Friday, September 24, 2010

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent


For those of you interested in a safe, cheap laundry detergent, then this is for you!  I've been making this liquid laundry detergent for my family for a while and have found that it is better than most detergents out there...and only costs a fraction of the price!!  It's safe for the environment...it's safe for using on the clothing of small children with sensitive skin....the products are easy to find....the products have been used for ages by our mothers and grandmothers....and it really does clean miraculously!!!
I've also discovered....by accidentally spilling some while making it once :)...that it cleans carpets and countertops too!!!  So, since then, I have used it on tough carpet stains...as a stain pre-treater on clothing...to take out stains on my car's cloth seats....to clean stains on my son's carseat....to clean stains on the couch...the possibilities are endless with this stuff!!!!

Ingredients:
1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha soap                                               
1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
water
You will also need a very large pot or bucket (I use a 2 gallon cooking pot)


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*Note...If you notice the size of these packages compared to the amount you use in the ingredients, then you'll realize that these things will last you for a while throughout multiple times of making the detergent...which equals lots of money saved.  I pay approximately $4.00 for the box of Borax, $4.00 for the box of Washing Soda and $1.00 for the Fels-Naptha.  When you figure the minimal amount of these things that goes into the detergent, the cost of a gallon of this homemade detergent is nearly just $1.00!!!  Now that's cheap!!!

Directions:
Grate the Fels-Naptha soap with a cheese grater and put into a large pot (if you don't have a large pot, just use a small one and then transfer into a bucket for mixing after heating). Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts. Add washing soda and borax and stir until both are dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water (or pour these 4 cups into a bucket, then add your soap mixture to it) and stir. After that, add 1 gallon of water, along with 6 cups of HOT water and stir. Let sit for about 24 hours and it will "gel". Once it is done sitting, I pour it into old laundry detergent jugs that I have saved. (but you could put it into any container of your choice)
I use about 1/2 cup to 1 cup per load of laundry. You have to shake up the bottle before you use the soap each time because it tends to settle. Also, it isn't really a "sudsy detergent, so don't be alarmed if you don't see suds in the water when you add it. 
*If you prefer to use powdered detergent over liquid, you can use the above ingredients minus the water.  However, please realize that if you wash your clothes in cold water to conserve energy, the powder tends to cake up and not dissolve well.

*If you have trouble finding these products at your store of choice, I've found that Kroger's carries all of these products.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Wonderful World of Vinegar!! :)

If you're like me, then you hate to clean your house with a bunch of chemicals that can be harmful to your family.  So I wanted to share the things I've discovered about cleaning with vinegar.  "Vinegar?", you ask.  Yes, vinegar!  "But won't my house stink like vinegar?", you ask.  Not at all....once you clean, the vinegar evaporates, taking the stink with it and leaving behind nothing but sparkly clean!!! :)  With just some plain white vinegar and a few other simple ingredients, you will be able to clean pretty much anything in your home!!  I've compiled a list of some of my favorites below:

Make your own scouring cleanser for tough stains by combining 1/4 cup baking soda with 1 tablespoon liquid detergent. Add just enough white distilled vinegar to give it a thick but creamy texture.

To clean faucets that have lime buildup, use a paste made of 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar.

Deodorize the garbage disposal by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal.

Clean the microwave by mixing 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Bring it to a rolling boil inside the microwave. Baked-on food will be loosened, and odors will disappear. Wipe clean.  (this is a favorite of mine since I used to hate scrubbing the microwave clean!!!)

Cut through the nasty grime in your kitchen with a cloth and full-strength white distilled vinegar....this included the top of your frig, the window of the oven, the stove surface and any other spot in the kitchen where that grime tends to settle.

To remove mildew and soap scum from the tub, tile, shower curtain or door, wipe with undiluted white distilled vinegar. Rinse with water. (for really tough stains, it helps to scour with baking soda as well)

Kill germs all around the house with a spray bottle of full-strength white distilled vinegar. Wipe clean with a damp cloth.

Deodorize the toilet bowl by allowing 3 cups white distilled vinegar to sit in it for about a half hour before flushing. (to give it a deep clean, let the vinegar sit overnight and then scrub with a toilet brush in the morning)

For cleaning hard surface floors (vinyl, linoleum, wood), use one cup white distilled vinegar for every gallon of water. (for tough stains on hard floors, pour vinegar directly on the stain, followed by baking soda and scrub)

Wipe down walls with undiluted white distilled vinegar on a cloth or a sponge mop for a fresh spring cleaning to your house. (I do this at least twice a year!!)

Clean and disinfect baby toys and books by wiping down with distilled vinegar.  (this is a favorite of mine...I use it on my son's stuff all of the time)

Give windows a good clean and extra shine by wiping down with vinegar.

