Okay, I am
here. It is better late than never,
right? A topic!! I had to think long and
hard to find an issue and/or subject I was interested in and hadn’t pursued further information on as yet.
Well, I am interested in a lot of different things so I had to dig
deep to think about the topics/subjects that I have been interested in but
for a variety of reasons, I have never fully investigated.
Well, I am
interested in going vegan for myself and
eventually for the whole family. Also
I am interested in recycling, raising
chickens, environmental issues such as reducing waste, living off the land,
creating my own power grid, using environmental friendly ingredients to clean
my house and making my own laundry
detergent. Also making compost in my back yard. Then
I have been interested in making a
birthday cake for one of my children. Another
one is Karen Blixen’s “Out of Africa”
because I have always wanted to go there to see her home and experience the
country and culture of the region.
Then I have wanted to teach my three year old the German language. The
last one is finding out the pros and cons of owning a hybrid vehicle.
Well, I had
to decide and I initially didn’t know which one to choose for this
assignment. Once again I had to ‘peel
back’ another layer to figure out what direction I needed to go for this
assignment.
I started
thinking about my children and their home environment because they have
recently been sick. All of my children
have allergies, and are asthmatic. They
all have sensitive skin ranging from hives to eczema. It is due to these health concerns that I
have been wanting to investigate alternatives to using harsh chemicals to clean
in the house which I constantly have to do because I have two toddlers in the
house. Whenever toxic chemicals is used
in the house it has to either be done during the night when the children are
sleeping or the windows have to be open
which isn’t practically when it is cold outside. I need to add that I have the same health
issues as my children do which has made it difficult at times to clean using those
toxic ingredients. The smell of Lysol
has triggered more than one asthma attack even when I have worn a mask and
gloves! Therefore, I have decided to
pursue using environmental friendly
ingredients to clean my house topic for my blog. My goal is to locate resources that will give
me recipes for non- toxic household cleaners as well as to explain how and why
they work, and so forth. In addition, I
would like to document how to make the cleaning products by photographing
myself making them and then creating before and after photos of how well the
cleaners worked in my house.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI have a friend that makes all of her cleaners, shampoos and soaps. That is a very time consuming project but well worth it if it contributes positively to your family's health.
I found this web site with some ideas.
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
It looks like you enjoy learning by all the ideas you have for this project. I have never considered making my own soaps, but I will follow your blog and maybe give it a try!
Thank you for the website, Cathy. I will check it out. Thanks for following me also :) I appreicate the support.
DeleteAll your ideas sound great. You're off to a super start!
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteI have not attempted to make my own laundry soap but I know many people do so, I just haven't had the time to figure it out and see if it is worth the effort. Just this week a Facebook conversation popped up about homemade laundry soap. One person shared a recipe.
4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
I haven't tried this but thought I'd share it in case you wanted to try it as part of your inquiry. They also discussed homemade baby wipes! Not sure about that one but sounds interesting.
Thanks for the information Anne.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea I had in this section was solar panels. Yes, I am going back to ISP's Selection phase because I thought about another topic to use. I also forgot to mention that I have known about environmental friendly products from my mother-in law who swears by vinegar; the Rachel Ray show and other 'green' shows which happen to be reality based such as Living with Ed, Wasted and just reading about it in the news.
ReplyDelete