Homemade Dishwasher Tablets

I ran out of dishwasher detergent and I don't need anything from the store so I decided after some years' break to make my own. I was inspired by this recipe a friend shared with me recently. I didn't want to use the lemon drink mix, and I am not very good at following recipes, I always change them a little (although I like to think of it as a skill it really is more of a handicap and changing recipes or not measuring because "real cooks don't measure" etc. doesn't always end up well...) so I came up with this recipe:


Homemade Lemon Scented Dishwasher Detergent Tablets

1 cup washing soda (if you don't have washing soda, no need to run into the store, although they have it at laundry aisles, just follow the instructions below how to MAKE some from baking soda!)
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup salt
(no need to use your fancy sea salts or pink Himalayan salts here, just the refined cheap table salt will do)
20 drops lemon essential oil
1 cup water

1. Make your washing soda from baking soda if you don't have any: Heat baking soda for 30 minutes in an oven proof dish in 400F and your baking soda magically becomes washing soda! This has something to do with chemistry, NaHCO3 becoming Na2CO3, but let's not go there. You can google it if you want to know more.
2. After the newly made washing soda has cooled down, mix in all the other ingredients. If you prefer powder form, just leave the water out and use as is.
3. Mix well, let it do its fizzing (I kept thinking that it could be useful for the dishwashing if the fizzing happened in the washer?) and form into little balls and let dry. You can also press the mixture in ice cube trays. I only had heart shaped ice cube molds and lego shaped molds so that's what I got... Fun and fancy.

TIP: Use vinegar instead of rinse aid.

Aren't they cute?

Follow this link to see my other nontoxic and homemade detergents recipes (there is another dishwasher detergent recipe too).

Bee Update (Rescued Bees are Doing Well!)

If you were following our bee rescue operation a couple of weeks ago (read the story and see the photos from here), I asked the beekeeper who came to rescue how the rescued bees are doing. He told me that he didn't see a queen with the them so he placed it with another hive. He says it should be better for both hives. He thinks they will join the other hive just fine and help strengthen it for the spring.

Save the bees! (Added photos of the rescue operation 9PM!)

The Santa Ana winds kept us awake at night. The wind spread all our stuff around the yard and took down a tree limb in the front yard. There was a bees' nest in the limb! 

I called my neighbor (who always knows what to do!). She said I could call the Los Angeles County Beekeepers association to find someone to rescue the bees. I did and they gave me phone numbers of local beekeepers. I reached one of them just down the street. Within minutes Jonathan Potter, a beekeeper from Altadena, stopped by to assess the situation.

Most of the hive is on the ground. There are a few bees still lost in the stump up in the tree but it seems like the queen is in the part laying on the ground and hopefully wasn't hurt in the landing.

The beekeeper came later to get them and transported them to their new home in Chatsworth. First he cut the limb with a chain saw to get to the nest. He then lifted the pieces of the nest to a box he brought with him and waited until the bees went in with the dark to settle for the night.

It has been very exciting to learn about bee rescue. It was quite a coincidence that I sold today some used cloth diapers for the same amount I paid the bee keeper for his work. It was clearly meant to be, don't you think? Check out photos from the rescue operation below. And if you are a local and need a hive moved safely so that the bees are not harmed in the process, check out Jonathan Potter's Yelp site here.

It was very exciting for the kids. As you can see it was a hot day.

Clothes that fit cloth diapering babies! (and coupon code)

I thought I'd share a discount code I got today for this little clothing company in the UK, Frugi. They make cute clothes for kids and also for breastfeeding moms, all organic and fair trade. And their collection for younger babies is made to fit over cloth diapers which I think is so cool. I struggle so much with clothes not fitting my cloth diaper babe. I also like it that they sell unisex clothes, another important issue for me. The company's work practices are ethical, and I am told that they're super nice quality and will last and last.

http://www.welovefrugi.com/

Discount for 10% off, enter code: moomins at checkout.

Please no more Sponge Bob!

Last spring we spent a few days in San Fransisco and in the hotel I let my son watch tv (at home we don't have cable, we let him watch some carefully chosen dvd's but not tv). He watched Sponge Bob. I remember paying attention how he seemed to go wild after the program and was acting really fast and kind of aggressive afterwards. I thought: Never again Sponge Bob to my kids. I have stuck to that promise and I am glad because today I read this on Facebook:

SpongeBob impairs little kids' thinking, study finds

[...] "To test what those might be, Lillard and Peterson randomly assigned 60 4-year-olds to three groups: one that watched nine minutes of a fast-paced, "very popular fantastical cartoon about an animated sponge that lives under the sea;" one that watched nine minutes of slower-paced programming from a PBS show "about a typical U.S. preschool-aged boy;" and a third group that was asked to draw for nine minutes with markers and crayons.

Immediately after their viewing and drawing tasks were complete, the kids were asked to perform four tests to assess executive function. Unfortunately for the denizens of Bikini Bottom, the kids who watched nine minutes of the frenetic high jinks of the "animated sponge" scored significantly worse than the other kids" [...] Read the whole article from here.

