Orange Scented Vinegar Cleaner

A few posts back,I talked about trying to jazz up my vinegar and water cleaner with some orange scent.

I filled some mason jars with orange peel,and then vinegar. I let them sit for a few weeks.

It was time to try it. Would it smell like oranges? Or would the vinegar scent prevail?

I took my jars down from the shelf:

I lined the strainer with cheesecloth. The first time I did it,I only doubled the cheesecloth and  had some sediment on the bottom of the bowl. I re strained it,tripling the cheesecloth,and it came out fine.

I use a 1:1 ratio-one cup of vinegar for one cup of water.

You can still smell the vinegar,but it does have  a mild orange citrus scent to it. So I would say it does work. Next time I will try it with lemons.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

Jazzing Up Vinegar and Water Cleaner

I try to make as many household cleaners as I can. The less chemicals I have around my house, the better.

One of the things I use and love is white vinegar and water as a glass cleaner,etc. I also use it in my bathroom.( I do use bleach and water on more nasty areas,such as the toilet.) While the smell of vinegar is strong,it doesn't last very long and it doesn't really bother me,but I do admit a more pleasant smell wouldn't be bad. I saw this idea a long time ago and had always wanted to try it,but for some reason,never did it. I would think if it when I was all out of cleaner and had to make more,or when I didn't have any oranges on hand. It was brought back to my attention by my friend,Teri,who posted about it. It gave me a reminder and the timing was good,because 1) I still had plenty of cleaner left and 2) I had a whole bunch of oranges on hand.

It's so very easy!!!

Take any kind of jar with a cover to seal it. I used canning jars. Fill them with orange peels,and then fill with white vinegar.

Let set for two to three weeks. Use a strainer ( or cheesecloth) so any little mucky pieces that may have settled are flushed out. Use it to make your cleaner. Folks do it differently- I've read 2/3 water to 1/3 vinegar,or vice versa. I use 1 cup of vinegar to 1 cup water and it has worked great. Right now, I am still in the steeping stage of the orange peels,so I can't comment on how well it works,but from what I've read,the vinegar does pick up a nice orange scent. We'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

How I Saved Over $200

I began making my own laundry soap on Sept 5,2009.Why I remember this is because I have kept track of when I make the soap,and how much I have spent on the ingredients so I could see how much I saved.

When I purchased my items,though,I failed to mark down how much they were. Last week when I was shopping I wrote down the prices to use a guide.

My first initial purchase:
2 bars Fels Naptha soap @ .99 cents apiece= $1.98
One box Arm and Hammer Washing Soda= $2.69
One box of Borax= $3.69
-----------------------------------------------
Total spent= $8.36

Until then I had been buying Purex,which costs $4.49 for 2 qt,8 oz (I averaged it to 2 qts to make it easier to figure out).

Each batch I make is 2 gallons,which means I would have to purchase four Purex to equal 2 gallons (remember,I'm rounding down,here).

I have made 12 batches of soap since 9/09,and have only had to purchase two more bars of Fels Naptha since then,making my investment to date at $10.34,which averages to $.86 cents for every two gallon batch.

Now, if I had continued to use the Purex,I would've had to buy 48 jugs to equal 24 gallons,which would cost $215.52
                                                        Purex-$215.52
                                                  -    My soap-$10.34
                                                    -----------------------
                                                            =$205.18
That'a a great savings! It also lessens the amount of plastic jugs hitting the landfill.

Cleaning For Pennies On The Dollar

I was one of many folks who used to buy cleaning products. Windex,Clorox wipes,etc,etc. Then I discovered that simple items that most homes have do the same job,and for pennies on the dollar. Why buy Clorox wipes when you can do the same with bleach,water and a little elbow grease? Same goes for Windex. Vinegar and water do fine. No need for Soft Scrub,a paste made with water and baking soda are the ticket.

                                            Glass Cleaner

Simply pour into a spray bottle 1 cup of vinegar for every 1 cup of water. I used an old Windex spray bottle. You will smell the vinegar,but that only lasts seconds. It works great on glass,appliances,etc....anything you would normally use store bought glass cleaner on. You can use a rag,or if you use paper towels you can compost the paper towels,since vinegar is not a chemical. Just shred the paper towels first to help with break down.

