A few months ago I discovered I could make every kind of cleaner I’d ever need from vinegar, baking soda, water, lemon juice and olive oil. I promptly stopped buying the spendy all natural stuff we bought (allergic to all the chemically non-natural things) and started to make my own. About the same time, the price of bread shot up and since we go through a lot of bread and I used to make it back in the days when one loaf lasted forever, I added bread making to my do it yourself list.
The house is cleaner, the bread tastes better, the budget is improved, and it’s turned out to be kind of fun, adding a creative element to the daily routine.
So I branched out. I learned to make hair rinse from apple cider vinegar, and discovered that it worked far better than any of the expensive conditioners I’d shelled out for over the years. I found recipes for tooth powder, shampoo, dish soap. After the first trial of the DIY dish soap, I was amazed to see that it left the sink shiny clean. Nice change from the usual soapy film. It’s also kind to the hands and leaves dishes gleaming.
Dish soap recipe, if you want to try it: 1 oz. liquid castille soap, 2 cups water, 10 drops tea tree oil, 1 tsp olive oil. Use 2 tsp. per sinkful of hot water.
Making all this stuff has turned out to be fun, a big savings, a health benefit (did I mention the allergies?) and good for the environment. Saves time, too; if I run out of something, it takes one minute to mix up more instead of running out to the store.
If there’s something you’ve never tried to make yourself, you might enjoy the DIY experiment.
I hope you post more of these DIY recipes in teh future!!! Thanks char!
I love bath salts, which cost a mint at the store. So every now and then I buy a bag of Epsom salts at the grocery (couple of dollars for 2 quarts’ worth). When I run out of bath salts I pour a cup of the Epsom salts into a glass jar, add a couple of drops of lavender oil, and bingo: bath salts for a fraction of the cost.
Amie, I found tons of recipes online. Will post some links to the resources I use, but the Mother Earth News site is chock full of good stuff.
Jody, that’s an awesome tip! I love bath salts, too, but gave ’em up because either I was allergic to the perfume or they cost a fortune. Epsom salts and lavender oil I can do.
As a side note, the savings of buying base ingredients to do it yourself more than offsets the increased cost of switching to hormone-free and organic dairy and meats, even if you only DIY a few things. The savings are huge.
I loved learning how to make bread, scones, etc. I never realized how easy the scones were. Don’t tend to buy them at the coffee shops now. Can’t justify the price now that I know what goes into it. *g* I haven’t tried to the soaps or the cleaners, although I have seen a similar cleaner recipe. I think I must have done something wrong because mine didn’t work near as well.
Jordan, the markup on baked anything is crazy, and if you make your own, you know what’s in it. *g* Those labels that read like a chemistry set unnerve me. Scones are nommy.
For the dish soap, I used Dr. Bronner’s liquid castille soap. I’ve used it for years and it’s great stuff. A lot of the recipes I found for shampoo, body wash, etc. use liquid castille. And I bought solid castille bars to use for laundry detergent.
I try and use all natural stuff because hubby is allergic to most chemical perfumes. I’ve never made my own though. I think I’ll have to try that recipe for dish soap.
NJ, it’s very easy. I can send you more recipes.
Charli I thought you were going to say you never had time to take a bath (with teh girls) LOL
I’ll def check out MEN (Um yeah)….and can’t wait until you post more!
I’ll have to try that one. 🙂