We live in a time where we mostly depend on appliances to make our lives easier. They are efficient, easy to use, require less effort for tasks, and can accomplish tasks very quickly. It’s hard to imagine a day where appliances were not available. But if you find yourself in such a situation, don’t worry. You can create your own modern-day appliances from scratch. (h/t to Survivopedia.com.)

Types of appliances you can DIY

Three of the most important appliances in our homes are the refrigerator, water filter, and washing machine. So for starters, here are some ways on how to create alternatives for them.

Refrigerator

Root cellar – Essentially, it is a room or structure built below ground to store and preserve food for a long period of time. It uses the cooling, humidifying, and insulating powers which the earth naturally provides. A root cellar must be kept cool, dark, and moist to ensure that food inside won’t spoil easily.

In the past, people dug up their backyard to create a root cellar; today, people use their basement or opt for a ground-up cellar. Use a thermometer and humidity meter to ensure temperatures inside the room are just right. Remember to keep the air flowing through the cellar, and it’s best to store food in wooden crates. Unlike metal, wood isn’t a conductor of hot and cold temperatures. Lastly, root cellars will work best if they are 10 feet under since total temperature stability is reached at this point.

Water filter

Solar hot water cistern – This type of water filter is an easy way to heat up water just by using solar energy. It’s a total energy and money saver as water heaters and filters – plus installations – can be very costly.

What you need to do is simply let water from the cistern be fed to black pipes in a shallow glass box which is set at an angle. Make sure the box’s position can catch maximum sunlight. With convection, the water will circulate through the system and eventually heat up the water. Just use an insulated cistern and you can now store hot water. (Read: DIY $2 self-watering garden bed – Grow produce easily, even in the toughest drought conditions.)

Washing machine

Plunger washer – Doing the laundry is laborious and time-consuming. So to help you wash your dirty clothes without hurting your hands, simply purchase two five-gallon buckets and a regular toilet plunger.

Drill holes evenly across the sides and bottom of one bucket; don’t make them too close together or too large, or the bucket may fall apart. Next, drill holes in the plunger; make sure they’re just the right size and number. Get the lid and drill a single hole in the center. Make sure the handle of the plunger fits easily through this hole; you should be able to pull the plunger up and down through the hole with no problems. Lastly, put the bucket with holes inside the second bucket.

To operate your bucket washer, put a bit of detergent in it, then place your garments inside. Fill it with water, but leave at least one and a half inches of space, then position the plunger on top of the clothes and secure the lid. Finally, “agitate” your clothes with the plunger by pushing and pulling the handle repeatedly. Keep changing the water from time to time until you get a clean, soap-free set of clothes.

Living life without the automatic daily machines isn’t so hard. In fact, it could be a fun way to test your creativity. Better still, you save some money as well as lots of energy.

Visit Preparedness.news for more tips on how to survive on your own.

Sources include:

Survivopedia.com 1

Survivopedia.com 2

NaturalLivingIdeas.com