Family cloth - support plz - Page 3

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by bcblondie

I think it depends on your water (which, I'm pretty sure ours isn't hard but who knows) and maybe if I didn't fill it as full it would have less residue. It was mostly the top rack that had it.

No ideal what the water quality is. I'm almost sure it isn't hard water just going by past experiences of dealing with that sort of thing.
I fill the detergent cup (or whatever it's called) a bit less than halfway when using baking soda.

What an interesting thread with so many diverse topics.

[bcblondie]

Yea maybe I just have to use less when I use the homemade dishwasher detergent. I've been using 2 tablespoons worth.

[zoebird]

speaking of FC again, i talked with DH about it last night.

he told me about how his mother was "grossed out" by the hanky that i'd sent with DH and DS when they were here on saturday. i just had a hand-towel sized piece of flannel. i'd wiped his face on one end of it, and there was still plenty of clean towel left.

i remember that when my grandfather used hankies, he would use one all day and then set it to wash. . .so you reused it throughout the day. when i'm sick, i use one hanky until i can't, and then go to the next hanky. you just fold it and dont' use the diry part, duh! then, wash them. easy done.

so, MIL flips out at DH about how "unsanitary" the hanky is, but then proceeds to use the same nasty paper tissue on DS's face all day long. I don't see any difference, other than you throw the moldy old tissue away rather than washing it. she's weird though.

so, after explaining general hanky use to DH (though some people would carry 2 or more with them in the past anyway), we moved on to family cloth because he saw that i was writing on this thread.

he said he didn't wnat to use it because he didn't want to have to fold it between wipes for #2s. i couldn't help it, i laughed at him. LOL

i told him he could use it for one wipe, put it in the bucket, use another wipe, etc until he feels clean. he admits he uses too much paper and that doing so often backs up the toilet! it did this morning, in fact!

so, he's agreed that if he doesn't have to use each cloth multiple times, and if it's kept in a bucket of water and tea tree oil, then it would be ok for him too.

he's basically converted.

now, as for hanky use, he told him mom while they were on the phone (and she was fussing at him again about being "unsanitary"--he explained to her that she used the single tissue all day, and that there's no difference between that and a single hanky all day. she said that it was unsanitary to have to wash it. she's also anti cloth diapers, napkins, etc. she's weird.

[bcblondie]

Lol I love your dh. And I think you did a great job there. You must have great communication. You tracked down the specific reason why he didn't want to use FC and solved the problem. Great job!

As for your MIL. How annoying that she keeps bringing it up. Sounds like a certain MIL I know ...

It's funny you mention hankies though. My dh LOVES them! He was asking me to make some a couple days ago and I was going to, out of tshirts, when I found my old stash of dollarstore baby wipes. I've used them a couple times myself now and they work great! Stupid toilet paper tears to bits and gets on your hands....
Plus these dollars store ones, the air blows through them really well, like even better than cotton hankies, so it's not so hard on you eardrums etc when you blow.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by zoebird

she said that it was unsanitary to have to wash it. she's also anti cloth diapers, napkins, etc. she's weird.

So, like, does she wear disposable underwear?

If a kid wets the bed, does she get a new one? Or at least just a new sheet set? What about the kid's pj's - trash?

Hmm, let's see, what else. Sneezing into the crook of your arm? Bye-bye shirt. DTD in your bed? Well, there's some fluids there, bye-bye sheets. Tampon or pad leaks? Bye-bye underwear, clothes, bedding. (heh, we won't even touch the mama cloth or diva cup concept!).

Anyway, don't mind me, just having fun with this.

The first time I ever heard of FC, my verdict was "no way" too. (And I was already using mama cloth for years). Of course a lot of it is a misnomer. It sounds like there's like this one towel hanging in the bathroom that everybody uses.. and resuses... and reuses

I love the "but I don't want to fold it over to use a second time!" comment! I'm not at all innocent of this, it's hysterical how many misconceptions we all have when we think about this. I think that if I heard it called "cloth wipes" from the beginning, I would have understood the concept much better, intuitively. But "the family cloth" (just one????!!! for the whole family!!!??!) and "reusable toilet paper" (uh, how many times do you reuse it before washing??) just lead the mind down different roads!

[bcblondie]

^^^^ ROFL

[zoebird]

seriously, MIL doesn't make sense.

she's a hoarder and holds onto everything. for example, she reuses paper towels and *then* throws them out. so, she'll wipe the counter tops, then lay the paper towels out to dry, then wipe again, and maybe a third time after dinner, and then throw it out. might as well use a rag.

