Cleaning binge and more cleaning products

Hello all you lavender lovelies.  J

This weekend has been so busy. I’ve been reclaiming my house.  You see, my youngest daughter recently left home and I’ve been going through every room, every closet, every drawer and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  I have a pile of things to give away and I’ve repurposed some other items.  It is tiring but feels so good to accomplish.

During this process, I’ve been testing some of my homemade cleaning goodies and will share my findings.  First, I made homemade dishwasher detergent replacing my very pricey Cascade.  Here is the recipe I used:

Dishwasher Detergent

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda

¼ c. citric acid or 2 pkgs. Unsweetened lemonade Kool-aid

Mix together and use 1 TBSP per load.  I didn’t have citric acid so I used the Kool-Aid which has a great lemony smell. I love how this works and my dishes are now squeaky clean.  I think it works better than Cascade and it cost me pennies to make.  The washing soda is tricky to find but I located it at my local Publix next to the Borax and if you can’t find it, you can make your own from baking soda. I love this detergent and give it a 5 out of 5 for ease of creation and use. I used my existing Cascade box and that made a great container.

Next, I spent some time on my cabinets.  What a mess! I bought inexpensive containers from Wal-mart and labels and repackaged dry goods.  I also found some baskets on the clearance aisle of Wal-mart and put smaller items in them. I also used my All-Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant.  Here is the recipe I used:

All-Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant

A spray bottle filled with 50/50 water and vinegar plus 5 drops of lavender essential oil.  Shake and use.  Warning! Don't use on marble or granite as the acid in the vinegar will etch the stone.

Finally, since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and since a suspected causes of breast cancer is aluminum and parabens from antiperspirants I decided to make my own deodorant. Please see http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/AP-Deo and http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/05/24/parabens-on-risk-of-breast-cancer.aspx for further information and decide for yourself the risk and whether you want to change products.

Here is the recipe I used:

Deodorant

1/3 c. solid coconut oil

¼ c. baking soda (aluminum free)

¼ c. arrowroot or cornstarch

Essential oils

Mix baking soda and arrowroot or cornstarch together.  Add the coconut oil and use a fork or pastry blender to thoroughly incorporate the dry ingredients. Add 5 – 10 drops essential oils and blend completely together. Add more arrowroot or cornstarch until the consistency and texture is about the same as commercial deodorant.  Store in a jar at room temperature (refrigeration may be needed in summer months since coconut oil melts at 76 degrees). Apply a pea sized amount with fingers or cotton ball.

For my essential oils, I used 5 drops tea tree oil which acts as a natural anti-bacterial fighting ingredient and 5 drops of lavender (of course!) which in addition to a lovely smell has anti-bacterial properties.  I’ve been using this for a week now and have to say I really like it.  I’ve been doing a lot of heavy, sweaty cleaning this weekend and it has worked well.  Keep in mind that this is a deodorant not an antiperspirant.  The only thing that will stop sweating is aluminum and the more I personally research the less thrilled I am about rubbing it on my body.  As a result, I’m pleased with this deodorant. My only complaint is that this batch is a bit more “liquidy” than I prefer so with my next batch I will add more arrowroot and make it more solid.  I’ve been using a cotton ball to apply and it works great.  I used a pastry cutter to blend and it took less than 10 minutes to make and I still have a lot of deodorant left so it lasts a long time.  I give this particular batch a 4 out of 5 due to consistency issues and I think I can rectify those next time.

Take care of yourselves all!

~Michelle

Smelling Good and Saving a Baking Sheet

This past evening while cleaning my kitchen I noticed a baking sheet I have been ignoring for quite some time in the back of the cabinet.  It is a great size sheet but when the girls lived at home (and I didn't know any better!) they used it to bake frozen pizzas on with Pam cooking spray.  (Yikes! I REALLY didn't know any better!) The end result is this terrible looking baking sheet.

I had pinned a possible solution on my Pinterest board (Neat & Tidy) and it involved two of my all time favorite cleaners baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. I love them because they don't have any nasty fumes or bad chemicals to hurt you. I really like baking soda and hydrogen peroxide for tile grout, it still requires a light scrubbing but works well.

The pin came from this link:  http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/05/new-life-for-old-cookie-sheets-again.html
and the blogger, Jill, stated that using this cleaner allowed her to clean her baking sheet without any scrubbing.  SOLD!  I hate scrubbing. (Inherently lazy, party of one! Lol.)  Her solution was to allow the solution to sit and then the sheet was clean.

The baking sheet did come clean but (and it's a big one) I had to scrub fairly hard for quite a while.  I let the solution sit for all evening and still ended up scrubbing so my rating for this cleaning solution on a baking sheet is a 3 out of 5.  It worked. It just didn't work as easily as promised. 

I also created a Room Spray and I really love it! I took no time at all to create and smells wonderful. My rating is 5 out of 5 for an easy creation and amazing scent.  You can customize the scent but here is my recipe:

Lavender Room Spray

1.5 oz distilled water
1.5 oz vodka
12 drops Rosemary essential oil
8 drops Lemon essential oil
20 drops Lavender essential oil

6 - 8 oz spray bottle

Add water and vodka and then add essential oils.  Shake prior to use and do not use on fabric furniture.

I found a funnel made the job easy and mixed the mixture in a 2 cup measuring cup for ease of pouring through the funnel into the spray bottle.  I wish I could give you all a whiff but trust me it smells great.

Please comment below any requests you have for recipes to be tested. I'm happy to be the guinea pig for us all.

~michelle

A New Beginning...

So here I am at the beginning of a blog and the big question is what will this blog be about?  Mostly, it will be about my adventures in trying to go back to basics with food, cleaning products and beauty products to improve my health and lifestyle. 

I’ll let you know all about my journey to simplifying my life and removing unnecessary chemicals.  I’ll list recipes for product creation and I’ll let you know if they worked or not (and any horrible disasters I may have along the way – yikes!) and any tweaks I make to them.

Finally, I hope to encourage you to stop and slow down and think.  Think about what you are eating, what products you are using and how they impact your health.

You may be wondering why I chose the name "Lavender at the Gate" and the answer is simple.  I love the scent of lavender and I love what lavender stands for throughout history.  When given as a gift, lavender flowers represent purity, silence and luck. Lavender flowers also convey a message of devotion. Lavender essence oil can be used to convey a sense of calm.

One of my favorite lines regarding lavender is from author Alice Hoffman:

There are some things, after all, Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.

~Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic

What can be better than luck and love?

It’s a new beginning for the blog and for each of us. I like to think of a blog as a conversation between writer and reader.  A conversation is a two way street so please comment and let me know your thoughts. Won’t you join me on my journey and join the conversation?

~michelle