Throwing Out This Week: Laundry Detergent

We are continuing our quest for a toxic chemical-free home this week.  The deodorant that we made last week continues to do a fabulous job for all of us. If you have not tried making your own, I recommend the recipe here. However, if that one doesn't work for you, there are several more out there on the internet that you could use.

This weekend, I mixed up the following recipe. Because I am always a skeptic, I only made a half-batch. After several loads of successful laundering, I will be mixing up a DOUBLE-batch in the next few days.  It has worked very well for us.

2 cups Borax
2 cups washing soda
1 bar unscented castile soap, grated

I still cannot find washing soda, so I used regular baking soda.  It's working fine.
Instead of grating the whole bar of soap, you could chop it up into small pieces and pulse it in your food processor.  I put all the ingredients in a storage container with a lid and gave it a good shake.  I have been using 2 tablespoons for large loads, and that seems to be enough.

If you are trying to eliminate harmful chemicals from your home, I suggest that you give this a try.  Everyone in your family wears clothes next to their skin or sleeps in sheets washed in laundry detergent every day. So, what you use does matter. 


I recommend checking out this post at oursimplefarm.com  and this post   at theselfsufficienthomeacre.com  for great ideas and inspiration.

Throwing Out This Week: Destructive Deodorant

I've decided to do a series of post on items we are eliminating from our home due to the toxic ingredients they contain.  
I'm starting with deodorant.  Three of the four of us in our house use the same one. Boy #2 isn't old enough to need it yet.  I cut out antiperspirant several years ago, because my husband and I both have cases of Alzheimer's Disease in our families and there is a possible linkage there.  I thought it would be better to play it safe.
Here's the one we all use now:

propylene glycol, among other things...

I just watched a show a couple of nights ago that said propylene glycol has been linked to increased rate of tumor growth!  As my husband said, "if we're all so worried about breast cancer, why would that stuff be in the very thing you put right next to them every day?"  Good question.
I had previously decided after attending a sustainability conference to try making our deodorant at home. And, thankfully, the ingredients that ordered arrived yesterday.  After two days of using odor-control powder, I was so happy to see that box on the porch!

Here's the recipe I used:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup corn starch (It was mentioned at the conference that arrowroot powder might work, too.)
1 TB coconut oil (solid form)
7-10 drops favorite essential oil (I used lavender)
You combine all the ingredients and mix together.  It's sort of dry. You may need to sprinkle a little bit of water on it before applying a pea-sized amount.  

Today, we'll find out how effective it is.  I'm a little nervous about it.

I was looking at the containers of deodorant that we have and got an idea. I am going to take out the original product and see if I can put my homemade deodorant in it's place for easier application.  I'll have to figure out how to make it more solid though.  The first thing I'm going to try is adding more coconut oil.  If you have any experience with this or any other ideas on how to make the deodorant more solid, please leave a comment.  

I'll update on how bad good we smell at the end of the day!

Quick update: As I was typing this, my husband called and said that it's working. Of course, that after only 3.5 hours, but it's a good sign!

Friday morning update:  Yesterday was a complete success!  The recipe above worked perfectly.