Monday 1 July 2013

Back to basics


The time has come for us to take another step towards becoming more natural in our home environment, i.e. getting back to basics like Nana did.  I had been wondering for some time what the next step would be but wasn't sure where to start.  We are pretty comfortable with the homemade rosewater and witch hazel baby wipes, and cloth nappies are a piece of cake to keep smelling fresh now that I know to soak the dirty naps before washing them.  The spray cleaner, antibacterial spray and glass cleaner, all from Wendyl Nissen's book Old-fashioned guide to raising your baby chemical-free, are just a part of our cleaning repertoire and are all we ever use now.

So after having run out of moisturiser, the choice of what the next step in my quest for a natural home would be was made for me.  Not having washed my face with anything other than water in two years, and not being able to remember the last time I used toner, I decided it was time to do something about it.  A little googling and I found the most basic facial exfoliant possible - baking soda.  Just mix up a little paste in your hand and scrub away.  It leaves your face feeling so soft and its already in your cupboard. Livin' the Crunch Life provided a great and easy to make recipe for an apple cider vinegar based toner, which takes minutes to make and doesn't smell at all like apple cider vinegar.  There are a heap of face cream and oil recipes but they seemed to require too many ingredients or seemed just a little too complicated to make - except the face oil recipe by Crunchy Betty.  It simply has three ingredients and all you have to do is mix them together - anyone can do it.

To finish off my new face care regime I added make up remover pads to my grocery list, and then two minutes later scrubbed them off when I found these reusable facial pads on Ravelry.  It took me around 10 minutes to make one pad - so not long at all considering I'm only a beginner on the crochet scene.  Just love quick and easy crochet!

At the end of last week, as I wrote down dishwashing powder, body wash, liquid handwash - all the items I dread buying because of both the price and the indecipherable and toxic ingredients list, I wondered if these items could also be made at home.  Blow me down - they can!  Thanks again to Wendyl Nissen for her dishwashing powder and liquid handwash recipes which work just as good as those you buy at the shop and for a fraction of the cost.  Tried and True's recipe for homemade bodywash using just three ingredients is ridiculously easy to make and cost $10 to make three litres.  Incredible!

Next on my to-make list are bubble bath, laundry powder and liquid dishwashing liquid.  If you have any ideas then please share.  Hope you'll have a go at getting natural too. Xo

2 comments:

  1. Perfect! Thanks so much for blogging this. I've just spent a good half hour following your links, exploring a little more and taking some notes. I would love to have a chemical free home and feel that I'm slowly getting there! Although, I find it so hard to source borax. Leah x

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  2. Thanks for your kind words. I agree it can be tricky to find the products but I have found a great company in New Zealand, who also distribute to Australia, that seem to have everything you need. Good luck! Xo

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