On May 17, 3:04*pm, Doug Freyburger > wrote:

> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.

look for
'OT making laundry soap' by George L. He estimated 4 cents per
load.

On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
> On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > wrote:
>
>> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>
> look for
> 'OT making laundry soap' by George L. He estimated 4 cents per
> load.


We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. We
are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap ($11 for
enough to do 190 loads)

Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:

The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.

I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this is
what I came up with:

2 bars Fels-naptha soap
2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)

Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.

Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran batches
through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
everything really well.

We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
colored clothes, there might not be much difference.

Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be around
4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost per load
for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20 cents a load.

With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.

George L

"George Leppla" > wrote in message
...
> On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>> On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > wrote:
>>
>>> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>>
>> look for
>> 'OT making laundry soap' by George L. He estimated 4 cents per
>> load.
>
>
> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. We
> are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
> the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap ($11 for
> enough to do 190 loads)
>
> Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:
>
> The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
> interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
> instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
>
> I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this is
> what I came up with:
>
> 2 bars Fels-naptha soap
> 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
> 2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
>
> Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
> hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.
>
> Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran batches
> through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
> everything really well.
>
> We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
> between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
> there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
> continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
> colored clothes, there might not be much difference.
>
> Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
> washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be around
> 4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost per load
> for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20 cents a load.
>
> With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
> in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
> important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
> about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
> had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.
>
> George L

Will it work in the HE type washers?

On May 17, 3:18*pm, George Leppla > wrote:
> On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>
> > On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > *wrote:
>
> >> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>
> > look for
> > 'OT making laundry soap' *by George L. *He estimated 4 cents per
> > load.
>
> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. *We
> are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
> the color-safe bleach and give that a try. *It is very cheap ($11 for
> enough to do 190 loads)
>
> Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:
>
> The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
> interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
> instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
>
> I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this is
> what I came up with:
>
> 2 bars Fels-naptha soap
> * 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
> * 2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
>
> Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
> hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.
>
> Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran batches
> through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
> everything really well.
>
> We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
> between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
> there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
> continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
> colored clothes, there might not be much difference.
>
> Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
> washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be around
> 4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost per load
> for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20 cents a load.
>
> With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
> in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
> important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
> about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
> had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.

Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
believe it or not.

spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On May 17, 3:18 pm, George Leppla > wrote:
>> On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>>
>>> On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > wrote:
>>
>>>> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>>
>>> look for
>>> 'OT making laundry soap' by George L. He estimated 4 cents per
>>> load.
>>
>> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well.
>> We are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in
>> stead of the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap
>> ($11 for enough to do 190 loads)
>>
>> Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:
>>
>> The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent
>> was interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry
>> powder instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use,
>> etc.
>>
>> I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this
>> is what I came up with:
>>
>> 2 bars Fels-naptha soap
>> 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
>> 2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
>>
>> Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
>> hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.
>>
>> Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran
>> batches through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
>> everything really well.
>>
>> We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
>> between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
>> there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
>> continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
>> colored clothes, there might not be much difference.
>>
>> Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
>> washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be
>> around 4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost
>> per load for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20
>> cents a load.
>>
>> With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of
>> laundry so in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings
>> aren't all that important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I
>> just got curious about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a
>> hobby... but if I had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable
>> alternative.
>
> Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
> out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
> The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
> believe it or not.

We had a old wringer washer when I was born. I will be 53 next month. My
mom flat out refused to use an electric or gas washer because she didn't
think they would get the clothes clean. My dad finally just went out and
bought one. There was much kicking and screaming from her about the whole
thing. But once she used it, she never went back. I also remember using
the Duz laundry soap that came in big tablets.

On May 17, 3:18*pm, George Leppla > wrote:

> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. *We
> are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
> the color-safe bleach and give that a try. *It is very cheap ($11 for
> enough to do 190 loads)

Caution: Oxy-clean is not color safe as far as I know.

spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On May 17, 3:18 pm, George Leppla > wrote:
>
>> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well.
>> We are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in
>> stead of the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap
>> ($11 for enough to do 190 loads)
>
> Caution: Oxy-clean is not color safe as far as I know.

