I'm reading like a crazy person, I made soft scrub...
Yup...it's a miscellany kind of day, where I have multiple small things to tell you about.
Ready?
1. The Woolbuddy Giveaway
The felting kit giveaway closes tonight at midnight EST.
EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS! Sadly, I have no way to track entries that are emailed to me.
So, you have to click here and leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway.
2. What I'm reading in 2015
This year, I decided to make a page on the blog to chronicle the books I read this year.
Since I know at least some of you are interested in what I read, I plan to keep it updated each month with 2-4 sentence quick reviews of the books I finish that month.
I added a little "What I'm reading in 2015" graphic over in the sidebar so you can easily find the page when you wonder what I've been reading lately.
(I kind of want to read 52 books this year, which works out to one per week. I thought that might be a high goal for me, but somehow, I've read five books so far this month. So, I'm thinkin' there might actually be 52 books on that page by the end of the year.)
3. I made homemade Soft Scrub!
And it actually seems to work really well.
SWEET.
I mainly use Soft Scrub clean my shower floor and glass shower doors, and I'm pleased to say that the homemade stuff did a good job of cleaning off the cloudiness that's always plaguing my glass doors.
Since Castile soap is pretty expensive (I got mine at Target. Is somewhere else better??), this only works out to be slightly cheaper than commercial Soft Scrub.
However, since the homemade stuff is more natural than the commercial stuff, I think it's going to be a win.
I put my extra soft scrub in a wonton soup takeout container, and I'm curious to see how it works after being stored.
I found this recipe in the soon-to-be-released DIY ebook bundle...speaking of which:
4. a DIY ebook bundle is coming on Wednesday!
Since my ebook is in this bundle, I got an early access copy of the bundle and I've been working my way through the bundled books this week (thus the soft scrub making!).
I'm not supposed to talk about specific books in the bundle right now, but once the sale launches on Wednesday, I'll tell you which ones are my favorites and share my opinions on the bonus offers.
For now, you can read a little more about the bundle right here.
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I'm off to check out the toilet cleaner recipe now, since toilet bowl cleaner is the last not-natural man standing in my bathroom-cleaning bucket.
(I use Shaklee sprays for surface cleaning and mirrors, and now I have homemade soft scrub for the shower).
Do you guys have any natural toilet-bowl-cleaning ideas? I'd also welcome ideas for the best place to buy castile soap.
See if you can find a local Frontier Co-Op (https://www.frontiercoop.com/) group. Bronner's is significantly cheaper that way. I'd offer to invite you to mine but I suspect Dulles Airport/Chantilly is a little to far for a co-op purchase. 😉
I've got a friend who swears by homemade toilet bombs. I've never tried 'em, myself. Good luck. 🙂
I'm excited to hear about the toilet cleaners. We still buy the toxic stuff and it's the cleaner we probably use the most often.
Best place to buy Dr. Bronners is Whole foods. Surprisingly, it is much cheaper at Whole Foods than at target. Give it a try.
That IS surprising. Never would have thought!
I buy the Whole Foods or Trader Joe's store brand of castile soap. It is less expensive than Dr. Bronners.
That's what I've found too! Very surprising, but they have to have some loss leaders like any store, right?
I just use straight borax to clean my toilet bowl. I shake some in and then use the brush to clean it. It seems to work for me. As far as the seat, I just use a vinegar and water spray that I pretty much use for all my surface cleaning.
Me too! Vinegar is the best!!
Also if its not in the bathroom bucket but under a sink: baking soda followed by vinegar then pulling up on the drain plunger till bubbles finish is the greatest Draino ever. Follow with hot water rinse. It wirked when Draino failed. (Draino did burn my skin and eyes in its process though).
My toddler helps me clean drains now!! And it costs next to nothing.
Note: we do also shove this plastic drain thing in and out to loosen hair, the BS+V cleans off the gunk and wooshes it down the pipe.
