I've come to the conclusion that I am becoming a hippy. Yep, a hippy. I'm a cloth diapering, laundry detergent making, going green kinda momma. OK, so maybe these things don't constitute me as a hippy but I realized this morning how much I really am leaning towards this natural (cutting chemicals and processed foods out as much as possible) lifestyle. I'm not a health nut by any means but caring for our sweet boy has made me more cautious of the things I do and use.
This all started when I decided to cloth diaper Aiden, a few months before we even knew he would be Aiden. I have been so pleased with our diapers and am very thankful to have this alternative from buying costly diapers that are just going to be thrown away and then off to a landfill. Not only do I wrap his cute little booty in cloth rather than plastic but I make the detergent to clean them too. It's a very simple, basic solution that seems to do a great job and isn't costly like some name brand detergents. We're even going as far as using cloth wipes more lately. I decided I might as well since I'm washing the diapers anyway. I'm amazed at home many wipes we've gone through in the 16 1/2 weeks of our sweet boy's life.
Here is the recipe for the cloth diaper detergent:
Equal parts of: baking soda, washing soda, and oxiclean
(I did just see a post about adding essential oils to this make it smell good, I'm considering trying this but I also don't really mind that something my babe is gonna poo in doesn't smell like flowers as long as its clean)
This is my routine for diaper laundry: "Express wash" (a setting on my washer) on cold, then a "normal wash" on hot with an extra rinse. I generally do a large load of diapers and in that case I would add one tablespoon to the express wash and then 2 tablespoons to the regular wash. It seems to work well for me. I did have an ammonia problem this weekend but I think I probably got in a rush getting diapers ready for a weekend away messed up on more routine.
I have just been using water for my cloth wipe "solution" but I'm going to be making one tonight. Once I figure out what that will be I'll post it too!
I make our regular laundry detergent as well. I've been using this recipe for about 3 months and I've had no problems with it at all. It smells great and is cheap to make! Click here for the recipe! It really does make a TON! I bought a five gallon bucket to store my excess in from Home Depot which is great to mix it in too. I just made sure the lid was on tightly and rolled the bucket back on forth on the floor because all that detergent weight a lot!
In just two months sweet boy will be ready to start out baby foods and I'll be making that too! I'm soo stinkin' excited for this! My parents gave us a Baby Bullet as a baby shower gift and I can't wait to get started. I'm glad that I'll know exactly what is going in to our boys body and I'm thinking its gonna help me (and hopefully Firefighter Hubby too) eat healthier as well.
At this point, I'm still mostly using the typical household cleaners for
my kitchen, bathroom, etc (but really who am I kidding, when do I ever
really clean) but I'm starting to look in to more ways to cut those
chemicals out and use natural cleaning methods, especially when it's
usually cheaper to make them than to buy them.
Other "natural things" I'm planning to try:
-amber teething jewelry
-homemade facial wipes
-cloth "paper" towels
-wool dryer balls - I can't use dryer sheets with cloth diapers anyway
-cloth menstrual pads - TMI maybe but I'm ok with that.
-dog treats
Have you had any luck with trying new "natural" ways of life? I'd love to hear what you're doing!