I don't think it works either!

On 5/17/2012 8:57 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On May 17, 3:18 pm, George > wrote:
>
>> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. We
>> are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
>> the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap ($11 for
>> enough to do 190 loads)
>
> Caution: Oxy-clean is not color safe as far as I know.

It is. I use it with all my clothes laundry.

nancy

spamtrap1888 wrote:

> > The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
> > interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
> > instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.

> Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
> out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
> The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
> believe it or not.

Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
way brings them closer to God, or something like that.

spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On May 17, 3:18 pm, George Leppla > wrote:
>> On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>>
>>> On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > wrote:
>>>> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>>> look for
>>> 'OT making laundry soap' by George L. He estimated 4 cents per
>>> load.
>> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. We
>> are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
>> the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap ($11 for
>> enough to do 190 loads)
>>
>> Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:
>>
>> The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
>> interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
>> instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
>>
>> I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this is
>> what I came up with:
>>
>> 2 bars Fels-naptha soap
>> 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
>> 2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
>>
>> Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
>> hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.
>>
>> Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran batches
>> through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
>> everything really well.
>>
>> We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
>> between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
>> there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
>> continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
>> colored clothes, there might not be much difference.
>>
>> Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
>> washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be around
>> 4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost per load
>> for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20 cents a load.
>>
>> With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
>> in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
>> important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
>> about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
>> had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.
>
> Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
> out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
> The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
> believe it or not.

Oh! I really really wanted to buy an old wooden washing machine,
one of the first ever made, to present it to a museum. It was NOT
expensive, but still more than I thought I should spend at that
point. Too cool.

--
Jean B.

On May 17, 5:18*pm, George Leppla > wrote:
> On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>
> > On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > *wrote:
>
> >> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>
> > look for
> > 'OT making laundry soap' *by George L. *He estimated 4 cents per
> > load.
>
> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. *We
> are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
> the color-safe bleach and give that a try. *It is very cheap ($11 for
> enough to do 190 loads)
>
> Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:
>
> The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
> interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
> instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
>
> I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this is
> what I came up with:
>
> 2 bars Fels-naptha soap
> * 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
> * 2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
>
> Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
> hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.
>
> Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran batches
> through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
> everything really well.
>
> We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
> between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
> there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
> continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
> colored clothes, there might not be much difference.
>
> Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
> washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be around
> 4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost per load
> for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20 cents a load.
>
> With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
> in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
> important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
> about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
> had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.

I'm into the frugality hobby as well, but using *soap* instead of
detergent is "pound foolish" because the soap residue on clothes
causes the clothes to grab more dirt. It's like driving an old, non-
fuel efficient car that "nickel and dimes you" with repair costs. The
most frugal method is using a high efficiency front loader with store
brand detergent, which is optimized with the same enzymes as the name
brands. If your water is hard, adding a *little* borax and/or washing
soda is smart, but soap is drastically inferior to detergent for
washing clothes.

Oxygen bleach is easier on your clothes than chlorine bleach, and
environmentally more responsible, but it's way more expensive if you
use it in concentrations necessary for disinfection or whitening.
>
> George L

--Bryan

On May 17, 8:49*pm, George M. Middius > wrote:
> spamtrap1888 wrote:
> > > The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
> > > interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
> > > instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
> > Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
> > out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
> > The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
> > believe it or not.
>
> Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
> way brings them closer to God, or something like that.

I'll buy my chicken from the Amish, and my laundry detergent from
Shop'n Save.

--Bryan

On 5/17/2012 7:31 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
> Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
> out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
> The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
> believe it or not.

My Mom had one of those when I was a kid... and right down the road in
Cut and Shoot, TX there is a used appliance place that usually has 3 or
4 of them on display. Some of the old ways die hard in East Texas.

Like I said, I like tinkering and for some reason, trying this appealed
to me. It is cheap, kills a half hour a couple of times a year, keeps
some plastic out of the ecosystem and it works. I also do a lot of my
own fix-it stuff like carpentry and plumbing. You are either into doing
things like this, or you aren't.

