It's amazing what can get done while your kid sleeps! LBG has been having some sleep issues which we resolved this week. Long story and I'll probably be awarded the Worst Mother of the Year award. Long story short, he wasn't getting enough to eat. If I was told to go to sleep hungry, I'd be miserable too so I can't blame him.
Ok, back to the subject at hand. This morning I decided I'd be ultra super ambitious and give our small dog, Frida, a bath! It's not a hard task when your dog is small enough to fit into the kitchen sink, but finding the time an energy is a totally different story.
Who cares if she spends 75% of her day outside- her choice, not mine- or the fact that it's raining. She needed a bath and that's all there is to it.
In there "green" community, there is a term known as "No-poo." Basically, it's using baking soda and vinegar -3rd grade volcano, anyone?- to wash your hair rather than shampoo. I'm not adventurous enough to involve my own locks, but I'll gladly volunteer my scruffy 18lbs of pooch. The Father and I have washed Frida this way before and liked it so much, we'll continue using the technique.
Here's how it works:
Cast of Characters: Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV,) water, a large cup, and your K-9 companion.
The Technique: With your dog in the tub, sink, buck, toilet (I don't ask questions!) wet them down really well with warm water. Dump a bunch of baking soda on your pooch and massage it in. Don't worry you can't use too much. Fill your cup with 1 part ACV and 3-4 parts warm water and dump over your dog. Massage the fizz around. You will probably see the dirt start to run off. You can either repeat the process if you want to do a second wash, or rinse Fido off with lots of warm water.
Please try to contain your amazement when you see dirty, nasty, grossness run off your puppy. A really cool fact about using this process is that it doesn't strip out all of the hair's natural oils so their skin won't dry out as easily. Same process applies to your own hair but it will take at least a month of using the technique before your hair stops feeling oily all the time- or so I've been told/read.
YAY! No more stinky pup. Of course, after I got her all dried off, she wanted to go back outside. Oh well, I tried.
Showing posts with label Vinegar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vinegar. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Baking Soda and Vinegar
Mix them together and what do you get?
A volcano of course.
WRONG!!! Ok yes, you do get a volcano when you are in third grade but as an adult, you get a highly effective drain cleaner!
No, it won't evict the hairy monster that has been living down there for 5 years, but it will clear out the average speed bump. As a little bonus, the silver part of the drain will be nice and shiny!
Here is how you perform the procedure:
1. Fill you tea kettle with water and set it to boil.
2. Pour a fair about of Baking Soda down the drain. Use a spoon if it will help. I like to pack in as much as I possibly can.
3. Pour some vinegar over the drain and plug said drain as soon as you can.
4.When you hear the whistle, it's time to unplug the drain and pour the boiling water down
Ta-Da! Your drain is as good as new. If your little chemistry project as failed, it's sure bet you need to evict a hairy animal. You can easily fashion a pipe snake out of an old wire coat hanger (The Grandfather taught me this!) Once you are critter free, perform the procedure again.
It never hurts to turn your drain into a volcano once a month or so as a preventative measure.
Now, the next time your city/county has a hazardous waste collection day, please feel free to fork over the Draino!
A volcano of course.
WRONG!!! Ok yes, you do get a volcano when you are in third grade but as an adult, you get a highly effective drain cleaner!
No, it won't evict the hairy monster that has been living down there for 5 years, but it will clear out the average speed bump. As a little bonus, the silver part of the drain will be nice and shiny!
Here is how you perform the procedure:
1. Fill you tea kettle with water and set it to boil.
2. Pour a fair about of Baking Soda down the drain. Use a spoon if it will help. I like to pack in as much as I possibly can.
3. Pour some vinegar over the drain and plug said drain as soon as you can.
4.When you hear the whistle, it's time to unplug the drain and pour the boiling water down
Ta-Da! Your drain is as good as new. If your little chemistry project as failed, it's sure bet you need to evict a hairy animal. You can easily fashion a pipe snake out of an old wire coat hanger (The Grandfather taught me this!) Once you are critter free, perform the procedure again.
It never hurts to turn your drain into a volcano once a month or so as a preventative measure.
Now, the next time your city/county has a hazardous waste collection day, please feel free to fork over the Draino!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
You call that clean?!
How can you call your counter top clean if you just sprayed chemicals all over it? Or the kitchen floor for that matter?
I'll be the first to admit, I spent a good 3 or 4 years addicted to Clorox wipes, bottles of bleach, and cans of Lysol. Even better, I'd eliminated paper towels and made my own cloths for use with such cleaning items. Yeah, still can't figure that one out!
Then one day I had an epiphany! If I'd be comfortable licking it, I consider it clean. Would I lick a freshly bleached counter? Would I let my child play on a freshly chemicaled floor? Not on your life! There has to be a better way. Luckily for me, TheNest.com created a Green Living board. This lovely board came to the rescue! Since the creation of this board, I've gained a wealth of knowledge in the clean-cleaning product department.
Did you know vinegar kills most germies?! And on top of that... you can drink it! Sounds clean to me. Dr. Bronner's Magic Castille Soap has 18-in-1 uses, there must be some household cleaning uses. Oooooo, I love kitchen chemistry!
My recipe for All Purpose Spray cleaner:
1 Cup White Vinegar
1 Cup Water
1/4 tsp Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in the smell of your choice.
Pour into a spray bottle, give it a few shakes, and away you go! I use Almond scented soap, but that is because I have it on hand. I'll probably buy the Tea Tree Oil variety next for it's antibacterial properties!
I use this mix for my counters and my hard floors. This weekend I'm going to mix a batch with a few drops of TTO. We'll see how I like it.
