Anyone who thinks this page is about building a shelter in the wilderness and skinning the bear you caught with a bow and arrow needs to take another look at the title. Most of us aren't going to need mountain-man skills in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, not the disasters we're most likely to be faced with, at any rate. What people do need to know is how to cook, clean, go to the bathroom and take care of sick people without electricity, running hot and cold water, central heat and a/c, and the supermarket down the road. Domestic skills, regardless of the gender of the person performing them, will be the most essential ones at first.
Many important how-to's are also discussed on other pages, but for convenience are also linked to from here. This page covers the following topics:
Washing dishes without running water or electricity
Before you ever get to the point of having dishes to wash, you need some rules about eating the food on the plates. In a disaster situation, some people will scarf up anything in reach, fearful of shortages. Others will become even more finicky than usual, especially children. The adults in the group must put their collective feet down and make it clear to everyone that you don't put food on your plate if you aren't going to eat it. Ideally, you'll have done that already in your home, but if your philosophy is that children should be allowed to load their plates with whatever their eyes desire, and throw away whatever their stomach can't hold, it needs to change, and as soon as possible. If you'll be living for some indefinite future on stored food, you want it to last as long as possible, if nothing else. And since municipal garbage pickup is unlikely to be available to get rid of your waste, you want to waste as little as you can.
The first job in dishwashing is to remove any food that is still on the dishes, pots and pans. If your habit in the past has been to empty plates into the garbage and put them straight into the dishwasher, that will have to change. (And despite the advertising from dishwasher manufacturers, it isn't a good idea to do it now either, as it increases the amount of organic material the sewage treatment plant has to deal with.)
Scrape the plates and pots into a single plate or dish. Scrape them really well. You don't want to leave anything on the dishes that would get your dishwater dirty. If you have pets, they'll be happy to help you clean up, especially if you didn't stockpile pet food for them (just remember that some things shouldn't be given to cats or dogs, such as anything with chocolate in it). And if you did store pet food for them, it will last longer if the pets help you clean the dishes. If you're lucky enough to have chickens or other barnyard animals you already know what to do with plate scrapings. If not, whatever is left over from the dog and the cat goes in the compost pile.
 This picture shows the compost pail I keep in the kitchen to accumulate food scraps. When it's full, I carry it out to the compost bin at the far edge of the garden. This is not the place to go into composting, but any search on the net will give you lots of information. If disaster strikes in the winter, you can still accumulate kitchen waste in a barrel. It won't rot until the weather warms up, of course, but that doesn't mean you can't save it. If you live where animals might get into it, a concrete block on top of the barrel will stop anything smaller than a determined bear. Or look for the type of barrel with a screw-on or clamp-on top (check car washes for the barrels their detergent comes in).
Now that everything is well scraped, rinse the dishes with water to get off as much of the remaining bits of food as possible. If you have a large kettle (and you should), you can pour warmed water over each item. Silverware and utensils don't usually need to be rinsed unless a lot of food is stuck to them. You can also rinse by dipping each item in a pan of water, but you'll end up with a lot of food debris in the tub and you may find that you're re-depositing food on other dishes. Pouring water over the dishes works best. In good weather, carry a dishpan full of scraped dishes outside and rinse them there. The grass and flowers will appreciate the nutrient-laden bath.
Now you can wash the dishes. If you have adequately-sized double sinks and you're able to run water down the drain (working septic system or municipal sewage treatment plant), then you don't need dishpans. Otherwise, you may need one or two dishpans, depending on whether you have one sink or two. What you must have is something to hold wash water and something to hold rinse water. Fill the wash side with hot water from the kettle (a big kettle will be one of the most valuable kitchen tools you'll have). Fill the rinse side the same way. Put soap or detergent in the wash side, and wash your dishes in this order: cups and glasses first, then silverware, then plates and bowls, and only then, the pots, pans, baking dishes and other cooking utensils. In other words, you'll first wash items that come in contact with people's mouths, then the dishes that are in contact with the food, and finally, the pots in which the food was cooked. After you carefully wash each item, dip it in the rinse water, and put it in your drying rack.
Cast iron, if properly seasoned, doesn't usually need to be washed in the dishpan. Use your wrung out dishcloth or sponge to remove any food that may be clinging to it. If food is stuck or burned on, a paste of baking soda is usually enough to get it off. You can let water sit in a frying pan (even cast iron) long enough to aid in removal of burned on food. Properly seasoned cast iron isn't hurt by hot water or even soap. What you don't want to do is scour it with a metal scouring pad, because that will remove the layer of seasoning and you'll have to season it all over again (seasoning is a thin layer of oil baked into the surface of the pan--it prevents cast iron from rusing and helps to keep food from sticking to it during use).
