise man or woman will own as few things as possible. The goodness in people is tarnished by material possessions.
2./ Everything you own, owns you. What you chain to you, you are also chained to it. (This applies to animals, too.)
3./ How quickly we become the servants of our tools (machines).
4./ So many exhaust themselves in their own service – rushing to self-appointed tasks, most of which need not be undertaken in the first place.
5./ Spending is a form of mental illness. It is to be avoided whenever possible.
6./ Love your enemies, for they are your teachers.
7./ A radish does not care what time you get up, animals you own most certainly do.
8./ Everywhere a blade of grass will grow, something else will grow that you can eat or sell.
I still cannot understand the refrigerator debate. I can’t put root crops in it, not tomatoes, nor fresh fruit, nor grain. I buy fresh vegetables, don’t eat meat, and am too old to drink milk. My sister-in-law in Latin America has a refrigerator to show off to the neighbors. When she was gone one day, I looked inside – there was nothing in there but one bottle of Coke. (She’s from the “third world” – she likes fresh food!).
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by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Think about your sleeping schedule and how it effects your power consumption.
While it is certainly true that late at night power is usually at less demand, that is to say, after a certain watershed when everyone else has gone to bed. However, would it not be better to use less electricity yourself?
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by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
I must say that I have never understood why anyone would want or need to have the tap running when brushing their teeth, especially in some case the hot tap, and have always found this rather strange.
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