So, recently I hosted and enjoyed a girls' night with my beautiful girly-friends... our conversations range from silly to serious... and this night we touched a little on what cleaning products everyone was using around their homes...
I love my vinegar/water/lavender spray and was sad to find that it's not the optimal choice for cleaning my counter tops... I do still use lysol diluted with water once a week to give my kitchen a good cleaning, however, after this revelation, I jumped on the internet to find a better, green choice for my everyday cleaning... soooo, here it is...
Disinfectant Spray*
2 cups water
3 tbsp liquid soap (I use a pure liquid soap, available in the health food aisles of my grocery store)
20-30 drops of tea tree oil or any other essential oil with disinfecting properties (optional)
So simple and effective and plays right into my plans for ridding my home of unnecessary chemicals... not to mention a complete money saver... and who doesn't love to save money???
So, I'd like to once again thank the ladies for a fun night of chit-chat, food and wine/coffee... Special thanks to Becky for opening my eyes about my vinegar/water spray... I now feel totally comfortable getting rid of my Lysol too...
Have a fantastically green Sunday ;)
*disinfectant spray courtesy of Redbook online, follow the link for more great cleaning recipes...
http://www.redbookmag.com/recipes-home/tips-advice/green-cleaning-recipes
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Bandwagon-jumping...
Yes, yes it's true... I can be somewhat of a bandwagon jumper... especially when the pros far outweigh the cons, and especially when no harm will happen to anyone or anything...
Recently, I joined the "No-Poo" revolution... no-no, not what you're thinking... "no-poo" as in no shampoo. I first read about it here, Sayward at Bonzai Aphrodite has a great passion for living a chemical-free life, hop on over and have a read of everything she has to offer...
I realize how gross no shampoo sounds; but, I have to say that my hair has never felt better, and my scalp has been itch-free for two weeks! This excites me like you wouldn't believe. I posted a while back about how sensitive my skin is and how I seem to rash just walking by certain body care products (an obvious over-exaggeration)... aaaaanyway. Yes, I do wash my hair; but now I'm scrubbing my hair and scalp with a mixture of baking soda and water. It's totally amazing how clean my hair feels when I wash with this stuff... then I massage and rinse the soda out with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water and a few drops of lavender essential oil. Stinky, you'd think, but surprisingly not at all. Even my husband comments on how nice my hair looks after I wash... which I do every second or third day. I'm not saying everyone should go "no-poo", I think it totally depends on the type of hair you have. It works for my hair because I have lots of hair, lots of body, and a normal-dry texture... on someone with thin, straight and more oily hair, something like this may not work as a routine method of hair cleansing... however, I can totally see this working for everyone as a once a month way to de-guck your hair... it's a fantastic way to rid yourself of build-up. The added bonus are the benefits to your hair and scalp - stronger hair, and healthier scalp... vinegar has the same pH as skin therefore it returns your skin/scalp back to normal after washing... read more about it with Sayward at Bonzai Aphrodite or google it!
When we were on vacation in PEI a couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to visit this lovely place, The Great Canadian Soap Company. They have created a superb line of goats milk products that, while they smell fantastic, are beneficial in so many ways!... WOW! I have had my eyes opened up to the kind of crap I have been washing my body with my whole life... and have realized that all of my skin issues have probably been caused by using harsh detergents hidden in pretty little packages and masked by enticing scents. I am totally sold on the goaty goodness! I purchased soap for all the babes which will last at least four times longer than the zillions of bottles of J&J baby head-to-toe stuff I have bought past and present... by the way, J&J is nothing more than a "gentle" detergent - EEK! And their baby lotions all have parabens - YIKES! I feel like a more responsible parent/consumer, knowing that I am purchasing and using products that are better for me, my family and not harmful to our earth.
Do I sound like a hippy yet??? Maybe I will after you read this ;)
I had said a while ago, how I wanted to try making my own laundry detergent... well, I did. And I LOVE it... I made a powdered detergent, which I am totally not accustomed to using, but have found very effective for cleaning our clothes. I still keep a bottle of the chemically-laced-massed-produced-not-good-for-you-or-the-environment-liquid-stuff on hand for those extra dirty things, but use only a teaspoon of it along with my homemade stuff. I love the smell of it... I used the old fashioned Sunlight Pure Soap bar, When grated up and mixed with all of the other ingredients, it gives all of our laundry a wonderful lemon chiffon smell.... yummmmm! If anyone is interested in the recipe, I'd be happy to share!