But won't some soap still be left on the dishes, especially after you've rinsed a large number in the same water? Not enough to be a problem, and if you do have a huge quantity of dishes to wash and rinse, you can empty out the rinse water when it appears to be accumulating soap, and fill the sink or container with fresh water. You can also rinse plates and silverware by pouring water over them after they have been stacked in the drying rack. This is not a useful way to rinse glasses and bowls, of course.
The final step is to dry the dishes and put them away, and to wash the drying rack and drain tray well, and put them away. If you've been accustomed to leaving your dishes to air dry, this may seem like an unnecessary step. There are several reasons I recommend doing this. The first is that in an emergency, we may not know what is in the air. Dishes are safer in a closed cupboard than accumulating whatever dust and germs may settle on them on the counter. Secondly, you may not have access to the methods you've used in the past to control rodents and insects. Again, dishes are safer in the cupboard than on the counter. Most drying racks and drain trays that I've seen in other people's kitchens needed a good scrubbing; to be frank, they looked dirty. The countertop under them was probably even worse. So wash them in the last of the wash water, rinse them, dry them with a hand towel and let them sit on the counter for a few minutes for any remaining moisture to evaporate, and then put them away in a cupboard (under the sink is fine if it's secure from pests).
The whole point here is to keep your dishes, and anything that touches them, clean. Many people aren't aware that chronic illnesses were on the decline well before there were vaccinations for everything under the sun, for one simple reason--because sanitation had greatly improved. More families had access to clean water, and public health departments had made a point of emphasizing cleanliness in the home. In any emergency situation, health services may be restricted or unavailable. Keeping your home (especially your kitchen) clean may well make the difference between good health and a potentially fatal illness.
When you finish washing up, empty the wash pan outside if possible, rather than down the drain. Choose a different place in the yard or flower beds each day so you don't overload one area with the chemicals in your dish soap. Rinse the dishpan out and turn it upside down to dry in the sink. Pour out about half of the rinse water and cover the pan for later use. When you wash dishes the next time, add boiling water and dish soap to that pan. The pan that you used to wash the dishes now becomes your rinse pan. This method uses the least amount of water. If you have to haul, heat and then dispose of all the water you use, it's important to use as little as possible. In addition, since this has to be potable water, you don't want to waste the water you're also using for drinking.
Washing clothes without electricity
You may be accustomed to washing in cold water with a special detergent intended for that. While that does save the electricity or gas required to heat your wash water, it may not be the best method for washing by hand. The exception is that in the summer, heating wash water would contribute to the heat in your immediate vicinity, and the cool wash water might well feel good on a hot day. My own feeling, however, is that in the absence of strong detergents and vigorous machine washing, it's a good idea to use the hottest water you can stand. Our great-grandmothers boiled many items of clothing to ensure that they were clean. Diapers and sick-room linens in particular were sanitized in boiling water.
Regardless of the temperature you choose, you need a washtub or some other large pot in which to wash the clothing, and two tubs in which to rinse them. The rinse water doesn't need to be heated; cold water is just fine for that. If you can't come up with three tubs, you can accumulate a load that has been washed and then rinsed once, empty out the rinse water and refill the rinse tub for another rinse. If you have to carry all your water, however, you'll want enough rinse capacity to avoid pouring out water until you're completely through with it.
A double laundry sink in your laundry room or garage is a good starting point. Then you'll only need one additional tub. I set a tub with the wringer mounted on it next to my double laundry sink, wash in that and then rinse in the double sinks. That way the soapy water coming out of the wringer runs into the already soapy water in the wash tub.
People have constructed all kinds of devices with which to wash clothing, but the good old washboard still outperforms most of them. The biggest secret, however, is to soak dirty clothing before you begin to wash it. A good soaking in warm water and laundry soap will get out the majority of dirt and stains, and rubbing each item vigorously over a washboard will usually get everything else. Stains that remain can be soaked in a paste of baking soda and water, and then rubbed some more. Drying your clothing on a line in the sun will take care of nearly all other stains (ultra-violet light is a good bleach).
