Recipes..............

[yogagurl]

Ok, here are the recipes for the homemade soap and other things I made last night with my mom and sisters.

Laundry Soap
1 bar of Ivory or Dove unscented soap
1/2 c washing soda (made by Arm and Hammer and found in the laundry aisle)
1/2 c Borax powder
1 2 gallon bucket

Instructions:
In a large sauce pan add 6 cups of hot water and grate the bar of soap into the hot water. Use a wire whicks to mix the soap into the water. Add the washing soda and Borax and mix until dissolved. Add 4 cups of hot water into the 2 gallon bucket, and then stir in the soap mixture. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water to the bucket. Stir the mixture and add 20 drops of an essential oil if you want to scent the soap. The soap will gel overnight. Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry.

Dishwasher Soap/Scouring Soap
In a plastic container with a firmly fitting lid, mix:
1 cup borax (20-Mule-Team Borax, available in any supermarket)
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid (available in brewing stores among other places--if you haven't tracked it down yet but must try this formula, use two packets of Lemonade-Flavored Kool-Aid, ONLY lemon, or you'll dye your dishwasher! and ONLY unsweetened Kool-Aid!)
10 drops citrus essential oil--lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, or a mixture

Put all of it in the container, shake it up. We use extra salt because we have very hard water. Use 1 tablespoon in each soap cup in your dishwasher. You can also use this mixture as a scouring powder for sinks, tubs, and toilets.

Dryer Sheets
Use a regualr sized washcloth. Pin a large safety pin to the washcloth to clear up statuic, and sprinkle a few drops of your favorite essential oil on the washcloth if you want a scented dryer sheet. Periodically re-apply the essential oil.

Air Freshener
In a spary bottle add 20 drops of your favorite essential oil, then fill 1/3 of bottle with rubbing alcohol and fill the rest of the way with water. Shake, and spray you room liberally.

We had a great time making this stuff last night. My sister has been using all of it, and swears by it. I am actually excited to do my housework this weekend to try it all out!
Kristi

[♥Starlene]

Thanks for these recipes! I buy earth friendly products like dishsoap, laundry soap, dryer sheets etc,,, but these are great ideas too!

((hugs))

[Sloan]

Thanks Kristi! These are really easy things to do too. Often it sounds daunting to put things together but this proves it's not. Thanks again.

[Anamere]

OMG these are great! Thanks a bunch!

[yogagurl]

I did laundry last night, and the soap is great! My clothes came out very nice!

[Sloan]

Good to know. Always better when you get an endorsement from the person who actually uses it! teehee

[saffy]

Can't wait to try them

[dreamwalker67]

Another one for Laundry Detergent

3 C. Borax
3 C. Washing Soda
20 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
30 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Mix all ingredients in an airtight container. Use 1/4 C per load of laundry. Don't be alarmed, this does not suds, but it does a great job cleaning your laundry!

All Purpose Glass/Counter Cleaner

16 oz Distilled Water
80 drops Sweet Orange Essential Oil (not to use on granite)
40 drops Lavender Essential Oil
20 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
1/4 C Distilled White Vinegar


Shake gently before use. Caution: Do not use citrus oils on granite or marble surfaces.

Tilet Bowel Dodorizer

16 oz White Distilled Vinegar
15 drops Tea Tree Oil
10 drops Lemon Oil
15 drops Sweet Orange Oil

Furniture Polish

1 oz Distilled White Vinegar
2 oz Grapeseed Oil
15 drops Sweet Orange Essential Oil
Place ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake gently before use. Use to polish or clean wood. Note: Also great on field greens as a salad dressing!

Anti-viral Room Spray

4 oz distilled water
25 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
25 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
Add essential oils to distilled water in a spray bottle, swirl gently to mix. Spray a room and surfaces generously to kill bacteria and viruses.

[saffy]

Wow. These are great and right up my alley. I remember my mom using Borax a long time ago and she loved it.

[♥Starlene]

You know, I used some laundry soap for a while that was earth friendly,,, it was the "7 generations brand" and the dryer sheets too and my clothes did not feel too great after a while or get too clean either,,, they started looking kinda dull if that makes sense? Anyhow I am back to square one with this,,, maybe I will try some of these suggestions out cause I would love to use something earth friendly and have clean clothes too.... And so far I havent figured out how that is suppose to happen!
I do use the earth friendly cleaners in my house though,,, for the dishes and floors and all that, they seem to come out nice, just the laundry stuff has me puzzled...

Oh and what exactly is Borax? I know its cleaner, I remember having my dad use it once when I was a teenager and the cat brought fleas in the house,,, we sprinkled it in the carpet and they took off, but what is it? Is it something organic or chemical?

[Anamere]

I've experienced the same with some of the natural cleaners. Like our clothes sucked!

I was at a friends house last night and she uses Meleluca brand stuff... it smelled really good! She's a crane operator and it gets the grease out so it's pretty good at cleaning. I hear it's expensive but you pay for that clean and good smell yanno?

I'd like some advice on an alternative to bleach. I tried using natural cleaners starting at the beginning of the year. After 6 months of not using bleach my Tub was so nasty. Before Star and Saffy came I broke down and bleached the bathroom cuz It was embarrassingly nasty... like black mold growing.

Anything you can use on stuff like that? Lemme know. I mean the only other alternative would be to re-caulk and that's a waste too yano?

ok will quit the ramble here