Cloth Baby Wipe Solution

I failed at cloth wipes with my first baby.  Poor L had to get used to the Costco wipes I eventually settled on, but I really wish I had stuck with it.  If I set my mind to it, I can stick with just about anything.  Well...maybe that's a stretch.  There are things I thought I set my mind to that I've given up on.  But anyway, I was determined to cloth diaper, and cloth diaper I did!  I knew using cloth wipes would be simple to wash and reuse, but I never got my solution down, and the spray each wipe method I was using just didn't work for me.  I never got the wipe evenly wet and I often ended up with a mess.  This time, I decided to dedicate my wipes warmer to the cloth wipes and try different batches until I get it right!  I'm about ready for my second experiment, but I'm going to blog the first so that I have it for reference.  Here goes...

Cloth Baby Wipe Solution

1 cup witch hazel

2 T aloe vera

3 T oil (grapeseed)

1 T vitamin E oil

4 drops lavender essential oil

4 drops tea tree essential oil

This makes about 1 1/2 cups and I divide it in half to add to my wipes with about a cup of filtered water each time.  The problems I'm encountering is how to get the wipes evenly wet with the oils distributed throughout since oil and water don't mix.  I may need to look into emulsifiers.  (It's really strange that I'm using any type of science-y vocabulary.  I was a good student, but BAD at science.)  Attempt number two probably coming tomorrow since I'm almost out of wipes!!

Hand Sanitizer

I forgot to post this recipe when I made it over the summer.  I made it exactly from this blog http://www.diynatural.com/how-to-make-natural-hand-sanitizer/ except I used Rosemary instead of Lavender and did about 1/4 recipe to fit into a three oz bottle.  This is one of my favorites that I've made.  It is much more moisturizing, and I can tell that it is healthier for my hands than commercial hand sanitizers.

For my own personal recipe collection, the ingredients are:

10 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
1 tsp Witch Hazel
1/4 cup Aloe Vera gel
A few drops vitamin E oil

**Edited 5/1/15 to drop Rosemary EO. I now recommend adding a few extra drops of something like cedarwood or patchouli that are considered safe for kids. Check out planttherapy.com for the essential oils I use.

Natural Deodorant Without Baking Soda

Making my own deodorant was one of my first DIY semi-failures.  When it worked, it worked great!  I noticed less sweat and odor, but unfortunately my skin periodically reacts to it.  I did a little research and found out that I am not alone.  Some people have success with omitting baking soda and doubling the arrowroot powder.  I was a little hesitant because I know that baking soda absorbs scent and moisture, so I tried to ignore the reaction and I’ve used the deodorant with baking soda on and off for months.  I finally got fed up with it, but there is no chance I want to go back to the chemicals in my old deodorant.  The natural store-bought deodorants haven’t worked well either, so clearly it is time to try making it without baking powder.  I looked at some recipes online and am ready to test my own concoction!

Natural Deodorant Without Baking Soda

1/8 cup shea butter

1/8 cup coconut oil

10 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

10 drops Grapefruit Essential Oil

Splash of Vitamin E Oil

¼ cup arrowroot powder

I made my own double boiler with a small sauce pan with an inch or so of water.  Inside I used a 2-cup pyrex type glass container that I happen to use to store my deodorant. A 1-cup will definitely work next time, probably even if I double the recipe.  I measured out the shea butter first since it has the hottest melting temp.  As it was melting, I added the coconut oil and heated until completely liquefied.  I added the essential oil next and mixed.  Finally, I added the arrowroot powder and stirred until the powder was completely mixed in.  I planned to take the container off the stove first, but I couldn’t figure out how to get it out of the saucepan without using my fingers!  

I’m typing this as it cools and I’m swirling it around periodically to keep the ingredients mixed.  It smells amazing.  I’m not a grapefruit person, but I recently discovered that I LOVE the scent of grapefruit essential oil.  I can’t wait for it to cool completely so I can try it!!!

