[Alice In TX/MO]

Isn't it amazing how a simple change has such a huge effect on our culture? Just a few years ago, people wiped up spills with the dish cloth or a rag. Then we got paper towels. Then there were Handi-wipes that look like paper towels, but hold together like rags. Then, we got antiseptic wipes and disposable food preparation sheets. All this in the name of sanitation.

And now we have flesh eating bacteria and the flu is starting earlier in the year. Hmmmm. Progress?

So...if in the "coming hard times" paper towels and Swiffers and antiseptic wipes and kleenexes are some of the modern gadgets that aren't available or we can't afford...what will be the result?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[AngieM2]

A lot of soap, water, and torn old sheets and towels. more laundry and a lot of gumpy people.

I know that I use to use grocery paper bags to drain fried bacon on - now use paper towels.... reason - I haven't seen a paper grocery bag in years, they just faded away.....

So I guess not all progress is progress... in retrospect.

AngieM2

PS: Happy thanksgiving....

 

[harmony]

There is definitely something wrong with being too clean. Now before anybody gets upset, hear me out. The more we kill off bacteria, and especially viruses, the more they mutate and frequently become stronger. Our immune systems, not being used to being "attacked" regularly to build up defenses, become weakened. So, combine weakened immune systems with more potent bugs, and you have a recipe for disaster. Add to this the fact that antibiotics are in most of the foods we eat, meats in particular, and the germs around us become more and more immune to the common and cheapest antibiotics.

We have overcome natural selection. I shudder to think what might happen, as we are far past due for a plague, that keeps our population in control. It is the way of the natural world, and we shouldn't be so complacent as to think we can escape following those ways.

 

[Diana K]

Harmony, is probably right as we have become a antibacteria almost fanatic about grems. Unlike some of us older ones who played in the ash pits and played in the dirt making mud pies or building roads in the dirt with hot wheel cars which now days are kept on a shelf as a collector item. We have allowed germs and viruses to mutate and be immune to antibiotics. Our bodies are not developing their own defenses.

Instead of sending kids out today to get dirty they sit in front of a play station or t.v. ect... I suspect also when our immune systems break down completely and we are not able to invent a antibiotic to prevent infection then we will see mass death due to flues ect..

The other problem is that there has been an overwhelmng amount of people coming to this country that is bringing viruses and germs with them. Please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say. But when you have people coming from all over the world they in their home land dealt with different germs and viruses than we do or did.

But now that we have become a country of many cultures it can only be expected to have to deal with new diseases. As an example some of our ancesters brought Small Pox.

 

[Tana Mc]

Well ladies..... I'll confess right now. Being too clean is never going to be a problem in my house! I would rather skin a live cat than do housework--- regardless of whether or not I have a dozen swiffers or a paper towels by the case!
My refridgerator often looks like a science fair project run amuck, dishes can stack up pretty high in my sink, and I used a wooden cutting board for over 10 years...I have been known to scramble eggs right out of the henhouse and we drink our goat milk raw. Try as I might, I cannot convince my kids that it is NOT alright to kiss the cat. We swim in our pond until the summer heat makes it too scummy. My babies all crawled in, over, and around our stuff, tasted things that I would rather not elaborate on and they are all healthy as horses. I have 4 children and I can count on one hand the number of times we have been to a Dr. for illness. I recently threw out a bottle of children's tylenol that expired in 1994.......
still half full----- dang it!
Now, I do not believe in utter filth and I am not encouraging any one to follow my example too closely , but I believe that our good health has to do with the fact that we have healthy immune systems that aquired immunity from being exposed to "normal" germs.
An occasional dash of Chlorox in the dish water because somebody fed the dogs out of our stew pot is about as sterile as we are going to get around here.
Tana Mc

 

[Sharon in NY]

I agree totally with Harmony, and all the recent research backs it up - our immune systems need to be exposed to as much as possible, especially when young, in order to be healthy.

 

[stickinthemud]

Some cold winter night get ahold of a copy of H G Wells "War of the Worlds" and read it. It's the story of a Martian invasion of the Earth, but it's on my short list of good reading for Homesteaders. Very relevant to this thread.

 

[melina]

The number one and two reasons we have mutating and resistant germs is the over use of antibiotics. No one needs to be on antibiotics for a cold, yet the Dr's waiting room is packed with people who have the sniffles and want to keep it from getting worse. And the antibiotics used in the production of meat is astronomical. Not to clean up an infection, but to prevent one. Best reasons I know of to treat a cold at home with old fashioned remedies and grow our own food.

 

[breezynosacek]

My hubby started listening to the "germ hysteria" on the boob tube in FL and he started buying into it...result, he started getting sick. LOL

Seriously, he started ragging on me because I used a sponge to wash dishes.

I told him, if it bugs you, bleach it!

Everytime he bought dish washing liquid it was antibacterial. Now, he's gotten a little common sense back. Thank God.

They did a news report on the damage that all those antibacterial products were doing to our immune systems. Am I grateful for that.

But, more importantly, I've never seen so many sick people in my life than those where I used to work. It got so bad I felt like I ought to go in there with a face mask.

 

[Guest]

Bacteria are our friends! Only when we kill off the good bugs do we have to worry much about the bad bugs getting in and making trouble. The good bugs are part of our natural defenses.

