Home Made Laundry Detergent with Castile Soap

Have you ever made your own laundry detergent?  It is super easy to do, and is a much healthier alternative not only for you, but for the environment as well.  Not to mention the cost savings.  It comes out to about .02 per load.

You may wonder how making your own laundry detergent could be healthier than the store bought brands.  So since you asked, I'll tell you.

For starters, the synthetic fragrances are usually petroleum based, and are known endocrine disruptors.  That means they can mess with your hormones.  I don't know about you, but I can be hormonal enough without any help from my laundry detergent!

Then there is the endless list of chemical names that even I, who started out as a chemistry major, have a hard time pronouncing.  Suffice it to say that most of them contain warnings about their adverse effects.

Since it would be impossible too time consuming to list every ingredient in every brand of laundry detergent and the potential dangers of them,  I'll let you research the brand that you use.  You can go to www.goodguide.com and type in the laundry products you use.  Good Guide has done all the dirty work for us, and not only will you be able to see the potential health risks associated with the product you search, you will also be able to see if the company that makes it is environmentally friendly.

Go ahead and check out your brand of detergent.  I'll wait for ya...







Ok.  So now that you know how harmful your detergent is, let's get started on how to make your own healthier alternative.

You will need borax, super washing soda (not baking soda), and a bar of pure castile soap (and a 5 gallon bucket and an empty laundry detergent container).  I used Dr. Bronner's unscented bar soap, but you could use any scent that suits your fancy.  I will urge you not to use Fels-Naptha bar soap since it is a petroleum product.  Most of the other home made recipes call for this soap, and I used it for my first batch, but then discovered what it is made out of.  The castile detergent works just as well, and is not petroleum based - better for you and the environment!

Grate the bar of soap into a large pan.

Add 4 cups of hot tap water to the grated soap, and heat over medium low heat, stirring until soap is dissolved.

Meanwhile, fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water.  Add 1/2 cup borax and 1 cup of washing soda.  Stir until dissolved.

When soap is dissolved, add to bucket, stirring to combine.  Fill bucket to top with more hot tap water.  

Cover bucket with a lid, and let it sit overnight to cool.

In the morning, your detergent will be a thick gelled glob.  You could try to stir it to break it up, but I found the easiest way is to used a grout mixer.  

I got one similar to this one at Home Depot for a few bucks.  Just go slow when you hook it up to your drill or you will have a huge mess (don't ask!).

Then transfer the detergent to your empty cleaned out container, and you are good to go.  I have been using my own home made detergent for almost two years, and it works just as well if not better than the store bought brands I had been using.  This 5 gallon bucket of detergent makes enough detergent for 320 loads, and lasts our family of four an entire year!  And remember...only .02 per load.

Here is the recipe...

Homemade Laundry Detergent with Castile Soap

1/2 c. borax

1 c. super washing soda

1 bar pure castile soap (scented or un- your choice)

5 gallon bucket

empty cleaned out detergent container

1.  Grate soap into large pan.  Add about 4 cups of hot tap water and heat over medium low heat, stirring until all soap is dissolved.

2.  Meanwhile, fill a 5 gallon bucket half way with hot tap water.  Add borax and washing soda, stirring until dissolved.

3.  When soap is dissolved, add to bucket, stirring to combine.  Fill bucket to top with hot tap water.  Cover with a lid, and let sit overnight to cool.

4.  Stir or use grout mixer to break up gel, and transfer to empty detergent container.

5.  Shake before each use.

     For top load washer, use about 1/2 c for a full load

     For front load washer, use about 1/4 c for a full load

I have used homemade detergent in my front load washer for almost two years, and have not had any problems.  It is low sudsing by nature, so it shouldn't be harmful.

If you are nearing the end of your store bought detergent or even if you aren't, I urge you to try making your own.    You can feel good about keeping the plastic container out of the recycle bin, and it really is a healthier alternative for you and the planet!

In Wellness,

K

Home Made Toothpaste

Home Made Toothpaste

During my search for a chemical free deodorant, I found that many people made their own toothpaste, as well.  I'll admit, I never really read the label on my toothpaste, but I don't have to be a chemist to know that almost everything in it is a synthetic chemical ingredient, most of them questionable for your health.  If you think about all the beauty and body care products you use on a daily basis (cleansers, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, face and eye creams, make up, deodorant, toothpaste, sunscreen), and add them all up, you are putting a boat load of chemicals on, and therefore in, your body.  The repeated exposure is what is concerning to me.  It all adds up, and it can't good for our health.

