As baby #2’s delivery date is approaching I have been doing all the necessary pre-baby preparations. Since Nola was over a month early and I had nothing ready I wasn’t going to let that happen again.  Just so…you know…then my husband doesn’t have to go and buy that special laundry detergent and do laundry while I’m in the hospital, or have my amazing friend do my baby essentials target run.  Yes they did those things for me, forever grateful for them!!

Of course one of the things on my list was washing all the baby clothes.  Last time I had used Dreft for Nola, but came across some info that said it still had chemicals that could be unsafe.  I’m not an expert on any of this, nor will I try to be, but what this gave me was an excuse to finally try making my own laundry detergent.  A lot of my friends have gone down this road and I have been curious to give it a try.  Clearly I was very ambitious that day.  I did quite a bit of research on different detergent ‘recipes’ and decided on one that did not include borax.  I heard mixed reviews on if borax is safe or not and since I was going to take the time to try and make a detergent that was completely safe and clean why put something into it that was questionable?

Here is the recipe for the ‘baby detergent’:
Large Container to store detergent
4 cups of baking soda
3 cups of washing soda (get at amazon, walmart & some grocery stores)
1 grated Dr. Bonner’s Soap (get at amazon, vitamin stores & target!)

My review on this cleaner is that so far it seems great!  From the peppermint soap it does give off a faint refreshing smell which I appreciate since I love the smell of clean laundry.  Since there’s no baby yet, there’s no spit up to test how good it cleans, but I will let you know!

The next cleaner I made was a multi-purpose cleaner.  I use this one when cleaning my counter tops.  Things I learned when researching vinegar:  1.  vinegar will disinfect, but commercial cleaners will kill more bacteria & viruses  2.  many people say we over-use disinfectants and we underestimate the power of just hot soapy water and elbow grease  3.  Clean surface before using vinegar cleaner  4.  All surfaces are not suitable for an acidic/vinegar cleaner.  That was a lot of info for this simple recipe, but wanted to share with all of you what I learned and thought was interesting when researching vinegar.

Here is the recipe for the multi-purpose cleaner:
Spray Bottle (glass is preferred when using essential oils, but I read depending on the amount of essential oils used, plastic shouldn’t be a problem)
1/4 cup of vinegar
1 3/4 cup of water
20 drops of lemon essential oil
shake before each use

I also wanted to note that though there is essential oils in this cleaner, it still has a vinegary smell, so if that is something you are not all about this may not be for you, or maybe adding more lemon essential oil may resolve this?

The last cleaner reminds me of febreeze.  It has that lovely lavender smell and it’s great to use right before guests come over or if you just want your house smelling lovely.  I have used this on my furniture, carpet and read this also would be great sprayed on your sheets.

Here is the recipe for the fabric/upholstery spray:
Spray Bottle
1 tablespoon of baking soda
2 cups of warm water
10 drops of lavender essential oil
shake before each use

As you can see these recipes are so simple a young child could do this, so very easy, just how I like it!  And you most likely you may have these ingredients lying around.  Let me know if you give them a try!  I have to admit some days for me it’s fun trying to experiment and try new things, other days I like getting stuff from Honest Company.  Either way I’m trying to make more healthy decisions for my family, everything in moderation is what I keep telling myself!