Homemade Laundry Soap Revisited

Just over a year ago, we made our first batch of homemade laundry soap (click here to read the post).

That single batch of laundry soap kept us in clean clothes and towels for an entire year. Here's the last of it, which I scooped out last week:

1-2 Tablespoons per load does the trick

Just 3 ingredients: a box of borax, a box of washing soda, and a bar of Fels Naptha soap, grated. No plastic involved (except the tub I keep it in) - all the ingredients come in paper or cardboard containers.

Here's the clincher: that batch of soap cost about $12 to make. Not bad for a year's worth of laundry!

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P.S. Fels Naptha soap also makes a great stain stick. Just wet the article in question and rub the soap into the problem area before washing. If you can't find Fels Naptha in your area, try Ivory, Zote, or any laundry bar soap.

P.P.S. If you're concerned about about borax and potential toxicity, see this informative post from Crunchy Betty.

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Coming Clean on Foreign Oil....

A decent interval having elapsed since my last Coming Clean post (in which the blogging world was electrified to learn that Mrs. M never shampoos her hair), it's time now to discuss my dependence on foreign oil.

By foreign oil, I don't mean the sticky petroleum that powers America's motorways and clogs her atmosphere. We're talking a different kind of liquid gold here - from Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia, Greece - the delicious stuff we drizzle on salads, swirl into skillets, put on our faces....

Put on our faces? Yes. Here at Micawber Towers, we clean our faces with olive oil (mixed with a bit of cold-pressed castor oil). It's called the Oil Cleansing Method, and it sounds completely nuts - but it really works.

(If you are one of those blessed with a happy complexion that responds well to soap and water, feel free to stop reading at any point.) :)

To many of us, who grew up with the idea that Oily Skin is a Bad Thing, the thought of cleaning our faces with oil seems horribly wrong. But a little oil is actually a Good Thing for your skin - the trick is to find the right balance. I happen to have sensitive combination skin - with rosacea - and nothing I've  tried in the past works as well, as simply, and as inexpensively as the Oil Cleansing Method.

Based on the principle that oil dissolves oil (and it's true - I've tried it on a splattery stove with great success), cleansing with oil has many advantages:

• It gently removes dirt, sweat, dead skin, and excess oil(!), without stripping away important moisture.
• It leaves behind a thin layer of protection for the delicate facial skin, eliminating the need for additional moisturizers.
• It's utterly simple, and healthily natural* - no chemicals, preservatives, or scents.
• Ingredients are readily available, and can be mixed up at a moment's notice.
• It can be endlessly, and instantly, customized to suit your skin's particular needs.
• From a financial standpoint, it's ridiculously low-cost.
• On an ecological level, it keeps innumerable bottles and boxes out of our landfills.

In short, oil cleansing is a win-win for the complexion AND the annual income - not to mention the planet.

Castor oil is the key to the Oil Cleansing Method - but it must be used sparingly, and combined with a secondary oil. Extra-virgin olive oil and sunflower seed oil are probably the two most commonly used; I have also seen references to almond, grapeseed, jojoba, and others. (We use extra-virgin olive oil, since we buy it in bulk and it's always on hand.) There's no hard-and-fast ratio for combining the oils; it's best to experiment and find what works best for your skin. (Click here or on the link below for some suggested ratios.) Essential oils can also be added if you like.

So what are the steps involved in Oil Cleansing? Here's what I do: In my bathroom, I keep a little jar of mixed oils (about 75% extra-virgin olive oil and 25% cold-pressed castor oil). To clean my face, I pour a bit of the oil onto the fingertips of one hand, pat against the fingertips of the other hand, and apply to my face in a circular massaging motion, covering the area from jawline to cheekbones. Because of my rosacea**, I pay special attention to the areas of my face that tend to get bumpy, and rub a little longer there.

To rinse, I wet my washcloth with hot water, ring it out, and hold it against my face for a moment. (This is supposed to open the pores and release accumulated gunk. I don't know if that actually happens, but the warm washcloth feels very relaxing.) Then I wipe my entire face with the washcloth, scrubbing gently at any bumpy bits - then rinse the washcloth, and I'm done***.

(You may be wondering whether this leaves the washcloth oily - but it doesn't. I think the castor oil causes everything to rinse out cleanly.)

I've been using the Oil Cleansing Method for about three years now, and I'll never go back to any other cleanser. Not only does the oil mixture clean my skin gently and thoroughly, it's also extremely versatile. A very thin layer, applied to slightly damp skin, makes a terrific moisturizer. A thicker layer works wonders in winter to protect exposed skin from the cold and wind. (One Miracle Product Does It All!)

If you've read this far (without being horrified), you may be interested in the following link...

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

...for a comprehensive article which explains in detail the theory and practice of Oil Cleansing. (You can also Google "Oil Cleansing Method".)

As with any alternative cleaning method, Oil Cleansing is not for everyone. But it certainly works for me - and if you're looking for a gentle, inexpensive, healthy facial cleaner, it may work for you too.

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*The word "natural" has been so overworked of late that I hesitate to use it. Arsenic is natural too - does that mean it's good for us?

