Insect Repellant

Ever notice how DEET smells like crap?  Is it the actual chemical, or the horrible stank that keeps bugs at bay?  Perhaps the world will never know...

One of my co-workers (Hi, Kendall!) had the idea to make her own insect repellant to keep chemicals off her two kiddos.  Best.  Idea.  Ever.  In fact, I'm annoyed I didn't think of it. 

She is using a recipe she found online, with witch hazel and essential oils.  I plan to try one this week that's witch hazel with lavender, peppermint, and Tea Tree oil.  If I can find some Neem oil I'll use that too.  I'm most concerned with mosquitos and ticks, hence my combination.  Recipe below, details to come...I'll update after I actually make this recipe and let you know if it works well for keeping buggies off, or if it just smells delightful.

10-20 drops of essential oils (details below)
1 tbsp of aloe vera gel
1/4 cup of witch hazel
1/4 cup of distilled water

Oils:
To repel ticks, use lavender or geranium.
To repel mosquitoes, use rosemary, thyme, citronella, catnip, clove, lemongrass, peppermint, neem, tea tree, oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Neem apparently is all-purpose.
White vanilla extract is apparently excellent as well.  Some of my crunchy granola style hippie friends just rub lavender leaves in their pits.  Whatever works, I guess.

Updates to come.  Stay tuned.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

I got turned on to the idea of making my own laundry detergent about 2 years ago.  It's a simple, inexpensive process, and is a great way for beginners to start eliminating unnecessary chemicals from their home.

All you need are a few ingredients and a little spare time.

You will need:

1 box of Borax (I believe it's 72oz, though it may be 76)

2 boxes of Washing Soda (55oz each)

3 bars of soap (Ivory, Fels Naptha, or Dr.Bronners, or any combination.  I use one of each...Ivory because it's cheap, Fels Naptha because of the stain removal power, and Dr.Bronner's because it smells so dang good)

Optional: 1-2 cups of Oxi Clean

Instructions:

Grate the bars of soap.  This is the most arduous part of the process.  I do it while catching up on Dance Moms Miami.  Or you could make your kids do it.  It might sound like common sense, but watch your fingers.  Cheese graters are sharp and I definately lost a few layers of skin making my first batch. (a cheese grater, a food mill, or a Kitchenaid processor all work very well)

In the biggest mixing bowl you can find, or in a paper grocery bag, mix all ingredients.  Make sure the bag is sturdy to avoid having to sweep billions of Borax granules from your kitchen floor.

Pour into a container and get a-washin.  Makes 1.5-1.75 gallons worth.  I went to Walmart and bought two plastic gallon-sized storage canisters to keep it in. 

One tablespoon cleans a full-sized load of laundry.  Seriously.  If you have a super grimy load of laundry, it may require 2 tbsp.  I also use 2 tbsp for towels, just because they're so dang heavy.

My husband and I use a batch of this approx every 5-6 months.

Here is the best part: the cost breakdown.

One batch of this soap makes at least 300 loads of laundry (1 tbsp per load, 1 gallon = 256 loads, x1.5 =384 loads).

Fels Naptha $3/bar, Dr.Bronners $5/bar, Ivory $1/bar, Washing Soda $5/box (x2 boxes), Borax $6/box, Oxi Clean (the smallest canister) $3.  It costs approx $28 to make enough laundry detergent for at least 300 loads of laundry.

If you bought Tide Free (the scent/dye free kind), 64 loads worth is $12 (the cheapest I've found it.  You would spend at least $90 to buy enough Tide to clean 300 loads of laundry. 

I know, right?  AMAZING.

Plus, there aren't any freaky dyes, chemicals, or perfumes in it.  It's pretty much exactly what your granny used to keep grandpa's knickers gleaming white. 

I should also state: my husband has psoriasis and I have eczema, and neither of our skin conditions are exacerbated by this laundry soap.  It's gentle enough for finicky skin and new baby bums.

Welcome to my slum

I was a college student for 7 years.  SEVEN FLIPPIN YEARS.  (Actually, now that I think about it, it was probably 8 years).  I could practically be a doctor.  Instead, I chose International Studies (totally unemployable.  Read: I smoked a lot of pot in college and needed a major that didn't involve a whole hell of a lot of studying.  Twenty-one year olds are excellent decision makers) as my undergraduate major.  I taught overseas (rewarding, fun, an amazing adventure, but I made $175 a month).  I came back to the US, picked the lice out of my hair, and I decided to go to nursing school.  A two year program that would let me make mad bank at the end, and care for people?  Heck yeah!

I've been a nurse for almost three years.  In that time I've learned that "mad bank" is not nearly as "mad" as I thought it would be.  Not even close.  I would actually make more if I became a sanitation worker or a manager at Arbys.  But, I love being a nurse.  I love my patients, I love the doctors I work with, I love my little rural clinic and attached hospital.  But the money sucks.  My husband is a compassionate and skilled personal care worker.  He loves it, and his clients love him, but the money sucks.
Why I am telling you about my financial woes?  Well, that's how I got started in "homesteading." 

I actually kind of feel like a pretentious ass when I refer to "homesteading."  Pa Ingalls was a homesteader...walking across hundreds of miles of uncharted lands, building houses, breaking land, almost dying of malaria...he was hardcore.  I just got a glass of ice water from my fridge and my lunch is cooking in the microwave.  A homesteader I am not. 
Unfortunately, that's the most recognizable way to sum up what I do: make things myself instead of buying them at Walmart or Target; saving money, and being a little greener.  I love Mother Earth, but I'm mostly in this to save money.

This blog will be a resource for others who want to start "homesteading."  I will chronicle my successes and miserable failures, so hopefully you won't waste time repeating my mistakes.

I do not claim to be the author or inventor of any links posted or referenced in this blog.  Other people were pretentious asses long before I jumped on the train, and the internet is rife with useful information. 


***FYI, I have friends who work at Walmart and Target, and I do still shop there.  I have nothing against these corporations, I just hate giving ANYONE more money than I have to.***

***I also should put the disclaimer on this entry that though I mention pot smoking, I haven't done this since well before I became a nurse.

***Also, I have nothing against ghettos or slums.  That's just what I call my part of town.  It's a joke, take it easy...my town has 9000 people, there is no ghetto.  But if a drug bust is to be found in this little burg, you can bet your bottom dollar it'll be at one of my neighbor's houses.