Deodorant

While I had the ingredients out from making the toothpaste, I decided to make up some deodorant as well. Lately the stuff from the store hasn't been working as well and I blame it on our hot and humid Ozark summer. So far this deodorant has been working well but the real test will be when my husband tries it.

• Baking soda helps deodorize.
• Cornstarch helps with miusture.
• Coconut oil also deodorizes and holds everything together.
• Tea Tree oil is an anti-fungal.

1/4 cup Baking Soda
1/4 cup Cornstarch
4 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
10 drops Tea Tree Oil

Mix up the baking soda and cornstarch first and then add in the coconut oil and tea tree oil one at a time.
I may also use lavender in the next batch for me and then maybe something more manly like peppermint or clove for my husband. You can either spoon the mixture into an empty deodorant tube or place in a small glass jar. You need only a small amount rubbed under your arms daily.

If you try this, let me know what you think! I would love to hear your comments and suggestions.







This recipe derived from here

Toothpaste

I'm not certain whether this recipe will actually save money, but I was more interested in the health benefits. Commercial brands of toothpaste have so many additives to them that I'm not sure that what we're putting in our mouths is really good for us. There are just a few ingredients and I was able to whip up a batch of toothpaste in just a few minutes.

• Baking soda is well known to be a whitening and polishing agent. It also acts to neutralize acid in the mouth and also helps prevent infections.
• Coconut oil is an anti-fungal and will help fight bacteria.
• Hydrogen peroxide also is used to kill germs, whiten teeth, and prevent infections. Do make sure that you don't ingest the toothpaste as 3% hydrogen peroxide is not to be ingested.
• Peppermint oil is not only used for adding flavor but it also has health benefits. It aids in killing bacteria, calming inflammation, toothache, nerve pain, etc.

 Here is the recipe:

3 Tablespoons Baking Soda
3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
2 teaspoons Hydrogen Peroxide
1-2 drops Peppermint Oil (or more depending on your preference)
1-10 drops other oils for other health benefits or flavoring.

*Tip: Don't use anything acidic. I tried this recipe with 10 drops of orange oil only to find it had reacted with the baking soda or the peroxide and had foamed up to twice it's size and was still expanding and oozing out a tightly sealed jar.*

Mix all the ingredients together and store in a small glass jar. I found some cute little 4 oz jelly jars that work perfect for this.

I used this this morning and love how clean my teeth feel!

I would love to hear back from you with your comments, suggestions, and if this worked for you!





This recipe derived from here

Cloth Diaper Laundry Soap

 When washing cloth diapers it is important to make sure you use a detergent that is fragrance and dye free. I've spent quite a bit of time researching this and wandering up and down the Walmart laundry aisle to find the best and cheapest soap I could find that is hypo-allergenic as well as safe for cloth diapers. After spending more money than I wanted too, I needed to find a recipe on how to make my own cloth diaper laundry soap. After visiting several sites I decided to simplify what I found. Here is what I made and it works great! No sign of damage to the diapers and no sign of irritation to my daughter's delicate skin.

 1 55oz box of Washing Soda ($3.24)
1 76oz box of Borax ($3.38)
3 4.5 oz bars of unscented/non fragrance bar soap

Mix together the washing soda and the borax. Grate the soap or use a food processor and then mix with the other two ingredients.

For less than $10 I expect to have over a years worth of soap.

With cloth diapers I usually rinse the load in cold water, add 1/2 a tablespoon of laundry soap, wash on the hottest setting and then rinse.

Laundry Soap

One area of a budget that usually takes a sizable hit is the cost of laundry soap. Since I cloth diaper my daughter, I've been buying a diaper safe soap that tends to be more expensive in addition to our regular laundry soap. While our family doesn't go through a whole lot of soap right now, I'm worried that when we have more kids and all of them are playing outside and working on our land, I will be doing a lot more laundry and spending a lot more money on soap. I have been doing some research on making my own laundry soap for a few weeks now and have finally landed on a recipe that promises to be safe on clothes as well as cloth diapers. I've tweaked it a bit to my preferences and combined a couple of recipes. I was able to find all of the ingredients at Walmart for a good price.

2 5.5oz bars Fels Naptha ($0.97 a bar)
1 1.3lb tub Oxi Clean ($3.86)
1 box Washing Soda ($3.24)
1/2 box Borax ($3.38 a box/$1.69 half box)
1 4.5 oz bar Yardley Lavender soap ($0.97)

(Just don't try to make mac-n-cheese at the same time!)

Use a small holed cheese grater (the kind you would use for zesting an orange) or a food processor to grate up the bars of Fels Naptha and soap.

If you use a grater, I would recommend stirring and 'chopping' a bit to make the Fels Naptha a little bit finer.












Add in the Oxi Clean, Washing Soda, and Borax and mix well. Store in an air-tight container. When running a load of laundry, all you need to use is 1 tablespoon.










I tried this just this afternoon and my laundry is now hanging out on the line smelling great! I have yet to try it in a load of diapers but plan on doing so tomorrow.

The grand total comes out to $11.70 not including tax. I figure I can get 260 loads of laundry out of this recipe using only 1 tablespoon of powder per load. That comes out to only $0.05 per load!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!




This recipe derived from here