DIY Dish Soap

I'm loving making my own soaps and such. I had a friend yesterday who learned (from me) about the problem with Johnson's and Johnson's, as well as, most chemical cleaners. She was shocked to learn it. I ended up sharing all my recipes at once with her, except this one. I knew I was posting it soon and didn't want to type it out twice. Anyway, onward to the recipe!!

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups boiling water
• 2 Tbsp Borax
• 2 Tbsp Washing Soda
• 4 Tbsp grated bar soap (I used an all natural glycerin based soap, unscented and moisturizer free, use whichever you prefer, I recommend something natural though)
• 15-20 drops lemon essential oil (you could do a different scent, I chose lemon because I hoped it would add to the grease fighting power)

1. Combine soap, washing soda and borax in a bowl.
2. Pour boiling water over them.
3. Stir to dissolve and allow to cool overnight. It'll thicken as it sits.
4. Blend it up to get a nice smooth consistency.
5. Add essential oils and then poor mixture into squirt bottle. (You can recycle that commercial bottle you just emptied :) )
6. Clean your dishes!

Happy cleaning!!

DIY Laundry Soap

Blasphemy! How could I have not shared this yet? "This" being my cloth diaper friendly laundry soap (detergent? What's the difference?) This has worked for cloth diapers, kids' clothes, my clothes and my fiancée's muddy, grubby work clothes (ladies, if you're men work outside, you know what I'm talking about).

Ingriedents:
1 bar soap, grated ( I use an all natural glycerine based soap I bought at the local natural food store)
1 1/2 cup washing soda ( found in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores)
1 1/2 cup baking soda
Optional: essential oils for fragerance (I don't do this as I don't want it in my cloth diapers)

Mix ingredients together and store in some kind of Tupperware. Use about 1/8  cup per load with about a tablespoon vinegar in the bleach compartment. Ta-da!  Clean clothes. We have an HE machine, if you don't, should probably use more soap.

Do you make your own laundry soap? What is your recipe like?

DIY Dryer Sheets

A friend of mine shared this really great recipe for dryer sheets. You can use pretty much any material to make them (she used cut up of towels,I cut up an old sheet, both worked). These are awesome so I wanted I share them.

store these in an airtight Tupperware container or an empty baby wipe container-anything with a tight-fitting lid. 

Take 3 cups water, 1 cup vinegar & 1 cup hair conditioner & mix well. Put the dish towel squares in the container, and poor the fabric softener solution over the top of all of them making sure they are all very wet. when you get ready to dry clothes, just grab one of the wet fabrics and throw it in with your clothes. They will not smell like vinegar, they will come out very soft and actually smell very good. 
take the fabric square that you got from the dryer that is now completely dry and just throw it back in the bottom of the container so it gets all wet and repeat the process. Easy!

I have a goal, might be a little crazy

Every since I learned how bad chemical and commercial based cleaners can be, I wanted to go all natural with them. I do buy stuff at the store that claims to be all natural which is great but I have a goal to take it one step further. I plan to slowly and systematically replace every cleaner and body wash and shampoo, etc in my house with homemade, diy alternatives. It's crazy,I know but it can be done. I've been reading about it and how it is healthier and more cost effective. I just want to do it now. My plan is as we start to run out of things, I'll make replacements. Since we're pretty set on most things now, I'm going to take this time to research. I'm starting with laundry detergent. Wish me luck!