Just curious who else is living super frugal

[pfields]

When not in use I leave the door to my HE washer wide open. It's inside the laundry room so it's not a problem to leave it open.

 

[gevshiba]

Regarding the front loading HE washers, you need to leave the door open an inch or so when not using the washer. The top loading washers don't have to have a water tight seal on their doors due to the way they work. But the front loading ones do, so if the door is shut there is no air flow inside the washer and it never really dries out, and can harbor and grow all sorts of gross stuff.

I used to run the occasional empty load with a lot of bleach in it to clean my washer due to the odor. Once I started leaving the door open just a little, the problem went away.

Mine isn't an HE. I do leave the top open and running bleach or vinegar didn't help at all. I think it's our water combined with the drought. We had way too much rain this spring and now we are back in drought, in my area.

 

[pfields]

When I had my old top lid washer I always left the lid up.

We got our first rain last week in almost two months. Our grass was turning yellow and orange. Hopefully the rain we got will bring back some green to our grass. In 2009 the drought was so bad we lost some trees and all the grass in the front yard. The only thing that kept the grass alive in the far backyard was the solar sewer system spraying at night.

 

[islafarm]

@pfields

solar sewer system spraying at night? That sounds fabulous, how is it? A quick google search didn't turn up so much

Would love to know more . . .

 

[pfields]

It's not solar like it sounds, I know it's confusing. Solar Air is the residential sewer system that we have and it's made by National Wastewater Systems, Inc. It's an aerobic system. Once a month we put a bottle of clorox in the system. The sprayers are set to a timer so that they spray in the middle of the night. There is a float that can override that timer if the system gets too full. Sorry for the confusion.

We do have a solar system set up on one of our water wells. The sun turns on the underground motor and then fills a 1,000 gallon above ground tank.

 

[islafarm]

Ah, I see. Actually the aerobic system was the thing that came up on the google search. Looks like a great system. Hate the idea of all that potential compost going to waste

The clorox works works out okay with your lawn?

 

[pfields]

Yes, it doesn't seem to hurt it at all. The grass is greener and grows faster in the back where the sprayers spray. Once a month we put a whole gallon in and it delivered it so much at a time. It doesn't all go in and then out.

Our internet was down most of yesterday and the night. Sorry for the slow response.

 

[DennisK]

My Laundry water goes to its own french drain and not into the septic.... FWIW

deb

I have the same kind of setup, and I've noticed that the chickens like to congregate around it. They have shown no adverse effects from the home made detergent discharge.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would be concerned about the concentrate of Borax. But the proof is in the doing. I'm almost out of commercial detergent. Haven't bought any in 3 years, I think. So... it's ALMOST time to make some!

 

[chicksurreal]

I have the same kind of setup, and I've noticed that the chickens like to congregate around it. They have shown no adverse effects from the home made detergent discharge.

My chickens love it too. They don't seem to be harmed by it either.