goin' natural

Hey lovlies

I am by no means an environmentalist. I do, however, enjoy saving money, as long as it doesn't take away from places where I enjoy spending money. ei, clothes for my babies (i'm kind of an overspender in that department) or food.

I've tried cloth diapers (scratch that, I BOUGHT some fancy cloth diapers, and upon receiving them in the mail totallyfreakedoutabouthavingtocleanpoopoffofdiapersonadailybasis) and decided cloth diapers weren't for me. So we're still spending the big bucks on good ole' disposables for two bums. No, Brooklin is NOT potty trained yet - but she DID pee in the princess potty for the first time EVER today! She's pooped 5 or 6 times over the last few months, but this is her first tinkle. :) Hooray for slow progress!

So now I'm going to try replacing cleaning products for ones that are a bit cheaper, and happen to also be more environmentally friendly, due to their lack of harsh chemicals. I'm not going to do it all at once, because that would be totally overwhelming and hard to keep track of.

I started out with Shampoo.

Yes, shampoo. I don't think that's a typical cleaning product that people think about when thinking of going natural, but for me, it's the easiest to start with. I found a recipe for 1 cup water to 1 Tbs baking soda. Simple enough, right? Totally easy to throw together, and SO cheap. Yes, SUPER cheap. Ya can't get much cheaper than water and baking soda, people.

I tried it for the first time last night. I made a batch in an old baby shampoo bottle - which happens to hold 3 cups of water and therefore 3 Tbs of baking soda. I shook it up, and voila - my new shampoo, ready to use!

Part of the joy I find in washing my hair is that ohsoclean feeling you get all the way down through the roots once you've dried your hair. I LOVE that! Nothing better, especially after having gone a day or two without washing your hair, and having it go from greasy to squeaky clean - that's the best. I was skeptical that this new method would take that ultra clean scalp feel away, but my friends, it did not. It was a different clean, like not sqeaky clean, but light clean. So, ultimately, it felt more naturally clean. No, I'm not promoting a product, or being sponsored to say these things by anyone (although, if ya want to pay me to say good things about water and baking soda, I'm not turning you down!) wink wink

The website said to expect a couple of weeks up to a couple of months for your hair to adjust to the lack of harsh chemicals - translated, your hair will be greasy during this time until it gets the idea that it doesn't have to overproduce natural oils anymore. This, I was nervous about. BUT, my hair isn't greasy AT ALL. It's definitely a little different, and maybe a little more dim, but it's not greasy. Because I did wash my hair before bed, I have EXTREME bed head, but that's nothing a ponytail holder and bobbypin for the crazybangs can't fix.

The hardest part was getting used to washing with liquid, instead of with gel that foams up. It was a little tricky-er to figure out where I'd washed, and where needed to be scrubbed. So, I just took my time, and made sure I used plenty - pouring the bottle right onto my head where needed. I didn't worry about saturating my hair, but I did want to make sure all of my roots were taken care of. Next time I don't think I'll need to use as much since I finally got the feel for what it felt like with soda vs just plain water by the end of my washing. It's a little slippery feeling, but definitely not nearly as slippery as shampoo. I probably ended up using about 1/4 to 1/3 a cup of the water/soda combo. About twice as much as I'll need to use on a regular basis, I think.

It rinsed out really well, no problems.

I think I'll have a pretty good idea of how I like this new way to shampoo after a week or two. There's a "home remedy" for conditioner too, which includes water and vinegar, I think, and I'll probably give that a try in a few days, once i figure out how to store it :)

Next money saving project I plan to tackle is home made laundry detergent, and home made dish washing detergent. I actually wanted to START with washing detergent, but I've had a hard time finding citric acid via person, not the web.

Here are the links for the websites I've found these recipes:

Shampoo and Conditioner: http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/
Laundry Detergent: http://markandjillsmallwood.blogspot.com/2012/02/forgotten-adventures.html (about half way through the post)
Dishwashing Detergent: http://www.diynatural.com/simple-effective-jabs-homemade-dishwasher-detergent-rinse-agent/