House Rules: If you sleep on it…make it up. If you wear it…hang it up. If you drop it…pick it up. If you eat out of it…wash it up. If you open it…close it. If you empty it…fill it up. If you spill it…wipe it up. If you turn it on…turn it off. If it rings…answer it. If it whines…let it out. If it howls…feed it. If it cries…love it.
Homemade Fabric Softener #1
ReplyDelete1 cup baking soda
6 cups distilled white vinegar
8 cups water
10 -15 drops orangeessential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops lemonessential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops essential oils , of choice (optional)
Directions:
1
You will need a one gallon container.
2
First add the baking soda to the plastic container.
3
Next add 1 cup of water to start with.
4
Slowly add the vinegar to the bottle as the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz.
5
Then add the rest of the water swirling around & cover venting the top a few times.
6
Last add the essential oil.
7
Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using.
Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-fabric-softener-179890#ixzz1nd02Axy6
Homemade Fabric Softener #2
ReplyDelete6 cups water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups hair conditioner
Directions:
1
Mix water, vinegar, and hair conditioner in a 1 gallon container; stir. Do not shake it; it will cause foaming.
2
Use the same amount you normally use in a rinse cycle or spritz it on a wash cloth and throw in dryer
Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-fabric-softener-355877#ixzz1nd1AI2ty
Home made laundry detergent
ReplyDelete1. Coarsely grate two bars of Fels-Naptha laundry soap into a 12-quart plastic dishpan and then add 4 quarts of boiling water. Stir until the soap is dissolved.
2. Add 5 quarts of hot water to the dishpan and stir in 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda.
3. Once dissolved, add hot water to the dishpan up to a few inches from the top, stir and let sit overnight - letting it sit for 48 hours is even better.
4. After the mixture has gelled, chop it in to pieces with a metal spoon or spatula, fill a mixing bowl with pieces of it, and mix with a hand mixer until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Repeat with remaining gel.
5. Disperse the blended mixture evenly among 12 one-quart canning jars. Top off the jars with a little water, cover, shake and store. This is the concentrated form of the soap.
6. To use the laundry soap, pour one jar into an empty liquid detergent bottle, add 2 quarts of water and shake well. Use the bottle's cap to measure the laundry soap just as you would for the store-bought detergent; for high-efficiency washers, just use a little less. It's thin, but it works!
Homemade Laundry Detergent
ReplyDeleteIt is really cheap. Under $7 and this will last forever!
To make about 4 mason jars full you will need:
6 cups Borax
4 cups baking soda
4 cups washing soda
4 cups Fels-Naptha bar soap (almost 2 bars)
Grate the bar soap.
Now put it all in a bowl and mix it really well.
Also, you should know, this is very powdery and will go everywhere.
Try to mix carefully.
Now put it in jars or an air-tight container.
Done.
You will need 2 tablespoons per load.
HE washing machines need special soap that is low-sudsing. And this is, so you really should be fine.
First-Aid Antiseptic Ointment
ReplyDeleteIngredients
-1 1/2 ounces beeswax, grated
-1 cup olive, almond, or coconut oil
-1/4 teaspoon vitamin E oil
-1/2 teaspoon tea tree oil
-20 drops lavender essential oil
-10 drops lemon essential oil
Directions
1. Over very low heat, in a small pot or double boiler, melt oils and beeswax.
2. Remove from heat and add vitamin E oil and essential oils. Stir with a chopstick.
3. Pour mixture into small sterilized jars (or a mason jar). Allow to cool on counter.
4. Store in a cool, dark place. Use as needed on wounds. Will keep for 8-10 months.
Notes
-Antiseptic properties of the essential oils include:
Tea tree oil: antibiotic, anti-fungal, antiviral, antibacterial
Lavender: analgesic (pain relief), antibiotic, anti-fungal, antiviral, antibacterial
Lemon: antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial
-For those who do not like the smell of lavender…you may substitute chamomile essential oils for lavender and fir essential oils for lemon.
Homemade dishwasher detergent (soap) recipe from http://www.diynatural.com/simple-effective-jabs-homemade-dishwasher-detergent-rinse-agent/
ReplyDelete1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup kosher salt
Fill rinse agent compartment with white vinegar.
Find detailed instructions, cost breakdown, and sources for ingredients below…
5 simple ingredients
1 – 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer® Super Washing Soda = $2.19
1 – 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team® Borax = $4.29
1 – 48 ounce box of coarse Kosher Salt = $1.99
1 – 5 pound container of food-grade Citric Acid = $27.00 You can find this online or at your local brewery or specialty beer store. If you cannot find this you can substitute LemiShine. If you do not use some form of citric acid you may see a cloudy residue left like most “green” cleaners leave.
