Mostly Chemical Free

I have been slowly moving towards a chemical free household for a few years now.  I started buying less toxic, more earth (and people) friendly, all natural cleaning products in the grocery store around 5 years ago. At the time, at least at the stores I shopped at, there was a very limited selection.  Most were either not all natural or they were too pricy.  Eventually I started looking at what could be homemade.  I wasn't completely sure about making them myself, but I started buying from online retailers who made homemade products (like Mrs Jones Soapbox).  I love these products, but one of the biggest drawbacks is I never remember to order them before I run out.  After using these for several years, I realised that I wanted to find ways to reduce the cost even more.  It isn't that the products are too pricey, they are about the same price as everyone's favorites at the store if you buy the refills, but one of my long term goals is to reduce the overall amount we spend on household items.  One of the most used household cleaning items in my house is laundry soap.  I was spending around $65-80 per year on laundry soap alone, which worked out to be an average of $6 a month - that isn't bad at all.  However, when I bought all of the items to make my own it was about $35, and I am only halfway through it after a year...so I think it will be around $1.50 per month.  Plus, after spending about an hour making it (only because the shredding can take forever - even with a food processor), I haven't had to worry about whether I needed to buy more. 

My biggest worry was if my clothes would feel clean, which they do.  I have really sensitive skin and can't use most laundry detergents from the store, but I have had no problems with this soap.  It never leaves a residue and everything comes out clean.  The basic version I have smells nice, but after the clothes are washed there is no scent.  I have tried several different ways to get the scent to "stick" but I haven't been very successful.  I have even tried a few essential oils on wool dryer balls, but soaking them before throwing them in the dryer didn't work.

  This is where the "mostly chemical free" comes in.  After a year of searching for a scent we both could live with and would stick to our clothes, I gave up and bought Purex Crystals to use.  Lots of the homemade recipes use them anyways, but I really wanted to avoid artificial scents if I could.  I don't add them to the laundry soap but directly into the bin with the clothes.  This allows me to limit the amount I use, the directions say to use half of a capful (about 1/8 cup I think) but I only put about 1/2 -1 teaspoon in - it's either really strong or maybe it's just that I haven't had any scent on my clothes in so long.  I chose the Purex Crystals because they say they are 87% natural crystals - who knows if it matters but it makes me feel better.  So far it seems to be working well, but I will continue looking for a better alternative. 

As for the other cleaners I use around the house, I am continuing to use the stuff I bought from Mrs. Jones Soapbox.  As they run out I plan to find a homemade recipe to make instead of buy, hopefully they all work out as well as my laundry soap has.  My next experiment is to try to make dishwasher soap and regular dish soap - I'm getting dangerously low!

 

If you would like to give all natural cleaning a try, but don't want make your own, give some of the great in-store and online options a try.  If you want to make your own laundry soap - I have a quick list below of what I used or search around for one that you think will work for you.  It's definitely worth the effort.

1 box of Borax ~5 lbs

1 box of Baking Soda ~4lbs

1 box of Washing Soda ~3 lbs

1 box Oxi Clean ~3 lbs

3 bars FelsNaptha, shredded

1 bar Coconut Oil based soap, shredded

Combine in a garbage bag, this helps keep the dust down, and find a big container to store it all in.  You can see the 10 gallon jar I used below.  It wasn't filled all the way to the top,

but it is still half full a year later!!



psst - Don't mind the dust all over - I swept it up after I realised it was so bad (but after I took this picture), and the trim in the back is going to be covered by a bench eventually. :)

psst part two - Mrs. Jones Soapbox has no idea I wrote about their products - I just like them.