Another method of agitating your clothes in the wash water is to use a (new, clean) toilet plunger. Make knife cuts around the perimeter of the rubber bowl, and then push it up and down in the tub of clothes. The problem with this method is that clothing tends to get caught in the slots. I've tried it, and abandoned it in favor of my washboard.
After you wash each item, wring it out in your hands, or preferably, run it through a manual wringer. Manual wringers are not available any more in your local hardware store, so this is something you'll have to prepare for in advance. Many online companies sell "towel wringers" used in commercial car washes. Lehmans also sells two different manual wringers, a heavy-duty one and a lighter one. I have the heavy-duty wringer and can attest to its effectiveness and long life. It isn't cheap, unfortunately, but if you can afford one it's worth the expense. I saved up for mine years ago when it cost less than now, and have never regretted the purchase.
After washing each item and wringing out as much soapy water as you can, immerse it in the first rinse. Wash as many things as the rinse tub will hold without crowding, and then run all those though the wringer again and put them in the second rinse. Wring again, and hang on the line. By the time you've done a couple of loads this way, your wash water may have cooled off, and your first rinse water may have accumulated quite a lot of soap. If you have individual tubs that you can lift and move, you may want to dump out the wash water, pour about half the first rinse water into the wash tub, and refresh it with a couple of kettles of very hot water. Use the second rinse water for the first rinse, and fill the second rinse tub with clean fresh water. That takes a fair amount of lifting and pouring, so it water is easily available, you'll probably want to just dump out the used water and refill the tubs with clean water. This is a decision you'll have to make based on how much trouble it is to procure the water, and whether it's possible to lift the tubs. Since my laundry sinks are not movable, I use a big plastic tub in each one to hold the rinse water. When I'm ready to empty out the wash water, I can pour my first rinse water into the wash tub, and then move the second rinse tub into the first sink, and refill the now empty first rinse tub with fresh water. A lot of work? Yes, it is, and as long as I have running water, I don't always bother to do it that way. But the wellhead is eighty feet downhill. from the house, and if I had to hand pump and carry all that water, I'd re-use every drop possible.
If you have never hung your laundry on a line to dry, you may have no idea how best to hang each kind of item.
 Shirts should be hung upside down, with clothespins at the side seams.
 You may want to support knit shirts with multiple clothespins across the width of the hem, to prevent stretching. You can also hang tee shirts or other knit shirts and garments over a rack inside, but I've found that using multiple clothespins does a good job of keeping them from stretching out.
 Trousers, jeans and other kinds of long pants should be hung right side up with clothespins at each side of the waistband.
 Socks should be hung from the toe, and underwear from the side seams, just like trousers. Hang bras from one end.
Nightgowns or long dresses with a wide hem can be hung from the shoulders.
If you're short on clothespins, you can double up flat things like diapers, towels and pillow cases. This also takes a bit less space on the line than if each one had two clothespins.
Hang heavy sheets with multiple clothespins across the width of the hem, to keep them firmly secured to the line.
The basic principal here is to hang each kind of clothing so that it's opened up as much as possible, and supported to prevent stretching. Give things a good shake, with a sharp snapping motion, before hanging them up to get rid of as many wrinkles as possible.
Many people are reluctant to hang their clothes out because they think they'll have to iron everything. This isn't the case. Knit clothing won't ordinarily need to be ironed, nor will most woven synthetics. If you're dressing for the office, you'll probably need to iron most cotton clothing. I don't iron anything unless I'm going to wear it on the job, and in many cases I find that I can get away with ironing just the collar and sleeves, with a quick touch-up of wrinkles on the body of a shirt. The days when Victorian housewives (or their maids) ironed the sheets is thankfully long past. And if we have to deal with a long-term catastrophe, ironing your clothing will be the least of your concerns. If you think you'll really need to be perfectly groomed regardless of the circumstances, you can buy a couple of cast iron sadirons to heat on your wood stove. While you're at it, buy a sprinkler too, so you can moisten the clothes before you iron them. Sprinkle each item generously, wrap two or three at a time in a big towel, and let them sit for ten minutes so the moisture is distributed evenly. This was the traditional way to iron clothes before steam irons were widely available, and it occupied several hours every week of my childhood.