Foaming Shaving Soap

Now that I've got two little critters to contend with, simple is everything!  Today, the big one worked on his workbook learning colors and letters while I refilled the homemade wipes solution, my body wash, and tried my new shaving soap recipe!  I hardly ever have time to use this product--someone is always crying for mom or has to leave for work in two minutes and can't watch the critters any longer--but I'll try to test it out in the next day or so.  

Foaming Shaving Soap
1/4 cup liquid castille soap
1/4 cup filtered water
1/4 cup aloe vera gel
3 tsp oil (must be liquid at room temp)
1 tsp vitamin E oil (natural preservative)
Essential oil drops for fragrance if desired
foaming soap bottle (6-8oz)

Add ingredients to soap bottle and shake to combine.

See, that was easy!  Now, to spend the rest of the time hunting for a good price on more liquid castille soap since I'm almost out, and I need it before I run out of laundry detergent!  Seriously, I do at least one load a day to keep up with my precious family.  And speaking of family, I should really change my profile picture to include baby J.  Add it to the list!

Raw Honey Body Wash

It's been a while since I last posted a do-it-yourself recipe.  The end of pregnancy was quite tiring and I put all my extra energy into going for long walks to keep myself in good shape and hopefully END the pregnancy.  Ending didn't really happen since I barely went into labor before my 41 week 6 day induction was scheduled, but at least I had a shorter than average labor.  :)  

This morning, I realized it was time to make some body wash.  I've tried this recipe once before, but I ran out a few days after J was born.  I don't have the stamina to do any of this stuff yet, but I just couldn't wait another day!  (Right now, he's 15 days old.)  Luckily, like most recipes, it was a quick mix.  I liked the first batch so much that I doubled it this time!

Body Wash
1 1/3 cup of liquid castile soap
1/2 cup of honey (raw, unfiltered is best)
4 tsp oil (olive, grape seed, jojoba--NOT coconut, needs to be liquid at room temp)
2 tsp Vitamin E oil
20-40 drops Essential oil

Combine ingredients in a squirt or pump top bottle.  Shake to combine.

Some tips: 
I use a pyrex measuring cup with a spout for the oil and soap.  Measuring out the soap first keeps the honey from sticking to the cup too badly.  Heat the honey a little if it is solid so it is easier to pour--hopefully I didn't destroy too many of the raw properties!  I bought most ingredients at Trader Joe's.  I used peppermint castile soap, which is quite powerful, so I only used 20 drops of tea tree essential oil because of its antibacterial properties.  I get that from Mountain Rose Herbs (online), but I'm looking into doTerra for the future purchases though they are quite expensive.  I've been reading that essential oils are not regulated, so you have to find a trustworthy company.  (Not that I've got any complaints about Mountain Rose Herbs.)  The words "pure" and "organic" can be relative terms in the industry.  

I'm not using DIY shampoo anymore because my hair is very picky.  (Isn't everyone's?)  But, in a pinch, this recipe is so close to the shampoo I was making that I'd use it for a day or two if I ran out of my store-bought stuff.  I'm currently using Organix--you can get it just about anywhere--but I'm taking suggestions.  I've got wavy/curly hair that needs moisture!   

DIY Non-Toxic Sunscreen

I can’t believe how much I didn’t know about sunscreen.  I almost always get burned once in the spring or summer before I remember that I need to use it, and then pat myself on the back for preventing skin cancer!  Well…according to my research, I may be doing the opposite as there are several toxins in most commercial products that can CAUSE CANCER! 

Sunscreen didn’t always exist, and skin cancer (cancer in general) statistics used to be much lower.  So how did people prevent sunburn in the past?  The answer may be as simple as this: God provides!  Many of the berries and other produce that grow in warm, sunny months, give us natural sun protection through anti-oxidants!  Yet another reason to consume fresh, local, seasonal produce!  Also worth noting is that we need vitamin D in fairly high doses which we get from the sun.  Blocking all those rays can cause a new set of problems.  So during the summer, I try to let my skin have unfiltered sunlight for some of the day and use the homemade sunblock for walks and other times when we’ll be in the sun at peak hours (10am-2pm).  I don’t generally re-apply, but I may as we get into hotter weather and/or go swimming.

