What I Have Learned About DIY Laudry Detergent

 Disclaimer: I have a HE front loading washing machine with a water softener.  Your results may vary from mine

I have spent the last 8 months experimenting with homemade laundry detergents.  I have tried many recipes and countless combinations of those recipes.  I know the laundry aisle in the store better then I know my closet and can navigate my way through that aisle blindfolded while holding an octopus.

I have learned a lot of things and will share a few of the more important ones.

• Castile Soap is not a good idea.  It leaves an oily residue behind that is impossible to get out, and over time it can damage clothes.  I've heard that it can also damage your washer.
• Glycerin is a great stain remover and it dissolves easily in any temperature of water (I have only tried glycerin in a solid form and don't know if results are different with a liquid form)
• Fels-Naptha is a popular choice for the bar of soap that most recipes call for, but in my opinion Ivory and Dove work just as well and they are easier on the skin.  Fels-Naptha can irritate the skin if to much is used. When I do use Fels-Naphta I always do half of what the recipe calls for and my clothes are still clean.
• A good food processor will save you an enormous amount of time and energy when it comes time to grate the soap
• The most important thing I have learned is that Borax and Washing Soda are a must.  Every time I eliminated one or both of those from a recipe my clothes did not got get very clean

So if your going to make your own laundry detergent then you should stick with the basics; Borax, Washing Soda and a bar of soap.  After that it's up to you and your preference.  Do you prefer a more liquid/gel detergent, a creamy one, or dry?

You can also add things to customize it a bit more such as glycerin, Oxiclean, or essential oils. Just play around with a few batches until you find the right combination that works for you.

Good luck and happy washing. I am off to purge my laundry room of a lot of unused detergents and ingredients I will never use again.

Borax Free Laundry Detergent

 Welcome to my final installment of homemade laundry detergent. Woo Hoo!!!!  I must say that I am overly excited to be done with this.  For the last several months my laundry room has been over crowded with many bins of half used laundry detergents, soap bars, and boxes of ingredients. 

When I saw this one on Pinterest I was very excited!  I don't have to use Borax or the stinky Fels-Naptha?!?! That is worthy of a celebration

Homemade Laundry Detergent Without Borax 
You Will Need:  
4 ounces glycerin soap grated 
1 cup washing soda 
1/2 cup citric acid 
1/2 cup baking soda 
1/4 cup course salt

Directions:  
Mix the ingredients together and store in a sealed plastic or glass container.  Use one to two tablespoons per load of laundry.

 The citric acid turned out to be difficult to find.  After several stores I eventually found some at Hobby Lobby in the canning area.

 The glycerin soap (which you can get at Hobby Lobby) chopped up very easily in my food processor.

The original poster said that the mixture can clump up and harden so she suggested putting in a moisture killer pack (I have no idea what they are called).  It helped, but the detergent still got a bit hard within 24 hours and I had to use a knife to break up pieces.

The Verdict: Let me put it to you this way; it washed my clothes about as good at my 3 year old cleans up her room.  It got about half way into the job then got distracted and wondered off. As I pulled some of the clothes off I could tell they were cleaner, but still seemed a bit dingy.  Then I got to a pair of my sons underwear that he had had accident in and it was very obvious that these clothes weren't clean. 

I put the same load back in, put in 4 Tbsp this time and let it run again.  There was no difference that time.  The clothes looked and smelled exactly the same as they did after the first wash. 

DANG IT!!!!! I was really excited about this one and was hoping it would work for me.  Oh well. Disclaimer: I have a front loading machine and a water softener so you might get different results

So there you have it, my laundry detergent experiment is done and I have learned A LOT, but that will have to wait for another post. 

Going 'Poo Free Take 2

Back in July I attempted to go 'poo free. After 2 1/2 weeks I couldn't handle it anymore (for many reasons) and stopped the experiment. 

After I shared that blog post, a friend of mine pointed out that I didn't give the baking soda shampoo a fair chance because I used regular conditioner instead of apple cider vinegar.

He said:
"you may need to use the vinegar to help remove the baking soda from your hair. The reaction that occurs between baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid) is a decomposition reaction which results in carbon dioxide and water as well as a diluted solution of a salt known as sodium acetate. If you are willing to try this again I highly recommend the use of vinegar to help clear the baking soda from your hair"

My response:
"The last time I used vinegar on a regular basis it made my hair fall out. So I'm not willing to try it again. But I do agree with you, I'm sure using the vinegar would make a big difference."

Apparently my friend used some sort of Jedi Mind Trick on me because he eventually convinced me to try it again, with the understating that if my hair fell out again he would be getting hate mail.  

So my plan was to use the same baking soda recipe, then follow it with a apple cider vinegar rinse. 

Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
You Will Need:
1 Tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
1 Cup water

Directions:
Mix the two ingredients together then pour a little on just the ends of your hair, let it rest for a few seconds, then rinse it out.

I was hopeful that since I was just pouring the apple cider vinegar on the ends of my hair and not scrubbing it into my scalp that my hair would stay in place this time.  