George L

On 5/17/2012 8:49 PM, George M. Middius wrote:
> spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
>>> The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
>>> interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
>>> instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
>
>> Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
>> out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
>> The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
>> believe it or not.
>
> Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
> way brings them closer to God, or something like that.


Actually, I lived in Amish country in PA for close to 30 years. Doing
things for themselves doesn't bring them closer to God, it makes them
less dependent on other people. You wake up in the morning and find a
leaky pipe and reach for the phone... they reach for a wrench. That
doesn't make them Holy... it just makes them more self-sufficient.

You might think that is "doing it the hard way" but they sure don't see
it that way, and neither do I.

George L

On 5/17/2012 7:14 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>> With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
>> > in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
>> > important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
>> > about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
>> > had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.
>> >
>> > George L
> Will it work in the HE type washers?
>
>

Probably. It is very low sudsing.

George L

On 5/18/2012 12:31 AM, Bryan wrote:
> On May 17, 8:49 pm, George M. > wrote:

>> Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
>> way brings them closer to God, or something like that.
>
> I'll buy my chicken from the Amish, and my laundry detergent from
> Shop'n Save.


There are a lot of Amish farm stands in PA where you can buy home made
soap. According to one person I know, it is a pretty good seller.

George L

On May 17, 7:31*pm, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
> On May 17, 3:18*pm, George Leppla > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 5/17/2012 5:04 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>
> > > On May 17, 3:04 pm, Doug > *wrote:
>
> > >> I recall someone posted such a recipe around a year ago.
>
> > > look for
> > > 'OT making laundry soap' *by George L. *He estimated 4 cents per
> > > load.
>
> > We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well. *We
> > are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in stead of
> > the color-safe bleach and give that a try. *It is very cheap ($11 for
> > enough to do 190 loads)
>
> > Here is the detergent recipe.. from January 2011:
>
> > The recent discussion about making your own laundry soap/detergent was
> > interesting to me so I gave it a try. I decided to do a dry powder
> > instead of a liquid because of storage space, ease of use, etc.
>
> > I looked around the Intergoogle and found plenty of recipes and this is
> > what I came up with:
>
> > 2 bars Fels-naptha soap
> > * 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
> > * 2 cups of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
>
> > Grate the bars of soap into a fine powder. We used an old SaladMaster
> > hand processor. That should give you about 4 cups.
>
> > Mix the shredded soap, washing soda and Borax together. We ran batches
> > through a food processor to grind the soap further and blend
> > everything really well.
>
> > We washed one load so far and neither of us can tell the difference
> > between this and the liquid detergent we have been using... but maybe
> > there is a cumulative effect that we can't see yet. Since we will
> > continue to use bleach in the whites and color-safe bleach in the
> > colored clothes, there might not be much difference.
>
> > Cost..... Bar soap is $1 each. The box of Borax was $4 and the box of
> > washing soda was $3. I figure the cost per load will probably be around
> > 4 cents (approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons per load) The cost per load
> > for the liquid detergent we were using was about 17 to 20 cents a load.
>
> > With only two of us in the house, we really don't do a lot of laundry so
> > in the grand scheme of things, the monetary savings aren't all that
> > important. I am somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer and I just got curious
> > about this and decided to give it a try. Call it a hobby... but if I
> > had a bunch of kids, this would be a viable alternative.
>
> Congratulations. You are now laundering like they did before Tide came
> out, 67 years ago. Can I interest you in an old Maytag with a mangle?
> The hillbillies at the other end of the block have one on their porch,
> believe it or not.

My mom used her mother's old-type wringer washer once to shell peas
for pea soup. LOL.

N.

On May 17, 5:59*pm, "Julie Bove" > wrote:
> spamtrap1888 wrote:
> > On May 17, 3:18 pm, George Leppla > wrote:
>
> >> We've been doing this now for over a year and it works really well.
> >> We are going to try adding powdered Oxy-clean to the detergent in
> >> stead of the color-safe bleach and give that a try. It is very cheap
> >> ($11 for enough to do 190 loads)
>
> > Caution: Oxy-clean is not color safe as far as I know.
>
> I don't think it works either!