This sunscreen recipe could use a little adjustment.  Summer hasn’t really hit in the Midwest, and we’ve hardly had a day in the 70s.  Beeswax keeps the oils from being completely liquid, but unless it’s really hot outside it is a SOLID.  It would never work in a tube.  I keep about ¼ of this recipe in a tin I got from mountainroseherbs.com and the rest in a small jar.  I’ll probably use 1/8^th of a cup next time and see how it goes.

Homemade Sunscreen

1/4 cup beeswax pellets (they melt much faster than a stick of wax!)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup coconut oil (natural SPF 4)

2 Tablespoons Zinc Oxide (aprox. SPF 20)

1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil

2 tablespoons Shea Butter (natural SPF 4-5)

Essential oils

(Most if not all ingredients can be found on amazon)

1. Melt beeswax in a jar placed in a saucepan with a few inches of water over medium heat.

2. Add olive oil, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, and shea butter and continue melting. Shake or stir occasionally.

3. When everything is completely melted, remove from heat and thoroughly stir     in zinc oxide.

4. Continue stirring occasionally as it cools to room temperature. 

I used citronella essential oil to give a little bit of bug resistance to my sunscreen!  Coconut oil makes this mixture feel a little greasy, but it does absorb in the skin after a while, and coconut oil has only done good things for my skin.  Unlike some recipes I’ve heard about, this one does not leave white residue.  It is completely transparent once applied.

I’ve used it for a few weeks in Wisconsin spring time, and only got a little pink in some places that I must not have completely covered.  My almost three-year-old has not gotten pink at all! 

I don’t know if zinc oxide is recommended for infants, though it is a common rash cream ingredient, but it would be easy enough to put straight coconut oil and/or shea butter on a baby for extra sun protection that he or she may not get from the shades we try to keep up at all times!

DIY Non-Toxic Liquid Laundry Detergent

I’m a few weeks behind in my blogging.  I’ve experienced a return to pregnancy exhaustion that I’m pretty sure is related to my thyroid starting to cause problems again.  (Long story for another post.)  I’m exhausted today, too, but since my grocery run was done on Saturday, and laundry is almost finished, I have this dreary Monday mostly free. 

I posted earlier about homemade powdered laundry detergent.  It gets mixed reviews from me.  I grew up on liquid detergent.  It’s what I know.  Since we have a lot of dark clothing and my little guy LOVES red, I wash mainly in cold water.  The problem with cold water is that the castile soap doesn’t dissolve very well.  I’ve made it through most of my batch of detergent by liquefying it as much as possible in a jar with hot tap water before each load.  I’d be more than willing to put in two extra minutes with each load of laundry, but since I still occasionally see soap flakes left on my clothes, I decided it was time to move on to a new recipe—as long as I can continue to use the bar soap I already purchased!

If I’ve learned anything from my do-it-yourself journey, it’s patience.  I expect my first attempts to be less than perfect plan to tweak recipes as I learn more.  If you want store-bought results every time, don’t try it at home!  I still believe it will be worth it in the long run.

Today’s laundry detergent batch is in the overnight waiting step, but I’ll post the recipe now and results in a few weeks.  This is modified from blogs I’ve read and scaled to fit in the one and only empty detergent bottle I have (1.45 gal).

