Money Saving Washing Powder Tips

OK, let’s face it, you gotta do laundry. My family runs the washing machine at least four times a week. Can you imagine the amount of laundry powder we go through?

I get so frustrated because I love the good smelling strong powders but I also want to stay away from the strong toxins many of them have while saving money. It was a few years back that I decided to learn how to make my own. Now I have the best of all three worlds. My clothes smell dreamy, feel of toxins and we save money with each load.

Try these recipes and see how you too can be toxic free like me….. well, at least in the laundry room. This mixture will wash about 60 loads.  Enjoy!

Grab

• bar bath soap, grated (your favorite brand)
• 1 cup arm & hammer super washing soda laundry detergent (a laundry booster)
• ¹⁄₂ cup borax
• hot water

Then do this:

1. Cover with water and simmer over medium heat until all soap is melted, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour into 5 gallon bucket.
3. Add washing soda and borax.
4. Add enough hot water to fill the bucket.
5. Stir  & let sit overnight to gel.
6. Use 1 cup per load.

NOTE: You can pour this into old detergent containers or leave in the bucket.  For fresh, clean laundry without chemicals, make your own powders and sprays.

Even simpler:

Mix-

16 cups baking soda

13 cups of Borax
12 cups washing soda

8 cups grated castile or glycerin soap flakes*
3 tablespoons lavender, lemon or grapefruit essential oil

Combine baking soda, Borax, washing soda and soap flakes. Add essential oil and mix with a wire whisk. Use 1⁄8 cup per load. Yield: This recipe makes enough powder to last a family of eight for six months.

*Pre-Wash Stain Spray

1⁄2 cup white vinegar
1⁄4 cup baking soda
3 cups water

Stir together and fill a labeled spray bottle. Spray on soiled spots just before washing. Always test a hidden spot first.

Bleach/Brightener Substitute

1 cup hydrogen peroxide
1⁄4 cup lemon or grapefruit juice
12 cups water

Store in a labeled plastic jug. Add 2 cups per load along with detergent.

Extra tips:
For extra-clean clothes, follow your detergent with 1/2 cup of washing soda, an all-natural laundry booster. Add baking soda to wash water at the same time as detergent to soften and freshen clothes and linens.
These work well for us. The children love to help with these projects, also. I allow them help select the soap pieces, pour dry items and capping bottles. It makes them happy, so have fun with it!

Okay, now here’s a little from my son’s game Monday. We had a ball! It was so clear that it’s More than just a game.

Keep it Clean, ~QC Supermom

When hoarding pays off!

I am not a hoarder! I only like to keep great information together for future reference. And I have no problems getting rid of things. Contrary to what my family may say. For example, my magazine from 2006, it will be recycled today, right after I rip out the reference friendly bits that I need.  I came up with a plan. Sort, compile, and back up everything starting with my overcapacity file cabinet.

It’s amazing what you can find while cleaning up. Instead of stapling, storing, and stuffing, I’ve recycled others information into a new gift to share!

What took up needed space in my file cabinet is now recycle, reduce and reused. With so much information I figured there was no better time to write my 2^nd book. So I enticed my husband to take the children out for a few hours over the last 4 weeks and BOOM!  I have a quality product to show for all of that quiet “Me Time!”

Take a look. This collection is great for new moms, teens, baby’s, and dads  with over worked body parts. It’s a teaser, if you want to see more, you’ll have to visit my gift shop. I have over 50 all natural treatments there. Many of the ingredients you can find in your kitchen or local health store. You’ll love every one of them. I did! 

Facial Exfoliater

2 heaped tsps of fine oatmeal                1 tsp, baking soda

Combine ingredients. Add enough water to make a paste. Apply and gently rub skin. Rinse and pat dry.

 

High Energy Smoothie

½ C of plain yogurt   ½ banana        ½ mango      ½ cup orange juice        ½ cup  of ice

Blend & Slurp.

Aromatherapy for Pain Management

2 drops of pine oil        3 drops of eucalyptus    3 drops of frankincense

Put in 20 ml carrier oil jar*

Use this up to 3 years for best results.

 

Foot Bath

Add 4-5 drops of peppermint, rosemary, and thyme to a large bowl of water . Soak for a few minutes and air dry feet on dry towel.

Homemade Shampoo

¼ C of your favorite herbal tea, strongly brewed

8oz liquid castle soap

Add soap and tea. In a pot, stir mixture until well blended. After usage, store in capped bottle.

My Baby Bump Salve

6 grams jojoba oil                 4 grams coco butter                        2 grams vegetable glycerin

36 grams evoo                     5 grams distilled water                   10 grams avocado oil

Combine oils and butter into heated proof cup. Place cup in boiling water and melt. Remove from heat and stir well with a popsicle stick.  Place water, borax and glycerin in a separate —– (This process was way too long to post here. I’ll have it in a book for you. Just know thatit is really good 🙂 )

CoCo Mango Foot Bar

1 lb CHOPPED organic goat milk melt and pour base soap

½ C COOLED* fresh coconut, grated, flaked and toasted till golden      2 oz of organic mango butter

Grind coconut and set it aside.

Melt melts in double broiler. Pour the melted butter over the melted soap base. The sprinkle coconut on top.   —-Too much to share here. Get the book in 2 weeks and have it all to enjoy at home..

So you like them or Naaah? LOL,  that’s how the young ones suggested I ask. Take care ya’ll!

**** 10% of sales from this purchase will go to Queen City Stay At Home Moms********

Friday Four: The Elephant in the room is nursing!

The number one weapon we have against bad information and advice is to SQUASH IT LIKE A BUG! By perpetuating myths, we only continue to make things harder for black breastfeeding moms in the future.

