Monday, March 19, 2012

For the Home, Made at Home

I've posted previously about making homemade laundry detergent. I'm still making it and using it, although I have tweaked the recipe some. I still like using it for the cost efficiency, but I've been having some problems with the clothes smelling a little sour. I'm not sure if it's the water here or something about the detergent. I've tried adding essential oil, which helped some. My next thought is to try the Downy Unstoppables or Gain Scent Booster products. But, that would kind of take away from the cost efficiency and chemical free aspects.

I have recently added 2 more products to my homemade list: fabric softener and makeup remover. I found the idea and recipe for the fabric softener from the blog, One Good Thing. I used 1 bottle of Suave conditioner, 6 cups of water, and 3 cups of white vinegar. I mixed up well and poured it into a clean milk carton. I keep a mason jar filled about 2/3 full of the softener with a strip of an old t-shirt. I just pull the t-shirt strip out and throw it into the dryer with my clothes. I don't notice any difference from using this compared to using the store bought dryer sheets. It cost me around a dollar to make 1/2 a gallon of fabric softener!

The makeup remover recipe also came from One Good Thing blog. (This is a blog, by the way!) I heated 1 cup of water for about a minute, dissolved 1 Tbsp coconut oil in the water, and added 1 1/2 Tbsp baby shampoo. I'm storing it in a pint size mason jar. I just dip a cotton ball into the makeup remover and wipe off the makeup. It really works great and smells wonderful! I keep coconut oil on hand, so all I had to buy for this was the baby shampoo. I found a big bottle for about $1.50 at Wal-Mart.

Since I've mentioned it, I want to tell you how much I love coconut oil! I keep a jar and use it on my face, legs, hands, and even on my hair for smoothness. A little bit goes a long way! It is the only thing I have found that I can use on my legs after shaving that doesn't burn like crazy. Heres a list of 52 Uses for Coconut Oil. And here is a whole website dedicated to the use of coconut oil.

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I keep coconut oil too...but honestly, I usually only use it for making fudge. I'll have to try it after shaving though.

Try throwing some white vinegar in with your wash. I do that for towels now and then (plus detergent).

lydia said...

Oh good idea, Elizabeth! I knew there was something I could try putting in there, but all that kept coming to mind was baking soda. I'll try the vinegar on the next load!

Nicole said...

Cool! I am saving this link!