The scenerio: We have a hand pump on one of our wells. We have hauled the water into the house (Anyone have an easy way to do this?) The water is simmering on the wood cook stove in three big canners. The towels that my wife has dried on a rack by the woodstove are ready, along with her handmade soap from the lard of our homegrown pig. Where do we go from here? I know that we can pour the water into our existing tub and take the cleanest down to the dirtest or youngest to the oldest, but anyway that you look at it, you know who, is last in a line. In a family of 8 this is a matter needing further consideration. I have seen advertisements for "solar showers" and have the general idea how they must work. But, has anyone used one of these in their existing showers? How heavy would it be? How many gal. do they hold? How would I hook it to the ceiling without bringing down the house,literally? Would I be able to fill it by pouring from the canner? I was thinking a bucket of soapy water for washing and then just using the "shower" for rinsing. Your thoughts. Reducing the family size is not a consideration as most are too young to fly the coop! Ron in Eastern Washington

-- Ron Fila (Ron@Verizon.com), October 25, 2001

Answers

When we camp we take a large metal watering can. We have a shower curtain attached to a hula hoop. That is our shower enclosure. We can hang it from a tree very easily. Hubby

-- Grannytoo (jacres40@hotmail.com), October 25, 2001.

Sorry about that, hit submit by mistake. :( The solar shower bags hold a couple of gallons of water. If you hung it from a ceiling support you should be okay. We like the watering can better as it gives a better shower effect. Not sure how you could hang it though, might need mama to rinse the girls and papa to rinse the boys. Let us know what you decide on.

-- Grannytoo (jacres40@hotmail.com), October 25, 2001.

Try a camp shower. I have one for emergencies, it uses 4.5 gals of water. On the box that says enough for 3 or 4 showers. Its lightweight and can be hung in a regular shower. I got it at Fred Meyer in the camping dept. I can't remember how much it was but I know it wasn't expensive

-- Judy Schumacher (TootlesTheBrit@aol.com), October 25, 2001.

Judy: I just called the nearest Fred Meyers and they do have them in stock. They hold 5 gal. and cost $9.99. Unless someone has a better place to buy them or another idea I will check them out next time I'm in town. I'm not against outdoor showering, but at 10 below zero, it is just tooooooooo cold. Thanks! Ron

-- Ron (Ron@Verizon.com), October 25, 2001.

You raised a pig for soap (AND meat I hope),6 kids, hauled water and yet you can't figure out how to take a shower, or a clean to dirty tub!? Come back to the city. My company hires brains like yours.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), October 25, 2001.

Is it Possible for you to connect a hose to the hand water Pump? connect the hose to a coiled piece of copper which goes around your wood stove chimney. there are ways to prevent scalding when you Use the wood stove to do this. Old copies of "Mother Earth News" has Pictures and diagrams there are also ways to create a thermal siphon which may be applicable. I would want some way to ensure that the water doesnt get too hot steam burns are awfully unforgiving.

-- Mkapples (mka@shocking.com), October 25, 2001.

could also find an old steel bath tub,, , fill it up,, heat it with a fire,, and use that. DOnt sit in it like a bath,, burn your bottom

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), October 25, 2001.

Thank you Kathy, for your fine words of encouragment. However, I was with the understanding that the purpose of this Forum was to encourage others to be better prepared in the event of need. I did not know that criticism of one's question was a pre-requisite. May you have a better day! Ron in E. WA

-- Ron (Ron@Verizon.com), October 25, 2001.

Ron, Don't you just love the friendly ones.I wonder why people like that even take the time to fill out a reply that helped you in no way.Thank god their are tons of good people on here that will help any time. There are no stupid questions atleast thats what I was told in school. Good Luck to ya and have a nice day.

-- Dave.Smith (duckthis1@maqs.net), October 25, 2001.

You could use gravity- heat up the water- put it in a large bottle (like a 50 litre wine bottle if you happen to have one LOL- I live in Italy so everyone has one!!) , somehow attach a tube to it and use it as a shower. Quite a few people use this technique- but outside, in the summer when the sun heats up the water- it works great. good luck and let us know when you find a good system.

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), October 25, 2001.

Ron, I remember my mother telling about when she was a kid and having the weekly bath by the kitchen stove, and that's what it was, a bath. They didn't do a shower. If you have an existing bathtub installed in a bathroom I might try to hang a shower bag (the camp shower) but otherwise it would make a heck of a mess. Might be ok if you needed to mop the floor, anyway. :)

When we were little, my sister and I always had to have our baths together in the tub. I don't think I'd worry too much about little kids being so dirty that the water would get really disgusting, either. Just heat lots of water so it gets changed a few times in a family that size. :)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), October 26, 2001.