Same day I also read from Mothering blog that a new study finds that early TV watching has detrimental impact on literacy and language skills. This is because there is then less contact and talking with the parents. I don't think this last study is such new information but still, reading these both harmful TV related news today made me decide that today Miio isn't watching any dvd's. I will have to restrict it even more and same applies to little Leo in future.

Natural home made diaper cream - unpetroleum jelly

As I am eagerly waiting for my baby to be born (week 33) I have already been (in addition to taking care of my toddler) practising hypnobirthing, preparing my home birth supplies (yes, I am preparing for an HBAC, homebirth after cesarean!) and taking out baby clothes and cloth diapers. Suddenly I remembered that we needed diaper cream when my older son was a baby. I have been making many of my cosmetic products recently myself so I decided to make a diaper cream too.

With a quick web search and search through Wholefoods baby shelf I ended up trying to make my own unpetroleum jelly since I have most ingredients used in the commercial unpetroleum jelly.

What is wrong with the traditional petroleum jelly? It bothers me that the petroleum jelly is derived from the same crude oil that is used to make gasoline. I want to make a cream that has wonderful plant oils.

Here is the recipe I used:

1 small bar of beeswax (I would think it is about 3-4 tbsp), half an ounce or an ounce (bought mine from Mountain Rose Herbs while ago so I have forgotten the weight, they sell 1 oz bars so that is what this probably was too)

1/2 cup of oils - I used half coconut oil and half castor oil

2-3 drops of vitamin E oil (optional)

2 drops of lavender essential oil (optional)

Melt all ingredients on low in a sauce pan and pour in jars. Place in the fridge to solidify. Keep out if you want them softer.

It turned out beautiful. I noticed that it works wonderfully also as a lip balm. It is quite solid so I would reduce the amount of beeswax in relation to the oils. If you want very loose spreadable cream, maybe even double the oils in the recipe. I am not sure how good it is for the cream but I did this once: If the cream becomes too solid, you can melt it again and add oil. When you heat it up, the vitamin E and essential oil might get ruined and evaporated so you might have to add those again.

I buy this brand coconut oil online. If you order by clicking on any my links and have never ordered from Tropical Traditions in the past, you will receive a free book on Virgin Coconut Oil, and I will receive a discount coupon for referring you. Thanks for your support!

Clean clothes with soap nuts.

When I first heard of soap nuts in Finland some years ago it sounded strange, a little bit like neti pot sounds strange first and after you have been doing it for a while it just becomes part of your life. But I like to try new different things, especially if they are environment friendly, and so I tried soap nuts. I was surprised how well they worked! Then we moved and I forgot about soap nuts since they weren't sold in any store I went to and I started using other environmental friendly detergents. I even made my own detergents for a while.


Soap nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree (Sapindus mukorrosi). When the nuts get wet, they release saponin, a natural cleaner. They have been used in this purpose in Asia for centuries. They appeal to me mainly because of their natural nature. I love it that there is nothing artificial about them. They don't contain harmful chemicals, synthetic fragrances or other stuff that is bad for health or environment. You put a few soap nuts in a little pouch (provided at least by Maggie's soap nuts) and put it in the washer. You can use the same nuts for a few times and then compost them. There is also available a liquid made of the soap nuts. I find the nuts almost easier to use than the liquid but the liquid is great for pre treating stains. And I know some people prefer the liquid over the nuts (like my husband who is our laundry responsible).

I got some soap nuts from Maggie's Soap nuts to test them and report the results on my blog. We have been testing the soap nuts now for a few weeks with my husband and I find they work as well if not better than some other natural detergents I have been using. The laundry comes out very soft and nice smelling (= no scent to me!).

Like with any detergents I have been using for best results it is best to treat the worse stains before washing. I have used the soap nut liquid to pretreat the stains, I have been soaking the dirtiest and drying some white stained clothes in the sun on our balcony. Kids cotton clothes, towels and sheets I wash in hot water. Blueberry stains I get out by soaking them in vinegar and water before washing, for grease stains I use dish washing liquid or shampoo (I have some old shampoo from the time I still used shampoo, now I use baking soda and vinegar once a week) 15 minutes before washing. The dish washing liquid seems to work sometimes for many other stains too. And I also use gall soap. It works for fruit, pen, blood and grease, and cloth diapers.

We have a lot of laundry because I am a massage therapist so there are a lot of sheets to wash. I try to keep my massage practice as natural and ecofriendly as possible just like my home. To celebrate the Earth Day this week I decided to start washing my massage sheets only with soap nuts too, it seems to work great for them and it feels like the most natural option for them.