Speaking of crazy . . . we actually made castile soap. Or rather, my husband mostly did. The only ingredients are olive oil (cheap in those big metal containers at BJs or Costco) and lye (available at hardware stores as drain cleaner). We came across a method in the book "Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer Society" that used a blender. Basically, you combine the two, blend it to a certain point, pour it into a clean cut-off half gallon cardboard orange juice container to set, then rip off the mold, cut it into bars, leave it out to cure for a month, and amazingly enough, it's soap. Pure castile soap for about, oh, a penny a bar maybe.
You can also add essential oils to make it smell good, as the plain stuff kind of smells like, well, oil when you're using it, although it leaves no scent when it's washed off.
Dealing with lye is a little intimidating--which is why this was mostly my husband's project since he's apparently less intimidated than I am--but I was amazed at how easy it was and how good the resulting soap is. Definitely need to get the book to read all the steps, though, as they detailed it very thoroughly.
I have always been pretty terrified of lye too. I don't know if I will ever get brave enough to actually attempt soap making!
Love Dr Bronner soap, especially the eucalyptus scent. In my price comparison (including online), Whole Foods come on top.
I hope to increase my reading, but that would mean going earlier to bed 🙂
Oh wow...I would never have thought Whole Foods would be cheaper than Target!
Thrive Market is an online coop that sells all sorts of natural products, including Dr. Bronner's soap for really good prices ($10-12 for a 32 ounce bottle). You get a free month-long membership with your first purchase. After that, the membership is $59.95 for a year, but you can cancel your membership before the free trial is over. Also, when you sign up, you (or at least I did) get a 15% off coupon to use with your first order (but it's only good for a week, so don't sign up until close to when you want to place an order).
My referral link is https://thrivemarket.com/?ref=Njhlam1DbjB3M289&___store=default (of course, you can also go directly to the website or google Thrive Market).
OK, I have a problem here. I am not seeing the "recipe" for the soft scrub. So I have to assume one of two things:
1. It isn't there as it really will be in the ebook bundle and that is why
2. I am just missing it.
Can you help me out? I am interested in this.
Well, it's not my recipe, and since it's in an ebook that's for sale, I'm not sure I'm allowed to share it. I could ask the blogger for permission, but I haven't talked to her so I hate to do that.
I don't mean to be a tease!
Totally understandable. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing it.
I clean my toilet with plain old baking soda. I just dump some in and scrub :).
I see "For Women Only" in your stack of books. I thought it was very insightful and led to good discussions with my husband. "For Men Only" is also good since it can help you understand what men don't "get" about us.
I use a vinegar and baking soda mix to do the toilet bowls and vinegar and water to do the surfaces.
I found a great way to clean soap scum on Pinterest. Mix an equal amount of hot white vinegar and blue dawn dish soap. Put in a spray bottle, spray on the walls of shower/tub area for several hours or over night. Then rinse. I bet it would work on the shower floor.
I like your idea for reading 52 books this year. I think 52 would be a little ambitious for me. I think I will go for a number of pages, may be 10,000. That way I will not be discouraged from reading a big book.
+1 for equal parts dawn and vinegar. I put mine in a spray bottle, spray and use the scrubby part of the sponge. Works great, and the smell isn't offensive. I used it last time before company stayed over. I just sprayed and scrubbed but didn't have to use elbow grease. Thank goodness.
It's my new go to shower glass cleaner. I wonder other soaps will work. I have some extra liquid dishwasher soap laying around. I'm going to try that next time to see if it works as well. Of course that stuff is thicker so I'll have to use more vinegar, but I won't have to buy dawn. I would think the soap part is more to help keep the vinegar against the glass.
I buy Dr. Bronner's castile soap & put the liquid in repurposed Bath and Body Works foaming soap bottles. The soap periodically clogs in the opening, however, resulting in sprayed soap everywhere. Other than cleaning out the pump from time to time, I don't have a solution. Does anyone? I've bought the soap at my local grocery. Appreciate knowing that there are other sources than sell it cheaper.