                                         Disinfectant Cleaner

Again,simply pour 1 cup of bleach for every cup of water into a spray bottle. You can adjust the amount of bleach you use,depending on how strong you want it. I used an old Clorox Clean Up bottle. I use it on my counters,in the bathroom,etc.Bleach and water in a bucket make a great floor cleaner as well. If you use paper towels for wipe up,you cannot compost them because of the bleach.

                                           Baking Soda Scrub

 My favorite is the baking soda scrub. My french doors are metal,white,and love to gather dirty menfolk finger prints. I simply made a paste of water and baking soda,and used an old toothbrush to scrub out the prints. You could also use an old dish washing sponge with a scrub side. You will have to wipe down the area after with water and a towel.

I am still trying to find a good recipe for hand dish washing detergent. I have started buying Planet,which is more than the Ajax brand I bought for a long time, but it's more earth friendly. It's biodegradable,unscented,uncolored,and hypo allergenic. It's made from Coconut Oil based cleaners,salt,and sodium bicarbonate.

Next time you run of cleaner,check you cabinets first before you run to the store. You probably have all you need right there in your home!

Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011

It doesn't seem possible that we are already going to say goodbye to 2010 in just over 12 hours. So much has happened to us this year,and we have learned much.Not everything got accomplished,and some things that I personally was striving for (such as weight loss) fell to the wayside. However,the overall year was certainly more positive than negative. Here is a reflection on the year that was........

The biggest things that happened to us as a family was that Rick was finally medically retired from the military in April. It took three med boards and 5 years for this to happen. By November,he was 100% disabled through the VA,collecting his monthly pension and receiving Social Security Disability. In May,his knee problems were finally diagnosed by one of the best hospitals in the US,Dartmouth Hitchcock,which is also a training hospital for Dartmouth College,one of the Ivy League schools ( For those of you who are outside the US and may not know,Ivy League schools are schools that are the oldest in the nation,such as Harvard,Yale,Brown,Princeton).He was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Degenerative Arthritis,which was incurred from his days in Combat Airborne back in the 1980's,fighting what I call President Reagan's "secret little wars." Both knees were replaced with titanium.He spent three weeks in rehab,and has made  a quick recovery-his surgeon is very pleased. Those three things are most certainly the biggest things that have happened to us this year.

At the beginning of the year,we sat down and discussed what we wanted to do,why we wanted to do it,and how. For the first time,we started seeds indoors. That was a learning experience.Lights,grow trays,heating pads, timers....the one big thing I learned was that I should not take peppers off the heating pads once they sprout. Our basement is cool,and it stunted the growth of the peppers,but I put them back on heat and they did wind up growing.We learned about Square Foot Gardening,and made boxes,made a compost shifter,and shifted lots of compost. We bought a compost tumbler,and my sister gave us a compost bin. We put a small bucket in the kitchen for composting kitchen scraps (who knew that paper towels were compostable? I didn't!). Rick and I built our turkey cage and got Narragansett turkeys from one of our friends. We built a chicken house and got chickens. I discovered that chickens and turkeys love weeds pulled from the garden. We did our first canning this year,and though my veggie weight tally wasn't complete,I do know we grew 28lbs of cukes! We set up rain barrels from juice barrels that Brother Dale gave us. That helped keep the poultry watered since our dug well was low. We planted blueberries,blackberries strawberries,and raspberries. We started a kitchen garden-mint,rosemary,oregano,thyme,and basil (Rick and Brother B tell me I need to plant and dry more oregano next year).Our Concord Grapes took off last year and we bought a trellis,which is already too small-I think we will make an arbor this coming Spring. We got edible apples from out Jonathan apple tree this year! It was planted before Rick went to Iraq. We used our neighbors wood chips to make a walkway to the house and we also used them in between the raised beds. Our  other neighbor let us use a mix of their dirt and wood chips to extend our driveway.  We made our own maple syrup,as little as there was.I made lye soap,continued making laundry detergent,and attempted to make dish soap,but because I didn't like the results I went back to store bought,but went to Planet,and stopped using Ajax. I stopped buying Clorox wipes and started making my own cleaners-bleach and water for disinfectant and white vinegar and water for glass cleaner. I began making my own brown sugar ( sooooo much better than store bought!). I make our own bread and baked goods.I started teaching myself how to knit.