The Verdict: First of all MY HAIR DIDN'T FALL OUT!!!!! That is always a good sign.  The last time I tried this I had many complaints so I will address them again and give my new opinion for each one:

1) It didn't get all my products out of my hair.  This time I didn't use any products and I didn't need them, my hair didn't frizz at all.  The problem is I don't know if that's because of the vinegar rinse or because I did this 2 months later and the humidity wasn't as problematic. 

 2) My roots felt pretty clean, and they never did get extra oily but the rest of my hair felt dirty.  It felt like I had grabbed a hand full of sand, rubbed it all over my hair and went on with my day My hair still did have a bit of a dirty feeling to it, but it was very minimal this time.  When my hair was wet it was a bit harder to manage and blow drying it was a bit frustrating sometimes since the round brush would get stuck in my hair, but once my hair dried it was fairly soft and easy to do. 

3) Because it was basically water, it was not easy trying to massage it into my scalp, especially around the base of my neck.  I would try to flip my head over so gravity would help but then the baking soda water would run up my nose or into my eyes. It took time, but eventually I got the hang of it and was able to massage the baking soda into my scalp with no problem, and even though it was basically water, I could tell where I had massed the mixture into my scalp and where I had missed. The vinegar was really easy to use.  I just poured some right onto the ends of my hair, massaged it in then rinsed it out and my hair NEVER smelled like vinegar after. 

4) Even with using regular conditioner my hair started to dry out and break very easily, especially when blow drying it.  My hair did dry out, but not nearly as bad as last time.  It could also be that my hair was 'normal' and I'm just to use to overly moisturized hair. 

5) I got some awesome static cling. My hair never got static cling, again this could be due to the change in the weather, but it was nice to not have hair stuck to my face all day. 

Overall Verdict:  The apple cider vinegar definitely made a difference.  Personally I don't plan on using it anymore, but that's because of the length and thickness of my hair, I want the extra softness and moisture that comes from regular shampoo and conditioner.  If I had a shorter hair cut that was easier to manage I would definitely switch and go 'poo free.

So thank you Obi Wan Kenobi for using your mind tricks and getting me to try this one again.  You no longer have to worry about an angry skunk showing up in your mailbox
 

Two Methods to Removing Hard Water Spots

I have a water softener in my home, so I'm pretty fortunate and don't have to deal with hard water stains.  However, when we first moved in it was obvious that the water softener wasn't functioning, so a few of my faucets had some minor hard water spots.

I had seen several photos on Pinterest about using a lemon to remove hard water spots and decided to give it a try.

Hard Water Spot Removal
You Will Need:
A fresh lemon

Directions:
Cut the lemon in half and rub it all over the hard water spots until they are gone. 

My shower head was the worse (again, it wasn't that bad comparative to homes without a water softener) so I waited until it was dry, then cut open a lemon and rubbed it all over the shower head for about 1minute.

The Verdict: It worked great.  Every spot came right off and I didn't even scrub, I just used a little bit of pressure when rubbing the lemon around. 

About a month after I did this, my cousin texted me a photo of her sink faucet asking me how to remove the hard water build up she had.  She had tried vinegar but it stripped away some of the finish.  I was afraid the lemon would do the same thing so I told her to make a paste of baking soda and water and use that to scrub the hard water build up.

Hard Water Cleaner For Finished Metals
You will need:
Baking Soda
Water

Directions: Mix the baking soda and water into a paste then scrub it onto the hard water until it comes off.  

The Verdict: You can see it didn't get everything off, but it made a huge difference and she said it didn't harm her finish. 

To bad cleaning the rest of my house isn't as easy as rubbing a lemon around. 

No More Squeaky Hinges

One of the first blog posts I did was a DIY lotion that didn't turn out so well.  My sister-in-law suggested I try it as a lubricant for squeaky hinges.  I thought that was so funny and not a typical use for lotion I just had to try it.

I had the perfect squeaky door to test this on.  I rubbed some of the lotion on both sides of the hinge then I opened and closed the door several times. 

 I put a rag under the hinges in case it dripped and I let it sit for 10 minutes.  I came back, opened and closed the door a few more times to make sure the lotion was getting in the hinge then I used an old rag to wipe it all off.

The Verdict: A year later and there is still no squeak on that door.  It worked so well! It was easy to clean up and didn't leave any residue.

This got me curious of course.  Would any lotion work?  Or just ridiculously greasy lotion?  So I found a regular store bought lotion and I found another squeaky door and tested the regular lotion.

The Verdict: It worked a little bit, enough to notice a difference, but the door still squeaked.

So then I got some coconut oil and tried another door (3 squeaky doors in one house, you think I would have taken care of that as soon as we moved in)

The Verdict: The coconut oil worked just as well as the DIY lotion. 

So there you go.  If you have a squeaky door and don't have any WD-40, try oil. 

Water Blob

 This one has been on my 'To Do' list all summer, so naturally I procrastinated and waited until the end of summer which means we wouldn't get much of a chance to use it if it worked.  Story of my life these day.