If you want to try soap nuts, now is your chance! Maggie's soap nuts are sponsoring a giveaway through Kaiku blog. The first three readers to respond get to try soap nuts for free! All you have to do is be one of the first three to respond AND commit to blogging about your experience using Maggie's Pureland Soapnuts. If you don't have a blog you can also report about your experiences by commenting on this post. Contact me at info (at) kaikulifestyle.com or by commenting on this blog to sign up for the trial! You can choose if you want to try the liquid or the nuts. I will let you know as soon as possible if you were one of the first three! (I realize now I didn't check if this applies to international blog readers or only Americans, but since the company is American, I assume only American readers can participate. I will let you know if I get other information).


You can also buy soap nuts from here:


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Greener, healthier and cheaper homemade detergents.

I ran out of laundry detergent and decided to try to make my own. Why not? I already make my own dishwasher detergent, deodorant, all-purpose cleaner, body butter, after shave for my husband and so on.

I read recipes online and found this site helpful. My close by stores didn't have washing soda so I used only baking soda and altered the recipes a little bit. I made two to try out different ones.

Laundry detergent 1 (hmmm, original recipe said this would be powdered, but I would call it foam and later liquid)
USE 1/2 cup per full load

1/4 cup Dr. Bronner's liquid soap (original recipe says castile soap)
2 cups baking soda (original recipe says 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup baking soda)
1 cup white vinegar
25 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
10 drops tea tree essential oil (optional)

This was hard to make because vinegar and the baking soda foams (looked at some point a bit like whipped egg whites!). Add vinegar in small batches to the soda and mix well.

Laundry detergent 2 (powdered)
USE 2 tbsp per load

1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
1 bar castile soap, grated
1/2 cup sea salt
25 drops lavender essential oil (optional)

Not any onf the recipes I have found have salt, but I read it is a great stain remover so I wanted to try it. After trying both detergents once they seem to work fine. I will report further after using them for a longer time.

I make most of my other detergents myself too.


Homemade dishwasher detergent (works when washing by hand or in the machine too)

2 cups liquid castile soap
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
A few drops tea tree oil (sometimes I add other oils too like eucalyptus, lemon or orange)

Homemade window cleaner / all purpose cleaner

Spray bottle
1 cup vinegar
1-2 cups water
a couple of drops of liquid soap

Pretty bird label.

The labels are ready. They turned out SO cute. They had made them wrong though, with an endfold instead of a centerfold. They are making new ones but I got a few to try. If I iron them under a wet cloth they work ok, but they are a bit tricky because the fold in it is so strong. I am trying to negotiate that I would also buy these ones that went wrong but for a reduced price. It would be a horrible waste to throw them away, not very environmentally friendly.

I made today new produce bags from my old Ikea curtains that don't seem to suit any room in our house. The teal color fabric is so beautiful. I love these bags. Buying vegetables with them must be such a joy. :)

Peace and love,
Sirpa

I love my Brother.

My new Brother machine is great. I am a bit scared of it still, it is so high-tech compared to the older machines I am used to. I am used to the old sewing machines sounding like machine guns when you sew so the quietness of this new high-tech machine of mine is amazing. It is a bit strange and sad too. I will get used to it. Generally I love the smoothness of this new machine.

When I started another blog I am involved in, Living naturally in Louisiana, I started a no poo, shampoo free, experiment. I just realized that I have been now shampoo free for five months. I wash my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar twice a week and my hair and scalp feel so good. I guess it is not an experiment anymore, but it has become a part of my lifestyle. I love it because I don't want the chemicals shampoos contain on my skin and my body.

Going into business on Valentine's Day.

Hi! I am a Finnish woman living in the US. My husband is Finnish too and my son has a dual citizenship, he was born here. When we came here, I was on parental leave from my communications job in Finland (we can have pretty long parental leaves, I love it!) and my plan was to return there. BUT a couple of weeks ago I resigned because we are not making it back by the end of my leave. It was a hard thing to do, though, I felt like I had closed my back door!

To help myself not feeling so trapped I decided to start a small business, that I can run from home and do as much or as little as I like. I am taking care of my little son at home and in my free time I like to do crafts, sewing etc. Because some people have been interested in buying them, I decided to start my own business. I registered a trade name, kaiku lifestyle. I did all the paper work today, on Valentine's day.

I am planning to start an Etsy shop very soon. And I am working on my website.

Kaiku means echo. I chose the name because I like to utilize old and recycled materials and make something new out of them. The new product is in a way an echo from the original product that was just going to be thrown away. I use old clothes from our household, from my friends and I buy old fabrics and materials from thrift stores. Sometimes I buy fabric remnants from fabric stores or in very rare cases completely new fabrics if I really like them. I can't resist for instance fabrics from Ikea or Marimekko.

I wanted to start my business as Kaiku design, but someone had already a website under that name. Because I might expand my business later to some other things, I decided to go with Kaiku lifestyle.

I am interested in living as naturally as I can. I have been keeping this blog, Living Naturally in Louisiana. Now we are going to move for a while to California, so I am going to pass the responsibility over the blog and the Living Naturally group to someone else. I will keep writing about the living naturally stuff though in this blog when I have something to say.