We made a few investments: a new (used) four wheel drive truck,an artesian well (which will never run dry),a new snow blower,and a new wood splitter. We purchased tree length wood,which should keep us in heat for a few years. Rick bought me a Cuisinart stand mixer,with  food processor and meat grinder attachments.

We took a lovely trip to Malone,NY,and got to explore the world of Almanzo Wilder,the husband of one of my all time (if not THE all time) favorite authors,Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was so much fun,and was really something to stroll among the grounds and in the house that I have read about so many times in Farmer Boy.

Personally,though I haven't succeeded at weight loss,or conquered my procrastination issues,I have done much soul searching this year. I feel as a person I have grown and have a more sense of self,though I still have much more growing to do. I am more comfortable in my own skin and in what I believe. I don't get into religion and politics on this site,because that has nothing to do with what we are trying to achieve here.However, these two issues have been some of what has been rolling around my head this last year. Suffice it to say I don't like extremism in religion or in politics,and I don't like it when people try to use fear or paranoia to try and gather followers or votes. Sadly,there is much of that out there right now. I think it's scary.

We have a list already in the works for this coming year:
-Double the size of the garden
-New metal roof on the house and garage
-New deck
-Weatherproof the mud room so we have a place we can keep coats,etc since we dont' have a coat closet.
-Remodel the bathroom
-Remodel the kitchen
-Paint the house and garage
-Clean out the attic
-New windows in the basement
-Make a cold frame with the old sliding glass doors
-Have a cold weather garden this year
-Maybe get goats!

I am sure the list will be added to,and though I know not all will get accomplished,that is what we would like to see happen.

Thank you all for following our lives here in our little cottage.I am very grateful that you all have followed us on our continuing journey.

From all of us here at The Little Yellow Farm to all of you throughout the world,have a wonderful New Years! I hope your joys are many,your sorrows few.

See you next year!!!!!  :)

Misc Catch Up and the Death of My Soap

I have been fighting headaches and allergies since the weekend,so my motivation has not been at an all time high. One Benedryl and I am ready for a nap. If anyone out there has taken Benedryl,they know what I mean. It wipes you out.

I have two cabinets left-my pots and pans ( which is more or less just straightening and wiping down the inside of the cabinet) and the dreaded under the sink area. Yuck. Today will not be the day,however. Zach and I are meeting My Dear Friend Michelle and her boys at the lake,then later this PM Rick has an appt with his PTSD counselor,Ken down at the VA Outpatient Center in Somersworth. He hasn't seen Ken in a while,not since before he had his knees done,so it should be a good visit. I think Ken will be pleased to see Rick doing so well physically,which also helps him mentally.

Rick is now in the midst of stopping his morphine. He is lowering his dose by 15 mg each week. He was at 120 mg a day. Last week he started at 60 mg in the AM,then 45 mg at night.This week it is 4 5mg and 45 mg,next week it will be 45 mg and 30 mg,etc., down to nothing. It is not easy. He has been on it for two years,and as most people know,morphine is physically addictive.Each time the dose is lessened he has some minor withdrawal symptoms,but it only lasts for a couple of days until his body adjusts. At least we know it is temporary each week.He is happy to finally not have to take it anymore and is anxious to stop altogether.

Yesterday Brother B canned 9 pints of blackberry jam. He had gone down to North Hampton to help out his Dad and there is an area loaded with blackberry bushes. He picked 9 lbs,so needless to say we still have quite a bit of berries left! He hadn't canned in years,so I just helped him out a bit on the first batch.

I am not loving my homemade dish soap at all.We had a nice ham dinner on Saturday,and when Rick washed the dishes there was about an inch of grease on the dishes.He went up to the neighbors and borrowed some detergent. I am glad it worked out for some people,and hope it worked out for you. Not here,I am sad to say. I will stick to my laundry and hand soap. Tomorrow I will return to the land of Grapefruit Ajax. At least I gave it a shot.

