Homemade Body Wash

I have had the recipe for homemade body wash on my to-do list for a very long time. Although time hasn't been on my side lately and it got pushed to the back burner.  Well, when you're down the the last drops of shower gel and you don't want to pay the big bucks for a new bottle, you make time to cook up a batch.

The original "recipe" comes from HERE. It looked pretty straightforward.  I mean if I can follow a recipe for homemade bread I can for sure melt some soap in a pan with some water.  Haha!  I did figure out how to make it but there was some trial and error involved.  

The recipe is as follows.  

Homemade Body Wash

3 Bars of Dove soap

6 C. water

Grate the soap into the pan

Add the water

Heat on low and stir until all the soap is melted

Cool in mason jars (no lids)

Pour into body wash bottles or place lids on the mason jars

So here is where my troubles began....

"Just grate it" they said.  "It's so simple." they said. 

After 10 minutes of grating the first bar of soap my arm muscles were burning, my grater felt like it was going to break, and the soap was melting in my hot hand.  It was literally a hot mess!!  I turned to my trusty food processor.  I had read that some people grate their soap in it, so I gave it a try. 

You can't really see it in the picture, but the soap wouldn't budge and I ended up with soap all over the blade and nothing in the bowl.  I pushed the soap harder through the chute and my processor literally stopped.  I think I broke it, but I'm too scared to try and turn it on again. It got cleaned and put back in the cupboard.  (which by the way you would think soap would wash right off of kitchen appliances...it doesn't!  It's so sticky!!)

 I resorted to chopping it up the old fashioned way and what I noticed is that the soap just breaks apart naturally.  I tried to cut the pieces into similar sizes so they would melt all at once.  

 After chopping all three bars of soap I added in 6 cups of water and brought the mixture to a low simmer.  I stirred pretty consistently with a whisk.  Now, I have to warn you.  If you do not like the smell of the soap in it's bar form, then you will be forced out of your home for several hours while the smell permeates your residence.  It was strong!!  It took about 15 minutes for all of the soap pieces to fully melt.  I then poured the liquid into mason jars to cool.

I filled two quart mason jars and let them sit for several hours while they cooled.  They will turn from a runny liquid to a thicker body wash type gel.  I then poured one mason jar into my leftover commercial body wash container and placed a plastic mason jar lid on the extra body wash.  

 I haven't done the math, but I am sure this is a great deal compared to purchasing Dove body wash for upwards of $6.00 a bottle.  It was a messy, soap smelling process, but I will try this again.  I learned what worked and what didn't.  I have been using the body wash for just over a week now and I LOVE it!!! I use one of those poof type spongy things and it foams up just like the store bought stuff.  And the Dove soap really moisturizes my skin.  I have not had that dry itchy feeling after my shower.  I am sure you can make this with any bar soap, I just had Dove on hand.  This was a to-do list win!!

The Many Uses of Vinegar

Vinegar is quite the versatile liquid.  It's used in cooking, cleaning, first aid, and it's green! Not green in color, but it's a safe, non-toxic way to clean your home.  Because of how versatile vinegar is, I feel it is one of the most important items to have stocked in your food storage.

I have a few favorite ways that I use white vinegar in my home.  Years ago I found  some easy "recipes" for cleaning, and they were so easy to make, because who wants to spend all day making cleaning solutions. These mixes are so simple, you'll be thinking that making homemade cleaners should be more involved, but that is the beauty of using vinegar.  Simple and easy!!!  We have also been conditioned to think that if a cleaner doesn't smell toxic, it isn't sanitizing.  Vinegar, when sprayed along side with hydrogen peroxide, will sanitize surfaces.  Yes, vinegar has a smell, but it won't harm your lungs like bleach or ammonia.  It dissipates after drying.

 Wood Floor Cleaner/Window Cleaner

The ratio is 2/3rd's white vinegar to 1/3rd water.

I marked my spray bottle on the side with black lines so I know where to refill it when it's gone.  

Add a few tiny drops of Dawn dish detergent.  

Shake before using.

Use on glass, wood floors, laminate floors, stainless steel appliances, etc. Wipe surfaces dry with cloth or paper towel. Use a microfiber mop on floors.

Disinfectant Spray

Fill one spray bottle with white vinegar

Add a spray topper to a hydrogen peroxide bottle.

Spray both onto counter top surface. 
Let sit for one minute before wiping.
Wipe with paper towel or cloth towel.

It doesn't matter which is sprayed first.  

DO NOT MIX VINEGAR AND HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN A SPRAY BOTTLE AND STORE IT!! IT CAN BE HARMFUL!  
Overtime it will also become less effective when mixed together in a spray bottle.