Water Blob
You Will Need:

Painter's plastic/plastic sheeting

Ironing board and iron

Parchment paper

Duct tape - optional, for sealing the hole for the hose

 

Directions:

Turn your iron on to its hottest setting. Keep your ironing board flat on the floor so that the weight of the plastic didn't cause any cooperation issues.  Roll out your plastic in your largest room, and fold it in half - to the size you want your water blob.  Cut a 2-feet long piece of parchment paper.  Fold it in half, length-wise and draw a line about 2-inches out from the fold. This will be your guide of how far into iron. Open up your parchment and place your plastic inside, aligning it to the fold of the parchment. Then, fold the parchment back over. Now, use your hot iron to slowly melt the plastic together by running the iron across the line of your parchment. Do not let the iron touch the bare plastic - it will melt a hole in it, and will make a huge mess all over your iron!  Press firmly, but not too hard - because the plastic is hot, it will stretch. You don't want to weaken the plastic by thinning it out with too much pressure.  Less is more. You can always re-melt the plastic it did not completely seal!  Let it cool for a few seconds before removing the parchment. If you remove the parchment too early - you could risk stretching the plastic. (You could alternate two pieces of parchment, let one cool while the other seals)  Continue to seal all of the edges, overlapping a few inches to make sure there are no holes. Now, carefully cut a small slit in the folded end of the plastic, near the corner. Place the hose in a few feet, and prop the corner up so that the water does spill out while you fill your water blob.  Seal off the hole with a piece of duct tape - or use your iron and parchment to melt the edge! I opted for duct tape because I plan on using it again a few times.  Then let the kids go wild!

If you tuned out after the first sentence because it was beyond confusing then don't worry, if you go to the original post you will find photos with each step that are helpful.  I'm just here to tell you what I thought about the outcome, not the step by step process, that would be to much work. :)

The picture I took of my plastic disappeared.  I blame the little girl who got a hold of my phone and took 3,000 photos of her toe. 

But it was very similar to this one and cost about $2

 I got everything set up, turned on Micheal Buble and started to iron away.  (Some how writing iron away just got the song Titanium in my head "iron fire away, fire away.  I'm so sleep deprived right now)

 I slid the iron across the parchment paper going fairly slow, and ended up with this.  Whoops.

 So I slid the iron across the parchment paper faster and had much better results. 

 Using two parchment papers made it a lot easier.  It took me about 20 minutes to finish the whole thing. 

 Instead of ironing all the way to the edge, I left a little spot open so I could get the hose in.

 I dragged it outside, spread it on a flat surface and stuck the hose it. The hose cooperated for awhile but eventually I had to just hold it it place.

 It took about 20 minutes to fill up to a point where I was comfortable with.  I was afraid that if I did anymore it would pop to easily. 

While holding the hole with one hand, some how I magically used the other hand to get a piece of duct tape and seal the hole up.

The Verdict:  I was very impressed with how well it held up from the ironing.  I was positive that I would have at least one hole some place. 

I had the kids crawl across it initially, just to see how well it held up before I would let them roll around it, and something interesting happened.  Everywhere my son's hands and knees hit, they left a hole.  I have two theory's as to why this happened. 1) There is a weight limit to the plastic and he was over that weight. 2) My son is secretly Spider Man and has tiny little grippers all over his hands and knees.  

But here is what really surprised me.  The plastic had about 8 holes in it and was still in the same shape.  The water wasn't leaking out. 

I was expecting an America's Funniest Videos moment where the water blob broke and the kids went shooting across the the lawn with the water, nope.  The water just stayed put. 

So the kids water blob turned into a huge puddle.  They spent 20 minutes running across it, jumping on it,  rolling around the plastic and having a wonderful time getting very wet. 

 Eventually the blob did lose all it's water and we ended up with this.

 So it didn't work, but the kids had a blast, so I guess it's sort of a pass and fail, it's a pail. 

White Board Cleaner

I tend to forget things which is why I use both my phone and a white board to keep notes and reminders. 

After several years of use my white board had turned into a stained gray board.  I looked around online and found some ways to clean it, so I divided my white board into sections and tried them all.

I used:
Hand sanitizer
Rubbing alcohol
Nail polish remover
Witch hazel

For each one, I put the product on a cotton ball then rubbed the white board.

I'll spare you the details of how each one worked (since odds are you won't read it anyways and I currently have a little girl begging me to play Guess Who right now) and skip right to the verdict.

The Verdict: They all worked, but the rubbing alcohol was the best one.  I didn't have to scrub at all, it took everything off and didn't harm the white board at all. 

 I also have a calendar white board that is of the cheaper version.  It's almost like a cheap white board type paper was wrapped around a thick piece of cardboard.  I tried all the products on this cheap white board and got the same result.  The rubbing alcohol took everything off with little effort and with no visible damage to the white board. 

 And thanks to my lovely daughter, I now know that rubbing alcohol will take permanent marker off a white board. 

Seriously, why in the world did I leave a permanent marker out when I know she's prone to draw on everything?