Liquid Dishwasher Detergent

I absolutely love making my own cleaning products for our home. As I've talked about before, we are making a conscious effort to get away from as many of the chemicals, food dyes, and preservatives, that are in the products we have been using. I already posted a recipe for a Liquid Dish Soap and my husband, who is my major pots & pans hand dishwasher, loves it, but for the rest of my dishes? That's what dishwashers were made for. So imagine my surprise when I was grabbing my commercial liquid dishwasher soap and begin reading the ingredients listed on the container. WOW!!! And we're eating our "healthier" food off of these dishes that are coated with this stuff. I was now on a new journey to find a better way.

It's a learning experience too be sure. I knew I wanted to use my liquid castile soap as my base, as well as my citrus essential oils,; lemon is great for helping to cut the grease. I ended up trying washing soda. It's found in the laundry area at the market and is fairly inexpensive. As well as going greener we are also really watching our pennies. So far everything I have made has ended up being less expensive than the commercial brands I was previously using. I was spending $6 up to $16 a month for chemical filled Liquid Dishwashing Detergent. I figured the cost for my homemade Liquid Dishwashing detergent and it came to less than $0.02 a load. That makes me really happy. (Doing the happy dance)

In my large bowl I added 1 cup liquid castile soap and 1/4 cup washing soda.I'll come back to this big error in a moment but let's first talk about Hot water content. I first added 1 cup Hot water to my mixture, and I ended up with paste. Thick, gooey paste. I added another cup and stirred, stirred stirred, then another cup and stirred, stirred, stirred,, and then one more cup, stirred and finally, the consistency I was looking for. For a person that suffers from arthritis, believe me, my poor shoulder was so sore after stirring this for so long. Here's the part about "big error" I mentioned earlier. Clumps, Lumps and me being the Chump. Never, and I do mean never add your washing soda with you soap first, you will have the before mentioned lumps. And a lot of them. When making my second batch I slowly pour 4 cups Hot water into the washing soda and stirred until it dissolves, then add the 1 cup of liquid castile soap. By the time you've stirred all of this together the Hot water is cooled enough for you to now add your essential oils. I used 20 drops of lemon but you can use whatever "citrus" essential oil you want. The citrus helps cut the grease. 

Liquid Dishwasher Detergent

1 cup liquid castile soap 
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup washing soda
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil 

Instructions:

Slowly mix hot water and washing soda until dissolved. 
Stir in the castile soap and then finally add your lemon 
essential oil.  Allow to sit overnight to thicken. I put mine 
in an old recycled commercial liquid soap "squeeze bottle" 
 but you can use a mason jar also.

To use: 

Shake liquid dishwasher detergent before each use. Add about 1 tablespoon
of detergent to dishwasher soap dispenser.

It worked great in the dishwasher, everything came out clean and fairly spot free, as spot free as I think WE will ever see, we have very hard water here. Once it's time to refill the rinse agent I'll be switching to just plain vinegar.  Actually there is only one thing wrong with this recipe, the stirring portion, I want to play with it and see if an emulsion blender will work hence, saving my poor shoulders. 

But for now I'm very happy with my results and my money savings. (Insert one more happy dance)  I've made up a 6x4 recipe card you can download HERE or just click on the card. 

Thanks for checking out my Blog and as always, God bless. 

Joint Pain

I've suffered from "Joint" pain for a very long time. It's that lovely stiffness in my hands, shoulders and sometimes knees. That feeling, like if I look at my fingers, they will resemble little fat sausages. Which they don't thank goodness but they sure do feel like it. Trying to make coffee in the morning is a  real chore. I no longer have a good grip so I drop things easily. Hence the reason of finding a good recipe for this affliction. I've been going over in my mind, what essential oils would be the best for my individual needs.

For me, the main problem is pain, inflammation and blood flow as well as deterioration of cartilage. So by using these essential oils together I find great relief.  

I came up with these essential oils.

-Peppermint

• Helps with inflammation

-Frankincense

• Promotes Cellular Health
• Reduces Inflammation

-Cypress

• Soothes tight, tense muscles
• Supports localized blood flow

-Wintergreen

• Pain Killing Properties - conditions including headache, nerve pain (particularly sciatica), arthritis, ovarian pain, and menstrual cramps.

