When I started cloth diapering (almost two years ago!), I used Soap Nuts for all of our laundry. They work well, but occasionally some garments didn't come out as clean or fresh smelling as we'd like, so I went back to using unscented, dye-free Seventh Generation liquid detergent (which we already had in the house, but that I hadn't used in nearly two years). As the jug kept getting lighter and lighter, I started wondering what I'd do when I ran out. Would I go back to using Soap Nuts full-time? Would I go out and buy a new detergent? If the latter were the case, which one would I buy? Scented or unscented? Liquid or powder? And the big question--which would be the most environmentally friendly choice.
Around the time I started thinking about this, a friend of mine posted something on Facebook about how she had made her own laundry soap and that she HIGHLY recommended other people give it a try. I was really glad that she so passionately shared her experience because it really got me thinking about taking the plunge. What I didn't like, though, was that the recipe made FIVE GALLONS of liquid detergent. I'm sure I'd use it, but that amount just seemed like it would be cumbersome to deal with. I did some laundry today and realized that within a couple weeks, I'd have to buy more detergent if that's what I wanted to do, so I started looking for recipes, and they weren't hard to find at all! The one I liked best was one for powdered soap--a bar of grated soap (Fels Naptha, Ivory, Pure & Natural, or one other one, I think it's called Zote), one cup of washing soda, and one cup of borax--stir these three ingredients for several minutes, and use about a tablespoon of detergent per load.
This recipe came from a blog post (http://www.diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/), and in the comments I read that you can use any castile soap. Dr. Brooner's bar soap was mentioned, and I know they have naturally scented soap, so I think I'm going to buy some when we're out shopping tomorrow. I prefer mildly scented things to completely unscented things, but if I have to choose between unscented and highly and/or artificially scented, I would go with the former. Strong artificial scents make me feel like I'm going to pass out, and I'm not being melodramatic.
In my quest for other natural homemade soap recipes, I came across this blog post:
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2009/04/natural-homemade-laundry-detergent/. I actually can't wait to catch up on her other posts because it looks like a REALLY cute blog.
And I've been thinking of dyeing some fabric, but of course I want it to be as natural as possible, so I found this post: http://earthdivasblog.com/2010/07/13/how-to-dye-fabric-with-natural-dyes/. Another blog I'm going to have to try to catch up on.
Ooh, I love projects. I'm actually feeling a little depressed because I feel like I don't have time to finish anything. Heck, I barely have time to START anything! And on top of that, I'm back to work now. I know, I know...everyone else does it, so I shouldn't be complaining, but I feel like I spend all of my time making everyone else happy and I'm the last person on my list to be taken care of. And the thing is, I don't want to go out for girls nights and yoga all of the time...I want to STAY IN so I can sew, bake, make a frickin' candle, whatever. I need to get my hands dirty but one of them always seems to be holding a toddler. (Sorry, I'm feeling spread pretty thin lately, and today it was just getting to me, because on top of being spread thin, I'm utterly exhausted.)
A while ago I said that I was going to do some work that I didn't get to finish this past week when I was actually *at work*, but I've spent the last 45 minutes or so researching laundry detergents, reading articles, and writing this. Time to get to work, and maybe when I'm done I can continue my research.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Shopping, reading, 7pm bedtime
I'M GETTING SLEEPY....
All week I've been really tired. I've taken forever to fall asleep, only to have screeching wild animals wake me up. Then the stress at work has me frazzled. It's nothing bad, it's just that there seem to be millions of things going on and I can't even figure out where to start. And on top of the normal work stuff, my Girl Talk group is getting a lot of extra attention since my student won that big award, so now I have to send a write-up to Channel 2, to the Buffalo News, and eventually to the Jamestown paper (although they're a pretty sorry excuse for the paper...they're the only news paper who hasn't gotten back to me about running the story.)
That's another thing they don't teach you in Counselor school--how to deal with the media, but that's a whole different topic...
So anyway, after five days of no sleep/all stress, I was exhausted. I got home quite a bit before Chris did on Friday evening, so I sat on the couch reading Karma Girl. (I'm almost done!) He got home and I cooked some dinner and we watched TV for a little bit. Then he went out to work on his planes in the family room and I sat down to finish the rest of my book. I read several pages but then got really sleepy, so I put my head down and fell asleep. I probably slept there for a couple hours. Chris came in and saw that I had just woke up. He said, "Come on, let's go up to bed," so I went up, did the whole "bedtime routine," crawled into bed...and didn't fall asleep for three hours. I felt too tired to get up and do anything, yet I couldn't fall asleep.
When I'm in a good sleeping mode, I still take a while to fall asleep, but at least I'm comfortable and content. Lately, though, I've taken HOURS to fall asleep, and once I fall asleep, if strange noises don't wake me up, I have really weird dreams. I don't remember them very well, but I do remember that the dreams make it feel like I'm working in my sleep. Not necessarily on counseling stuff, just a general stressed out feeling. In one dream I was sleeping at someone else's house, I think it was Grandma's house in Cuba, and I was worried that I wouldn't wake up on time so that I could shower and get to work, so when I woke up, I was all stressed out that I was going to be late for work, and I wondered why I was staying at my Grandma's house when I had to go to work the next day. (It would take me about 1.5 hours to get to work, and I have to be there at 7:30!) When I finally realized that I was home, I was still really groggy and confused, which made it hard to get ready for work.
