DIY Week-Laundry Detergent and Diaper Rash Cream!

I know how excited everyone is over DIY stuff especially my Stay-at-home-mamas! So this week I am compiling some shiznat I have made in the last few weeks so I can tell you the pros and cons of it all!

First was Laundry Detergent: I can't tell you how much my blood boils when I have to spend $$ on soap to clean my clothes with, and not like a little $$ but ALOT of $$, then top it off with the huge jugs that the stuff comes in it's ridic. And I know they make the super-concentrated crap but we do SOO much laundry since having a little one and I am not buying one every week, that is what Costco is for.

Looked at a few sites, I was looking for something easy but yet will do the job esp with dirty food bibs and my Husbands extremely smelly socks that I work next to everyday :)

Found this one on a site called DIY Natural LINK He's got some good stuff on here, I esp liked that he made a powder soap, since Liquid is kind of the same cost-wise and Powder I feel is less messy. I totally forgot that there is a health foods store right down the street from me and I went to Walmart to find a Laundry Bar but you can find them at Specialty Foods stores if you have one close by. I could only find the Omega Zote bars so I tripled this recipe and it made a Gallon of Detergent. (I spent a little under $10 for all of it and still have some borax and washing soda left and 1 zote bar) But Each batch below makes 32 ounces or 32-64 Loads of laundry depending on how many Tbsp you use for soiled clothes. Now QUICK, Gather your Ingredients!

• 1 bar (or 4.5 ounces) of shaved bar soap (a homemade laundry bar, Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, ZOTE, or Fels-Naptha)
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda

Shave your soap just using a cheese grater, after grated just mix in the other powders. If you want a finer powder you can pop it into your Food Processor which I was Demanded NOT TO by my Husband :)

Now just pop a Handy Dandy Tablespoon scoop and you got it. Normal loads you can just use 1Tbsp, for soiled use 2-3Tbsp. No residue on clothes, gets out stains and smells just clean, not perfumy.

Total Cost-Under $10 for 192 Loads of laundry...BEAT THAT And No plastic jugs to end up in landfills

Now onto Diaper Rash cream, using Cloth Diapers it is a known fact that Diaper Rash Creams are a NO-NO! A cloth diaper fairy will come to your house and smack you on the head if she catches you! No for real, they just build up on the diapers so that's the reason. And Drew is constantly battling rashes from food allergies (good ole bananas that I keep trying) and teething which is GRAND! Here's the one I found that I am trying! You can find the complete article HERE

And again I found alot of these ingredients at the Specialty food store, the Coconut Oil they had a giant jug of it at Costco so I got that there, the rest of the items I spent $16 on and will have enough Vegetable Glycerin for a lifetime along w/ Cononut Oil and another time of beeswax. (I doubled this recipe)
Now Get your Ingredients!!

Each Batch

• 1/2 C. Shea Butter (stay away from Golden if you can)
• 1/4 C. Coconut Oil
• 1 Tbsp. Beeswax
• 2 Tbsp. Vegetable Glycerin

Melt first 3 ingredients in Saucepan, when incorporated take off heat and add Vegetable Glycerin, then whip it up using a handmixer like forever...it will get creamy I promise! And pour into jars, it will harden a little when it cools and a little goes a long way.

Finished Product:

Bonus****I used babyfood jars for the diaper rash cream and old Wedding Candy Bar jars for the Detergent!

Total Cost-I would say $10 for 16.74oz. Since I have so much of the other stuff leftover. AND it's way better than your baby absorbing Zinc Oxide into it's skin :)

I hope this motivated you to use your brains and what Mother Earth has provided us for alternate solutions to everyday convenient but not always the best products for your family.

Cheers!