-Geranium

• Supports the circulatory and nervous systems
• Has the ability to revitalize body tissue.

Joint Pain & Inflammation 

6 drops Peppermint

6 drops Frankincense

6 drops Cypress

6 drops Wintergreen 

6 drops Geranium

Top off RollerBall with Fractionated Coconut Oil.

Apply to the affected area 2 to 3 times a day.

These roller ball recipes are very simple to make; just put the correct number of drops in a 10ml glass tube, fill remaining space with FCO (fractionated coconut oil) snap on the roller ball and screw on the lid. Give it a good shake and you are ready to go. Apply to affected areas, ie. hands, knuckles, knees...


I've made up a 6x4 recipe card that you can download HERE or just click on the card below.

As always, Thanks for visiting my Blog and God Bless.

All Over Body Pain Cream, Whipped

Another glorious day in Arizona. Perfect weather to be outside, in the backyard raking leaves, weeding and just general upkeep. With that being said, it's also a time for tired and sore muscles and just all over body pain from not being active during the winter months. Happens every year;  you'd think by now we'd learn.  But since we haven't learned yet I decided I better make up an “All Over Body Pain Cream, Whipped” to rub on tonight so that we don't wake up tomorrow sore.

I started with researching which oils to use and came up with this combination. Again, if you don't have some of these oils on hand you can always swap them out for what you do have. Just find what works best for you.

I did my usual research on what oils would work best for my needs. Following is a list of my choices:

-Lemongrass

• Improves Circulation
• Anti-inflammatory
• Assists with Tissue Repair

-Frankincense

• Promotes Cellular Health
• Reduces Inflammation

-Wintergreen

• Pain Killing Properties - conditions including headache, nerve pain (particularly sciatica), arthritis, ovarian pain, and menstrual cramps.

-White Fir

• Relaxes Muscles and Soothes Joints
• Promotes Circulation
• Supports a Healthy Inflammatory response

-Deep Blue

• Soothes Sore Joint Pain
• Soothes Sore Muscles
• Supports Healthy Circulation

-Marjoram

• Calming Properties on the Nervous System
• Soothes Tired, Stressed Muscles

-Peppermint

• Used as a Driving Oil

All Over Body Pain Cream, Whipped

3/4 Cup Coconut Oil (You can Use Shea Butter)

1 Tablespoon shredded Beeswax (2 tbsp if you live in a warm climate like I do)

15 drops Lemongrass essential oil

15 drops Frankincense essential oil
15 drops Wintergreen

10 drops White Fir essential oil

30- 45 drops Deep Blue essential oil 

15 drops Marjoram essential oil

20 drops Peppermint essential oil

In a double boiler; place your coconut oil and beeswax and heat on medium to medium-low until the coconut oil and beeswax melt. I don’t own a double boiler so I use my Pyrex measuring cup in a sauce pan that has about 3 inches of water in the bottom. Take off of heat and pour into a glass mixing bowl and allow it to rest on the counter-top for about 5-10 minutes before you add your essential oils. You don’t want to add the essential oils to soon; they may evaporate and you’ll lose the healing properties. 

At this point you have the option of just pouring it into a glass jar and using it as a salve.

I like a whipped body butter consistency so I put some plastic wrap on my bowl and place in the fridge for about an hour. You want the coconut oil to start firming back up. Next get out your hand mixer and start mixing as you would frosting. That’s the constancy you're looking for. It should about double in size. I whipped mine for about 3-4 minutes. That’s it. Now just spoon it into a glass jar with a lid. Remember a little goes a long way. I use mine at night before bed to allow the coconut oil to absorb into my skin. 

Not only will you get some wonderful pain relief but your skin will love you!!

This was really quick and easy. The longest part was waiting for the coconut oil to firm back up. Once finished my husband and I both used it and loved the results. I'll probably be making another batch using Shea Butter for myself. My husband loves all things Coconut but it can be a little bit oily for my skin now that I've reach 55. I prefer Shea butter or Mango butter. 

I've made up a 6x4 recipe card that you can download HERE or just click on the card below.

As always, Thanks for visiting my Blog and God Bless.