After returning home from the store for the fifth time with no toilet paper and not willing to stand in line at 5am to get some, I started researching other methods of bottom cleaning. I read how in many parts of the world, there is no toilet paper and people use a jug of water and either their hand or washable cloths to clean up after conducting business. However, I was not willing to go mano a mano with my persona persona just yet. Fortunately I had saved a boxful of worn out white socks in the basement for use as rags, that were just waiting to be repurposed for bathroom duty, or bathroom doodie, depending how you want to read it. I remembered years ago a friend showing me how they washed their baby son’s cloth diapers at home to save money. There was a pail of dirty diapers soaking in a borax solution. The rank soaking water was dumped out and the diapers washed in very hot water with soap and more borax. I thought well if my friends washed baby diapers full of poop, I can certainly manage a few cloths with light skidmarks. And I have! The water jug and reusable cloth method has turned out to be so easy to implement and use , it makes me wonder what other western luxuries I easily could live without if I just gave it a try. Our new throne room protocol has extended our remaining meager toilet paper supply indefinitely. Let’s hope the Shelter in Place does not last that long.
Submitted by Margaret Ma, Santa Clara County
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series. The links to all twelve parts are: Syllabus, Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5, Lesson 6, Lesson 7, Lesson 8, Lesson 9, Lesson 10, and Final Exam.