Toilets and showers and laundry! Oh my!

[Irene Schmidt]

Good to know that the sheet worked, Covey, thanks for the info.

I made my own fitted sheet from a piece of this very lightweight, washable synthetic woven material they use on disposable sheets. I just cut it to size (standard sheet length; width: 88 cm plus 15 cm for each side), folded and sewed the corners and attached a small piece of elastic across each corner. Cost: 1 euro for the fabric plus 12 euros for 100 ml of 8% permethrin (I will use the soak method, and will have enough left to spray my backpack and sleeping bag as well). Weight of the sheet: 90 grams.

[Covey]

Irene......You are a model of practicality!! I was reduced to visiting my local supermarket and buying the cheapest polycotton single fitted sheet I could find.

I have been trying to find a UK supplier of Permethrin, other than the 0.5% SkitoStop which I think is a little weak for what we need. I think 1% would be longer lasting.

[Irene Schmidt]

:-)

Covey, 0.5% is the recommended concentration for controlled soaking (rolled up inside a sealed ziplock bag). For spraying it should be + concentrated, up to 4%, depending on how much you saturate the fabric. See the au Vieux Campeur link I posted below in this thread, I guess they will ship it cheaply (bad pun) to the UK.

[John Hussey]

You could try Amazon. They ship about everywhere. Maybe you will be lucky.

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-SP657-P.../dp/B001ANQVYU

[Irene Schmidt]

Lots of permethrin products at Amazon.co.uk: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more

All of them here: Amazon.co.uk: permethrin - Sports & Leisure

This one looks good: Anti Mosquito Bugproof Net Reimpregnation Treatment Kit: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Leisure

[HuskyNerd]

Irene, I'm so intrigued by the idea of Aleppo soap that I've now bought two bars from Amazon and am awaiting their delivery. It's pretty hard to get in the US, where apparently we prefer the highly perfumed products made with animal fats. I've read some reviews online that describe the soap as smelling bad and not lathering very much. Is that true? For some reason I'm very interested in this (maybe my skin is trying to tell me something).

John, you purchased it, too, right? Your thoughts?

[grayland]

Irene, I'm so intrigued by the idea of Aleppo soap that I've now bought two bars from Amazon and am awaiting their delivery. It's pretty hard to get in the US, where apparently we prefer the highly perfumed products made with animal fats. I've read some reviews online that describe the soap as smelling bad and not lathering very much. Is that true? For some reason I'm very interested in this (maybe my skin is trying to tell me something).

John, you purchased it, too, right? Your thoughts?

Sandy...I am having trouble understanding what the attraction is ...."smelling bad and not lathering very much".
What is the good part that made you order it

[Irene Schmidt]

Husky,
Aleppo soap has a great percentage of olive oil, so the lather is kind of slick, not the bubbly foam you get from regular soap on account of the many chemical substances added for that purpose. As to its smell, it has no fragrance, so it smells faintly of laurel during use (I find it pleasant), but the smell disappears completely after a few minutes. The best thing about it, in my opinion, is that it leaves your hair and skin very soft and hydrated, obviating the use of shampoo, conditioner and body lotion. It also contains no parabens, a substance that is present in virtually all shampoos and has been found to cause cancer in lab animals.

I love this soap and I'm totally hooked; I don't think I'll ever use anything else.

[John Hussey]

That was generally what I found, Irene. But those qualities also make for an excellent shaving lather, too. As for smell, it generally does not have much of one. So, I suspect that some who are accustomed to the strong, sometimes overpowering chemical fragrances of their regular soap just might be put off somewhat by Aleppo - not by the smell, but rather by the lack of one. I rather like it. It appears to be about as "natural" a soap as one can find.

[cedarhollow03]

I have never heard of Aleppo Soap before. Very interesting on how it is made. We use Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Soap. It has 86% pure olive oil. My husband use to itch after showering and has been using this for more than 10 years. At first we could only find it at a health food store, but now it is available in some grocery stores too. I haven't tried it on my hair maybe that's what I should do. I am trying a bar shampoo from Lush. The bar shampoo has juniper & rosemary in it, so it has a small bit of fragrance and lathers up really well. Hubby and I are going to start our camino in June 2012. Most likely we will bring both of these bars to use for everything.


Jamie