It’s one of those days… I’m realising that in the excitement of decorating for the festive season, I’ve neglected the essentials. Those mundane daily tasks that are certainly not as exciting as twinkling lights and glitter, but unfortunately the Christmas tree isn’t as important as feeding the kids. Why must they always be hungry?! I’ve managed to keep them fed, though I may or may not have lost track of time while trawling Pinterest and facebook for inspiration, neglecting things like mopping the sticky kitchen floor. I kinda just went and put jandals on so I didn’t have to feel it. I’ve fallen behind in washing the laundry too and that annoys me, because cloth nappies sorta need washing so you don’t run out! Bad Mom moments a plenty! ( Awesome movie by the way, I enjoyed a drink or two while I indulged in it last night).
There’s positives though! The house is looking so pretty and festive, the piano top alight of a night time and a garland cascading down the staircase. I’ve refreshed my poor sun-faded wreath and have a beautiful little train set noisily chugging around the tree. There’s pretty much no need for lights upstairs as 300 tiny globes light up the landing so well that the light pours under our bedroom door. Oh dear, I may have to turn those ones off when it’s time to go to bed!
Isn’t it darling!
Alas, I really need to find some balance here and I promise myself to do the mundane first, then I can truly relish the shimmery fun. So on that note, tomorrow marks the need to vacuum, mop, catch up on laundry and lastly whip up some more of my homemade laundry powder. Therein creates a feeling of satisfaction. The knowledge that in getting my DIY on, I’m saving my family from a plethora of chemicals and it only takes 5 minutes!
There are so many angles that toxins come at us from nowadays, that the need to get savvy with where we reduce them is so important. With the rates of cancer, neurological disorders and other illnesses going through the roof, we really do need to be aware of the things we are using everyday. I can’t count the times I’ve heard someone say “oh but everything’s carcinogenic these days”, or “something has to kill you”. Well damn it I wanna go out feeling fabulous, not wishing death upon myself because the quality has been sucked from my life. Just because there’s so much burdening our body, doesn’t mean we should ignore the fact. To me it’s a huge warning bell that I need to be so aware of reducing our toxic load as much as possible. We have some amazing organs in our body that work hard to process and eliminate toxicity, do them a favour and take some of the load off would ya 😉
So lets get to it, take 5 minutes out of your day and make one simple change to begin low-tox-ing your life.
What you need:
- 3/4 bar Dr Bronner’s natural soap
- 1c washing soda
- 1/2c sea salt
- 1c baking soda
- 30-40 drops of essential oils (lemon, lavender, eucalyptus, Purify)
How to:
- Roughly chop the bar of soap and add to a food processor/thermomix. Blend until as fine as possible
- Add salt and blend again until as fine as possible
- Add washing soda and baking soda and blend well to combine
- Whilst on slow speed, add essential oils and combine well
Store your homemade powder in a glass jar or stainless container, with a well fitting lid. Use approximately 1 Tbs for a normal load, 1 1/2 Tbs for a heavily soiled load and 1/2 Tbs for cloth nappies.
For soft laundry and added fragrance, add 1/2c white vinegar and 3-4 drops of essential oils to the final rinse.
The combination of salts, minerals and bicarb, balance soap perfectly and soften water, reducing damage to clothing. They help to lift away dirt and neutralise odours. You’ll also be left with no residues. I love adding in essential oils for an added cleaning boost. They help with breaking down oils and anything sticky, whilst also neutralising odours and leaving a beautiful and light scent.
And there you have it! Super quick and easy, homemade laundry powder with no nasties. It works a treat and you’re removing so many unnecessary chemicals from your cleaning. Every time I do a load of laundry, I have great satisfaction knowing I’m making one simple step towards a healthier home and saving some moolah at the same time!
I’d love to know if you make a batch and how it works for you, share with us in the comments.