But when applied using two different bottles it will sanitize surfaces. 

Other Uses For Vinegar

• This idea is for a situation when we are doing laundry manually.  Have a spray bottle of vinegar on hand and use it to refresh your clothes.  Doing laundry by hand will be tough, so to stretch the time between doing laundry shake clothes to free loose dirt and debris, hang up the clothing, spray with vinegar. Once dry, the vinegar will have deodorized the clothes and you can wear them awhile longer before a deep cleaning is needed.  The vinegar smell will dissipate after it dries.
• Use a mixture of vinegar and a small amount of water to clean blinds and shutters.  Place an old sock on your hand, dip into the vinegar mixture and run your hand over the blinds or shutters. 
• Place a bowl of vinegar on your kitchen counter  overnight to absorb the smells from cooking dinner.   
• Add a small amount of baking soda to your drain and pour in vinegar.  This will bubble and clear out small clogs in the drain.
• Spray straight vinegar onto weeds around your garden.  It will kill them! Be careful not to spray the plants that you want to keep alive :)
• Run a cycle in your dishwasher with vinegar in the detergent cup.  It will clean and refresh the inside of your dishwasher, especially if you have a stainless steel interior. 
• Add a cup full of vinegar to your rinse cycle when doing laundry.  It breaks down the alkalies in the detergent. 
• Spray your fruit and veggies with vinegar and then hydrogen peroxide, let sit, rinse with water. This will remove unwanted pesticides. 
• Spray a mixture of water and vinegar on a sunburn to soothe.
• For minor kitchen burns. Run cold water over the burn for a few minutes, then place a cloth that has been soaked in one part water to one part vinegar, place on burn to soothe.  Repeat as necessary.

The ideas above use white distilled vinegar but there are so many other uses for other vinegars, like apple cider vinegar. The internet will fill you in on all those benefits.  But my love for vinegar in everyone's food storage is because it has an almost indefinite shelf life and it's cheap!!!  Everyone can afford to store vinegar.  Stock up the next time you head to the store!  Plus it's so liberating to skip the cleaning aisle. 

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

UPDATE:  This is a repost from March 2012 and I wanted to update on how it is working for me. 

 I have been using my homemade dishwasher detergent since March, no other brand, and I love how well it works.  The trick to it is to have a citric acid component in your mix, especially if you have hard water!!  I was buying Lemi Shine (a commercially branded citric acid) for $4.19 for 12oz.  When I ran out and I ran a load without it my glassware was totally foggy, and the dishes didn't dry very well.  I have a Bosch dishwasher with a metal interior and no dry cycle, so this may work for me and not for you, but with the citric acid I don't have any problems with foggy glass and drying.  I found a better product and I don't need the Lemi Shine any more.  I bought a 50lb bag of citric acid at Honeyville for $80.23 and I tried it out and it works better than the  Lemi Shine!!!  Don't freak out over the price point of the citric acid.  Do you know what a 50lb bag of citric acid looks like?? (sorry I don't have a picture) It is a lot of citric acid!  If I use 1 teaspoon of the citric acid every night when I turn on my dishwasher, I will have enough citric acid to last 4800 loads!!!  That is .016 cents per load.  If my math is correct (and usually it isn't) that is pretty cheap and I have around 13 years worth of it :)  The Lemi Shine is about .056 per teaspoon in the 12oz canister and would cost around $268.00 in a 50lb package.  So, if you are in the market for a cheaper alternative to store bought dishwasher detergent, give this recipe a try!!

If you didn't know, I am a big coupon user.  I get a lot of household supplies for little or no money, but in the last couple of years I have noticed that the coupon deals are not what they used to be.  I used to get carts full of groceries for under $10.  Now that rarely happens and I am having to use my storage and some of my items are low or gone.  Dishwasher detergent is one of those items that I used to be able to get for free and I would get a year supply at a time.  I finished up the very last box of detergent yesterday and it was time to try the less expensive homemade dishwasher detergent.  I have wanted to try this for quite some time now just as a preparedness learning experience, but now it is out of necessity.  

I found several "recipes" on Pinterest and have had them pinned and waiting for when I needed them.  The recipe is super easy and it uses the same ingredients that homemade laundry detergent uses, so double-dutie there.  Click HERE to see a previous post on making your own laundry detergent.  I found all the ingredients at my Smiths grocery store.

 Homemade Dishwasher Detergent


2 C Borax  (found on the laundry aisle)
2 C Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) found on the laundry aisle right next to the Borax
1 C Coarse Salt (kosher, epsom, or regular old table salt if you don't have the others)
1 C Citric Acid (I used Lemi Shine, but yellow UNsweetened koolaid, or citric acid will also work)  Citric acid can be found at pharmacies, health food stores, and HONEYVILLE GRAIN.

