DIY: Skin-Safe Homemade Deodorant {Guest Post}

Look at me on a roll with guest posting lately! Ok, this is only the second one so maybe "on a roll" isn't the best choice of words. Either way, I'm excited to have my good blog buddy Rachael from The Aliso Kitchen guest posting for me! I'm over at her blog today writing about My Biggest Real Food Challenge for her series on the topic. So after you read this post, be sure to visit The Aliso Kitchen for all kinds of awesome recipes, natural alternatives for health and beauty, and real, honest blogging and life and living better. 

Skin-Safe Homemade Deodorant Recipe

Hello! This is my first post for Happily Ever Crafter, but it’s right at home with some of Catherine’s other posts. I’m Rachael, the blogger behind The Aliso Kitchen, and Catherine and I met on Facebook. We have similar interests regarding homemade beauty products, healthy recipes, and gardening. Today, we’re swapping blogs! For me, she wrote a great post on heranti-green thumb, which is her biggest real food challenge.

Today, I’m sharing my kind of messy, but pretty awesome homemade deodorant recipe. Why? Because I love your pits.

Conventional deodorants are scary things. They’re full of all kinds of nasty ingredients, and I’m still not sold about rubbing aluminum anything under my arms. These are special things there, like lymph nodes! I have a pretty high breast cancer risk in my family, and I just can’t wrap my head about placing potentially toxic and carcinogenic substances (like parabens and preservatives) near such sensitive areas. Or anywhere, really.

But when you head to your natural market, you see that many natural deodorants for sale there have different, but similarly weird and unnecessary chemicals. Plus, their prices are way too high.

Instead of wasting my time and money, I decided to whip up my very own deodorant based on recipes 

I’ve seen around the blogosphere.

The cornerstone of my recipe is baking soda as it helps eliminate odors and keeps you fresh!

The ingredients:

-    Coconut oil

-        Arrowroot powder

-        Baking soda

-       Essential oils (I used basil and sweet orange)

     You’ll also need one empty deodorant stick. You can purchase them in bulk on eBay or Amazon, or simply clean out an old tube you have! I used an old Dove stick with an ounce measurement so I could travel through airport security with this stuff.

Did I measure?

…No. Really, I was set to measure! Then, I shook out too much arrowroot powder and realized it didn’t matter. Start off small. Add 1 tbs of baking soda, a couple of drops of a skin-safe essential oil you like (many use tea tree, but it is too harsh for me), and then start mixing in your arrowroot powder and coconut oil. You’ll want a thick paste, so you’ll probably end up using about ½ a cup of arrowroot powder and maybe ¼ - 1/3 c of coconut oil. Maybe less, maybe more! ­

Once you good, thick paste, carefully spoon it into your deodorant stick.

When done, set it in the fridge for a few minutes so it firms up. That’s it!

The only thing I don’t love about this recipe is that it’s a little messy. If you live in a hot environment, the coconut oil will melt. You can remedy this by keeping your deodorant in the refrigerator (weird) or by melting in some beeswax. Since I don’t mind a little mess and do not have any beeswax on hand, I went without. Just a thought!

Why not cornstarch?

Arrowroot powder and cornstarch are two totally different ingredients that feel and do pretty much the same thing. But, arrowroot powder is not a genetically modified food, and is almost a perfect replacement for cornstarch. You can use it to roll out my yogurt dough cracker recipe, to thicken sauces and puddings, as a base for your homemade foundation, or as a skin-sensitive binder in your deodorant.

You could always opt to use just coconut oil and baking soda, but baking soda can be a little rough on the skin in large quantities. Arrowroot powder is the perfect filler: it’s safe for your skin, adds the necessary bulk, and is a healthy ingredient to have around.

Don’t have a stick to use? 

Make a dry deodorant by combining a few tablespoons of arrowroot powder and 1 tablespoon of baking soda in a reusable container. Then, use a makeup puff or cotton balls to dab under your arms when needed.

A note on stink: Some people take time to adjust from conventional deodorants to homemade ones. I was surprised how sweaty and funky I smelled while processing out the traditional, chemically laden stuff. It took about a month for that phase to pass, and now this deodorant is strong enough to get me through long days at the cheese shop. Plus, I have no white build-up or residue on my shirts after. That might vary with people, but it’s a cheap, easy, and safe alternative for me!

Again, thank you, Catherine, for giving me the opportunity to share this with your readers! I’m excited to meet you all, and look forward to next time!

Do you use deodorant? Do you make your own or buy from the store? Have you ever made your own health or beauty products? Tell us below!

Thanks again, Rachael for your great post! I'm planning to try this as soon as I pick up some arrowroot powder! 

Till next time,

Catherine

I've linked up this post to Wellness Wednesday with Intoxicated on Life, Raising the Barrs, Richly Rooted and Nourishing Treasures!

Cleaning Clogged Drains with Vinegar and Baking Soda

I don't know about you, but the fewer chemicals I have in my house, the better. If I can use a natural cleaner over something harsh like bleach, ammonia, or other conventional cleaners, I will. I had heard that vinegar is great on just about anything to clean. You can read one of my first posts where I cleaned mold off of a door with vinegar here and here! The second link has visuals. In addition to being a great mold killer, vinegar, especially paired with baking soda, works wonders. 

