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PREPPING
TRANSFORMING YOUR HOUSE AFTER AN EMERGENCY
If your house is structurally okay, but you have to stay there while your POWER and GAS are out, what are you going to do? We have a few solutions...
LIGHTING
Tealight candles burn for a fairly long time and can provide fantastic lighting.
Also, Solar Tea Lights/Dollar Store Light Stakes can replace the candles in a
wall Tea Light Candle Holder or added to mini lanterns jars to create a flame-free environment for small children.
Additionally, battery powered and solar powered wall sconces and lanterns are also available online.
Decorative AND emergency essential....yes please!
Alternative Heat
To provide adiquate heat for your family, there are many options. You can put up a tent in your living room and use your bodies radiated heat to warm your entire family while you sleep. (Make sure you have a tent big enough for everyone.) You can use extra blankets, weighted blankets, thermal emergency blankets, Bed Canopy Covers, heated water in water bottles, wood burning stoves to heat the house (Need to be vented outdoors), propane heaters, and more!
Besides wearing multiple layers of clothing, there are also many wearable heated options available such as coats, vests, pants, socks, hats, hand warmers
Alternative Cooking
With a gasoline powered generator you can sill enjoy your usual small appliances and low voltage ELECTRIC burners/oven ranges. (Our modern-day ranges have safety features in them that
require BOTH Electricity AND Gas. (No your newer gas ranges will not work unless you have both your ELECTRICITY AND GAS OPERATIONAL.
With Propane tanks or Natural Gas you can enjoy convenient cooking inside or outside your home.
Battery Ignition -
Propane ONLY Oven
With Charcoal you can cook with a Dutch Oven, cast Iron cookware, or special heat treated charcoal grills in your own backyard. (Do not use/burn charcoal indoors or on grills that are not rated for charcoal use.)
With Wood you can cook using a wood burning stove, outdoor oven, campfire, rocket stove, collapsible campfire grill, and more. (You will need to cook outdoors unless you have a way for the fumes to be isolated and sent outdoors, you should never cook with fire indoors otherwise.)
Outdoor Kitchens are a great way to prep while adding value to your home.
There are also other cooking solutions that allow you to be able to use multiple
fuel sources.
Non-Electric Pressure Cookers are a great way to conserve your alternative fuel sources. Simply get the food to a boiling point, seal with your pressure cooker lid, and place in towels to keep warm until completely cooked.
With the Sun you can cook without the need to find a fuel source. All it requires is a sunny day and a little bit of practice. Also, (no joke) do NOT touch the dishes inside without oven mitts!
Alternative Laundry
In the unfortunate event where you do not have electricity for a long period of time, you and your loved one's laundry will start to pile up. Being able to keep you and your house clean is paramount to your health and wellbeing ESPECIALLY in an emergency situation. Your dirty Laundry water can also be recycled/used as plant water, (add a little natural disinfectant) for cleaning around the house, and even washing (not rinsing) your dishes.
For smaller emergencies where the power has gone out and it should be back in the next day or two, you could probably get away with letting the laundry pile up, but if someone has been injured, sick, or the bedding needs to be washed, you may want to consider some of these Alternative Laundry solutions. For the most part, cleaning laundry is simple, all you need is soap, water, and something to agitate (rub against) the clothes, or get them to rub against each other.
A Muck Tub is a great size for cleaning your largest loads such as comforters.
From the makers of Scrubba... Wash your laundry on the go using your own movement for agitation. Super cool. (Not good for bad backs though.)
Read the reviews and facts about any new Off The Grid Washers before you buy them. People will tell you what they do and don't like about each machine online.
Laundry soap from the store is heavy on the wallet and the environment. Here are some amazing alternatives that could be a HUGE help in an emergency to have on hand.
Soap nuts are dried shells of the soapberry. They contain saponin which is a cleaning agent that works like soap and detergent, minus the chemicals – it’s 100% natural. When they get wet, they create suds…and they’ll clean your laundry like nothing else. They can be used 4-6 washes and then composted. You can wash your laundry for around $0.05 - $0.10 per load.
