Easy DIY Spa Essentials

Relaxing- Home Made Bath Salts   

-Empty Jar with Lid (can re-use any glass jar, a mason jar)

-1 LB Epsom Salt (found in the $.88 section at Wal-Mart by the pharmacy counter)

-3 Drops Essential Oil (I prefer Lavender Oil because of its antibacterial, antibiotic properties)

-1 tsp Course Salt (I have Kosher Salt)

I always fill my jar(s) with the Epsom salt before beginning to make sure I use enough. Then empty your jars with the Epsom salt into a large container the will give you plenty of room to stir, add @ 1-2 tsp coarse salt & mix well (it will keep it from clumping together). Next, add your oils & stir well (that is what the spoon is for). 
As far as the coarse salt, I add 1 tsp per 1/2 pint jar.......

Keep in mind whatever container you use to mix will hold onto the smells from the oils, especially plastics. Note: that is why my funnel says "NOT for food use"

They make great gifts whether you make them ahead of time or need a last minute gift. I always put a nice washcloth in the bag with a small candle. This is also a great way to up-cycle glass.

Milk-Bath Powder

1 Cup   Powdered Milk

½ Cup  Finely ground old fashion oats

½ Cup  Baking soda

2 tsp    Cornstarch

1 tsp    Cream of tarter (found with the spices)

1 tsp    Cinnamon or chocolate powder or even cocoa powder (optional)

The original recipe said to combine everything in the food processor. 

You could even use a smaller chopper like the Magic Bullet to ground the powdered milk and oats. Then add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl & whisk it all together thoroughly.

--Each batch will make 12 ounces, which is three 4-ounce jars

DIY Deodorant

Make Your Own Organic Coconut Oil Deodorant

5 Tbsp Organic Coconut Oil

1/4 cup pure, aluminum free baking soda

1/4 cup Organic Arrowroot Powder

Optional:*9-10 drops essential oil blend of your choice (I enjoy lavender. It has many wonderful properties & it smells very nice too)

**Sift arrowroot powder into a bowl and mix with baking soda. Add in coconut oil and other essential oils of your choice, blending until a paste-like texture is achieved. Place mixture into preferred container- you can use an emptied out deodorant stick or a small glass container. If you chose to use the plastic deodorant stick, note that coconut oil melts at about 76°f, so you may have to refrigerate to keep it solid in the warmer months. 

If using a container, you might try preservative violiv glass, I used a baby food jar, which enhances the quality of your product with time and looks appealing stored on the counter.


Baking Soda works great as well. I had attempted a powder air freshener one day. It was 1/4 cup baking soda with 8-10 drops of lavender oil. Well, I just thought it did not smell as it should... SOOO I just use it as powder deodorant.  Lavender is also used in the deodorant above & has wonderful antibacterial properties (as well as about 10 other wonderful properties). So why not? It keeps me dry & that is all that matters.
I would have to recommend that you apply it to DRY skin.

Liquid Hand Soap

Liquid Hand Soap

2 full size bars of soap **I used Kirk’s Original Coco Castile

18 cups of water  Because Kirk’s is ‘natural’ is does not thicken, so I only used 10 cups of boiling water &  added 8 cups of water.

Optional:

1/2- 2 tsp  Xantham Gum -a thickening agent (found in baking isle @ $.49 for a small packet)      

Step 1: Grate both bars of soap with a cheese grater.(I used my food processor…it is just soap)

Step 2: In a large 6-8 quart pot bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Reduce to a rolling boil (you can also grate soap while the water is coming to a boil.)

Step 3: Add the grated soap slowly (which now resembles shredded cheese) to the boiling water. Slowly stir the soap until it is all dissolved. Turn off burner (if you are using an electric stove – remove from heat.)

Step 4: Slowly stir in 8 cups of water to the mixture.

Step 5: Let cool. The mixture will sort of thicken while cooling (@ 6-8 hours)  

Step 6: Once the mixture has thickened you could blend with electric hand mixer till it is smooth. My batch did not thicken but that is because the Kirk's soap does not have all of the bad chemicals in it TO thicken it to that 'creamy texture'. No worries, it still cleans & you could add some xantham gum at this point, a tsp at a time to get it to a thickness you want. Just do it SLOWLY & make sure it is dissolved before adding any more in or it will become TOO thick.