What if you have no way to put up drying lines? An umbrella dryer works just as well, though it may take a bit longer for clothing to dry than if it had better air circulation. The base of the dryer mounts permanently in the ground, and the dryer itself can be taken down after each use, if necessary. No place for even an umbrella dryer? Clothes can be laid over bushes or fencing to dry, if nothing else is available. But even if you can't put up a drying line now, it would be a good idea to acquire the line and a supply of clothespins now. The homeowner's association that prohibits drying lines probably won't be around after a catastrophe, if that's what you have to deal with. Make sure you have a couple of sturdy screw-in hooks and that you've identified some place where you can mount them. Or buy an umbrella dryer and put it away for when you need it. If you live in the city with an alley or yard between your house and the one behind it, you may be able to rig up a pulley line between the houses. You'll need two pulleys, twice as much line as the distance between the buildings, and heavy screw-eyes to hang the pulleys from on each end. This is the pulley arrangement that runs from my back porch to my shed.
Mending clothing
My original intention was to show how to construct simple clothing, but it became too extensive a discussion for this page. I think that being able to mend the family's existing clothing will be a more important skill. There are many sites on the net with instructions for sewing, both with and without patterns.
Mending covers a wide range of problems, from stitching up simple rips to covering up actual holes to darning socks and other knitted items. But the basic tools are hand sewing needles, a thimble that fits your middle finger and matching thread. You also need pins and a pincushion, and a handy container in which to store it all. This doesn't have to be a fancy sewing box; any small plastic storage container with a secure top will do just fine. If you have children or pets in the home, the "secure top" aspect becomes even more important.
To mend a seam that has pulled out, you only need to secure the edges with pins and restitch the original stitching line. Thread your needle with sufficient thread (if the garment is made of heavy material like blue jean fabric, you may want to use a doubled thread). Make a knot in the thread by wrapping the end of the thread around your index finger a couple of times. Use your thumb to rub the wrapped threads back and forth until they're twisted around each other, and then slide the loops off and pull them into a knot. This makes a big enough knot that it's unlikely to pull through the material. You can make a traditional overhand knot, of course, if you prefer (or a couple of them together). But wrapping the thread around your finger is the time-honored way of doing it, and it quickly makes a large secure knot.
Hold the seam edges together in one hand and use the other to insert pins through the fabric. The pins hold the edges together while you restitch the seam. Push the needle through a little way to the right of the loose area, as illustrated, pull the thread all the way to where the knot is resting firmly against the fabric, and then make small neat stitches along the seam line. If you feel comfortable doing several stitches at a time, and the fabric is lightweight enough to allow it, you'll be doing a "running stitch." But it isn't necessary to work more than one at a time. Stitch along a bit farther to the left of the loose area, so your stitching is anchored in the original seam line. (This assumes you're right handed. If you are working with your left hand, just reverse the instructions so you stitch from left to right instead of from right to left.).
If you want to, especially if you're new to this and think your stitches may be too loose, you can work back along your line of stitching so it's covered twice. It isn't necessary to make tiny stitches. In fact, that may result in the seam pulling out again as the thread works against itself and frays. In lightweight fabric, a stitch length of roughly one-eighth inch is fine. In heavier fabric, you may need to make the stitches a quarter-inch long, or even longer. Use heavier thread, in that case, such as quilting thread, or even dental floss.
Another way to make a seam more sturdy is to use what's called a "backstitch." To do this, make an initial stitch twice as long as you would otherwise use. Now go back into the fabric half the stitch-length back, and bring the needle up again twice as far to the left. Repeat this along the seam to the end. The right side of the seam should look like a continuous line of machine stitching, while the back side will not be as neat. Backstitching takes a little practice to do neatly, but once mastered, it makes a very strong seam that shouldn't pull out again.
Note that if this is a folded type of seam (such as you find in jeans and some other work garments, what may have happened is not that the seam stitching itself came loose, but that the fabric frayed along the edge of the seam. In that case, you'll need to treat the rip or frayed area as though it was a rip in the fabric.
An actual rip in the middle of an area of fabric requires a different technique than just stitching along a line. Depending on how large the area is, it may need to just be reinforced a bit, or it may have to be filled in with "darning."
To repair a simple rip, hold the garment so you're looking at the outside. Bring the needle up from inside the fabric, so the knot is hidden on the inside. Start at the very top of the rip and work down, bringing the needle up about an eighth inch from the rip, and going down into the ripped area itself, alternating sides. If the fabric is heavy, you'll need to make the stitches a little larger, and if it's very coarsely or loosely woven, make the stitches closer together. You're creating a new woven structure to substitute for the broken threads, so your repair should approximate what the original weave was like. When you reach the end of the rip, run the needle under the new stitches back and forth on the inside of the garment.
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