February 2, 2014 by Cindy-just-living

Laundry Detergent

We started making our own laundry detergent about a year ago and then suddenly it just became easier to buy a “green” detergent and fabric softener. So, for the last couple of months that was what we were using. However, I have recently had eczema reappear. Whenever this happens, I try to evaluate what I have had to eat or what I have contacted that could have set it off. After carefully ruling everything out, it has come down to the detergent and fabric softener. So, I have once again mixed the ingredients of the homemade detergent and I am using vinegar as a fabric softener. I have seen almost an immediate improvement. The detergent that I mix is dry, but it dissolves easily and does a very nice job cleaning the clothes and making them smell fresh.

I wish I could give credit to the website where I long ago found the recipe, but I simply do not remember.

Laundry Detergent with Borax

2 cups of borax
2 cups of washing soda
2 cups baking soda
1 bar of Felsnaptha (grate using a cheese grater).

Simply mix all the ingredients together in a container. Use 1/8 cup for a regular (medium) load of laundry.

During our Hippy Weekend, I saw my little granddaughter after her bath. Unfortunately, she seems to have inherited the sensitive skin gene and she had several patches of eczema. We decided to research some websites that had recipes for laundry detergent without the Borax. It appeared that most people were substituting the borax with the baking soda. We followed the suggestions and mixed the following detergent.

Laundry Detergent without Borax
2 cups washing soda
3 cups baking soda
1 grated bar of Felsnaptha.

Mix all of the ingredients and use 1/8 cup for a medium load of laundry.

Another Hippy Weekend Success!!!!

February 2, 2014 by Cindy-just-living

Non-Toxic Deodorant

Our next Hippy Weekend project was to make some non-toxic deodorant. This recipe is again, largely from the mymerrymessylife.com blog with some modifications. I would encourage our readers to please check out the mymerrymessylife.com blog to see this recipe without the modifications that we have made.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons beeswax (pastilles)
¾ cup arrowroot powder
¼ cup baking soda
1/2 cup coconut oil

1. Combine all the ingredients in a pan.

2. Melt and stir the ingredients on medium heat until fully combined. (You could add an essential oil after the ingredients have melted. We chose to not add a scent.)

3. Pour the contents of the pan into the plastic deodorant stick containers. (We purchased ours from amazon.com; however, you could recycle your used empty containers from commercial deodorants.)

4. Let the contents cool until firm.

This made 3 deodorant sticks.

Hippy Weekend Success!!!

February 2, 2014 by Cindy-just-living

Baby Lotion Recipe

This recipe was taken from mymerrymessylife.com blog with a couple of modifications. We substituted arrowroot powder in place of the zinc oxide powder. As mentioned in a previous post, the zinc oxide powder may have some toxicity. We also melted all of the ingredients in the jars instead of in a double boiler. The author of mymerrymessylife suggested web sites to purchase the ingredients. We have omitted them here.
Baby Lotion:
1 cup shea butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup almond oil
1 1/2 tablespoons beeswax
1 tablespoon arrow root powder
Optional: 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin or pure aloe-vera (optional for added skin protection)
Optional – 10 drops of lavender or other essential oil of choice for fragrance

1. Place all of the ingredients into a glass jar or container.

2. Place the glass container into a pot that has simmering water. (Make sure that the level of the water is not higher than the level of the ingredients in the glass container. Also, make sure that the container will not allow the water to splash inside with the ingredients.) We used a pint jar.

3. When all the ingredients have melted together, remove from the boiling water pan.

4. Stir the ingredients to make sure it is completely mixed and allow the containers to cool and the lotion to set.

(This lotion is not pour-able, but more the consistency of a lotion bar.)

A tiny bit of this lotion will go a long way. It also will take some extra time to completely rub into the skin. It leaves your skin very silky. We like it!! A Hippy Weekend Success!!

February 2, 2014 by Cindy-just-living

Diaper Rash Cream Recipe

As every mom knows, diaper rash is one of the things that must be treated and you always worry about the toxicity of the ingredients used in some of the most popular commercial remedies.. This is the recipe we used during our Hippy Weekend.

1 cup organic, raw unrefined shea butter
1/2 cup organic, raw coconut oil
1 tbsp. pastilles (beeswax)
3 tbsp. arrow root powder
2 tbsp. vegetable glycerin

1. Using a double boiler method, melt the shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax together. This takes less than five minutes.
2. Remove these from the double boiler and add the arrow root powder and glycerin.
3. Using a mixer, beat the mixture for 5 minutes.

4. Pour the mixture into your containers and allow it to set. Ours took about 2 to 3 hours before it was completely set. This will be a stiff cream consistency.

(We found that using a pint jar might be a way to store the cream. but it was not an efficient way to access the cream. The wide mouth 1/2 pint jar was much easier to use.)

This recipe is mostly taken from the blog, mymerrymessylife.com. However, we modified the recipe listed on this blog by substituting arrow root powder in place of the zinc oxide powder. After researching the zinc oxide ingredient, my daughter in law found that it has been thought to contain some toxicity.