Chemical Free Project 2.1

The slow removal of chemicals from my home ran into a bit of a snag. You may remember my 2nd project was to use a chemical free dishwasher detergent. Online I was able to find that most of the recipes were basically the same with equal parts washing soda and borax and vinegar in the rinse receptacle. It was easy and the 1st load went well. After the 2nd load I noticed a film forming on the dishes. After the 3rd load the film was worse and I headed back online to see what was wrong.

Turns out this is pretty typical. These natural dishwasher detergents all seem to have this same problem of leaving a film behind. This was a deal breaker for me. My research did uncover dishwasher detergents have varied degrees of toxicity. The generic Target brand, Up and Up detergent actually rated well. As luck would have it, that's what I had been using before and what I have since returned to.

Project 2.1 was born out of necessity. I was running quite low on my face cleanser (Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleaners). Using a new face cleaner is a scary prospect for me. My skin is sensitive, oily, dry and prone to break-outs. That's right I said oil and dry. My skin can be both super shiny with oil WHILE AT THE SAME TIME flaking and stinging like it's dry. I wash it twice a day because it is so oily and then immediately apply moisturizers to combat the puckering of the dry skin. 

I found all kinds of great recipes online and was glad to see that most had variations that accounted for different types of skin needs. The first recipe I tried was honey, castile soap and glycerin. It actually seemed to work pretty well but the smell bothered me. The castile soap and glycerin are odor free products but the honey was hitting my nose funny so after just 3 uses I decided to try something else. 

Here is the recipe I've been using all this week:

1/4 Cup liquid castile soap

1/4 Cup organic chamomile tea

3/4 t oil (grapeseed, sweet almond, avocado or olive - I used olive)

8 drops of essential oil (I used lemon)

few drops of Vitamin E oil is optional. 

Brew a strong cup of chamomile tea and set aside 1/4 cup to cool completely. Then mix the rest of ingredients in with the cooled tea. Should keep fresh for 2 weeks.

It was super easy and, best of all, I like the way it works. I will pick out a new essential oil when I  go to Whole Foods next but in the meantime the lemon will work. My skin isn't nearly as dry after a washing as it was with my store bought product so I'm not putting as much moisturizer on. This homemade cleanser is thinner than my other cleanser so I am putting it on a baby washcloth and applying it to my face with that. So far so good. For now I'm going to continue using this new tea cleanser and maybe reassess come summer.

Next up: all-purpose cleaner.