DH learned to leave wadded paper towels around based on that activity. we are now in a house with paper towels and that's what he does. uses it until it's a wad (one use usually) and then just leaves it rather than trashing it. makes me *crazy*.

but, yeah, MIL thinks that reusing the paper towel equals "frugal." ooohkaaayy.

DH is still deeply scarred by the situation of his sheets. he was so embarassed that until he went to college, and even when he would come home for the summer, his mother would announce "time for the rubber sheets! but, i learned, she wouldn't put a cotton sheet over it. so DH grew up sleepingo n a scratchy old towel on a rubber sheet! what?

yeah, it's crazy.

and while she will wash the human fluids out of many things--because most of her sheets are decades old and thread bare, as are her towels--she is very weird about all of it, deeply shaming and. . .well, mean.

yeah, like i said, she's weird.

[bcblondie]

That IS really weird.

My MIL reuses tea bags. Well actually, she leaves them on the counter by the sink and doesn't actually have another cup of tea. I lived with her for a year and it drove me nuts.
Dh did the same thing at first, when we got married. But I told him "look, it's all fine and dandy IF you are going to have anotehr cup of tea. (They are 2-cup bags after all) but you never do. So just huck it. (well, compost. now that we have one. lol)

[zoebird]

we reuse tea bags--each bag usually can do two cups of tea. BUT, i have a "cat food bowl" for them. it's called that because it looks like a cat's bowl to me. LOL

anyway, you make your tea, and you put the bag in the bowl (i keep it with my tea supplies). then, you can use it again or it's easy to toss away when we're done.

of course, now i'm moving toward loose tea and the tea-balls. i love that. it's much less expensive and much less waste! also, decent compost/put around plants to help keep pests away.

but, yeah, that stuff is crazy. MIL saves weird, stupid clutter, and gets angry if you toss it. she gave us some towels for christmas once--they came out of great-aunt's home after her death. they were obviously VERY vintage, thread bare, holes in it, etc. she gifted them to me like "look! i gave you some nice towels!"

and i'm like "yay, a box of rags." woop-tee-do! what a christmas. i also got all of great aunt's used lotions and potions. all half used, some well expired, etc.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by zoebird

she gave us some towels for christmas once--they came out of great-aunt's home after her death. they were obviously VERY vintage, thread bare, holes in it, etc. she gifted them to me like "look! i gave you some nice towels!"

and i'm like "yay, a box of rags." woop-tee-do! what a christmas.

You know what you should use them for... right?

[laohaire]

Dear MIL,

We wanted to thank you very much for the vintage rags. They feel very soft and smooth on our nether parts when we use them as toilet cloth. They are very absorbant as well, so they are just perfect.

We will think of you every time we use them.

Love,

Zoebird

[bcblondie]

^^^ lol I was so thinking that!!

[zoebird]

i pitched them, as they were totally scratchy and smelled like an old lady and i couldn't get that smell out.

they were really nasty, and i wouldn't even use them on my nether regions! nope, yuck.

that was nearly as good as the year that i got a used up disposable bic pen and orange juice coupons.

[bcblondie]

[zoebird]

MIL is a peach. LOL

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by laohaire

So, like, does she wear disposable underwear?

If a kid wets the bed, does she get a new one? Or at least just a new sheet set? What about the kid's pj's - trash?

Hmm, let's see, what else. Sneezing into the crook of your arm? Bye-bye shirt. DTD in your bed? Well, there's some fluids there, bye-bye sheets. Tampon or pad leaks? Bye-bye underwear, clothes, bedding. (heh, we won't even touch the mama cloth or diva cup concept!).

So I guess dishtowels are nasty too? And potholders. And tablecloths. Ew.

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by bcblondie

My MIL (...) I lived with her for a year

How did you survive? I stayed with mine for 4 months and I've not been the same person since.




....yeah, that's pretty much the order of how things went. And, of course....the ending (finally leaving) -

However, I don't see a recovery icon to represent the months since.

I wish I was exaggerating or kidding ._. :Puke

[bcblondie]

LOL ah she's not horrible. The longer I've known her the more she critisizes though... But back when I lived with her she kept her opinion to herself.
That's the only thing that bugs me about her now. She has opinions on my weight, clothing, hair, how we discipline our child, how we feed him, WHAT we feed him, his clothes, hair, my BF'ing (he's 13months) The tidiness of my yard, house, this that ahh!!!

I finally told her off.

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by bcblondie

I finally told her off.

[bcblondie]

Yep. Too bad it was at 12:01 am on new years day.