Homemade Laundry Soap

I've always heard about making your own laundry soap.  After a little research, I discovered it wasn't only easy to make, it was VERY inexpensive!  This is right up my alley!

Here are the ingredients for the laundry soap:

1/3 bar of Fels Naptha (or Zote or Ivory)
1/2 cup of washing soda (not baking soda)
1/2 cup Borax
10 drops of Lemon essential oil (you can use whatever essential oil you would like for fragrance)

I found the ingredients in the laundry soap aisle in my local Walmart store.  Here is the process to make the soap:

Grate the soap and put it in a large sauce pan.  Add 6 cups of water and heat it until the soap dissolves.  Add the washing soda and Borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups of hot water into the pan and stir.  Add 1 gallon plus 5 cups of water and stir.  Let this sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  After 24 hours, put it into a large bucket.  This recipe makes about 2.5 gallons of laundry soap - a cost of about .03 per load!

This recipe does not make a lot of suds but that is OK because suds are not what cleans your clothes!
Use about 1/2 cup per load of laundry.  Very easy and cost effective!

Honey Citrus Lip Balm

This recipe is listed on The Chicken Chick

My new fascination with creating concoctions led me to try making lip balm.  It turned out great!  Here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup Illipe Butter
1/2 cup Beeswax
1 cup Calendula Infused Oil
Lemon Essential Oil - 4-5 drops
Orange Essential Oil - 8-10 drops
1 tablespoon honey
Liquid from 3 Vitamin E capsules

First, let me start by saying the the ingredients are completely interchangeable.  If you don't have illipe butter, you can substitute jojoba or cocoa butter.  You don't have to use calendula infused oil.  You can use almond oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil or olive oil.  I used calendula infused oil because of its soothing properties.

To begin, melt the beeswax and butter in a double boiler.

When that is melted add the infused oil, liquid from the vitamin E capsules, honey and essential oils.  Stir all of that together and pour into your containers.  I got these at http://mountainroseherbs.com/.

It's that easy!  If you like your lip balm a little softer, decrease the amount of beeswax.  Have fun experimenting with it! 

This recipe is featured on Chic and Craft Party!



Herbal Salve for Strains, Bruises, Arthritis

One of the things that I have been very interested in learning about is herbal medicine.  Yes, I know that modern day medicine is miraculous and I wouldn't change that.  However, I know the God put the things we need on this earth and our ancestors were wise enough to discover some amazing healing properties in the plant life around us.

I am not a doctor and I do not proclaim that you should follow my advice.  It is up to each individual to make his/her own decisions.  In fact, the FDA does not endorse herbal medicine, although doctors in Europe prescribe many herbs to treat many different ailments.

Here is a fact:  I'm getting old!  I have daily pain in my knees and want to do something about it without having surgery.  In my research, I've discovered that the following herbs are useful in treating inflammation, strains, arthritis, etc.

Calendula:  http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-calendula.htm
Comfrey:  http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-comfrey.htm
Arnica:  http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-arnica.htm

To make my salve I used the following ingredients:

2 cups olive oil
1 cup beeswax
1 cup dried calendula, and comfrey
2 eye drops full of arnica oil
Lavender Essential Oil
Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Tea Tree Essential Oil
Peppermint Essential Oil
2 Tablespoons glycerin

To begin, I put the olive oil and dried herbs in a sauce pan and let them simmer for a few hours.

The herbs infuse in the oil.  Make sure the heat is on low.......do not the oil get too hot!  After a few hours, strain the herbs out and keep the oil.  When the oil is strained, add the essential oils, glycerin, and arnica oil.  You can add any essential oil that you want.  I used eucalyptus, peppermint, and lavender because of their calming effect.  I added tea tree essential oil because of its healing properties:  http://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/tea-tree-oil.asp.

Put the oil in a double boiler or use a measuring cup in a pan full of simmering water.  This will keep it hot as you mix the ingredients together.

Add the melted beeswax and mix.  Pour the mixture into clean, sterilized jars and let it cool.  The mixture will harden as it cools.

Not a great picture, but you can already see the mixture starting to harden. 

This recipe is featured on Chic and Craft Party!