After all, our ancestors used baking soda for their toothpaste, so why can't we?

Here is how you can make your own toothpaste without all the harmful chemicals...

You will need baking soda, coconut oil, xylitol, and essential oil(s) of your choice.

The players.

Start with two tablespoons of baking soda...

add two tablespoons of coconut oil...

plus one teaspoon xylitol...

and 20 drops essential oil of your choice (I like peppermint).

Stir together until well combined (there may be a few small lumps - that's ok)

Pour into a clean jar, and you are done!


Here's the run down on the ingredients...

• Baking soda -mild abrasive, whitener, and breath freshener
• Coconut oil is naturally antibacterial and acts as a base for the toothpaste
• xylitol is a sweetener derived from corn.  Because it is an alcohol, it cannot be utilized by bacteria, and therefore does not promote tooth decay.  Be wary of recipes that use anything other than xylitol as a sweetener - you could be setting yourself up for a mouthful of cavities.
• Essential oil - antibacterial properties and freshens breath

The recipe...

Home Made Toothpaste
2T baking soda
2T coconut oil
1tsp xylitol (more or less to taste)
20 drops essential oil of choice (peppermint is my fave)

Stir all ingredients until well mixed.  Pour into a clean container.  Use a peanut sized amount to brush teeth.

Keep in mind that coconut oil is solid at room temperature, and as nice as it would be to use, a refillable tube doesn't work with this toothpaste.  Hence the jar.

I hope you enjoy making and using your own home made toothpaste.  You will be doing your body good!

In wellness,
K

Home Made Deodorant

Yep, deodorant.  That is what got me started on my chemical free journey.  I never liked the idea of slathering chemicals in my armpits.  Chemicals that would be absorbed into my skin, and probably head straight for my lymph nodes, causing cancer, Alzheimer's, and messing with my hormones.

So I stopped using it.

Then I lost all my friends.

Just kidding.

But I definitely needed to use something to keep the stench at bay.  So I started my search for home made deodorant online.  Believe me, there are so many recipes for home made deodorant, one could never read them all, so I just picked a simple one and went with it.  I can't even remember the exact recipe now, but it was just coconut oil, baking soda, and essential oils.

And it worked!  I couldn't believe how well it worked.  (Here comes the gross part)  I sniffed my pits a lot those first few days, and then sniffed them again, because I was sure I may have missed something.  I could not detect even a hint of body odor.  I was ecstatic!  I had succeeded in making my own chemical free deodorant, and it was cheap!  No more worries about aluminum in my pits.

Then about a week after using my own deodorant, I noticed a few red bumps under one arm.  A full on rash developed over the next few days, but it was only in one pit.  I was puzzled.  Why only one?  So I asked my trusty friend, Google, about the rash, and discovered that baking soda could be the culprit, as it can be abrasive to delicate pit skin. (I still don't know why the rash was only on one side.)  So I simply added more coconut oil to what I had already made to reduce the ratio of baking soda.  And it worked.  The rash went away, and my pits didn't stink.

For a while.

Then I started to smell myself when I wasn't even sniffing my pits.

I was back on the experimental road to smelling fresh.

I'll spare you the details, but it took a bit of experimenting to come up with something that worked for me, and you may have to try a few different ones before you find the right fit for your pits. You will be doing your body a huge favor though, by not putting all the questionable ingredients found in commercial antiperspirant/deodorants on it.  And you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.

Here is the link to the recipe that works for me.  (I used a combination of arrowroot and corn starch, with less baking soda; and lavender and peppermint EOs).  I put mine in a jar and just apply it with my fingertips. This stuff works great, even after going on runs in 95 degree heat, and it lasts a long time, too.

Here's the rundown on the ingredients, and why they are used...

• Coconut oil is naturally antibacterial, and it is a great moisturizer.  Your pits will have never been so soft!
• Arrowroot/corn starch/baking soda all help to absorb perspiration and/or neutralize odor.  Be aware that baking soda and corn starch can be a bit irritating to underarm skin.
• Essential oils (depending on the ones you choose) can be antibacterial, antiviral, and/or anti fungal.  Plus, they make it smell good.  Good choices for deodorant are tea tree, lavender, peppermint, or eucalyptus, or any combination you find pleasing.
• Vitamin E is a natural preservative and has moisturizing and healing properties.

All of the good, and none of the bad.  Try it.  Your pits and lymph nodes will thank you.

Have you ever made your own deodorant?

In wellness,
K