u/Cute-Consequence-184

*Not technically zero waste* because I'm open to anything that fits my needs.

The issue

I'm allergic to most all scents and dye. I have excema and can break out in flairs and even chronic Urticaria that reacts to water of all things as a result of contact with some food safe dyes.

Since 1992 I've been using a crystal deodorant which has worked perfectly.

However, my left armpit has decided to start itching and breaking out in an excema flair with continued use. I've tried to go without and let the excema calm down then when I try my deodorant again- excema.

I can't find any samples or small ones to try and my choices all seem to be very expensive.

I garden and work on a farm - so I'm outside in the heat in the lower Midwest/US South every day. I sweat all the time each and every day.

So I need something that is *clean* but also works like a champion in high heat. Those two requirements don't seem to match up in my searches.

Also any place I might look for samples or smaller sizes to try before I commit? To see if I react to it so I don't waste my money?

I need to address something I have seen over and over and over in this group.

And honestly I could blame TikTok but it started way before even YouTube existed. Magazines have been trying to sell you things since the late 1800s from my research. Please, understand that most historical crafts didn't take a bunch of tools and didn't make a bunch of clutter. It is all modern propaganda trying to sell you garbage. There are even TikTok shops trying to sell you special sewing needles because *they don't rust*. Sewing needles haven't rusted since the 1950s when they started to be made out of stainless steel for heaven's sake. Stop believing everything you see on TikTok and YouTube.

And it is the fallacy that to do certain hobbies you need to buy a bunch of stuff, go into debt and end up with tons of junk cluttering up your home.

I explain this because my mom wanted to learn to spin yarn. But the fallacy at the time was that you needed to be able to afford (and keep) a spinning wheel. She never got to learn because no one told her that all that was needed was a drop spindle. And that anyone could make a drop single in their kitchen. So she died without ever learning to spin yarn

The Internet will tell you that you need a ton of stuff to bake bread when you really only need 4 ingredients, 3 of which you should already have in your kitchen and if you do sourdough, only 3 ingredients total. And you can bake in any oven safe pan. No fancy mixers, no fancy pans needed. People have baked over campfires and in mud ovens in the woods. If you don't believe me, go watch the living history YouTube channel called **The Townsends** or watch some episodes of the British show called **Time Team** also now on YouTube. Also check out the YouTube channel called *artisan bread with Steve*.

And sourdough- historically there was no such thing as discard. You just left it until it was needed. Discard is a completely *modern* thing. These days you can freeze your starter or just leave it in your fridge until it is needed. Or better yet, use discard to make cookies crackers, flatbread or even cakes. You don't *have to* discard! Ever.

Crochet takes a single hook and a skein of yarn. I started crocheting in 1982 and had a size G and a size 7 steel hook. That is all I owned for decades. That's it! No fancy tools. I didn't know skein spinners and skein bowls existed until the mid 2000s. Center pull balls don't need that and skein winders are only if you spin or you do a lot of fancy yarn that isn't skeined properly. And do you know what they did historically? Used a nostepinne (broom handle) or just did it by hand. I could make a center pull ball with just my hands by age FIVE. If you can crochet or knit, you can wind a ball yourself. You don't need a fancy tool cluttering up your space to wind a center pull ball. Ball winding is the first thing I teach in my classes to children. You can even use a toilet paper roll.

Knitting, again, a single set of needles and a ball of thread. And these days they have compact needle kits that take up the same amount of room as an old paperback book.

Stitch markers can be paper clips and safety pins.

Blocking tools are called your clean carpet or your bed and sewing pins from your sewing kit or hair pins. You don't have to buy special tools to block. You can even just use cardboard with a towel laid across the surface.

Measuring tape can be any that you already have in your kitchen junk drawer.

And most irons on the market can do streaming these days. You don't need a special one just for crafts. Again that is TikTok trying to sell you garbage.

Sewing takes a needle and thread and a pair of scissors. I used the same pair of scissors from 1975 until 1993 when I bought another pair for my tailoring class. When I did quilting back in the 80s, I only had a small pair of scissors, a bobbin of sewing thread, a thimble and a pack of sewing needles. That all could fit into my palm. That all. No clutter, just what could fit into my palm. The pieces of my pattern were traced onto cardboard from a magazine and could fit into a modem pint sized zip lock baggie. Does an iron help in sewing? Yes but it can be any cheap iron you already own and ultimately, you can sew without an iron.

So for anyone wanting to do crafts but also don't want to collect a bunch of STUFF or don't have the money to afford STUFF, please talk to some older people who have done that craft for a few decades. BEFORE you decide to go buy a bunch of stuff.

I would like to find a good private DNS server.

Right now I have dns.adguard.com but I keep getting no Internet access and DNS not available.

Get some, it is well worth the cost.

I was given a pair of snow shoes last summer but the sole was loose after I washed them. Took off both soles, cleaned them up, glued the soles back on and wore them all winter them leaking.

I had a pair of cheap slides I wear my house tear yesterday. I glued the two ends together and am allowing the glue to finish curing another 24 hours. Even though they were only $5 to begin with- why waste my money if one pennies worth of glue can fix them?

You might not believe me but this stuff really works and can save you money long term. My tube of glue is over a year old and still working fine. Just make sure the cap is cleaned and on securely when you store it.

Just asked when Memorial Day is and was told it is on Monday, May 29, 2034.

You can make this stuff up.

And kids are using this for homework? Insanity.

Has anyone ever watched the homesteading channels where they have pantry challenges to get inspiration for family meals? Some of the meal prepping channels I watch also have pantry challenges and I guess I completely missed that challenges have crossed over into homesteading.

If you aren't familiar with what a pantry challenge is-- it is where all meals for a designated time from a week up to 3 months must be cooked from what is in the pantry, fridge or freezer, not outside buying allowed. I think it started in the prepper communities but is now (apparently) in the homesteading and poverty channels now.

Does anyone have a hathitrust login I can borrow to download an old cookbook?

​

I'm looking for recipes for small batch pickled onions (maybe 4 pint batches), sliced red, sliced valdalia and pearl onions from Egyptian onions.

I normally use Google but if I'm driving, a lot of times the signal gets weak and Google just stops on me.

Is there customer service? Any?

I wanted to call a simple question of how to get rid of seeing different people's transactions when I only want to see mine.

Tried live chat. First it was *waiting 5 minutes for a live agent*, then it was 3 minutes. It has been over an hour and nothing.

It is a simple question. Their AI garbage said to set my profile to private. It already IS private.

I have 1 friend and I see every purchase and every single person who pays her and I don't want to see ANY of that

Do I have to unfriend her? And how?

Theoretically, this series should have 5 books and it appears the first 2 were written a while ago. But nothing after 2017?

Any reason why the series wasn't finished ..or was it and I am just not finding the info.

Should I even read book 2 if the series was canned for some reason? Book one was really good I thought.