Liquid Laundry Detergent

¼ bar of castile soap (Dr. Bonner’s baby mild)

2 cups of water

1 gal water

¼ cup borax

¼ cup washing soda

Essential oil if desired

Large bucket, with lid if possible

Empty detergent bottle or other storage container

1. Grate soap in blender, food processer, or cheese grater

2. Heat soap in sauce pan with two cups of water over low-medium heat, stirring frequently until completely dissolved.

3. Meanwhile, add 1 gal very hot tap water to bucket. Add borax and washing soda.  Mix thoroughly. 

4.  Pour soap and water mixture into bucket and stir to combine. 

5. Cover and let sit overnight.

6. Stir until smooth and transfer into storage container.

7. Use 1/2- 1 cup per load.

Results to come!  I also hope to try recipes without borax (some consider it harmful) and with liquid castile soap instead of bar soap once I run out of the bars I have.

DIY Almond Milk

I went from amazed, to disappointed, to thrilled with my first almond milk attempt.  I followed directions from another blog that said the taste of plain almond milk was great.  So despite the overnight almond soak, I was super impressed with how quick and easy it was to make.  Then I tasted it.  Almonds soaked in water and blended tastes like almond water.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that, and I knew my picky two-year-old, who still talks about “cow milk” to this day, would not stand for this attempt.  Since I’d read about honey, vanilla, dates, etc., I started flavoring by adding a teaspoon of honey. Then I tried adding a splash of vanilla.  Neither ingredient was very helpful.  Hours later, after talking to a friend, I checked my remaining carton of almond milk to see what magical ingredient I was missing.  I prayed I was not craving some preservative or chemical.  Low and behold: SALT!  I threw a dash into my pitcher and stirred.  I can’t believe salt is the answer, but it is!  Fortunately, not much is required. 

Immediately I began soaking almonds for the next test batch because my honey-vanilla, lightly salted quart of almond milk is almost gone!

Why make almond milk yourself? 

• The added vitamins in store brand almond milk are synthetic.  Our bodies don’t always absorb them, and they can lead to many health problems.  http://theprimalparent.com/2012/05/16/additives-almond-milk-how-to-make/
• An article I read by an almond farmer said that he could tell the difference between ages of almonds by looking at them.  Pasteurization allows older almonds to be considered “healthy” and used in all kinds of products. 
• Raw almonds are essentially illegal to sell right now due to past salmonella outbreaks.  Almonds can be pasteurized in a few different ways, but even “raw” almonds have, at the very least, been steamed.  At worst, they are treated with a toxic chemical called propylene oxide.  (According to one source, Almond Breeze almonds are steam pasteurized.  Sigh of relief!)  If you buy your own, you can check your source…Trader Joe’s almonds are steam treated.  http://foodidentitytheft.com/trying-to-avoid-almonds-that-are-gassed-heres-a-little-guide/  (for more information) 

Forgive me for getting political…  The government has done some great things for us, like mandating that food labels have ingredient lists and nutrition facts.  On the other hand, they are prone to legislating things like pasteurization that seem to solve one problem while creating tons of others!  Frankly, real, natural food has become so expensive that most families have no choice but to accept the chemicals in processed food.  This leads us to have more and more health problems that make us more dependent on increasingly expensive health care that the practically bankrupt government feels the need to pick up the tab for.  And with the government getting their fingers into our healthcare, can we expect improvement, or just more cheap and quick solutions that end up causing problems?  End sermon.  Thank you in advance for not biting my head off if you disagree.

After a few trial batches, here is my tested and toddler-approved almond milk recipe!

Almond Milk (with Almond Meal and/or Almond Flour)

1 Cup of almonds, soaked overnight

4 cups of water

A dash of salt

1 tsp Vanilla (pure tastes way better than imitation)

1 Tbsp Honey

Cinnamon and other spices as desired (chocolate?)

Blender, some kind of filter, pitcher or jar

1. Soak almonds in filtered water for about 24 hours.  (Soaking makes a HUGE difference.  The longer you can afford to soak, the better, though you can theoretically soak for an hour or not at all.)

