Back in the day when I was raising a family I used to bake all my bread, make yogurt, make soap (and I mean from the rendering of fat to the end product), make all foods from scratch, and make anything else I could for cost saving and healthier living.  But as the kids grew up and moved away I needed much smaller amounts of items and it was just more convenient to purchase it all.  

Enter Pinterest and all these recipes for about everything you can imagine!  I have had a great time trying out new recipes, sure has launched us out of the food rut!  But the recipes for household products just seemed like a fun way to recall the fun of doing experiments in the kitchen!  

First experiement was with body butter.  Initially I just whipped coconut oil until it was frothy and used that as moisturizer.  But I wanted a product with vitamin E and shea butter.  So I purchased some E oil and shea butter and added it to coconut oil and took my electric mixer and whipped the tar out of it.  I am very happy with the end result.  I measured nothing…just tossed in a bit of this and a dab of that.  I did not add oils for scent as the shea smells heavenly already.  This is the best ever eye makeup remover and body butter.

Next up was laundry soap.  I prefer the liquid type so used a recipe that calls for:

1 Cup Washing Soda

1 Box Borax

Bar of soap (I used 1/2 bar of Fels Naptha)

I grated the soap into a large pot that easily holds 2 gallons.  Added a gallon of water and heated until the soap melted.  I then added the washing soda and borax.  It stated to bring it to a boil.  Well it never boiled and never boiled and then I turned my back and it boiled all over the stove!  Never again as my gas stove is a mess as it leaves a horrid white residue that needs to be scrubbed off.  The recipe did not state that you need to stir…but it is necessary until the soda and borax are melted.  After mixture boils add another gallon of cold water and stir.  That’s it.  It was messy and I think next time I will just mix it all dry and try using it as a dry powder.  

However the end product is wonderful.  It has no scent but my clothes are clean and there is no residue.  The Fels Naptha and washing soda are excellent for stain removal.  My clothes come out of the dryer smelling clean not scented and I like that.   

Next on my list to try is dishwasher soap.  

These experiments take me back to my childhood days when my best friend and I would mix a variety of household products together just to see what we could make.  We ended up with some pretty interesting products, many which we consumed as they were edible.  I like anything that lets me play like a child once again and taps into the creative spirit!

Pinterest…gotta love it!!