I think that might have been the day I forgot to put on deodorant. (Don't worry, I found some deodorant in the nurse's office. But it was kind of funny because I told a few people what I did (I have very few secrets!), and I found out that even the people who seem to have it all together have forgotten deodorant, or something similar (forgotten to brush their teeth, went to work wearing two different shoes, etc...) One person actually said, "Oh, I do that all of the time, that's why I have spray deodorant in my office, so if you ever need it, just come on over!"
Thoughts that I never finished on Thursday:
READING BOOKS (written on 6/12/08)
Last evening we didn't know what we wanted to eat for dinner, and we didn't feel like doing anything in particular, so we just stayed in. I cooked brinner (breakfast for dinner) and we worked on some projects. Honestly, I really didn't get a lot done. I'm reading a book called Karma Girl which started out kind of, um, different, but it's gotten kind of exciting and I'm anxious to see what happens. I was surprised, though, that even with all of the time we spent at home, I didn't really get any reading done. I bopped around online for a while, did some stuff for work, picked up the kitchen, and got my clothes out for today. But anyway, I'm looking forward to going home after work today, sitting down on the couch with a cup of tea, and diving back into my book.
SHOPPING (written on 6/12/08)
This weekend we're going shopping. You won't believe me when I say this, but Chris insisted that we go! There's a big sale at Ann Taylor Loft (one of my favorite stores--their clothes actually fit me!!!). I love to shop, but I've been trying to cut down. I have too many clothes and I'm trying to save money. However, I need to dress up for work, and dress clothes are expensive, so the time to get them is when they're on sale! So sometime today we're going to head out and see what we can find on sale. And I might enjoy a Chai Frappuccino from Starbucks while we're out because I have a gift card :)
All week I've been really tired. I've taken forever to fall asleep, only to have screeching wild animals wake me up. Then the stress at work has me frazzled. It's nothing bad, it's just that there seem to be millions of things going on and I can't even figure out where to start. And on top of the normal work stuff, my Girl Talk group is getting a lot of extra attention since my student won that big award, so now I have to send a write-up to Channel 2, to the Buffalo News, and eventually to the Jamestown paper (although they're a pretty sorry excuse for the paper...they're the only news paper who hasn't gotten back to me about running the story.)
That's another thing they don't teach you in Counselor school--how to deal with the media, but that's a whole different topic...
So anyway, after five days of no sleep/all stress, I was exhausted. I got home quite a bit before Chris did on Friday evening, so I sat on the couch reading Karma Girl. (I'm almost done!) He got home and I cooked some dinner and we watched TV for a little bit. Then he went out to work on his planes in the family room and I sat down to finish the rest of my book. I read several pages but then got really sleepy, so I put my head down and fell asleep. I probably slept there for a couple hours. Chris came in and saw that I had just woke up. He said, "Come on, let's go up to bed," so I went up, did the whole "bedtime routine," crawled into bed...and didn't fall asleep for three hours. I felt too tired to get up and do anything, yet I couldn't fall asleep.
When I'm in a good sleeping mode, I still take a while to fall asleep, but at least I'm comfortable and content. Lately, though, I've taken HOURS to fall asleep, and once I fall asleep, if strange noises don't wake me up, I have really weird dreams. I don't remember them very well, but I do remember that the dreams make it feel like I'm working in my sleep. Not necessarily on counseling stuff, just a general stressed out feeling. In one dream I was sleeping at someone else's house, I think it was Grandma's house in Cuba, and I was worried that I wouldn't wake up on time so that I could shower and get to work, so when I woke up, I was all stressed out that I was going to be late for work, and I wondered why I was staying at my Grandma's house when I had to go to work the next day. (It would take me about 1.5 hours to get to work, and I have to be there at 7:30!) When I finally realized that I was home, I was still really groggy and confused, which made it hard to get ready for work.
I think that might have been the day I forgot to put on deodorant. (Don't worry, I found some deodorant in the nurse's office. But it was kind of funny because I told a few people what I did (I have very few secrets!), and I found out that even the people who seem to have it all together have forgotten deodorant, or something similar (forgotten to brush their teeth, went to work wearing two different shoes, etc...) One person actually said, "Oh, I do that all of the time, that's why I have spray deodorant in my office, so if you ever need it, just come on over!"
Thoughts that I never finished on Thursday:
READING BOOKS (written on 6/12/08)
Last evening we didn't know what we wanted to eat for dinner, and we didn't feel like doing anything in particular, so we just stayed in. I cooked brinner (breakfast for dinner) and we worked on some projects. Honestly, I really didn't get a lot done. I'm reading a book called Karma Girl which started out kind of, um, different, but it's gotten kind of exciting and I'm anxious to see what happens. I was surprised, though, that even with all of the time we spent at home, I didn't really get any reading done. I bopped around online for a while, did some stuff for work, picked up the kitchen, and got my clothes out for today. But anyway, I'm looking forward to going home after work today, sitting down on the couch with a cup of tea, and diving back into my book.
SHOPPING (written on 6/12/08)
This weekend we're going shopping. You won't believe me when I say this, but Chris insisted that we go! There's a big sale at Ann Taylor Loft (one of my favorite stores--their clothes actually fit me!!!). I love to shop, but I've been trying to cut down. I have too many clothes and I'm trying to save money. However, I need to dress up for work, and dress clothes are expensive, so the time to get them is when they're on sale! So sometime today we're going to head out and see what we can find on sale. And I might enjoy a Chai Frappuccino from Starbucks while we're out because I have a gift card :)
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