Step 7: Pour in large jug/container to store. (I used an empty vinegar jug & old soap refill container)

This filled up 2 Jugs and 3 of the hand soap dispensers shown here

**UPDATE** 9/28/2013
I just wanted to say again how much we LOVE this hand soap. It took our hard-core hand washing family about 6 months to go through all of the soap.

>>> Liquid Hand Soap: Pour as is into soap dispenser.

-Foaming Hand Soap: Use 1/4 cup of liquid to 3/4 cup water in the foaming hand soap dispenser.

-- Thicken up soap that is too thin

> Use common table salt (start with 1/2 cup and add slowly till your soap is the consistency you desire, coarse salt takes forever to dissolve)

**>Xantham Gum (start with 1 tsp and add slowly till soap thickens) I recommend this one!!!!

-- Thin out soap that is thick

Use a hand mixer and blend until it is smooth

Thin out with hot water (add slowly mixing it till it is the right consistency)

Tips

> Buy a Foaming Hand Soap Dispenser. This is a great idea if your soap turns out too thin as you add water to soap to help with the foaming.

Add 1 TBSP  Glycerin when making to help dry hands.

Do your homework on soaps.. the popular name brand soaps have some nasty chemicals in them.

check our your soap at

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

All About Baby

I have recently found out that popular baby bath products contain formaldehyde... yuck & no thank you. So here are some recipe's that I found that I have tried & have worked for me.
I also recycle old shampoo bottles... ask people to save them for you. You can clean them very well & they work great with out spending a ton of $$.


Diaper Cream
I have learned that Coconut Oil is a fantastic Diaper rash cream & is even safe to use on cloth diapers. Doesn't that sound SOOO much better then putting carcinogen's on that cute bottom?...

Did you know that most Diaper rash creams contain a chemical known as BHA? 
" BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) is a preservative and stabilizer; U.S. National Toxicology Program, a part of the National Institutes of Health, has classified BHA as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" based on evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals."
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/700740/BHA/#

And, I am not going to lie, we had originally bought 'bum cream' from the dollar store before. Have you read those ingredients? The main inactive ingredient was BORIC ACID.
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/700799/BORIC_ACID/

Toy Cleaner       using a  1:1 Ratio

- Vinegar

- Distilled Water

- Couple drops of Lemon or Tea Tree Oil

Put into spray bottle & shake, spray & wipe dry

Baby Powder

- 1/2 Cup Corn Starch

- 1/2 Cup Arrowroot

- 12-15 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Combine & put into jar with ‘shaker’ & let it sit for a couple of days. Once oils start losing their smell add a few more drops, shake & store for a few more days before using.

Can also recycle an empty spice jar.

Baby Shampoo

- 12 OZ Distilled Water

- 4-5 TBPS Castile Soap Flakes (I used Kirk's)

- 1-2 Drops Essential Oil (I used Lavender)

Kirk's can be found in the body wash/soap isle in walmart for $3.28 for a package of 3

Step 1: Put water in a small pan & bring to a boil. 

Step 2: (can be done while waiting for water to boil) Grate your soap. Honestly, I used my food processor. It took less then 2 minutes. But you can use a cheese grater as well.

Step 3: When water comes to a boil, remove from heat & let sit for 1-2 minutes. Then add in your soap. Stir with a metal spoon until all clumps have melted.

*if you stir with a plastic/wooden spoons you will risk the spoon soaking in the Oils you will be adding* 

Step 4: Add Essential Oil.

I put into a clean, recycled, empty plastic container. It will more than likely be dropped on floor or bathtub with a little one trying to grab it.

Don't get into baby's eyes "Tear-Free Shampoo" does not mean what you think. Shampoo should not get into eyes.. but in life, it happens just flush with water.

"Many believe that baby shampoo manufacturers have turned to other chemical additives to help neutralize this stinging. Tear-free shampoos aren't really tear-free, rather, they contain other chemicals that work by numbing or paralyzing the tear ducts, reducing the reaction the eyes have to the sodium lauryl sulfate."

