How to Convert your Washing Machine to Pedal Power 1 - The Basic Model (Front-loader) Many years ago now, we heard a radio report on a guy who had built his own pedal-powered washing machine.
We both decided that once our own electrically-powered machine developed an irreparable fault, we would convert it. In fact this is what we have been doing systematically with all our electrical appliances, as they breakdown. We divide them into unnecessary, (the case of the hair-dryer is a good example of this, its only function being an extra aid to heat up cold baby pigeons) or we convert them to human-powered.
The following appliance has now been running manually (or rather, by being pedalled), for over four years and we would recommend the conversion to anyone who wants clean clothes, healthy exercise, a well watered flowerbed and help in getting off the grid. Please note in this simplified version of our pedal-powered machine there is some welding involved, both for the pinion and the bicycle supports. Test-drive with the approval of the fantails! The Backstory Method. The Best DIY Chalk Paint Recipe - Refresh Living.
Flour paint recipe - Appropedia: The sustainability wiki. The following is a recipe for flour based paint.
Natural Paint: Flour Paint - DIY. Flour paint is among the simplest and most versatile of all homemade paints.
It can be applied to most interior surfaces, and the proportions don’t have to be as exact as for other kinds of paint. You can use many types of grain flour as the binder, but wheat flour is the most common choice. Flour paint typically uses clay as the filler, but any combination of finely ground inert materials, such as chalk, mica, marble, limestone or silica will work. Natural Paints : Artful Adventures. Posted by jude on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 · 26 Comments This time of year is good for experimenting with natural paints and pigments.
It’s easy to forget that in the not too distant past, all dyes and paints had to be obtained from the natural world, directly from animals, minerals and plants. Flour Paint: An easy to prepare, non-toxic, long-lasting... and dirt cheap exterior homemade paint! Flour Paint...ring any bells?
Also known as "swedish paint", "wheat paint", "ochre paint", it is an ecological and resilient paint for vertical wood surfaces, made from simple ingredients, which can be easily prepared at home, while offering an excellent quality/price ratio. Flour Paint, really? Really! In fact, all paints are prepared according to a simple basic recipe: They are made from pigments (for the color), binders (to bind all the ingredients together), solvents or thinners (to dilute and make the paint easier to apply), and additives (to add specific properties to the paint, such as quicker drying, or protection against mold, etc.).
Make Mason Jar Oil Candles. *COPIED FROM… How to Make Your Own Mason Jar Oil Candle Hello my Crafty Witches One of my Favorite things in the world is Candles I love making them and Love giving them as GiftsToday I am going to show you how to make a Beautiful Decorative oil Candle you can make you can make these ahead of time for emergencies for blackouts or power failures good for emergency kits This is what you will need for each jar you will want to make: 1- 1/8 Nipple- Yes, they are called that and you can find them in the lighting section at places like Home Depot or Lowe’s with all the spare lighting parts. 2- 1/8 Couplings- Should be right next to the Nipples. 2- 3/8 in Washers- You can buy these in a pack or individually.
June 2010. For the next two weeks I have Tara here for Work Experience.
The idea is (I think) that Tara gets an introduction to working life as a school girl and I get the use of an extra pair of hands. Tara came to me because her mother (clever woman) brought two of my pictures and emailed asking if I might be interested in having Tara . DIY Beeswax Crafts for the Home – Healthy Home. From sweet-smelling gifts such as candles and lanterns, to natural skin masks, cleansers and conditioners, honey and beeswax both showcase enormous amounts of versatility.
Honey Crafting (F+W Media, Inc., 2013) introduces readers to more than 30 mouth-watering recipes with honey, as well as home crafts and DIY body-care products. Buy this book in the Mother Earth Living store: Honey Crafting. 4 Beeswax Crafts • How to Make Beeswax Lanterns • How to Make Rolled Tapered Beeswax Candles • Lavender Beeswax Hand Cream Recipe • Beeswax Vapor Rub Recipe Crafting with Beeswax. How to Make an Olive Oil Lamp. DIY Crafts.
Instructables. The RunnerDuck Dehydrator, step by step instructions. This project appeared in our July 1, 2006 Newsletter.
Like many of my projects this one was inspired by Marilyn who this time needed a replacement dehydrator for an old electric one she had that died. 12 Surprising Uses for Wood Ash in the Home & Garden. How to Make Natural Paint. Up until the discovery of petrolatum and the introduction of toxic chemicals, paints were created using natural ingredients such as: linseed oil, lime, casein from milk, turpentine, citrus oils, chalk and hemp oil.
Natural pigments were also used to color the paint. However, this is not the case anymore. Although major paint manufacturers are now producing more environmentally friendly paints, a good majority of them can still contain more than 450 hazardous substances, mainly voc's. Voc's (Volatile Organic Compounds) belong to a family of chemicals that evaporate quickly and leave an undesirable odor such as toluene, xylene and formaldehyde. Toluene. With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike - BikePortland.org. How to live zero waste – Rubbish Free. Community Bike Cart Design. Kandle Heeter - How to Heat Up Your Room Using a Candle. Frugal & Natural Pest Control: Fruit Flies & Ants Be Gone! We have been attacked by an abundance of fruit flies lately in my kitchen. AHH! Don’t you love those little flying insects that seem to find every bit of food in your kitchen and around your trash can?
Here is our simple, frugal, and effective solution! Fruit Fly Trap 1 quart jar 1 piece of paper, rolled up into a funnel tape apple cider vinegar small slice of banana Fill a quart jar with a 1/2 inch of apple cider vinegar and a small piece of banana. As you can see in my picture, this easy trap is amazingly effective!
Ant Trap We are often plagued with ants in the Spring time as well around here. 1 tsp. borax (borax is an natural laundry boosting powder available in the laundry section of the store, normally on the top shelf) 2 cups hot water 6 Tbsp sugar folded paper towel small shallow cup (like a creme burlee dish) How To Filter Rainwater in a Barrel – 100 Year Old Technology. Simple living in your 20s. I still get emails fairly frequently asking me to define simple living and if I can explain how to live like Hanno and I do. Many of the long term readers here would know that I encourage everyone to live their own life and while Hanno and I might be an interesting enough couple, our life is ours - it's what we do because it suits us, our personalities and the stage of life we're at.
I write about our life here not so you might copy it but to show you what's possible, easy and enjoyable on retirement. I think the stages or seasons of living - those periods you progress through at various stages of life - are the key here. Making Natural Dyes from Plants. Did you know that a great source for natural dyes can be found right in your own back yard! Roots, nuts and flowers are just a few common natural ways to get many dye colors. Yellow, orange, blue, red, green, brown and grey are available. Go ahead, experiment!
Gathering plant material for dyeing: Blossoms should be in full bloom, berries ripe and nuts mature. Remember, never gather more than 2/3 of a stand of anything in the wild when gathering plant stuff for dyeing. Jungle Survival: Finding Water. Because jungles are so wet, collecting rainwater is probably the easiest part of survival. Leaves on the rainforest floor are large because of the limited amount of sunlight they get. The larger the leaf, the more of the sun's rays it can soak up. Large leaves are useful in collecting dew and rainwater. Camper Kart Project.