Feeling dumb, here, and want you're opinion. NO, not as to whether I'm dumb or not, right now that's not in dispute, but this:
Due to reactions to chemicals I do not use a store bought mattress. My bed is a futon frame with a wire "bed". Over that I place several layers of blankets and such, then chair cushions, and my sheets and blankets.
Outside the house I have a top loading washer large enough to do a full size blanket or two at a time with some room to allow movement that I connect to the water supply with a 50 foot hose.
I have an empty swimming pool that I drain when needed via a sump pump and 3 linked 50 foot hoses. Of course, the water in the pool is nasty, with algae, and whatever else--bacteria, maybe viruses, dirt, having sat for weeks if not months. The last time I did that was probably several months ago, and the hose has been empty, coiled where it gets an hour to three or four of sun from about noon to five depending on the time of year.
A month or so ago I decided to take my bed apart to wash everything--even the cushions sat in the hot sun all day.
I took one of those 50' hoses and ran water to my machine. First I ran enough water to fill the tub about half full to wash the tub. I imagine that's about 20 gallons. I don't remember if I used soap or vinegar or bleach in that just water load. That's about 20 gallons going through that nasty hose at first. Then I proceeded to do maybe 7 or 8 loads with laundry detergent and maybe a cup or so of vinegar in each load. Then I hung them in the hot sun--some blankets got 8-10 hours of direct hot sun, some, the last loads, maybe only 2 or 3 hours of hot sun.
Then I put my bed back together and have been using it ever since.
Today I was getting ready to drain the water from the pool again before the rains start next week, and it hit me what I'd done last month.
I'm still alive, so maybe it's not SO bad, but now all I can think of is those algae filled nasty blankets beneath me. Another voice says the laundry detergent/vinegar took care of a lot of that and the hot bright sunlight and heat took care of most of the rest. Maybe ALL the rest.
What do you all think? This is a huge job for me.
In the months the hose has been sitting empty except for what did not flow out at last use how much died due to baking in the sun when a hot enough sun did hit it? Or did it all just lay there growing, waiting?
How much of the nasty water residue did that first 20 gallons wash out of/remove from the hose?
Is it likely that the detergent, cold water, vinegar, and sun kill/remove the rest of the nasties--algae, bacteria, viruses, etc, or do I take my bed apart and do it again, this time with a new, fresh form the store, hose? :blush: :blush: :blush:
Would running bleach then vinegar through that hose clean it out so I don't have to buy a new one? Don't want to be stupid here, but would like to save a trip to the store and the bucks if it's a reasonable thing to do. Considering the difficulty of me doing this job, I'll probably get a new hose anyway.
Due to reactions to chemicals I do not use a store bought mattress. My bed is a futon frame with a wire "bed". Over that I place several layers of blankets and such, then chair cushions, and my sheets and blankets.
Outside the house I have a top loading washer large enough to do a full size blanket or two at a time with some room to allow movement that I connect to the water supply with a 50 foot hose.
I have an empty swimming pool that I drain when needed via a sump pump and 3 linked 50 foot hoses. Of course, the water in the pool is nasty, with algae, and whatever else--bacteria, maybe viruses, dirt, having sat for weeks if not months. The last time I did that was probably several months ago, and the hose has been empty, coiled where it gets an hour to three or four of sun from about noon to five depending on the time of year.
A month or so ago I decided to take my bed apart to wash everything--even the cushions sat in the hot sun all day.
I took one of those 50' hoses and ran water to my machine. First I ran enough water to fill the tub about half full to wash the tub. I imagine that's about 20 gallons. I don't remember if I used soap or vinegar or bleach in that just water load. That's about 20 gallons going through that nasty hose at first. Then I proceeded to do maybe 7 or 8 loads with laundry detergent and maybe a cup or so of vinegar in each load. Then I hung them in the hot sun--some blankets got 8-10 hours of direct hot sun, some, the last loads, maybe only 2 or 3 hours of hot sun.
Then I put my bed back together and have been using it ever since.
Today I was getting ready to drain the water from the pool again before the rains start next week, and it hit me what I'd done last month.
I'm still alive, so maybe it's not SO bad, but now all I can think of is those algae filled nasty blankets beneath me. Another voice says the laundry detergent/vinegar took care of a lot of that and the hot bright sunlight and heat took care of most of the rest. Maybe ALL the rest.
What do you all think? This is a huge job for me.
In the months the hose has been sitting empty except for what did not flow out at last use how much died due to baking in the sun when a hot enough sun did hit it? Or did it all just lay there growing, waiting?
How much of the nasty water residue did that first 20 gallons wash out of/remove from the hose?
Is it likely that the detergent, cold water, vinegar, and sun kill/remove the rest of the nasties--algae, bacteria, viruses, etc, or do I take my bed apart and do it again, this time with a new, fresh form the store, hose? :blush: :blush: :blush:
Would running bleach then vinegar through that hose clean it out so I don't have to buy a new one? Don't want to be stupid here, but would like to save a trip to the store and the bucks if it's a reasonable thing to do. Considering the difficulty of me doing this job, I'll probably get a new hose anyway.
when younger family members try to "school" me I say "WHADDA U, A EXPERT!" 90% of the time I get a YES I just smile and walk away. My husband fell for that for 24ys.....I'm a BaaaaaaD woman 
