Let's soften things up a bit!

Making your own laundry softener is very easy to do, not too mention cheap!

Materials:

One large mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Measuring cup
Funnel
Container to hold 1 gallon of softener (I use a left over downy bottle plus a container to hold the extra)


Ingredients:

3 Cups of vinegar
2 Cups Conditioner (1 15 oz bottle is exactly 2 cups)
6 Cups water

Procedure:

This is super easy. Squeeze the conditioner into the bowl.
Add two cups of the vinegar to the bowl. Use the remaining one cup to clean out the conditioner bottle (no since in anything going to waste!), add that as well. Add the 6 cups of water and mix well with the spoon. Use the funnel to pour the mixture into your container. Use as you would store bought softener. It takes about 1/4 of a cup.

Now as for the pricing it is right around $1.20 for a GALLON of softener. Not to shabby!

No Heat Required!

In my endeavors to make more of the things we use around the house, I have naturally been drawn towards soap; Body washing soap and laundry soap. The laundry soap will have to wait for about 3 more weeks. You will see why in a minute.

With all things new, the first thing I did is research. And once again this process began over at my partner in crime's house. I guess I just need encouragement because, to be honest, soap making does seem as if it would be incredibly hard. I learned so much about the topic in just one night from watching her and her sister. Actually, just like the toothpaste, it was not that hard at all! So, once again I went home and began to research.

I not only researched the process and the different recipes, (which let me tell you there are lots of), but I also did a bunch of comparison shopping online. That part was probably the most important because if you're not careful you can spend way too much! Here are a few of the places online I compared:

1. http://www.camdengrey.com
2. http://www.soaperschoice.com
3. http://www.mountainroseherbs.com
4. http://wholesalesuppliesplus.com

If you too make soap and have another place for me try please feel free to share!

After I found the best pricing possible I ordered all my supplies. Which recipe did I go with you ask? Well, I am keeping that a surprise until this weekend when I should be able to make my "good" stuff.

So the point of this blog? Well before I use the more expensive oils, I thought I would try a tester soap. So I decided to make a simple lard soap recipe I found at: http://fimby.tougas.net/. I did make one slight change in the process, as the title suggests I am using no heat in the making of this soap. Everything was done at room temperature.

First a little back ground there are two basic soap methods that most soapers use. The first in the hot method which takes a few hours cooking in a crock pot or on top of the stove. The benefit of this process is the cure time does not take nearly as long. The second, and from what I have been reading, the most popular is the cold process method. This one involves placing oils on the stove to melt them and then bringing the temperature back down. Once that is finished you can finish your soap. This process is relatively quick compared to the hot method. The down side is it takes about a month for the soap to cure to where it is usable.

So which method did I use? Neither!

So let's get started.........

The Recipe

4 pounds Lard (I found mine at Wal-Mart however you may want to try a local butcher)
28 oz of water
8.5 oz of Lye (the Lye I found at Menards)

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The Supplies

One large stainless steel or glass microwave safe bowl
One smaller bowl the same as above
Scale
Latex gloves
Eye protection
Immersion blender

Metal spoon
Cardboard box line
Vinegar (just in case of spills. It
neutralizes the lye)




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Once you have everything out and ready to go make sure your counters are completely clear! I forgot to do this and spent a good amount of time cleaning lye splatters. Put on your protective wear. And lets get to work!

First weigh everything out into separate containers. If you use a different recipe with more than one kind of fat or oil you can put like oils into the same containers after they have been measured. The solid oils in one bowl and the liquid oils into another.

Next prepare your lye solution. It is important at this point to have good ventilation because the water and lye mixture will give off some fumes. I placed this batch on my stove top (I have a flat ceramic top to my stove) where I was able to turn on our stove vent that sucked the fumes right away. SLOWLY pour the lye into the water. NEVER the other way around bad things can happen. Stir as you pour until all the crystals dissolve.

Now you need to wait until the lye solution becomes clear. Once it does pour it over your hard oils. The heat the lye and water produces in its chemical reaction will melt your oils. Use a large metal spoon to mash the oils down and to stir. I would not use a whisk the oils just clump up and makes a big mess! Trust me I know, I tried!

Once the oils have melted if you have liquid oils now is when you would add them, but I didn't, so now I began to mix. Use the immersion or stick blender to mix everything together. Mix until the mixture traces. (This is the time you would add color and fragrance) Everything should be blended completely with no little beads of water in the soap mixture.

Now just simply pour the mixture in the mold, smooth it down and tap it a bit to get out any little air bubbles.

I let the soap rest over night and then the next day I cut into bars. Finally, I separated each bar and placed them standing up in a shoe box. Now they need to sit for a few weeks before they will be shredded and used in laundry soap!

From the Kitchen to the Bathroom! Making homemade toothpaste.

I never thought that my first blog post would be about making toothpaste! But here I am. And to be honest I was expecting something a bit harder. The hardest part of the entire process was actually the research. There are so many different ideas and recipes out there when it comes to cleaning our teeth.

How did such an idea ever cross my mind, you may be asking. Well it all came about from watching a friend of mine make soap (this is the same friend who helps spark many of my adventures). During the process she explained some of the other interesting projects her family was doing. One of those happened to be brushing their teeth with baking soda only. Knowing my husband, I knew I had better start looking for an actual "toothpaste" recipe.

So I went home and began researching. The one I chose consisted of a baking soda base for cleaning, Glycerin as a sweetener, mint extract for flavor and water to make it pasty. You could also add salt for an abrasive. I suggest you do a little research yourself to form your own views.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
1c Baking soda
8 tsp glycerin (2 tsp for every 1/4c)
Mint extract to taste
Enough water to form a paste
A squeezable container (I used a plastic ketchup container I got from Walmart)

The Process:
1. Measure out the baking soda
2. Add the glycerin (more can be added if more sweetness is desired) and mint then mix. This mixture will be clumpy.
3. Next add the water a little at a time. You just want the consistency of paste
and if you are not careful it will be too liquidity.
4. Finally carefully pour the paste into the bottle and you are done and ready to brush!

*Note* be sure to shake the bottle before brushing the soda tends to settle at the bottom. And it does not take nearly as much on the brush as store bought to get the job done!


We have been using the paste for a few days now and it seams to be working fine. There is a slight baking soda taste that pops up the longer you brush, but now I hardly notice it. The children are still getting use to it, but when you are use to an overly sweet trainer toothpaste that is to be expected! I guess the real test will be when we go to the dentist for our 6 month check ups.

Some may be wondering about the cost. Is it worth it financially? After dividing everything up and adding everything together the total for the entire tube was $1.13. But after weighing it I realized that it was twice as large of our store bought tube so that price can actually be halved. The nice thing is I have ingredients to make a couple more batches when we run out. If you want to see the math let me know I will gladly share!