I first heard about using vinegar and baking soda to clean pipes/drains on Pinterest. Of course. One of these days I'll come up with something original! Ha. The link to the original pin site is here. 

So if you're like me, your hair seems to constantly clog the drain in the tub/shower. And if you're not fortunate enough to have a garbage disposal, eventually crumbs and bits of food cause a gross buildup in your kitchen sink. You might be ready to reach for the Drano but wait! There's an easier way! 

I have no idea how much Drano costs, but I'm fairly certain that white vinegar and baking soda is cheaper. And, much safer. 

So read on if you want to effectively, cheaply, and safely clean that nasty, backed up drain! 

All you need is:

• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking soda
• Boiling water
• Lemon juice (Optional: I used it to shine the sink) 

And in no time you'll have a sparkling sink and no more standing water! 

 Ok it may be hard to tell because of the quality of the picture but the left side has been cleaned and the right side is still nasty.

Dump a lot of baking soda into your drain. Fill it up if you want! It's fun to watch the reaction.

Then pour in your vinegar. No precise measurement, just pour until it foams nicely.

 Bubble bubble toil and trouble! That pesky junk in the drain shall be no more!

Let the baking soda/vinegar reaction sit for a minute, up to 15 if you want, then pour in a kettle full of boiling water. This will help flush everything down.

I was so excited to see how fast the water drained after I did this! I'll definitely be doing it on all of our drains, especially the tub! Gross. 

I quickly got motivated to give the sink a good scrub down. I sprinkled baking soda all around the sink then scrubbed with a regular sponge. The mild abrasiveness cleaned it really well. I then poured lemon juice on the sponge and wiped down the sink for a lovely shine. 

It may not seem like much, but it's a big difference, I swear! It's not the nicest sink, but it's what we've got! And that was probably the best it's looked since it was installed. The joys of renting. 

What are some of your favorite cleaning methods? Do you like to go all out with the strongest grade stuff available or do you like to use the not-so-harsh natural versions?

Till next time,
Catherine

Vinegar Part Deux

I rolled up my sleeves and scrubbed like there was no tomorrow! What am I saying? If there was no tomorrow, scrubbing is this last thing I'd be worried about!

Well I scrubbed like a mad [wo]man! I got our shed door as clean as can be! With some vinegar, baking soda, and a Seventh Generation all-purpose cleaner it is just about as clean as the day it was installed. Trust me, it didn't become this nasty on MY watch. It was like this when we moved in!

I already scrubbed across on the top left for a little comparison of how bad it was!

I started by scrubbing the top with just vinegar .

Then did the tall left section with just vinegar and the tall right section with vinegar and baking soda. You can't tell much here, but check the next photo!

The baking soda helped a lot! 

Next, I broke out my Seventh Generation Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner. It sounded quite appropriate for getting mold off a door! And it was! It has a lot of awesome essential oils like thyme, oregano, citronella, and lemongrass that are great at disinfecting surfaces NATURALLY! No chemicals, woohoo! This cleaner worked really well, but when I added the baking soda, it boosted both the vinegar and the cleaner because it added an abrasive material to really scrub out the stains. 

A quick rinse with the hose and it's white again!

There you have it, folks! A clean door! Granted, it's not pristine, but I think that's ok considering it's probably never had a scrub like this! Don't mind the rotting frame on the bottom...ugh. I couldn't quite reach the top of the frame so my husband will get that honor when he gets home from work! If you're wondering what I scrubbed with, I actually only used paper towels. We don't have many rags and they were all dirty so I used paper towels instead. I normally prefer to use rags instead of wasting paper towels. I think an old sponge or a soft bristled scrub brush would work well too, especially in the grooves of the door. 

What's your favorite trick with vinegar? Do you save the outside messy work for your husband or do you get down and dirty too?

Till next time,

Catherine

Vinegar Is Tough on Mold!

Yikes! First time I missed a day at blogging! Sorry, guys! I'll just have to write two today.

I've been seeing a lot of pins on Pinterest about using vinegar and vinegar/baking soda combos to clean all sorts of things around the house. Last night I finally tried it out! While my husband was on the patio spray painting a handmade helmet for a movie that he and some friends are making, I couldn't stop looking at the nasty mold on our back door! I've been saying for forever that I need to clean it but I just never get around to it. So finally, enough was enough and I grabbed some paper towels and a bottle of white vinegar and went to town. It cleaned up the mess in no time! I didn't get before and after pictures, but I still have to do our shed door, which is worse so I'll try to get those today and share. Simply vinegar and a paper towel. Who knew!

There were a couple of tough spots so I wet some paper towels with vinegar and sprinkled a little baking soda on top then scrubbed a little more and it worked like a charm! I absolutely love finding cheap, non toxic, natural versions of cleaners for my house! I don't want to be breathing in chemicals and my animals to be breathing them in either. Or God forbid one of them get into something toxic!

What's your favorite household cleaner? What do you like to use on any nasty mold stains? Do you prefer to go with the natural or conventional cleaners?

Till next time,
Catherine