1 – gallon of White Vinegar = $1.79
Cost savings breakdown
Prior to making our own, we were using Palmolive eco+ liquid detergent. Here is the cost analysis:
borax | 76oz = 4.29 | 8oz=.45/batch
washing soda | 55oz = 2.19 | 8oz=.32/batch
citric acid | 80oz = 27.00 | 4oz=1.35/batch
kosher salt | 48oz = 1.99 | 4oz = .16/batch
total for 24 oz = $2.28/batch
white vinegar (as rinse agent) | 1gal = 1.79 | 4oz=.06/fill
Use 1 rounded tablespoon of this homemade detergent per load. If you feel it necessary use a heaping tablespoon, but we do not.
Palmolive® eco+ gel 75 ounce detergent – $3.79 – 28 loads = $0.14 per load
Homemade powder 24 ounce detergent – $2.28 – 48 loads = $0.05 per load
Here are the cost savings for the homemade rinse agent that goes along with this recipe:
FINISH® JET-DRY® Rinse Agent 4.22 ounce solution – $3.99 – 1 fill = $3.99 per fill
White Vinegar as a Rinse Agent 1 gallon solution – $1.79 – 1 fill = $0.06 per fill
That is a huge savings of 6650% on an effective rinse agent. Sounds too good to be true… but it is indeed true! The rinse agent costs just pennies and detergent only half as much.
How to put it together
Each batch yields 24 ounces of resulting product which you should store in some type of container you were going to dispose of. We suggest something 1 gallon size or smaller so you can fit it under your kitchen sink; old coffee cans work great. Feel free to double the batch, or multiply it accordingly to create any amount you’d like.
1. Start with these 5 ingredients:
2. Into a 32 ounce container – add 1 cup of borax:
3. Add 1 cup of washing soda:
4. Add 1/2 cup of citric acid (double for hard water):
5. Add 1/2 cup of kosher salt:
6. Put the lid on and shake it up good:
7. As you know… my wife loves her some label maker:
8. Fill “Rinse Aid” compartment with white vinegar:
(You can also add lemon juice as a rinse agent)
Use 1 Tbsp per load (you can use a heaping tablespoon if you feel the need, but we do not).
Tips to avoid clumping
This detergent will clump because of the citric acid. Here are a few ways to make it clump less.
Add a tsp of rice to the detergent to help absorb moisture.
After combining ingredients, leave mixture out and stir several times each day for a day or two. (This is how we do it.)
Add citric acid separately to each dishwasher load rather than adding it to the detergent.
Some people have had success forming blocks of detergent by using ice cube trays. We have never tried this so we can offer no help here; if you want to try it look to the comments for help.
There you have it folks… simple, easy, and effective homemade dishwasher detergent.
Vinegar Laundry Softener by http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-fabric-softener-dryer-sheets/
ReplyDelete1 gallon white vinegar
20-30 drops of essential oil
Plain lavender is one of my favorites, or a combination of sweet orange and lemon when I need a pick-me-up on laundry day! A third suggestion is to use peppermint, although I would cut this back to 15 drops because it is quite potent.
Just shake well before each use and it’s ready for the rinse cycle. For small or average loads add 1/2 cup to the rinse cycle, for larger loads add about 1 cup to the rinse cycle.
Homemade dryer sheets
Over the past few years we have researched many alternatives to commercial dryer sheets. Why? Because there is evidence that toxic fragrance chemicals can be present in commercial dryer sheets that can be absorbed into your skin when you put your clothes on. This was enough to convince me that commercial dryer sheets might not be the best choice for my family, and the cost savings of do-it-yourself dryer sheets was an added bonus. You will love experimenting with different scents along the way, and will never have to put dryer sheets on your grocery list again!
Cut cotton cloth into small squares. I use 5-inch squares of cotton t-shirts that I’m retiring. Add 3-5 drops of essential oil to your cloth and throw it in the dryer with your next load. These cotton dryer sheets can be used for 2 or 3 loads, each time adding 3 more drops of your favorite essential oil. Wash the cloth after a few uses and experiment with a new fragrance the next time! Some of my personal favorites are lavender, lemon, or grapefruit.
Posted by ybertaud9 in DIY, homemade, household, Recipes
ReplyDeleteTagscleaner, disinfectant, DIY, household
Save money on household cleaning sprays and make your own natural solution.
Add orange peels (or any citrus peel) to a quart of white vinegar in a closed container and let it set for two weeks. Combine citrus-vinegar solution with half water in a spray bottle and use for cleaning. Works on floors, tiles, fixtures, kitchen & bath etc. It’s antibacterial, smells good and tough on scum! Best of all there are no chemicals. ♥