1. Mix all but the citric acid in a container.  The citric acid will be added to the dishwasher when you put in your 1 T of detergent.  If you mix it in with the other ingredients it will harden your mixture into one big, hard block of detergent.  
2.  Use only 1 T of the mixture in your detergent cup.  I only have one cup to fill but if you have 2 then use 1 T in each.  Add the Lemi Shine (or other citric acid ingredient), about 1t, and wash away!!  The citric acid ingredient amount will vary depending on how hard your water is.  I sprinkle about 1t into my detergent cup after I put in the detergent. 

Vinegar::  use in place of jet dry in your rinse aid cup.  

 *The salt in the mixture is to help with hard water and also used as an abrasive cleaning agent.  The citric acid also helps with hard water.  I have really hard water and you may need to play around with the amount you add to your dishwasher.  I recommend running a cycle with no dishes and only the Lemi Shine to get the dishwasher clean and ready to go with your homemade detergent.

Your dishes should come out clean and clear, no foggy glasses!  If they don't you need to play around with the citric acid amount.  Using vinegar as your rinse aid will keep your glass clear.  I washed my first load of dishes with this last night and it worked great!!  Everything was clean and the glasses were clear and shiny.  I am sold!!


Cost breakdown of ingredients as of March 9, 2012 at Smiths Grocery store (a Kroger store):

• Borax $5.19

• Washing Soda $3.59

• Epsom Salt $3.58

• Lemi Shine $4.19 (Citric Acid is around $16 for 4oz at a pharmacy and KoolAid packets are around .10 on sale.  I'm not sold on using KoolAid because of the color added to it. I don't want my dishes or silverware with a yellow tinge.  I was reading on another blog that she noticed a yellow color to her Tupperware. Citric Acid 50lbs at Honeyville Grain for $80.23) 

Using the recipe above I will probably be able to make detergent for a few months at a time.   I am so excited to know that this works! 

April Goals & Homemade Cleaners

April is great so far and I hope you are all ready for a new month of goals. Today's warmer weather made me feel like organizing, cleaning out, and getting the garden started. We have 3 goals this month. They are:

1. Shop the case lot sales at Smiths or Maceys and stock up on items for your 3-month menu plan. Click HERE to view the case lot prices for each store.
2. Plan a garden, plant a garden or container, and learn how to sprout seeds/grains for nutritious sprouts.
3. Stock up on cleaning supplies. Whichever you prefer. I like to make some of my household cleaners so if you do too then stock up on vinegar, baking soda, ammonia, rubbing alcohol and bleach.

I found a very interesting post on container gardening with soda bottles and milk cartons. Click HERE to read and see the great pictures. And click HERE to see another post by the same ladies on milk carton gardening. If gardening seems too intimidating these ideas are simple and look like they will give you great results.

April is a great month to plant the cold weather plants like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, lettuce, onions, and cabbage.

Sprouting wheat is a great way to get to add nutritious nutrients to your food without having to buy vegetables. This is great if we had an emergency and fresh produce was not available. Click HERE to read my previous post on sprouting wheat. Sprouting is a great way to get your children involved with gardening too. Check Amazon.com for some great sprouting kits. To learn more on sprouting other seeds besides wheat, click HERE.

Cleaning supplies vary vastly from home to home so this area is going to be mostly personal preference. When I find a good deal on cleaning items I stock up and hope another sale comes before I run out. I don't like paying a lot of money for them. I also don't like the harmful smells and toxins that are in many cleaning supplies. I found some great "recipes" online that I use to clean with.

Laminate Floor Cleaner
1/3 part rubbing alcohol
1/3 part water
1/3 part white vinegar
I marked a spray bottle with the lines for each third and then I have floor cleaner that lasts a long time. I use a micro fiber mop that I can throw in the washer after I clean.

All -Purpose Cleaner
1/2 gallon water
1/2 C vinegar
1 C ammonia
1/4 baking soda
Add enough water to make 1 gallon. Shake well, use in spray bottle. I keep this in an old juice bottle labeled cleaner and pour into my spray bottle when needed.

Window Cleaner
1 pint rubbing alcohol
4 T ammonia
1 T liquid detergent
Add enough water to make a gallon. Add blue food coloring if you want it to look like the store's brand.

Aprils Goals:
Shop the case lot sales.
Garden, garden, garden!
Gather cleaning supplies.

Enjoy the journey!
Enjoy the blessings!
Feel the peace!