You can get more than adequately clean with a sponge bath. First use a little water in the basin to wet hair, then shampoo on head (and wash rest of head) then rinse off with the water from the basin. Now use the rest of the water in the basin, on a washer or sponge, to wash body. At this stage you can rinse off, and in a summer water shortage that's it. In winter you're now at the stage where you run the kids through the bath, working up to the eldest or biggest (that's you, Ron). Alternatively, substitute a very brief rinse from a camp shower. However, it's amazing how little water you need if you just get wet, then soap without either standing under running water, or sitting in a bath and putting soap into the water.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), October 26, 2001.

When I was 5, my family moved to a new piece of land, and lived in the shop building till they got the house built. It took about 2 years. There was no tub, so we did the old-fashioned, in-the-kitchen Saturday night bath routine in a galvanised washtub. It aint that terrible a proposition. We had 7 kids, too. Of course, the hair washing was done earlier in the afternoon, as we little Mennonite girls all had hair in braids down to our knees, and washing hair was a major job! Mom just put a dishpan of warm water on a chair, and a towel was spread on the table. We took turns lying down on the table, and Mom held our heads over the big dishpan and washed hair one kid after another, using a big glass to pour water, and dish detergent for shampoo (ouch!).

A dishpan by the back door for washing up face and hands, and washed feet every night is really all a homestead kid needs. A full bath every week is enough. (Unless the kids discover a pure clay pit down at the creek, as we did once. Oh how we loved that clay pit! Our creations were almost usable!)

We ran around a little dirtier than most kids do these days, as bath night was a major job for Mom. But we didnt mind. And with all that exposure to germs, we were supremely healthy. I think I saw the doc only once, and that was when I was 13, for a sore throat that stuck around for a few days.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

Ron,

First I want to say...What a Wonderful Adventure! oh and the memories your children will have to pass on to their Grand Children and Great Grand Children.

Is there anyway that you can hand pump (wind or solar, horse or even running the tractor) the water UP? to a holding tank (55 gallon drums)? (you could put a small (insulated) bath house next to it) Solar would be my choice (using either hose or painted black pipe). With the water up high, it would give you pretty good water pressure back to the house. Even if you hand pumped enough water for 2 bathtub fulls (helping you dream here) that would beat the hauling by hand.

Please do keep us posted.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

Water weighs 8+ pounds per gallon, so a 5 gallon shower bag is going to weigh over 40 pounds. I, personally, wouldn't want to be lifting that above my head all the time. You would have to have a hook capable of supporting that kind of weight, if you wanted to do that.

I have only read this one, not tried it myself: Use a new, clean pump sprayer (like for the garden). It was suggested to paint it black and leave it in the sun to warm the water (doubt that would work in the winter). You can easily look at the thing before buying and decide whether you can pour hot water into it or not. Good luck.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), October 26, 2001.

My great uncle demonstrated his solar shower this past summer on the whark, decked out in his swim trunks. This one held 5 gallons and was-unfortunately for you- run with an electric sump pump. Ha-ha. I'm seeing in my mind a pump driven by a bicycle. Any inventors out there?

Seriously, I just checked the Lehman's catalog and they have a 5 gallon camp shower. You fill the tank with water, heat it with a small propane tank (takes 6-8 minutes)or you can also use a larger propane tank. Then a hand pump pressurizes the water so you can have a 10 minute shower. Go to www.lehmans.com and search for a portable shower. It runs for $150. Pricey perhaps, but a good hot shower would be a priority for me.

-- Nancy in Maine (paintme61@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

Since I love my shower (morning and night) I feel I am more than qualified to tell you how I do it. We have been with out water for 2 weeks now. (Very dry summer...no rain...well dry) I take 6 6 gallon containers to work and fill up. 6 gallons goes to the sheep and goats, 6 gallons to the ducks. I fill a canner with water and heat it on the stove - haul it into the bathroom, put it on the shower floor. Then I take a 4 cup measuring cup (tupperware - bought at a yard sale) fill it with hot water and pour it slowly over my head. Grab the shampoo and soap and wash the old gray hair and the rest of me. Then using 2 more 4 cup measuring cup fulls I rinse off. That means I can take a good shower, get clean and feel great with 12 cups of water. Not bad aye?

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), October 26, 2001.