Homemade Dish Soap

One of the things I have been hoping to learn is how to make my own dish soap. I could put whatever scent I wanted in it,probably save a few dollars,and cut back on plastic consumption. I have looked at various blogs,such as Karyn's over at Lizzy Lane Farm,and Rhonda Jean's at Down To Earth. The basic ingredients seem to be the same,though there are variations.Some folks use liquid castille soap instead of soap flakes,for example. The following is the recipe I used.
You can use this one,or find another through various blogs. This one can be used for hand washed dishes or for dishwashers. I don't have a dishwasher,so I had to make sure it was hand friendly.Like any other homemade cleaning item,you have to try it out and see if it works for you.

Handmade Dish Soap

2 cups soap flakes ( I couldn't find any flake Ivory Soap or Lux,so I grated an Ivory soap bar.One bar made 2 cups)
1 gallon warm water
2 tablespoons glycerin (optional- I got mine in the First Aid aisle at WalMart)
1/2 cup of lemon juice or white vinegar
Scent if desired

Combine flakes and water over low heat,until soap is dissolved,stirring frequently.Stir in glycerin and remove from heat.Allow soap to cool to about room temperature,then add the lemon juice or vinegar and add soap scent. Mix thoroughly and put in containers. Use about 1/2- 3/4 cup per load of dishes.

The first thing you will notice is that the mixture will be very watery,nothing like store bought dish soap.There will also be no bubbles. Bubbles do not determine how clean something gets,so don't worry about that. From what I have read,lemon juice will mold if you don't use the batch in about a week's time,so I used white vinegar. Until the vinegar was added,the soap was the color of gray water.It then turned a very pale white ( you can see it in the above picture in the clear water bottle). For scent Rick picked Eucalyptus soap scent. Instead of a full gallon,I reduced the water to 14 cups,and I think I will have to reduce it more next time. Most blogs with these recipes say they wind up bringing down amount of water quite a bit,and though it won't give you as much,it will be a bit more concentrated,so you may not have to use as much in each load. The second thing you may notice is grease residue. This is also an issue I have read about-some people have a problem,others claim they don't. I did. The vinegar acts as a grease cutter,but it brings any grease or oil from what is on your dishes to the top of the water,which gets on your dishes and hands. I don't know if hard water makes a difference-we have well water,so it's hard. At first I thought it was the glycerin,which is used as a hand softener,but this AM I washed out our wok from the stir fry we had last night,and I could see an oil slick on top of the water. My only thought about that is perhaps upping the amount of vinegar a bit,and maybe using more soap ,as well as less water.

I admit,even though I had read of this possibility,I was disappointed. It got me to thinking about what folks used back in the day when they didn't have grease cutting dish detergents,which we are all so used to.They would have had to use regular soap,would they not? Grease would form in the water,wouldn't it? Am I being too critical because I am comparing this to store bought detergents with different chemicals in it? Maybe it's like comparing apples and oranges.

I hope this doesn't discourage you from giving it a shot. I think playing with the initial recipe may produce something more pleasing,and if one doesn't expect Palmolive,Ajax,or Dawn as the end result,it will be OK.

For those of you who are making dish soap,could you please send me your thoughts regarding the grease? Have you had this problem,and were you able to remedy it?

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned

I started making my own clothes detergent last year. I make liquid detergent,using Fels Naptha soap,Borax,and Washing Soda. I spent approx $8-$10 for the ingredients. I never figured out what the savings would be,until I went grocery shopping on Tues. I figured I would see what the price was on the detergent I used to buy,Purex. It comes in a 2 qt,8 fl oz jug,which costs $5.99. I averaged it down to 2 qts for easier figuring.

I make 2 gallons at a time. I have enough Fels Naptha for one more batch,so in all,I will have made 6 batches,which equals 12 gallons. Then I will have to buy more Fels Naptha soap (which is .99 a bar). I still have several batches that I can make with the Washing Soda and Borax before I have to replenish them.

If my math is correct,if I bought 12 gallons of Purex,it would cost us $143.76. So I saved $133.76,if I base it on spending $10 for my supplies.

WOW!

Not only that,what I make lasts about 2 1/2 months.The Purex doesn't go that far,so I would wind up buying it more,which in the long run would cost even more money. I never did figure out how long the Purex would last,but I think I usually bought it roughly once a month.

What do you do to save money?

It Works!