*There are many more non-house cleaning things that can be done with vinegar including removing dry paint from paintbrushes by soaking them in boiling vinegar, removing wallpaper by spraying with a mixture of hot water and vinegar, get rid of flies by sitting out a small dish filled with distilled vinegar...just to name a few! 

**Warning- do not clean marble surfaces with vinegar because the acid in it can damage the marble.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Activity Learning Board

I was recently letting my son play with my hoodie because he enjoyed zipping and unzipping the zipper on it, when I realized, "why don't I make something for him with a zipper on it that he can have and use to learn how to zip/unzip things?".  So I came up with a neat way to give him an activity board that includes the zipper that I wanted , as well as buttons for learning to button/unbutton and shoe strings to learn to tie his shoes.  Wanting to keep it rather cheap and simple,and being the eco-friendly person that I am, I came up with a great little activity board by re-using things I found around the house.... I reused a zipper from an old hoodie that was worn out to get the zipper, I used some wide ribbon from a previous project that I combined with old buttons to make a button strip (to make the button strips, simply cut 2 strips of wide ribbon, cut button holes evenly apart in 1 strip and on the other strip, sew buttons equal to the holes on the other strip), and I used some old shoe strings for tying....put them all on a poster board...and that's it.  I took a hot glue gun and attached the zipper and button strip (only attaching the tops of the zipper and only one side of the button strip) and for the shoe strings, I just poked them through the poster board and tied knots in the backs to hold them in place.  I added some lettering stickers that I had on hand for scrapbooking and what not, and there you have it! (below is a picture of the finished product)
I wanted to share this with all the parents of young children out there who are looking for something to occupy their child and also give them a way to learn some of the basics!


If you have any questions on the process of making this, please let me know.  I would be glad to help you out!

Organic Weed Killer

Need a weed killer for those pesky weeds that just won't go away with numerous pullings, yet you don't want to cover your outdoor surroundings with dangerous chemicals that are harmful to the environment, to your pets and to your family???  Then never fear, because here is the answer to your problems....an organic weed killer made from simple ingredients that can be found around your kitchen!  Just follow these simple steps!

Ingredients:
1 quart white vinegar
1/4 cup salt
2 teaspoons liquid dish soap

Directions:
Pour vinegar into a bowl or bucket.  Stir in salt until it dissolves.  Slowly add the liquid dish soap.  Gently mix all ingredients (try not to mix too vigorously to keep the soap from sudsing).  Add the mix to an old garden sprayer or spray bottle and you're ready to use.

*Note- it may take a few sprayings to kill off the toughest of weeds, but it's worth the extra effort in order to keep chemicals out of our environment.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

I'm a firm believer in the fact that anything homemade is better than store bought! 
Therefore, my first recipe that I would like to share is for granola bars.  They are simple, quick and something that the whole family is sure to love!

Chewy Granola Bars

4 1/2 cups rolled oats                   1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda                1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup butter (softened)              1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar                  
To this you can add any of the following: chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, raisins, chopped dried fruit, chopped nuts, etc.
In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients listed above.  Then pour into a lightly greased pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes (or until golden brown).  Let cool for approx. 10 minutes then cut into bars.  Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.  Makes approximately 18 bars.
Enjoy!
Chewy Granola Bars Recipe

Friday, September 17, 2010

How it all began....

There were 4 children in my family and my mother stayed home to raise us while my father worked, so therefore, we didn't have much as far as money goes.  In order to make ends meet and to provide a healthy life for our family, my parents decided that living off the land and making/doing as much as we could on our own was the way to go.  We used a lot of homemade products for every day life...laundry detergents, cleaning products, soaps and sometimes even clothes.  In addition, each summer, we had a very large garden, in which we planted a variety of fruits and vegetables and grew them all organically.  From the harvest of our garden, we managed to can and freeze enough food to sustain us throughout the fall/winter/spring until the next year's garden could be harvested.  In addition to the garden, we raised our own livestock of cows and chickens to provide meat and eggs for the family.  From all of this, I learned that it doesn't take a lot of money to provide healthy food and a safe, efficient living environment for a family, but it does take time, hard hands-on work, knowledge about organic products and lots of canning :)!!  Among the many things my parents taught me, being kind to the Earth was something else that I considered valuable....we always tried to keep our little world as clean as we could and not be wasteful. We reused a lot of things (clothes, shirts turned into rags, glass/plastic containers) and found many ways to make use of things that would have otherwise been thrown away. As time went on, and I started a family of my own, I wanted to use the tools and knowledge that my parents had instilled in me to pass on to my own family.  So, that's where I begin my blog....wanting some sort of an outlet in order to pass on to my children and the people around me the things I have learned and am passionate about...living a simple life....eating homemade, organic foods from my own hands and labor....doing my part to keep the Earth safe for my family and those who follow....and just enjoying all that God has provided for us!