One of the first questions I’m asked is “How do you shower?” or told “I couldn’t go without showering” with a look of disgust. Seriously? I shower. Regularly. I’m cleaner than some individuals who have indoor plumbing. Believe me. I spend 97 percent of my time getting head to toe filthy. I’d look like Pigpen from the Peanuts, with a dirty aura, if I didn’t shower.
The Schoolhouse has zero plumbing. None. Before we moved here we took “Horse baths”. The girls were little, so instead of calling it a”whores bath”, we went with horse. Sounded better for little ears. Years passed before they knew the actual term. We’d heat the water up in kettles and pots on the gas stove that we got from the natural spring and spread a towel out on the floor. Taking turns, we’d wash our hair over the cast iron farmers sink ,that was piped outside, followed by a sponge bath wipe down. It worked for long weekends or extended stays. Needless to say, a hot shower always felt amazing once we returned to the house.
The year before we moved, we remodeled our bathroom at the house. It was much needed and a project I dumped my time and heart into. Being a 100 year old house, nothing was level, nothing was square and it had a dormer (which was a bitch to trim out!). I loved the end results. Compared to what it previously looked like, it felt like a spa. Then we moved. No more pretty bathroom. For the first few days I took the old faithful “horse bath”. I had to brainstorm quickly. I could only “horse bath” for so long. I needed to be able to fully wash and rinse myself without soaking the wood floors. With a whole lot of online searching I found a large galvanized washtub and a rechargeable battery operated showerhead. I was pretty ecstatic when they arrived. Once charged, the battery attaches to a cord, the other end of the cord screws into the top of a submersible pump. The pump then pushes the water through a tube that has a showerhead connected. Voila…a shower. I was impressed. Surprisingly, the pressure was good too. I continued to shower in the kitchen standing in the washtub and trying not to spray water everywhere. I needed a shower curtain. How was I going to do that so it was moveable and not in the way? Where would I put it?? We only have so much room.
Being an old Schoolhouse, there are attached outhouses. Girls side and Boys side. Both are, as I say, double pot or 2 seaters. Yes, two people can go simultaneously. (I have friends who think it’s the bestest thing ever.) The back wall of the main building has two doors that lead to the outhouses, which are connected by a breezeway that has a high partition to separate the sides. Since we only need one outhouse for 2 of us we used the other side for storage. I decided to use the breezeway on the storage side for our shower area. It was perfect since there was already a ventless propane heater hanging on the wall to warm up the space. I then bought a swinging arm shower curtain rod, that folds flat against the wall when not in use and two shower curtains. One curtain I hung along the wall with each end attached to the rod, then I hung the second as you normally would across the front. When I set the large galvanized tub on the floor and close the curtain, it’s entirely encased. Problem solved. My 3 gallon pot that I heat water up in sets on the bureau and the showerhead hangs from the curtain arm over head. The on/ off switch for the pump, is also hung on the arm, so water isn’t wasted while I wash. Yes, taking a shower with continuously running water is great, but you need to be able to carry the tub out to dump it. Maneuvering through doorways, over and around animals and furniture can get tricky. 3 gallons is plenty. When I’m done, I hang the bucket up and push back the curtain. It’s not beautiful, but it does the job.
During the warmer months I prefer showering outside. I use to use a shower bag, just around the back of the house, but they were a pain in the butt and HEAVY! Plus the pressure sucked and it was just all around awkward. I’d rather take a “horse bath”. I figured this summer I’d build a platform and continue using the pot and battery showerhead. Then I decided to hang a shower curtain on one side for more privacy. Well, the hill is windy and showering with a blowing curtain is not only annoying but pointless. Even after I tacked the bottom down. Nope. Not working for me. My gears got going again, at this point in the summer, pressure treated lumber and plywood was through the roof and hard to find. I decided to go with galvanized roofing for the sides. Super affordable for the lower grade stuff. Using the platform I already had, I built the body frame out of left over lumber we had from laying the wood shed floor. Within a few hours and some paint, it was done. Showering outside is the most freeing feeling and as back to Nature as you can get.
The battery operated showerhead was a game changer. Not just for us, but our big old 140 lb dog, Willa. Being a St. Bernard/Newfoundland she has a thick under coat and tends to get smelly during the warmer months, she literally sweats. Plus being mostly white, she tends to look gross. Half a bottle of shampoo and five gallons of water later, out on the lawn, she’s clean and not happy. But I am. I’m telling you, good pressure to get through that coat!!
We didn’t want to screw around with tankless water heaters. We didn’t want to try figuring out how or even where we could do a shower stall indoors and worry about how to drain it out. Nor did we want to worry about moisture issues. The set up we have works quite well. Next spring we will set up a rain barrel system to collect water during the warmer months and continue doing what we’re doing. Hopefully we’ll get rain, unlike this past year.
Off-Grid Soul 
😍👍
LikeLike