Lightweight and environmentally friendly, these Dehydrated Laundry Detergent strips are easy on the wallet and great for Bugging Out.
I'm not sure if you've ever had the glorious experience of washing your laundry by hand... but here's a few more gadgets I wish I had. These will make your life a whole lot easier if you plan to hand wash your laundry regularly.
Now that we figured out the Wash....Let's simplify the drying...
Built-in Laundry Racks are a beautiful way to add value to your home while increasing your off the grid laundry prep.
Pop-out wall laundry hanging bars are a great solution to drying many clothes at the same time using hangars instead of clothespins. They can also be placed over a window to get your clothes drying faster during colder weather when you cannot dry outside.
Worried about sanitizing your laundry? Great news! The SUN is a natural disinfectant! UV light from the sun has been used for decades as a natural disinfectant.
(I always think about that the when I pass a shopping cart left outside vs. the ones inside in the shade.)
Alternative Bathing
No one likes taking a COLD shower.
Here are a few options for you and your loved ones to stay warm, clean, and healthy.
REMEMBER: Your dirty Bathing and Cooking water can be collected and used to water your plants.
(Be sure not to pour the water directly onto the fruits/vegetables and instead on to the soil.)
IN THE RARE EVENT you are using water from a stream or river for bathing or washing of clothing, be sure to bring a container and take the water away from the stream onto a grassy area where the dirty water cannot run back into the stream or river. The grass/vegetation will filter the water and prevent any soaps, detergents, or nastiness from getting into the water that someone else would use or drink. We all live downstream, and just as you wouldn't want to be drinking someone else's bathwater...be sure to keep your graywater to yourself and for your plants.
These black camping shower bags are inexpensive and are made to collect the heat from the sun. They can be filled with water and simply set in direct sunlight for 2-3 hours for a nice warm shower.
Showering outside is not ideal. If your current shower areas are not cracked, broken, or leaking, then you can screw in eyelets or hooks above your existing shower or tub areas to hang the shower bags for use indoors. If all your shower areas are damaged, you can put a tote down inside your shower area to prevent leaking or create a new shower area inside your home. Most laundry washing machine areas have a tiled area with a drain that will also make a nice make-shift showering area.
(If you want to collect the water to be used on plants afterwards, be sure to put something (non-slippery) in the shower to keep the water from going down the drain.)
If the weather is nice and warm, any outdoor patios and sheds can be turned into semi-private showering areas.
Don't want to fuss with the shower bags?
Check out this propane fueled water heater with battery ignition.
As long as your water pipes are not broken and you have a gas powered generator or solar panels to power them, than you can use a electric water heater to provide warm water for your family.
**If your shower bathing area is broken from an earthquake and your worried about causing water damage in your house, you can also create a shower area in your laundry room utilizing the drain/tiled area (especially if it's cold or not private outside), or create a nice enclosed area on your patio for you and your loved ones to use.
If the weather is warm enough, outdoor shower tents are another wonderful option.
Alternative Toilets
Hopefully you never have to use these options long term. May your toilets always be flushing...
If your waterline to your house breaks and must be kept off, as long as your toilet itself is not broken and there is no damage to the pipes (and house below the toilet) you can add water to the back of the toilet's fill tank and still be able to use your toilets normally. However.... remember, your water is OFF and not working. Remember the Wyoming rule...
"If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown...flush it down."
If you don't know when the water will be back on, you will have to limit the amount of water you use.
Although inconvenient, ask your local neighbors if their facilities are working and if they would be willing to let you and your loved ones use them as needed.
These lightweight five gallon buckets, biodegradable toilet bags, and plastic toilet seat/fitted lids make a great emergency toilet no matter where you are. To reduce the smell, you can place them in a discreet place outside, in a shower tent in the garage, or even in an outdoor shed.
How would you transform your areas in an emergency?
**You may also be able to use a nearby PortoJohn, Honeybucket, Camper, or Motorhome's bathroom facilities.
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