Household Experimenting!

So, I've been on a natural/make my own household products kicks lately.  I figured that as I go through these experiments, I guess you could call them, that I should somehow document what I am going through.

I have been making my own laundry detergent for about a year now.

1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
2 bars of ivory soap

I throw the ivory soap in the food processor and it turned into a fine powder, then I add the other ingredients and viola!  2 tbs. per load.

A few weeks ago, I decided to see what else I could start making.  I figured I might as well start with fabric softener to complement my detergent.

3 cups water
1.5 cups white vinegar
1 cup of any kind of hair conditioner

Stir it all together.  You can put it into your washing machine, or do what I do, which is put in a spray bottle then spray onto a wash clothe and throw it in the dryer.  Although this works good, I will be looking for a different recipe once I use this up.  Hence the natural part of my making things kick.  I would like to find one that doesn't use the conditioner to get the chemicals out.  I am also going to invest in some essential oils and experiment with adding some scent to the clothing.

I also make my own cleaning solution/ant repellent.  It's just a white vinegar-water mixture not in any specific measurements, but my three year old loves to use the spray bottle and it makes me feel better knowing he can spray to his hearts desire and not get hurt.  Vinegar is my homeboy at this point.  I am convinced that there is nothing is can't do!

Now onto my biggest experiment yet!  I have decided to join the no-poo movement!  While this may sound like I have committed to being very constipated, I assure you it has nothing to do with bowel movements!  Sorry for my junior high boy moment there...Anyway, going no-poo means to stop using shampoo.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Ok, now that I've given you ample time to freak out and lament about how gross I am, let me give you some more information.

A few weeks ago, my mother in law asked me if I saw the news story on how sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laurethe sulfate may be dangerous.  Just so you know, these two things are harsh detergents the strip oil.  They are used in basically anything that suds (shampoo, soaps, dish detergent, laundry detergent, face wash, etc.)  Beyond being dangerous, they apparently mess up the natural balance of your hair which causes you to use all of those other products just to get a mildly, desirable effect.  So, this tid bit of information along with my obsession for making things led me to look for shampoo alternatives (I'm not crazy, I'm still going to wash my hair somehow!)

Since this could be a rather long post documenting my no-poo journey, I'm going to expand on it in another post.