Looking Well to Our Households

Our family is making most of our cleaning and health and beauty products, and we want to share with you how we do it, and what has worked for us.  I have found the recipes from different websites or from friends, and will share that as well.  We believe it is safer without all the extra chemicals we cannot even pronounce and in most cases significantly cheaper on the wallet.  We buy absolutely NO shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, lotions, makeup remover pads or astringents, toilet bowl cleaner, all purpose cleaner, tub and tile scum cleaner, laundry detergent, and that just about covers it.  

The shampoo we use has only 2 ingredients plus water. 

Here is the disclaimer, it will take your hair a few weeks to get use to the new products with no chemicals.  Depending on the length of your hair it can take much longer.  Your hair will go through a detox process to rid itself of the chemicals and replace with your natural oils and the closing of the hair cuticles. 2 of my girls and my hair is long so it took us much longer than others I knew who had shorter hair.  But, if you still really scrub and wash thoroughly, it will still look clean, it just may not feel as clean until it finishes the detox process.  We almost gave up but now do NOT want to go back to anything store bought for fear of having to go back through that process all over again!  

The most expensive ingredient is the castile soap, and we had only found Dr. Bronner's, until now.  We order from swansonvitamins.com and found another brand by Dr. Woods, and it is much cheaper than Bronner's.  We have not tried it but it should be fine; we will let you know how it goes. 

The recipe calls for small amounts so I will give that and then how we make it for our family of 6.

Castile Shampoo Recipe:                      Our amounts:

1/4 C. water                                               4 Cups

1/4 C. liquid Castile soap                       4 Cups

1/2 t. oil (jojoba, olive, grapeseed)      8 teaspoons

Mix and pour into plastic or glass containers.

We pour ours into good spray bottles and the leftover into quart jars, then send one bottle upstairs and one in my bath.  Spray good, massage, and scrub in, then rinse.  Lathers well, and you may have to play to see how much you need, you may need to spray more or less; just experiment.

That's it!  Really simple!  It is mostly diluting the castile soap and adding an oil.  We use jojoba oil because we read it is good for your hair.  We haven't always used it, we have used olive oil, but I like jojoba better.  This is the recipe that has worked best for our hair.  

Now, for the conditioner:
Apple Cider Vinegar and water, yep, that's it!

1 T. ACV to 1 C. water

We like to put it in the ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles that you see here; that seems to work much better than spraying for some reason, and again you will have to experiment to see how much to use.  Everyone's hair is different.

Now, for the part you may really find weird...After you make it through the entire detox process, you may not have to shampoo every time.  I know, really?  Yes, really.  The cuticles in your hair will be closed, it is even harder to get your hair wet, it just won't soak up the water or anything for that matter.  It dries so much faster as well.  

Some people go with the "no-poo" method, and I can't quite go there the whole way, but my daughters are doing this between washing with our homemade shampoo.  It is simply a mixture of 1 T. Baking Soda, and 1 Cup of water.  Put in the same type squeeze bottle as the ACV Rinse is in and scrub in and rinse.  I will say sometimes they only wash with water, yes clean, pure water, well as pure as our city water can be, yes we have icky city water, nasty stuff.  Wish our well hadn't begun drying up, but oh well.  Anyways, go here to see others who go "no-poo."

Here's a couple other sites, here and here to check out.

Now you have homemade shampoo and conditioner; go have fun in making your home free of icky chemicals. 

One website on making homemade products is here.  Check it out.  I can't remember the others right now.  When I do, I'll let you know.

Being a keeper of the home and creating a safer environment for your family is wonderful!  We get to use our gifts and abilities God has given us in making our homes better.

"She looks well to the ways of her household, 

And does not eat the bread of idleness." 

Proverbs 31:27

Always Experiencing Him,

Jody