Mending Jeans

My husband and kids have a few pair of old jeans that have holes in the knees and other places.  With the weather getting cold,  they can't wear these old jeans and still be warm so I began to look for a way to repair them,  not having a sewing machine.

 I was walking around Walmart one night,  waiting for my oldest daughter to get done with work and stumbled upon these little iron on patches.  They were only $1.77 each so I picked up three of them and decided to give them a try.  The instructions were very easy-

1. Set your iron on the Cotton setting.
2. Cut a piece of the patch to fit over the area in the jeans that needs patched.
3. Preheat the area that the patch will go over by holding the iron on it.
4. Place the patch on the jeans and iron it for 30 seconds,  repeat if still not secure.

That's it!  I just fixed three holes in a pair of jeans that my oldest son has.  Why buy new jeans for them to play in?  The size of the patch that you get is pretty big-  here's a picture to show how much you get for under $2.00

This is the patch,  after two smaller squares were cut out.  I would say that the patch you get is around the size of a piece of printer paper so you can figure on fixing several pairs of jeans for under $2.00!

The patch seems to be very sturdy-  I even tried to peel it up from the corners and it seems to be stuck in place pretty good.  I'll update once I wash the jeans a few times and let you know how long it lasts.  

Hope this was helpful :-)

Washboard blues

Many think I'm crazy for wanting to wash my clothes by hand.  I began to do this when our washing machine broke over the summer and we couldn't afford to replace it.  Since then God has handled the problem by having someone give us a washer that was better quality than we ever would have bought.  I've begun to wash clothes in the washing machine again but only because now the weather isn't good enough to wash them/hang them outside to dry.  As I watch or listen to the washer and dryer running though,  I can't help but get this uneasy feeling because I now know how much electricity and water is being used compared to what's used when hand washing.

Since this blog is about any and everything that relates to homemaking,  I decided to include the how to's of hand washing clothing.  I'll also include a recipe for homemade laundry detergent and fabric softener sheets for the dryer.

To hand wash clothing is really pretty simple and it not only saves the cost of electricity and water usage,  but it also saves loads of time!  I was able to wash and hang all 4 1/2 clothes lines up in under 3 hours.  This would have taken me around 10-12 hours if I would have washed them in a washing machine.

The materials you'll need are:
A washboard (you can find these on Amazon for under $10)
3 large storage bins (Dollar General $3-$4 each)
A toilet plunger (I got mine from Dollar General for $3)
Powdered detergent (a recipe to make this is at the end of the post)
A small bucket
A garden hose
A bar of Fels-Naptha soap (you can find this in your grocery's laundry aisle)

Fill up 2 of the storage bins about 3/4 of the way full of water.  Add 1 TBSP of detergent to one of them.  Fill the 3rd storage bin up around half way full and place your washboard w/ soap bar in it.  Fill the small bucket halfway full of water and bleach and put your socks/underwear (whites) in it to soak.  Separate your clothing- you don't need to separate colors,  just the stained clothing from the non-stained.  Set the stained clothing aside.

Place 7-10 items in the storage bin that has the detergent in it and plunge moving in downward twisting motion.  Do this 60 times.  Squeeze the water from each piece of clothing and place into the "rinse" bin which has only water.  Plunge another 30 times,  wring out the clothing and place in your basket to hang on the line.  You can do 2-3 "loads" like this before you have to drain the water and re-fill.  When your "rinse" water stops being clear,  you know that you need to change both the "wash" and "rinse" bin.

When all the clothing has been washed,  begin to scrub the stained clothing on the washboard.   Run the stained spot over the bar of soap and scrub on the washboard until the stain is removed.  You will then need to "wash" and "rinse" these clothing items as well.  You can then remove your whites from the soak bucket and scrub any stains they have and then "wash" and "rinse" them as well.

Yes,  this is a good deal of work and you will probably have a sore back, legs and butt,  But-  you will feel a sense of accomplishment and be happy that you've not only saved money but your time as well.  You won't believe the amount of laundry you can get done in as little time as it takes and I swear,  when the clothing is washed this way,  it looks so much brighter hanging on the line.

Powdered Laundry Detergent/Liquid Laundry Soap

1 Bar of Fels-Naptha Soap (laundry aisle at grocery store)
Arm and Hammer Super washing Soda (you'll probably have to purchase this online)
20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at grocery store)
An old Cheese Grater
A butter bowl w/lid (powder) or a 5 gallon bucket w/ lid (liquid)

Powder-  Grate the bar of Fels-Naptha.  Mix in 2 c. Washing Soda and 1c. Borax.  That's it.  If your going to use this in a washing machine you'll need to use 1 TBSP for a front load and 1/4 c. for a top load.  You'll use 1 TBSP of this when hand washing.