The foaming pumps work much better when the liquid is very watery so you might want to dilute your soap with water so they don't clog as often. Myself, I use a Method Dishwashing Liquid Foaming Pump bottle that I fill with water and then I squirt a little bit of Dawn liquid... It works great for washing dishes without using tons of soap (and I get to reuse the bottle over and over again!). You can also make your own all-natural dishwasher liquid, although I find that it doesn't work quite as well as the diluted Dawn. (I just posted the recipe on my own blog if anyone is interested).
I agree. I used to put Dr Bronners in a foaming dispenser, I only used about 10% soap, and the rest water, and it foamed beautifully. I only stopped this method when I started making homemade soap.
You can make your own Castile soap by using the Dr. Bronner bar soaps that are way cheaper. This isn't my recipe and I didn't note the name of the blog where I found it but here are the notes that I took (I'm still finishing the gallon of unscented baby Dr. Bronner liquid castile soap that I bought via my Frontier Co-op so I haven't tried it yet but I will.). You can also find Kirk's Castile Soap bars at your local supermarket and they're even cheaper than Dr. Bronner.
Ingredients:
1 bar of castile soap
Distilled water
1 gallon zipper freezer bag
a kitchen scale capable of measuring up to 5 lbs
Place soap in bag and add water in a ratio of 1 part soap to 4 parts water by weight. Let it is in a large bowl for 5 days. That's it. You might want to massage the bag with water/soap mixture once a day or so. The first day it will look like there is too much water in the mix but it will thicken up in the subsequent days. By the end of the 5 days you should have a bag full of very thick liquid soap. You can now add more water and mix it up to the consistency that you prefer. When it is all done, you can just clip a small portion of the corner off the bag with scissors and let it pour into any empty container.
Comet's unabrasive cleaner is much less expensive than Soft Scrub. Works just as well for me.
I made some toilet bombs recently. I haven't used them yet though--my daughter cleaned the toilet last week and I think she used the yucky stuff we still had around.
I buy castile soap from vitacost.com Not sure if its cheaper though.
I have read Asronish Me but I think Seating Areangements by the same author is better.
I do dilute the soap. Forgot to mention that. Unfortunately it still clogs the pump from time to time.
I make my own Soft Scrub. Sometimes it is hardened a bit when I come back next week to use it, but I just add a teaspoon or so of water and stir well, and it's good to go. My food co-op sells castile soap in bulk -- bring your own bottle or buy one of theirs, which is cheaper, however, I stick to certain brands because in addition to aiming for being toxic free, I am against animal testing of cleaning and health and beauty products, and prefer to use products which are verified as such, (Dr. Bronner's is one of several soap brands verified as cruelty-free), so I watch for sales in stores and online and buy the brands I can verify.
I would love to read 52 books a year. I was always a bookworm, but my reading time has dwindled to almost nothing, and it makes me so sad! I hope you get 60 books read, Kristen!
As others have mentioned, baking soda for cleaning the toilet has always done the trick for me. I clean houses for a living, and I use it for everyone's toilets and sinks. Sometimes I spray in some vinegar, but it's not really necessary.
And where I live, Dr. Bronner's peppermint castile soap is at least $5 cheaper at Trader Joe's than anywhere else. (The only downside is, I've never seen any scent besides peppermint at my Trader Joe's.)
So do you just dump baking soda into the toilet? How much?
Chiming in to say I use baking soda to clean my toilet too. I keep it in a small jar in my house-cleaning caddy, and I find I only need to shake it out around the waterline in the toilet. I flush the toilet first, to get the walls/sides wet, and sometimes I let it sit but if I'm keeping on top of my cleaning routine, I usually can just start scrubbing immediately.
I had a large bag of baking soda from Costco, which I've only just used up. Going forward, I'm planning on switching to washing soda (also made by arm and hammer) for all the cleaning for which I used to use baking soda (including making my own laundry detergent!)
Ok, thanks for the directions!
What Elspeth said - I just sprinkle the baking soda above the waterline, and then scrub away 🙂 Probably less than 1/4 cup, but I never measure.
I use Bon Ami to clean my sink, countertops and toilet. I don't think I've bought toilet cleaner in years. I do use Soft Scrub to clean the shower floor occasionally, though.