We are using a solar shower at our farm (currently camping visits). We haven't camped in full sun yet, so we pour heated water into it through a funnel. We used a scrap extension cord to fashion a nozzle holder to help conserve water, and ours hangs from a tall fence post. It takes about 2 to 3 quarts to shower an adult, after lathering up. We add the hot water (after cold if need be) at the start of each shower. I may try the water can. Also: our city shower leaks hot water, so we catch it in a 1 and a half gallon bucket, which is more than enough for a sponge bath with a cup rinse (pour the water down your arm. I guess if we had room in the crowded bathroom, the water can would conserve this water.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), October 26, 2001.

Get yourself a twelve volt demand pump at any farm or camp store. Take your water that you heated on your woodstove and pour it in a five gallon pail. Hook a hose on the inlet side of the pump and another hose on the outlet side with a shower head on it.Take the outlet hose and drop it over your shower and put a twelve volt power supply to the pump then your ready to clean up. You can do hard plumbing and turning the water off will shut off the pump.

-- Dan (hoppingator321@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

DAG Kathy!!!!!!!!!!!! I am shocked and offended by your comments! Perhaps you are the one who needs to reconsider your "country roots!" Your reply was mean-spirited!

Now as for an inexpenisve solar shower of shower, we lived for 2 and a half yrs without electricity on our fam in VA.... wouldn't change a thing or regret it as we paid off the farm sooner. But we also had a generator too. for showers we used one of those 2 and a half gallon water jugs from Food Lion with the handle. i would cut a square in the top and close off the valve on the bottom, fill with warm water heated on the stove. then we had a hood in the ceiling in the bathrrom and hung it up and showered. Amazing how much water is wasted in a shower. i was able to take a nice relaxing shower with that much water, if not i wouldn't have done it and made hubby break his stubborness to hire a contractor to re dig the drainfiled!

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

We live in Northern Minnesota and have no running water. We heat water on the woodstove, pour it into a camp shower while a piece of plywood is heating by the woodstove. We then hang the camp shower in a 4x4 by 8 foot tall shower house outside, throw the plywood down to stand on and shower away. We usually heat a couple bricks up to stand on when we got back in to warm our feet up. We shower outside like that in the coldest of weather and find that the little shower house is just fine. Good luck. Motz

-- Motz (borgia@northernnet.com), October 27, 2001.

My husband and five children and myself lived for two years with no electric. We used the solar shower hung over our bathtub on two large hooks. We would fill it half full and add two teakettles or less of hot water. It was heavy to lift! Each filling would shower at least three people. for your little bitties a bath is easier or use a water can. We went thru at least four of the showers they wear out. I also burnt my butt late one night bathing in front of the woodburning cook stove bent over to scrub my toes or something, and backed up to far. Lifting the shower is way more preferable than not being able to sit comfortably for a week!

-- Sherrie (BryrPatch35@aol.com), October 27, 2001.

Amazing the creative ideas that you get when simply taking the time to ask! Thank you all!! We are excited to start trying them out and experimenting. Yes, we consider our lives and homesteading an adventure. I really appreciate all your answers and....even Kathy's job offer. You guys are great! Ron

-- Ron in E.WA. (Ron@Verizon.com), October 27, 2001.

I made a shower out of a one gallon cleaning chemical type jug. any one gallon jug that has a handle would work. I drilled 2 holes in the lid. In one hole I put a clear plastic hose (the type to be found at most hardware stores) all the way to the bottom of the jug. The other end of the hose reached to about the bottom of the jug. The length of this hose is somewhat critical as it determins the syphoning strength, thus the duration of the shower. I then bought just the shower end that is made for a backpacking shower at a sporting goods store to go on the end of this hose. In the other hole in the lid I put a short length of hose (about 2.5 inches long) to use as a vent. I then sealed around these holes and hoses with silicon type adhesive. I hang the "shower" by a cord loop around the handle. I can take a complete shower and wash and rinse my hair twice in one gallon of water. (I'm a fella with conservative hair length) Plus I can "soak for a while in the remaining water for another minute or so. My wife who has hair that hangs about a foot down her back can take a complete shower including washing & rinsing her hair once with this one gallon shower. I do also have a 3 liter solar backpacking shower which is a little less than one gallon. But that one just barely does the job for me with no margin for error. It's hard to discribe my homemade shower effectively but if someone wants pictures of it I would be glad to email them.

-- oneoldwoodsman (oneoldwoodsman@yahoo.com), October 29, 2001.