My laundry soap has been tested and IT WORKS! Not that I ever had any doubt,of course.It was more or less wondering if I could do something do mess it up! I am always a bit apprehensive about doing something new,and this was no exception.
I let the detergent sit,as was directed.Once it started to cool off, the mixture did thicken. It turned into the consistency of something like the slime we could buy as kids,and a not yet set lemon pie filling. My brother in law Brian washed his blanket and pillow, using 1/2 a cup ( which is equal to a capful of store bought detergent)and some Oxyclean. There was no suds,but that did not mean it didn't work. Suds does not necessarily mean it's working. When Brian took the blanket and the pillow out of the dryer, everything was nice and clean,and had a faint lemony scent,which came from the Fels Naptha soap I used.
I figure the first thing I will have to replace will be the Fels Naptha soap,but the Borax and Washing Soda should last me a few months,as only a 1/2 a cup of each is used each time. This means great savings!!!! I wish I had done this a long time ago.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Today was my first attempt at making my own liquid clothes detergent. I read several differnt blogs,such as New Life on A Homestead,Little House in the Suburbs and Down to Earth. Each one has a variation on liquid clothing soap,but the ingredients are the same,so I just picked one. I picked the one posted by Kendra at New Life on A Homestead.
The first thing I had to do was find the main ingredients:
- Fels Naptha Soap
-Washing Soda
-Borax
I had heard of Borax,but I had never heard of Fels Naptha soap,or of Washing Soda. So I checked out Walmart first,since I happened to be in there one day. I may have not looked in the right place, but I couldn't find the Fels or the Washing Soda.
Then,when I went grocery shopping at Market Basket, I checked there. I found the 20 Mule Team Borax and the Arm and Hammer Washing Soda in the detergent aisle. So far, so good. Where was the Fels? It was in the Health and Beauty aisle!!!! Before I bought anything, I wanted to make sure that it was going to be cost efficient to make. I wrote down the cost, but I think I may have thrown it out. I do remember the Fels was .99 a bar. I can tell you that the three ingredients cost no more than $7.50,max. One batch makes 2 gallons,which means for $7.50, you can make several gallons of clothing soap,which is much more cost efficient than buying it. Plus, you reuse the container it's kept in,so that keeps plastic use at a minimum!
Even though I have a headache today, I was determined to make my soap. I was finally out of my store bought soap,so it gave me more incentive. This is what I did,taken from My New Life on A Homestead.

Liquid Laundry Detergent
3 Pints ( 6 cups) water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap,grated
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
2 gallon bucket (8 qts or 32 cups)
1 quart Hot water (4 cups)
Hot water

Mix Fels Naptha soap in a saucepan with 3 pints waer,and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax.Stir until thickened,and remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot water to a 2 gallon bucket. Add soap mixture,and mix well. Fill bucket with hot water,and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours,or until mixture thickens. Use 1/2 cup per load.

The first thing I did was break down the measurements to cups and/or quarts. I had a large cat litter bucket set aside,and it is larger than two gallons,so I wanted to make sure I didn't put too much water in. Since it' suppose to equal 2 gallons, I subtracted the 4 cups that is initially put into the container from the two total gallons,so it came to 1 gallon and 3 quarts.
Grating the soap was very easy and took no time at all. The Fels Naptha has a very nice,clean,lemony scent. I dissolved that,which took a few minutes,while my 3 pints of water was heating up. Then I dissolved the Washing soda and the borax in the Fels Naptha water,until the mixture thickened. The only thing was that not all of the powder had dissolved all the way when it thickened up,so I let it go another minute. I put the hot water into my litter container,and poured in the soap mixture. I mixed that up while the remainder of the water heated up. Once it was hot,I poured it into the container,stirred it,and now it is sitting. While the directions call for it to sit 24 hours or until it thickens,some people posted on Kendra's blog that it really didn't need to sit for that long,and some of them used it right away. Some other people who tried it said that their whites eventally started graying.Others said they had no problem. I assume this has to do with what kind of water you have,whether it's soft or hard. You can put a bit of Oxyclean in with it,or use it separately. I always use Oxyclean with all my laundry,anyway,putting it in right after I pour in the detergent,so this will not be an issue for me.
As I type this, my detergent is still hot,and therefore not thickened yet. As soon as I use it, I will post my results.