Cleaning Without Running Water
We hear and see it on the news all the time. When a town’s water supply is compromised by some kind of contaminant, area residents are told to boil their water before drinking it.
But what if water becomes so contaminated that even boiling it doesn’t take care of the situation? Or what if a water supply is compromised so badly that city officials choose to shut it off completely until they can solve the problem? What will you do if nothing is coming out of your faucets for a day, several days, a week or longer?
This is why your emergency water supply is so important. This qualifies as an emergency, so dip into that supply for your drinking needs, then build your supply back up when the crisis is over.
Now, assuming you have stockpiled drinking water, you’ll find it’s a lot easier to drink without running water than it is to clean without it. We’re so used to using running water to clean dishes, glasses, silverware, pots and pans, etc., that we may find it challenging to clean with only standing water.
Here are a few tips that will help you until water is flowing freely and cleanly out of your faucets again:
• Wipe first. Use a cleaning wipe or paper towel to wipe as much stuff off your dishes, glasses and silverware as possible before using water on them.
• Fill a dishpan. Don’t pour water from a bottle over an item while washing it, which will waste water, but rather fill a basin first and use that water to clean.
• Fill a basin. Again, don’t pour water from a bottle over an item to rinse it, but rather rinse it in a separate basin that will be less soapy than your dishpan.
• Use disposable wipes. Don’t waste water pouring it on small hand towels to clean counters. Instead, use disposable wipes containing cleaning agents.
• Clean what you’ve cleaned. To avoid leaving cleaning-agent residue on items you’ve cleaned, wipe them off with a water-logged towel before drying.
Cleaning without running water is a challenge, but there may come a time when you have to do it, so be prepared.
Like what you read? There’s more where that came from. See how your stockpile stacks up… Click here!
Thanks for sharing such a great piece of information. All those five tips were awesome. These tips will definitely help people when a town’s water supply will compromise.
Someone had mentioned earlier about using the water from a dehumidifier. Certainly a good idea since the water is taken from the atmosphere and is therefore pretty clean. But make sure the coil that does the dehumidification is relatively clean; other wise you may be introducing pathogens into your water.
Again, in the warm weather, assuming you have electricity you can also use the condensate from the cooling coil in your a/c system.
This is what I have learned while working in 3rd and 4th world countries that have very little water resources:
1.) Cook foods that don’t stick to the bottom of your pot or pan or burn easily.
2.) When you finish cooking, wipe out the pot or pan right then and there. If you wait until the food has dried, it may be difficult to remove at a later time or date.
3.) Try and cook the same food in the same pot or pan. This way you will already know what was in there and what kind of clean up is needed.
4.) Try to use non-stick pots and pans or cast iron. Cast iron when broken in is very easy to clean. Often it only requires you to wipe it and use again as long as the oil coated has not been washed way. If it is you may have to season it again with oil.
5.) If you have to wash your pots or pans, then use as little as water as possible by using the largest bowl, bucket or sink that you have and fill it half way with soapy water. wash your dishes, pots and/or pans. Then in a second bowl, bucket or sink have clean water to rinse your soapy dishes in. I have done this where I poured water into a glass and a little on the outside; then poured that water into another glass and repeat the process. Saves a lot of water. I put a glass half filled with water then put the silverware into it; then I turn the silverware around and rinse off the other end of the silverware.
6.) With the dirty dishwater I clean the rest of the kitchen with it. Soapy water to clean the table, the place where I cut and prepare the food. I allow it to air dry. What is left, I use to flush the toilet.
7.) The clean water that I used to rinse the dishes and clean the pots and pans now becomes my new soapy water for the next scheduled “washing the dishes.” If I don’t need it for doing the dishes; it can always be used for something else or more important like washing dirty faces.
8.) Doing dishes by hand is often more efficient and economical than using your dishwasher. If you find water to be scarce or difficult to use; then using as little as possible and economically as possible may be your only answer to maintain your sanitary conditions.
9.) Remember, you may not have dish washing soap available to you. So use a bar of soap instead. As long as the water is soapy, you are good to go.
I’ve already order one, still waiting for it, I’m sure it will serve well if an emergency situation come along. I’m living on the North Shore of the St-Lawrence river, and apparently we have the most population prorate, with cancer of all kind of the whole planet. But (shut!) no doctor will talk about it. So yes the filter system will be a great investment.
Thank’s
Robert.
NightMoonFlower4@yahoo.com if you have electricity use a dehumidifier and collect the water you can modify it with a filter but you can produce enough water for a family and then some.
yes. thank you all for the valuable info
If you are cooking in a non-stick pan, after you remove the food, wipe it out with a rag or paper towel. It will still be hot, so it should wipe out pretty good. After you eat, put the pan back on the stove, heat it up to warm, and pour some cooking oil or olive oil into it. As the pan is warming, lift it off the stove and wipe it again. You can usually wipe it clean enough to put it away. When you use it again, heat it before you put food in it, and any bacteria should be killed from heating it first.
If there is no water there may be no electricity either…unless you are planning to do this on a grill or cook stove.
Great tips ! Thanks
I’ve always found having the dog “pre-wash” everything helps. Nothings gets stuck on any of my dishes. My cast iron pans get clean without scrubbing and he gets a little fat in his diet, but this works with any type of dish or plate it is win/win. Extra food for the dog less work and less water usage for me.
Hello friend,
You might be interested to know, according to Canine Generics research: a Dog’s DNA had been found to resist up to 5 times more deadly or debilitating viruses than can humans. What this means for us is that they can be carriers to deadly viruses, passing them on to us, without showing a single sign of the virus, because their DNA properly identifies and blocks the virus from hacking into the DNA strands, while the human DNA could be totally defenseless against the virus, allowing it to do whatever it wishes, many times staying under the radar for decades wreaking long term havoc on our neurological systems, hormones, organs even our emotions and general demeanor can be largely altered by longterm exposure to subtle and all too common viruses loving their secret lives inside the endless sea of food we call our bodies. Look into it, was there was a point in time, that you too, had a natural intuitive or instinctive (meaning information passed down through our DNA) negative reaction to a dog’s saliva? Shalom, Joel
A total No-No! Germs and diseases can be transmitted from a dog’s mouth. Remember, dogs also lick their butts. (Yuck) Thanks Joel for giving some background info.
I grew up in a household of seven people with a shallow well that often went dry for a period of time in August. I also remember the weekly bath with shared bath water and the cleanest kid in first, or a couple of kids at once. The dirty bath water could then be scooped up in a bucket and used to flush the toilet.
Now I have plenty of water, but old habits die hard. To this day, I always wipe food residue off dirty dishes first and wash them in a dishpan. If they are really dirty, they will get a second washing in a pan of clean water. Counters and other surfaces get wiped almost clean with a paper towel dampened with soapy water or vinegar. Anything sticky gets scrubbed with baking soda. Then I use a wet towel to finish and remove any residue of the cleanser.
When I was a little girl, this was how Mom did the dishes. She also saved the rinse dishpan water for the wash water for the next time to do dishes. It was a daily way of life for us. Water was very precious. We also took a bath in a large metal tub, the cleanest kid first. . And yes, I do now have bottles of water stored away.
We had a wringer washer for many years and likewise the rinse water became the wash water for the next load and the used wash water became water for the garden.
Great tips thanks for sharing such informative post.