I'll be the first to admit, I spent a good 3 or 4 years addicted to Clorox wipes, bottles of bleach, and cans of Lysol. Even better, I'd eliminated paper towels and made my own cloths for use with such cleaning items. Yeah, still can't figure that one out!
Then one day I had an epiphany! If I'd be comfortable licking it, I consider it clean. Would I lick a freshly bleached counter? Would I let my child play on a freshly chemicaled floor? Not on your life! There has to be a better way. Luckily for me, TheNest.com created a Green Living board. This lovely board came to the rescue! Since the creation of this board, I've gained a wealth of knowledge in the clean-cleaning product department.
Did you know vinegar kills most germies?! And on top of that... you can drink it! Sounds clean to me. Dr. Bronner's Magic Castille Soap has 18-in-1 uses, there must be some household cleaning uses. Oooooo, I love kitchen chemistry!
My recipe for All Purpose Spray cleaner:
1 Cup White Vinegar
1 Cup Water
1/4 tsp Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in the smell of your choice.
Pour into a spray bottle, give it a few shakes, and away you go! I use Almond scented soap, but that is because I have it on hand. I'll probably buy the Tea Tree Oil variety next for it's antibacterial properties!
I use this mix for my counters and my hard floors. This weekend I'm going to mix a batch with a few drops of TTO. We'll see how I like it.
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Grating We Will Go...
OK, go ahead and laugh. I love, love, love doing laundry! I could sort, wash, and dry all day long. Folding, on the other hand, not so much. A few weeks ago, I decided I'd had enough of my current laundry detergents. They don't have labels with the ingredients and I'm sure they are laced with a million chemicals. It can't be good for baby's delicate skin!
Being a new mom, of course I went out and bought a beautiful bottle of Dreft. After a few weeks of using it, I realized... it smells really strange! I'd been using Tide Coldwater for all of my clothing since it became available on the market. Hey, I was saving the cost of heating water... right?!
After few trips around the block... I mean blog, and I finally found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that interested me. Be patient. I might share said recipe. That's when the insanity started!
I quickly ran out the door, hopped in the car, and made a dash for Target; on Black Friday, no less! I returned with a bar of Lavender Dr. Bronner's bar soap, a box-style cheese grater, and a beautiful box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda! I already had a box of Borax just waiting to be opened and a Sam's Club size box of Oxyclean.
As soon as I hopped out of the car. My incredible workout ensued. Never in my life would I have thought grating a measly bar of soap would be so hard-HA!
15 minutes later, a bloody knuckle and thumb, trembling right arm, and a kitchen smelling of lavender my bar of soap was officially a flake! I added the rest of the ingredients into the bowl of soap and whisked with the tiny amount of muscle power I had left. Into a Mason jar, the mix went!
All my sources said to use 2 Tablespoons per large load. I found this to be a bit much for our water and washer. For me, 1 Tbsp is sufficient. Just two loads of laundry and I was sold! I later ordered 6 bars of the Unscented- Baby Mild variety of Dr. B's soap, bought a gallon sized jar, and make myself a mega batch of unscented detergent. I've since started using the unscented detergent for everyone's clothing. I saved my lovely lavender batch for a special occasion!
Since you were so patient...
1 Cup of Borax
1 Cup of Washing Soda
1/2 Cup of Oxyclean
1 finely grated bar of Dr. Bronner's Magic Castille Soap
Did you know- White vinegar makes a wonderful fabric softener? Add 1/4 cup to your rinse cycle and you will be shocked! No, your clothing will not spell like vinegar after they come out of the dryer. I promise!
Below is my beautiful detergent and fabric softener!
Being a new mom, of course I went out and bought a beautiful bottle of Dreft. After a few weeks of using it, I realized... it smells really strange! I'd been using Tide Coldwater for all of my clothing since it became available on the market. Hey, I was saving the cost of heating water... right?!
After few trips around the block... I mean blog, and I finally found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that interested me. Be patient. I might share said recipe. That's when the insanity started!
I quickly ran out the door, hopped in the car, and made a dash for Target; on Black Friday, no less! I returned with a bar of Lavender Dr. Bronner's bar soap, a box-style cheese grater, and a beautiful box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda! I already had a box of Borax just waiting to be opened and a Sam's Club size box of Oxyclean.
As soon as I hopped out of the car. My incredible workout ensued. Never in my life would I have thought grating a measly bar of soap would be so hard-HA!
15 minutes later, a bloody knuckle and thumb, trembling right arm, and a kitchen smelling of lavender my bar of soap was officially a flake! I added the rest of the ingredients into the bowl of soap and whisked with the tiny amount of muscle power I had left. Into a Mason jar, the mix went!
All my sources said to use 2 Tablespoons per large load. I found this to be a bit much for our water and washer. For me, 1 Tbsp is sufficient. Just two loads of laundry and I was sold! I later ordered 6 bars of the Unscented- Baby Mild variety of Dr. B's soap, bought a gallon sized jar, and make myself a mega batch of unscented detergent. I've since started using the unscented detergent for everyone's clothing. I saved my lovely lavender batch for a special occasion!
Since you were so patient...
1 Cup of Borax
1 Cup of Washing Soda
1/2 Cup of Oxyclean
1 finely grated bar of Dr. Bronner's Magic Castille Soap
Did you know- White vinegar makes a wonderful fabric softener? Add 1/4 cup to your rinse cycle and you will be shocked! No, your clothing will not spell like vinegar after they come out of the dryer. I promise!
Below is my beautiful detergent and fabric softener!
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