When we think about breast-feeding, we imagine an infant at her mother’s breast. But in previous eras, mothers who could afford to do so enlisted other women (poor women, slaves, immigrants) to breast-feed their babies. This was the “natural” order of those cultures. But something went wrong. It seems that somehow we’ve lost our way. Black Breastfeeding Week is not, I repeat, is not a week to have more of the white versus black argument. It’s not a week to get white women to notice black women breastfeeding, or even to get white women to acknowledge the fact that black women do breastfeed. It’s a week for us black women to bring awareness to other black women that, yes, we need to no longer let historical trauma hold us back.  Now about smashing them bugs… here 4 myths that need to be smashed!

“There is no money to be made in breastfeeding. The infant formula industry is run by the pharmaceutical companies, and there’s a huge profit motive,”

1. Myth: Moms with small breasts can’t make enough milk.   Truth: Breast size doesn’t matter.  Milk production has nothing to do with breast size.  It’s even possible for women with smaller breasts to have an oversupply of milk! Following your baby’s lead and nursing whenever your baby cues to feed will help to ensure adequate production of milk.

“My baby was allergic to my breastmilk.”

Now, before I outright say this isn’t true, it can be — but the chances of a baby having the only true allergy to human breastmilk or lactose in any form, called galactosemia, affects only 47 babies in the US per year… however, 150 people die annually from a falling coconut hitting them on the head. – The Stir

2.Myth: It’s Normal for Nursing to Hurt. Although it’s common to feel discomfort at first, pain is a sign that your baby isn’t latching onto your breast properly. Instead of focusing only on your nipple, she should be opening wide and pulling your nipple and breast deep into her mouth, using her jaw and tongue to massage milk out of your breast. Keep changing positions until your baby feels safe and secure. With a little time and patience, you’ll both get it right. (10Myths about breastfeeding added here for you to read later!) 3.Myth: Many moms can’t produce enough milk. Truth: The vast majority of mothers can make more than enough milk for their baby (or babies!). It is estimated that only 2-5% (some believe this number is lower, closer to 1-2%) of women are truly unable to produce enough milk for their baby. Our species never would have survived if we weren’t able to provide for our young. Low milk production is usually the result of not enough stimulation of the breast from nursing or pumping.

Whether you will be able to breastfeed after breast-reduction surgery also depends on how the procedure was performed. “If the nipple is left partially attached during the procedure and then reattached once the unwanted breast tissue has been removed, it’s more likely that you’ll be able to breastfeed”-Fit Pregnancy 

4. Modern formulas are almost the same as breastmilk. Not true! The same claim was made in 1900 and before. Modern formulas are only superficially similar to breastmilk. Every correction of a deficiency in formulas is advertised as an advance. Fundamentally formulas are inexact copies based on outdated and incomplete knowledge of what breastmilk is. Formulas contain no antibodies, no living cells, no enzymes, no hormones. They contain much more aluminum, manganese, cadmium and iron than breastmilk. They contain significantly more protein than breastmilk. The proteins and fats are fundamentally different from those in breastmilk. Formulas do not vary from the beginning of the feed to the end of the feed, or from day 1 to day 7 to day 30, or from woman to woman, or from baby to baby. Your breastmilk is made as required to suit your baby. Formulas are made to suit every baby, and thus no baby. Formulas succeed only at making babies grow well, usually, but there is more to breastfeeding than getting the baby to grow quickly.

-Other breastfeeding myths-

Enough on the soapbox, goodnight all! QCSUPERMOM 🙂

 

Friday Four: Dogs have super powers!

Why we love Star Pressley, the super terrier albino.

6 years ago we got Star from my sista’. She is a terrier. Not sure what type, but she’s amazing!

Right off the bat, our little albino terrier stole our heart. She was obedient, fast, tiny and just a real sweetheart. You couldn’t ask for a better play mate for the boys out side and a petting buddy for the girls in the house. Even my hubby liked her, even though he has yet to admit it.

She kept us laughing and on our feet. The kids loved feeding her and even grew to love grooming and picking up after her. Some of the lesson we learned from star could only be taught by a non human. Like compassion, non verbal communication,coping skills and yes even self esteem.

Star was our first family dog and we loved having her! I would catch the girls reading, talking to her like a true friend. When we moved, we had no where to put her, but my dad helped out so off to South Carolina she went.

She looked a mess when we picked her up. But my 15 year old looked GREAT. 1 out of two aint that bad. As my daughter was staying down there also. Fast forward- once we got back to Charlotte, we couldn’t wait to roll in the grass, race,play tug-n-drag with our smallest bundle of joy.

Instead, she growled at the neighbors and boo-boo in front of the dogs next door fence,then scratched our 3 year old in the face. At that point, I WANTED to escort her myself to the time out pound. When it a choice between my lil ones and a pet, my children’s safety will always come first. I just wish that he didn’t interfere with her lunch at that time.

After I got my whoosaaah on to control the anger. I realized that she being with my dad with little to no human interaction has taken a toll on her.

A year, salon visit, 2 hair bows, a bandanna  green tea and potato soup later, she’s back happy here with us again.Over time with patience, I know she’ll get back to where she was  a year ago. We love our all in one exerciser, clown, dress up doll, play-buddy, stress relieving, feisty little girl and can’t wait to declare her our best friend again.

If you are looking to get a dog for your family and is wondering which breeds are best, here is a list of the top 10 breeds for kids. Please consider going to the shelter first to find one.

Best Dog Breeds For Kids*
1. Golden Retriever
2. Labrador Retriever
3. Poodle
4. Irish Setter
5. Vizsla
6. Newfoundland
7. Collie
8. Bull Terrier
9. Beagle

10. Bull Dog (that one shocked me I must say)

Read more:

Pets good for kids’ immune systems, researchers find

How pets benefit child development