 

[tkrabec]

We do not use anti bacterial crap in our house. We had to resort to (cheap) shampoo for hand soap, or bars. We use bleach in the toilets and to clean really nasty looking stuff. Aside from that the kids are allowed to play in the dirt, get dirty, etc. The 2 kids in daycare bring home lots of nice nasty's for our immune system to play with. The daycare uses the antibacterial crap.

I wash my hands regurlary with just soap and water. My drinking cup is mine for a day. dish rags live for a day, towels for a day as well.


-- Timq

 

[~Misha]

........... The 2 kids in daycare bring home lots of nice nasty's for our immune system to play with. The daycare uses the antibacterial crap.

-- Timq

Just a quick spit in defense of the daycare... they HAVE to use the antibacterial stuff as per regulations. I did day care for many years and if you didn't, boy howdy when inspection time came were you up the creek!! :no: :no:

 

[harmony]

Bacteria are our friends! Only when we kill off the good bugs do we have to worry much about the bad bugs getting in and making trouble. The good bugs are part of our natural defenses.

EXACTLY!! Just like in an organic garden- you want to encourage the good bugs to stay so they can eat up the bad bugs. There are so many good examples for us in the natural world! We are washed in a sea of chemicals from the time we enter this world, and the result IMO, is all the newly "discovered" auto-immune disorders that so many are suffering with.

 

[mimsmommy]

I really agree with y'all on most of these points. I still have some sterilizing products for when it;s absolutely necessary. But my mom turned me on to using white vinegar instead of bleach for cleaning out toilets and baths, and any thing with scum or build-up. if you put some baking soda in the toilet or sink first and then pour in some vinegar, it makes a really good foaming cleaner that will remove almost any stains. I have soaked out many stains i didn;t think i would ever get out. "Hailey's Hints" also has a lot of other natural, nontoxic cleaners that really do work--that you can mix up in your kitchen.
The main reason i started was because of our septic--but the health benefits are a plus!!!
kat

 

[H A F]

I, too, let my kids play and get dirty. I don't fanatically clean my house, or use anti-bacterial products. The county inspector for our new septic system this spring, said that anti-bacterial products are the WORST thing you could use, because it kills off all of the bacteria in your septic tank.

My 9 1/2 yr old has never been on anti-biotics, or to the Dr. for being sick. My 8 yr old has been on anti-biotics once, for an ear infection. We follow the bundle up when it is cold, go outside everyday and eat good food philosophy.

I have a friend who sterilizes her house, on a daily basis, and her three kids catch every cold and bug that goes around!

 

[mtnhighgirl]

I agree wholeheartedly with you all, but not everyone thinks like we do. :no: My mil and fil are on so many prescriptions and antibiotics it's ridiculous. Every time my dd gets a cold or 24 hr flu (which isn't often) my mil insists it's the latest virus and we should rush off to the Dr.'s for medicine. When my dd had a case of boils, my mil said that Rosie O'Donnel had it too and was in the hospital, blah, blah, blah. I treated my dd with a paste made of tumeric and ginger, the boils were gone within days. My dd has had antibiotics once for an ear infection when she was about 2 1/2. When we gets a cold we reach for teas, and humidifiers and essential oils, massages and baths. My dd and I rarely get sick, we get a cold once a winter for a few days, she gets a flu bug once every 2 years or so, but my hubby still clings to cold & flu pills and he gets sick 5 times as often as I do. He's slowly realising that what I say is true, from seeing the health benefits in my dd and myself.

 

[tkrabec]

Just a quick spit in defense of the daycare... they HAVE to use the antibacterial stuff as per regulations. I did day care for many years and if you didn't, boy howdy when inspection time came were you up the creek!! :no: :no:

The daycare the kids are at is awesome. The anti bacterial at the daycare is good and bad, it's good because they bring home stuff that is resistant but we get a chance to fight before it get's too strong.

 

[rkintn]

I definitely agree! I also read somewhere that the rise in allergies in children goes along with this thread and the fact that kids aren't allowed to be around animals like days gone by. I have 4 kids and like someone said previously my house isn't spotless and my kids get dirty and they play with the goats, horses, dogs, cats and whatever else they think they can! Although we have had our fair share of ear infections and what not I believe my kids are pretty healthy. I also have a very good pediatrician who will not prescribe antibiotics for viral infections! Case in point being the baby came down with "the croup" and the dr just gave a shot to help with the congestion, recommended cool mist and vicks vaporub! guess what, the baby is lots better and we didn't contribute to the problem!

 

[Guest]

Best defense against disease is washing hands often with plain soap and water, especially if you work with money all day, and avoid touching your face while you're working. People stand in front of you, licking a thumb and counting off the bills.....yeecchh!

I also think a lot of the problem too lies with people who have never learned to deal with the discomforts of colds and such, as in just toughing it out. First sign of a runny nose and they're off to the drugstore. While some may need to be able to go to work and not be blowing their noses all day, your body never gets any practice fighting off disease, and then the mentality becomes, "oh, I have to take something for this."

Having a cold is not fun, but there are worse things.

 

[Shrek]

I don't get ill 1/4 of what I did prior to starting my worm ranch. My doctor told me that my constant exposure to the bacteria present combined with standard soap and water clean up may have increased my immunities the last 7 years of working with bait.