2. Strain off soaking water.  Put almonds in a really good blender with one cup of filtered water.  (Just one if you don’t want water to start leaking out the top!  Maybe that was just my problem.)  Blend until almonds are in pretty tiny pieces. 

3. Add three more cups of water and pulse to combine.

4. Using cheese cloth or a nut milk bag, strain the almond pulp into a pitcher, squeezing out the remaining water.

5. Stir in salt, vanilla, honey, and other spices.  Milk should keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.  Makes about a quart.

Don’t stop now!  You can…

• Add your almond pulp right into smoothies for texture and any left over protein.  Supposedly it will freeze well.
• Dehydrate by spreading on a cookie sheet and baking for about an hour at 170 degrees F.  This “almond meal” would be very useful for making almond crusted fish or chicken.  Or you can 
• put the almond meal back into the (dry) blender for a few more seconds to turn into almond flour.

Can I just throw it away?  NO.  Almond flour sells for around $10/lb.  Remember, we’re trying to be healthy and save money.

DIY Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent (powder)

I used to think making household products would be a ridiculous waste of time.  Seriously.  I watched the 17/18/19 Kids and Counting episode where they made their own detergent, and I thought, that would be great--if I had four teenage girls to help me!   When I started my quest for toxin-free (ahem…reduced) living, I knew laundry detergent would be high on my list even if it took all afternoon to make.  I am already committed to cloth diapering, which requires a little extra detergent knowledge, so I was aware of the benefits of making my own. 

I was prepared for a significant time commitment yesterday when I discovered I couldn’t find the cheese grater.  That’s right.  The cheese grater.  I was going to grate a bar of castile soap by hand.  I don’t even grate cheese.  (Perhaps that’s why it was missing?)  I called my husband who sometimes reorganizes the kitchen when I’m not looking.  He didn’t know where it went either, and he wasn’t about to come home from work just to help me find it.  (I know, right?)

The missing grater turned out to be a huge blessing as it took my prep time down to 5 MINUTES.  I dropped the brick of soap into my cheap ninja blender ($30ish normally, paid $7 on Black Friday two years ago) and hoped for the best.  After the ninja took half a second to ponder its task, it whipped that soap into flakes in a few seconds.  I LOVE MY NINJA!  I can’t believe I almost put it back that day at the store.  From there, it was so simple to mix in the borax, washing soda, and a few drops of tea tree oil for scent.  I was so excited that I ran right upstairs to grab a load of laundry!

Now, for as much time and money as I saved, any diligent powder detergent user can tell you that it works best if you dissolve your detergent in warm water before pouring it in.  This does add time to your life.  But really.  In the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal.  I’ve been a liquid user from birth, so it is an extra step for me. 

Results: I was highly impressed with my clean, lightly scented laundry.  I can’t wait to run out of my last bottle of liquid detergent so I can use my own full time!  I’m not going to calculate the cost on this one, but one of my sources said that it costs about $.07 a load, which is about a third of typical costs.  Also, I used Dr. Bonner’s baby mild soap, but they have a tea tree scent, which would save even adding the essential oil.

Note: I’ve heard that borax and washing soda are not great for cloth diapers, so I’ll be working on a recipe sometime after #2 makes his/her appearance.  But probably not soon since newborns are exhausting, and I have lots of CD-friendly detergent left over from #1. 

Detergent Recipe

1 cup borax

1 cup washing soda

1 bar Dr. Bonner’s Castile soap (a few other brands of soap work, but if you are going for non-toxic, this is one of the most trusted)

A few drops of essential oil if desired (I used tea tree because it is naturally anti-bacterial)

NINJA Method:  If you have a good blender (or food processer) blend up the soap bar.  Add the borax and washing soda to the blender to mix.  Add essential oil last and blend again.  Transfer to a container.  Remember to dissolve in warm water before adding to your washing machine.

Grating method: Put the soap in the freezer for an hour, then grate with a cheese grater as finely as possible.  Mix with dry ingredients.  Add essential oil last.