Yes it does! I accidentally put some wet towels on top of a new shirt
of my husband's, and that was on top of a tie dye, which bled onto his
shirt. I soaked it in Oxy-clean after I tried to wash it with no
success. I was amazed that it took 95% of the dye out...

George Leppla wrote:

> >> Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
> >> way brings them closer to God, or something like that.
> >
> > I'll buy my chicken from the Amish, and my laundry detergent from
> > Shop'n Save.

> There are a lot of Amish farm stands in PA where you can buy home made
> soap. According to one person I know, it is a pretty good seller.

Funny about that.... I was in WF a few months ago and a woman was
hectoring a sales clerk about "organic soap". Nothing is too pure for
her precious baby!

George Leppla wrote:

> > Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
> > way brings them closer to God, or something like that.

> Actually, I lived in Amish country in PA for close to 30 years. Doing
> things for themselves doesn't bring them closer to God, it makes them
> less dependent on other people. You wake up in the morning and find a
> leaky pipe and reach for the phone... they reach for a wrench. That
> doesn't make them Holy... it just makes them more self-sufficient.
>
> You might think that is "doing it the hard way" but they sure don't see
> it that way, and neither do I.

The leaky-pipe example isn't the best one, but I see your point.

I just don't value that old everybody-should-know-how-to-do-everything
ethos. I like the post-industrial marketplace of specialized skills.
Without it, we'd all be FORCED to do everything ourselves. (Note for
Bryan: The divide between rich and poor has been part of human history
since the dawn of civilization. Even communism couldn't overcome it.)

On 5/18/2012 1:05 PM, George M. Middius wrote:
> George Leppla wrote:
>
>>> Do you have something against Amish folks? Doing everything the hard
>>> way brings them closer to God, or something like that.
>
>> Actually, I lived in Amish country in PA for close to 30 years. Doing
>> things for themselves doesn't bring them closer to God, it makes them
>> less dependent on other people. You wake up in the morning and find a
>> leaky pipe and reach for the phone... they reach for a wrench. That
>> doesn't make them Holy... it just makes them more self-sufficient.
>>
>> You might think that is "doing it the hard way" but they sure don't see
>> it that way, and neither do I.
>
> The leaky-pipe example isn't the best one, but I see your point.
>
> I just don't value that old everybody-should-know-how-to-do-everything
> ethos. I like the post-industrial marketplace of specialized skills.
> Without it, we'd all be FORCED to do everything ourselves.


As technology advances, there are more and more things that we can not
do for ourselves. I used to be a pretty fair mechanic back in the day.
A few weeks ago the "check engine" light came on in our car. Without
a specific computer, you can't diagnose a damn thing. Without
specialized tools, you may not be able to fix it. The local auto shop
has both... and the parts in stock needed to make the repair.

Being a do-it-yourselfer gets harder and harder all the time.

George L

George M. Middius > wrote:

>Funny about that.... I was in WF a few months ago and a woman was
>hectoring a sales clerk about "organic soap". Nothing is too pure for
>her precious baby!

Note, some of us buy organic soap because we don't want to contribute
unnecessarily to pesticide pollution of the environment. It is not
necessarily for health reasons.


Steve

Steve Pope wrote:

> >Funny about that.... I was in WF a few months ago and a woman was
> >hectoring a sales clerk about "organic soap". Nothing is too pure for
> >her precious baby!
>
> Note, some of us buy organic soap because we don't want to contribute
> unnecessarily to pesticide pollution of the environment. It is not
> necessarily for health reasons.

I did not know that.

George M. Middius > wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:
>
>> >Funny about that.... I was in WF a few months ago and a woman was
>> >hectoring a sales clerk about "organic soap". Nothing is too pure for
>> >her precious baby!
>>
>> Note, some of us buy organic soap because we don't want to contribute
>> unnecessarily to pesticide pollution of the environment. It is not
>> necessarily for health reasons.
>
>I did not know that.

Then I'm happy I was able to point that out.

There are health freaks, and there are enviromental fanatics... there is
not necessarily much overlap.


Steve