What things have you been doing to better you and your families lives lately? What do you think of the whole "no-poo" revolution? Share your tips and hints for healthier living...
Enjoy your evening everyone ;)
Recently, I joined the "No-Poo" revolution... no-no, not what you're thinking... "no-poo" as in no shampoo. I first read about it here, Sayward at Bonzai Aphrodite has a great passion for living a chemical-free life, hop on over and have a read of everything she has to offer...
I realize how gross no shampoo sounds; but, I have to say that my hair has never felt better, and my scalp has been itch-free for two weeks! This excites me like you wouldn't believe. I posted a while back about how sensitive my skin is and how I seem to rash just walking by certain body care products (an obvious over-exaggeration)... aaaaanyway. Yes, I do wash my hair; but now I'm scrubbing my hair and scalp with a mixture of baking soda and water. It's totally amazing how clean my hair feels when I wash with this stuff... then I massage and rinse the soda out with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water and a few drops of lavender essential oil. Stinky, you'd think, but surprisingly not at all. Even my husband comments on how nice my hair looks after I wash... which I do every second or third day. I'm not saying everyone should go "no-poo", I think it totally depends on the type of hair you have. It works for my hair because I have lots of hair, lots of body, and a normal-dry texture... on someone with thin, straight and more oily hair, something like this may not work as a routine method of hair cleansing... however, I can totally see this working for everyone as a once a month way to de-guck your hair... it's a fantastic way to rid yourself of build-up. The added bonus are the benefits to your hair and scalp - stronger hair, and healthier scalp... vinegar has the same pH as skin therefore it returns your skin/scalp back to normal after washing... read more about it with Sayward at Bonzai Aphrodite or google it!
When we were on vacation in PEI a couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to visit this lovely place, The Great Canadian Soap Company. They have created a superb line of goats milk products that, while they smell fantastic, are beneficial in so many ways!... WOW! I have had my eyes opened up to the kind of crap I have been washing my body with my whole life... and have realized that all of my skin issues have probably been caused by using harsh detergents hidden in pretty little packages and masked by enticing scents. I am totally sold on the goaty goodness! I purchased soap for all the babes which will last at least four times longer than the zillions of bottles of J&J baby head-to-toe stuff I have bought past and present... by the way, J&J is nothing more than a "gentle" detergent - EEK! And their baby lotions all have parabens - YIKES! I feel like a more responsible parent/consumer, knowing that I am purchasing and using products that are better for me, my family and not harmful to our earth.
Do I sound like a hippy yet??? Maybe I will after you read this ;)
I had said a while ago, how I wanted to try making my own laundry detergent... well, I did. And I LOVE it... I made a powdered detergent, which I am totally not accustomed to using, but have found very effective for cleaning our clothes. I still keep a bottle of the chemically-laced-massed-produced-not-good-for-you-or-the-environment-liquid-stuff on hand for those extra dirty things, but use only a teaspoon of it along with my homemade stuff. I love the smell of it... I used the old fashioned Sunlight Pure Soap bar, When grated up and mixed with all of the other ingredients, it gives all of our laundry a wonderful lemon chiffon smell.... yummmmm! If anyone is interested in the recipe, I'd be happy to share!
What things have you been doing to better you and your families lives lately? What do you think of the whole "no-poo" revolution? Share your tips and hints for healthier living...
Enjoy your evening everyone ;)
Monday, August 2, 2010
Please stand by...
As you can see, I am having technical difficulties with the new blogger design stuff... and have to say that I am not pleased at all with my limited options and the user UN-friendliness of said new options...
Please bear with me as I try to find a layout and design that I am happy with... and if I cannot, I may be looking into other blogging sites, which will mean I may be off-line for a little while...
Thanks for understanding... hope the current ugliness of my blog doesn't turn you away ;)
UPDATE: I think I've figured out the problems and have come to a happy solution... now I just need to try to remember all of the blogs I love :(
This time, I will have to make a copy of all of the technical stuffffff.... and hide it away in a safe place.
Hope you like my new look!
Please bear with me as I try to find a layout and design that I am happy with... and if I cannot, I may be looking into other blogging sites, which will mean I may be off-line for a little while...
Thanks for understanding... hope the current ugliness of my blog doesn't turn you away ;)
UPDATE: I think I've figured out the problems and have come to a happy solution... now I just need to try to remember all of the blogs I love :(
This time, I will have to make a copy of all of the technical stuffffff.... and hide it away in a safe place.
Hope you like my new look!
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