Homemade Laundry Detergent

So, last November, I bookmarked Jessica's post on how they made Homemade Laundry Detergent. I'm a long time follower of Jessica's blog, and I knew instantly that I wanted to make detergent for our house after reading her blog. I didn't make it immediately, because we had the holidays both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we got crazy busy! However, right before I started back to work, Grant and I broke down and made laundry detergent.

I didn't take any great photos, so please refer to Jessica's blog, for photos. We used the exact same recipe and method as Jessica; however, we also added a couple of drops of lavender essential oils to our detergent, because I felt like the citrus smell was good but a bit over powering. It is not nearly as strong when you dilute it, but it scared me when we first started mixing things up and melting the bar of soap.

I've passed this on to a number of my friends now and so far, everyone is enjoying this recipe. Give it a try! I hope you'll all like it, and it's not difficult at all, and it doesn't take long to make!

Also, one thing to note is that it does separate between uses, so shake well between uses and don't let the separation scare you that you didn't do something right! :) 

ENJOY! 

Dryer Sheets

So, after William getting sick in December, I mentioned that we started to change the way that we did things. I know that a lot of people may think that I'm crazy or "hippy", but it's what is best for our family right now.

One of the things that we did, was start making our own homemade laundry detergent. Grant and I broke out all the supplies, and we made our laundry detergent last December. It cost us less than $5, and we haven't had to make another batch yet. I anticipate that we'll make it through mid-December before we have to make more. It's been a huge savings for us, and we do a lot of laundry.

Another thing that we did was throw out all of our chemical cleaning supplies, I'll do a post on what we use to clean our house later this week. We also got rid of our dryer sheets. Both of my boys have eczema, and we've always had to be really careful about what we use to wash their clothes and especially sheets. I never really thought about dryer sheets. Then, I read some research on dryer sheets, and I was shocked. For these reasons, we no longer use dryer sheets when doing laundry.

Here are some of the information I found on dryer sheets:

 Dryer sheets contain the following chemicals:

• Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer
• Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
• Ethanol: On the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders
• Limonene: Suspected Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicant, Immunotoxicant,
  Kidney Toxicant, Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, and Skin or Sense Organ Toxicant
• A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage
• Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list
• Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders
• Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
• Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders
• Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

Health effects from being exposed to the chemicals in fabric softeners include:

• Central nervous system disorders 
• Headaches 
• Nausea 
• Vomiting 
• Dizziness 
• Blood pressure reduction 
• Irritation to skin, mucus membranes and respiratory tract 
• Pancreatic cancer

The only thing that I've noticed from dryer sheets is the irritation to my kids skin, and they tend to have respiratory flair ups when we travel and the kids sleep on sheets where dryer sheets were used.

Here are some links with more information about dryer sheets:
- Holistic Health Secrets

- Nappy Shoppe

- Natural News

I wouldn't consider myself a "natural mama", but I have seen a huge difference in the health of my children since making changes to our lifestyle from household chemicals to foods we eat.