Liquid-  Grate the bar of soap.  Add the grated soap to 4 c. water in a pot and boil on medium/high heat until the soap is dissolved.  Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.  Add the melted soap mixture and 2 c. of washing soda with 1 c. of Borax.  Stir well and fill up the rest of the way.  Allow to sit overnight and it will turn into a thick gel.  Fill your old laundry containers halfway with the gel and the rest with water.  Shake well before each use.  You will need to use 2 capfuls of this in your laundry.

Fabric Softener "sheets" for the dryer


1 large bottle of fabric softener (any brand)
1 sponge cut in half
5 gallon bucket with lid
Butter bowl with lid or like size container

Dump the fabric softener into the bucket and fill up twice with water and mix.  That's it!  Cut your sponge in half and fill up an old butter bowl with the liquid to sit on top of the dryer.  With each load,  soak the sponge in the fabric softener and wring out then add to the load.  It's that easy!  This will last the average house over a year and no more running to the store to buy the boxes of fabric softener sheets!

Here are some pictures of the items and especially the laundry detergent after it turns to a jelly like substance.  It helps me to see what I'm looking for,  maybe it will help you as well :-)

Washboard:

Fels-Naptha Soap:

Borax:

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda:

Laundry Detergent (after it sits overnight):

Willingness is the first step!

Those are the words that I heard from God this morning when I was praying.  I don't know how many times I've shook my head in disbelief and even disgust at how messed up I still am,  after 6 years of the Lord working on me.  I am REALLY struggling with the "obey" and "submit" parts regarding wives.  Ooh,  there are a thousand excuses NOT to obey like "He doesn't lead"  or "He doesn't deserve it"  or "He won't do the right thing" and the list I'm sure could go on forever if I got some help adding from some of you Ladies.

The ONLY excuse TO obey is because our Lord commands us to.  That's pretty much it.  How valuable should that "excuse" be to us?  Whom,  if not God,  deserves complete obedience?  God leads, perfectly.  God deserves it,  undoubtedly.  God does the right thing,  always.  My will is strong,  too strong in my opinion,  but God has shown me that the strength of my will isn't the problem-  the direction of it is.  If I can get my will to be aligned with God's will then not only will my life be easier,  but the lives of my husband and children will be happier and more peaceful as well.

There's no getting around verses like these:

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.........Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 

Colossians 3:18  Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Titus 2:3 ....train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the word of God.  (the KJV uses Blaspheme instead of malign)

1 Corinthians 11:3 The head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is man and the head of Christ is God.

Proverbs 14:1  The wise women builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears it down.

Proverbs 31:12  She (wife) brings him (husband) good, not harm, all the days of her life.

1 Peter 3:1-2, 5-6  Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands, so that, if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.  For this is the way the Holy Women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.  They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her Master.  You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

I still cringe when I read these words.  Isn't that dumb?  God deserves my obedience to him- he deserves everything and who am I to say No?

I've often thought about how easy it is for me to submit to another's authority,  even if that person isn't competent or worthy, in my mind.  Maybe it's a boss at work who is clueless, selfish and mean.  We still obey the orders at work and if he tells us to do something that turned out to be a mistake,  we don't sweat it. He's in charge and he made the wrong decision.  Maybe it's a woman leading something at the church.  We might not like her and might even think that she's not the best one for the job but we'll do what she asks,  without a second thought.  If she makes a mistake,  we don't get all bent out of shape.  We write it off as her responsibility,  her poor choice.  We may give our opinion,  if we think a poor decision is being made but then leave it up to the one in charge to decide.  WHY can't we grant that same respect and courtesy to our own husbands? My guess would be our own fear.  Fear that his decisions will harm us or our children but do we really trust God that little?  Isn't our God big enough to right any wrong that is done?  Isn't our God big enough to lead our children in the right path?

The last part of the verses in 1 Peter say "do not give way to fear"  God knows this is why we have trouble being submissive and obedient to our husbands.  Fear.   When he (our husband) sets a poor example at home,  we fear the effects it can/will have on our children.  When he spends money unwisely,  we fear the financial hardships that may come from it.  When he watches things on tv that are questionable,  we fear that our children will think it's ok.  Bottom line is We Fear. God says don't fear,  trust him.  Maybe the problem we face is not the inability to submit to authority and obey that authority,  maybe it's our inability to let go of our fear.