I've found that the Peppermint Dr Bronners is cheaper at Trader Joes. The other scents ( I love the almond!) I get through our UNFI co-op.
My Costco just started to carry Dr. Bronner's (peppermint scent). It's $10 for 40 oz., but that's the price in Hawaii so it might be cheaper on the mainland.
I was just going to say that I saw it at my local Costco just the other day for the first time. I didn't not the price though since I wasn't planning on buying any at the time.
My Costco also just got Dr' Bronners Soap, I live in MN and haven't seen the price.
I bought my last bottle of Dr. Bronner's at Costco. Before that, Vitamin Cottage put it on sale a few times a year and I would stock up.
Second the Borax for scrubbing toilets. Vinegar for the rest of the bathroom.
I can't wait to hear about the toilet scrub. I've tried and tried to go all natural and I can't make it work. Bleach is the only thing that works for us and even then I have to scrub. I think we must have old rusty pipes or something because I've never had this much trouble with keeping a toilet clean. Very excited about the ebook bundle!
I got the big size of Dr. Bronners at Whole foods for $12 on sale! Much cheaper than any where else (that is Chicagoland area).
Haven't read all the comments but this is what I do to clean toiletd and sinks: spray straight vinegar on surfaces ( in a repurposed spray bottle), let sit a few minutes. When I'm ready to clean I sprinkle baking soda ( which I keep in a repurposed plastic mustard jar with holes in the lid). I them scrub and rinse. Everything comes out clean and it leaves no smell, plus my two uear old can be close by when I clean and I'm not nervous about it.
In the toilet...scrub with plain baking soda and then spray with vinegar and let sit a few minutes. Flush and done!
About the Dr Bronners soap, I find it cheaper at my local grocery store. And, years ago I made that same homemade soft scrub. It worked well for some applications, however, I found that premixing it didn't save much time, and it would often dry out before I used it again, so I've begun just mixing it willy nilly as I go. I have recently been trying to detoxify my cleaning supplies. I tried bon ami, not sure if I like it or not yet. But I have had luck with a magic eraser on the shower floor.
I have switched to using 7th generation for toilet cleaner. It's ok, and gets good ratings last time I checked on ewg.org
Whoa. I just found this. http://www.ewg.org/release/spring-cleaning-ewg-s-tips-what-use-and-what-avoid
Here is a secret: any kind of cleaner plus a toilet brush works to clean the toilet bowl. I usually use a squirt of my husband's suave shampoo. It works just as well (in my opnion) as fancy commercial products dedicated to the toilet cleaning purpose.
I use Mrs. Meyer's All-Purpose Cleaner with baking soda to clean the tub. Best cleaner I've ever used. I dump a little of the Mrs. Meyer's into the toilet bowl to clean it a lot of the time (although every once in a while I use one of the harsh, chemical, bleach-based cleaners).
I just dump in some baking soda and vinegar, let it sit for a few minutes, and swirl the brush around, flushing twice. I use clorox wipes to wipe down the seat, cover, handle, etc. would love to make my own version of those!! ideas??
Just mix 1 gallon of water, less 1/4 c, then add 1/4 c bleach. I mix in an old bleach bottle. Then pour into a spray bottle that isn't see through. (Old bleach mixture cleaners are in these bottles, if you don't have one ask a friend to keep theirs when it's empty)
For the actual wiping, I keep paper towels I used at my office or when I've gone out, and reuse those. They're clean, right? If you used soap to wash your hands first they should be.
I switched to Dr.Woods Castile soap at Vitacost.com Currently less than 7$ for 32 oz bottle. I use it for hand soap and it's approved by my greasy handed mechanic husband. Think they have free shipping options in 48 states (I'm in 1 of the 2 that doesn't qualify.)
I just put bleach in a squirt bottle then squirt it all over the bowl and let it sit overnight. For spot cleaning I use another squirt bottle with water and a little bleach and use it like a pressure washer to get bits that stuck to the bowl and didn't flush.