**Another advantage of this method: I can exfoliate all I want (though I still only spot-exfoliate where needed, and never two days in a row) without irritating my skin or exacerbating the rosacea.

***What about the forehead and eye area? I don't use the oil around my eyes because there's no need; the washcloth cleans that area sufficiently. (Since I use pure mineral makeup and don't wear mascara, there's not much to clean.) For the forehead: Because I have bangs, I only use the oil on my forehead if I'm about to shower and wash my hair, and I'm careful to clean it off very thoroughly so my bangs don't get oily. On non-hairwashing days, I just wipe well with the warm washcloth, letting the water and friction do the job. :)

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Coming Clean

I have a confession to make: I haven't shampooed my hair for a year.

(Waves of consternation roll over the web. Horrified readers, reeling with shock, click frantically through their "Blogs I Follow" list, searching for the "delete" button. Meanwhile Marigold, calmly ruminating upon her stump of wisdom in western Washington State, remarks "What the hay? I've never shampooed my hair, and no one gives a peanut!")

Yes, you read that right. No shampoo for a year. That's not to say I haven't washed my hair. I have - but not with shampoo.

Last January I went no-poo: which is the common term for washing one's hair by means of something other than shampoo. There are various methods available: water only, which I haven't tried; conditioner only, which I also haven't tried, as it's recommended for naturally curly-headed types (and oh how I wish I were one of those). Then there's the baking soda / apple cider vinegar (charmingly abbreviated as BS and ACV) method - what I use - in which the hair is washed with a baking soda/water solution, and rinsed with vinegar and water. I keep small containers of baking soda and vinegar in the tub, with empty cups, and mix up just enough every time I shower.

Having written two earlier posts on this topic (which you can read here and here), I shan't repeat what I've said before. I will only say that after a happy year of clean, soft, shiny, shampoo-free hair, I will never go back (nor will Mr. M, who actually grew back some of the hair on his bald spots after giving up shampoo). Wintertime static is almost non-existent; my hair never needs conditioner; and though I regularly use a curling iron on my bangs and the ends of my long hair, I have no split ends.

(Warning - perspiration ahead. The squeamish may wish to skip this paragraph.) Since my no-poo journey began in wintertime, I did wonder how my hair would behave through a summer of sweaty outdoor exercise. Wouldn't I be tempted to wash it more often, or slip back into shampooing? Quite the contrary - my hair actually stayed cleaner this past summer. If my scalp got sweaty on a non-hairwashing day, all I had to do was let the perspiration dry, then brush thoroughly with a natural bristle brush - and the hair looked and felt as clean as it had before I exercised.

As with any alternative cleaning method, no-poo isn't for everyone - but it certainly works for me. (My only regret is that I can't come up with a replacement for commercial hairspray too - or one that works as well. I've tried all the recipes out there, but they lack the muscle of the storebought stuff.)

If you've read this far, and would like to find out more about going shampoo-less, click here for a link with very comprehensive information. Or you can just Google "no poo" and see what comes up. Those of you with naturally curly hair (lucky you!) might be particularly interested in the conditioner-only method.

Happy anniversary to my shampoo-free (but still clean) hair!

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A Clean Start

The guests are gone, leaving warm memories and a pile of sheets to wash - which seems somehow appropriate. Christmas behind, the New Year ahead: a good time for cleaning up and making fresh starts. (Although heaven knows I did enough cleaning before and during Christmas.)

Somewhere in the last month or two I came across a reference to homemade laundry detergent. (I really thought it was on Mrs. Thrifty Household's excellent blog, but I can't find any related posts there. Perhaps it was in a comment.) Mr. M and I love to make our own cleaners -  thus saving money, sparing our allergies, helping the environment, and politely thumbing our noses at Dow and Messrs Procter & Gamble, all in one happy chemical-free swoop. So you can be sure that when I read the words "homemade laundry detergent" I perked up my virtual ears and followed the Google trail of soap crumbs (mixing metaphors as I went) to this recipe for powdered laundry soap at the "Make Your Own" zone.

Nothing could be simpler: grate a bar of Fels Naphtha soap...

...add a box of Borax and a box of Washing Soda (washing, mind you, not baking)...

...mix well, then put into any handy container. Add a spare scoop or measuring cup, and there you are!

2 tablespoons will wash an entire load.

I mixed up my batch in a large bowl, which did make me sneeze a bit as the borax got into the air. Next time I'll probably shake it up in a (recycled) plastic bag.

We've done five or six loads with our new laundry soap, and the clothes and towels came out clean and fresh-smelling. One less plastic bottle in our lives; a bit more money in our wallets; fewer surfactants, optical brighteners, and other nasty things in the water supply. A win-win situation.

This mixture also makes a dandy all-around cleaner for heavily soiled floors and sticky baked-on stove grease. (Use sparingly, scrub with a damp sponge or rag, and rinse well.) I plan to try cleaning the bathroom with it next.

And now I have a date in the laundry room with a pile of dirty sheets...

P.S. If you decide to try this recipe yourself, give the box of borax a good allover thumping and massage before you open it. This will help eliminate lumps.

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