From: http://voices.yahoo.com/bathed-toxins-baby-shampoos-arent-as-mild-as-they-9994401.html?cat=25

Simple, DIY All Purpose Cleaner

Simple Cleaning

Lets start with the simplest All Purpose Cleaner out there... are you ready?

What you will need:
     -An empty Mason Jar (I recycled a glass juice jar)
     -Orange Peels
     -Vinegar

     -Kitchen Strainer (for the large pieces)     
     -Cheese cloth or cheap stocking (sold in dollar stores. I use a stocking & wash it afterwards; let dry before putting it away)
     -Funnel (optional, but makes it easier to transfer to a spray bottle)

Ever found yourself eating a lot of oranges?  Save those peels, put them into a mason jar. When it is full, fill the jar with white vinegar; put the lid on (I do shake mine every so often) then let it sit for 2 weeks or so. It can even go for up to a month. 

When it is done, I strained the big pieces using a regular strainer & then ended up taking a cheap stocking (I do not have a cheese cloth) to strain the small pieces into a bowl. Then using a funnel I poured into a spray bottle filling it up 1/2 way. Fill the rest with water. 

This is a super concentrated cleaner, so I took the concentrated part & filled up my Rinse agent compartment of my dishwasher. I keep the left overs in a glass jar in my cabinet.

This cleaner is awesome. I can clean the whole kitchen, the bathrooms & it works great on glass.

I have also tried a batch with grapefruit... i will keep you posted.

UPDATE (5/16/2013): This grapefruit cleaner came out really well. I let this batch sit for about a month. I reused an old cleaner bottle & the batch made exactly 1/2 of the spray bottle so I just filled the rest up with water.

Educate Yourself

Lets start with researching the products in your household that are actually dangerous to you & your families health www.cosmeticdatabase.com is where I started.

Did you also know that 

“women who work at home have a 55% higher risk of dying from

cancer than do women who work outside the home”.

from Chemerical: Redefining Clean for a New Generation

 I challenge you to look up all of the products in your house hold.

Go ahead, gather up all of your cleaning products.... where do they rate on the toxic(10)- no toxic scale(0)??

Now, what about personal products? Deodorant, shaving cream, soap, shampoo/conditioner, make-up, facial cleanser/moisturizer, sunscreen, your baby wash/shampoo... anything that goes ON your body..

 I also discovered that there was formaldehyde in my popular name brand baby products & there were known carcinogens in my hand soap & shampoo. I now have found recipes for ALL of them. And it is SO MUCH CHEAPER to just make it yourself. It is something the whole family can be involved in. I don't know about you but we are a single income family & we need to save everything we can while living a healthy lifestyle. 

Products on the market today are full of things that are harmful to your health, they are also very expensive. My cleaners only cost me a few dollars a batch & last for months. So, I urge you to look to see what toxic chemicals you have lurking under your sink, above your fridge, in your bathroom & even your shower.

I have also seem some pretty powerful movies/documentaries. My husband & I learned so much from them.

The first we watched was Food INC... Then it turned into one documentary after another. (All of these movies are actually on Netflix, we do not have cable & there are no local movie rental stores here, if you know of more PLEASE SHARE)

Hungry For Change

Vegucated

Fat Sick & Nearly Dead

Forks Over Knives

Food Matters

Frankensteer

This following documentary changed our 'chemical' home into a clean, chemical-free home. I can not physically walk down the cleaning isle now, it gives me a headache.

Chemerical: Redefining Clean for a New Generation

And these are just very interesting, we do brew our own beer & Meade so we found these entertaining & still informative.

Beer Wars

How Beer Saved the World

On another note, I LOVE LOVED LOVED The Business of Being Born & recently More Business of Being Born. They were powerful & well informed educational movies about children born in America & how the Dr's. control how WE give birth. I wish I had seen them BEFORE my daughter was born, I believe that our birthing experience would have gone a LOT differently. But now I know & I can only grow.

Pregnant in America was also good.

Welcome

Welcome. I am so glad you stopped by. My name is Nicole. I am a wife & mother trying to get back to a more simple & chemical free living. Please look around, I have great ideas from home made snacks & healthy food to simple Do It Yourself No Chemical cleaning. I am looking forward to this journey called Life & glad you decided to join me. I love learning new things, so please share any suggestions that you do in your house.