Beginning my journey in "homesteading"

About a year ago, after seeing several friends post about making their own laundry detergent, I decided to try it myself. I was running out of my regular Purex I usually bought and I was also intrigued by the idea of ridding our clothes of the fake chemicals and such in store bought detergent.

My first batch turned out pretty good. It was easy enough and it made so much detergent, that I was happy to have saved so much money.

After my small success, I began searching the web for more homemade recipes. I made my own dishwasher detergent (after finally finding citric acid) and saved a ton on that as well. I learned that I could use white vinegar instead of fabric softener. That's a huge money saver and it doesn't leave any vinegar smell on your clothes. I realized that it was also totally natural. No long chemical words I couldn't pronounce, let alone knew what they were or what they might do to our bodies.  I began researching the chemical effects of different items and found lots of information. Many of the chemical and even non-chemical ingredients in detergents and soaps and shampoos and cleaners and things we use everyday have ingredients that have been proven to cause alzheimers, breast cancer, lowered sperm count, and so much more. It turns out that our skin and scalp absorb all these chemicals and if they are not "digested" or filtered out by the liver, which many aren't,  (like sodium laureth sulfate, the ingredient that makes your soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, and lots of other things, suds up or lather) they stay in your system forever, working their magic...

That thought scared me. 

I began thinking about my babies, just starting out in the world being washed with these things in the bath, or eating off of dishes that had been washed in these things. I suddenly had a great burden to rid my home of toxic chemicals. We were also in the process of building vegetable beds out in the backyard and since I was "going green" in the house, I was even more excited to plant organic seeds and "go green" in the backyard too. I want so much for my kids to have the best start in life and its my responsibility to do all these things for them. 

During this time, my husband had been trying to convince me that we shouldn't use body wash on our skin. He was trying to tell me that he thought that was the culprit in my skin breakouts I was still having at 32 years old. I was resistant to his idea for so long because I liked that my body wash left my skin silky smooth. I didn't particularly like the "sticky" feeling bar soap left on my skin. But since I was reading about the chemicals in other cleaners, I began to be convinced about the body wash thing too. I then began to look into the healthy benefits to using goat's milk soap. I found some at Sprouts at a really good price and I brought it home and tried it. It still left my skin a bit sticky in the shower, but then I thought, probably the ingredients in body wash that left me smooth were not all-natural and were probably synthetic. I was glad to be "squeeky clean" and chemical free. Plus, after I was dried off, my skin was actually very moisturized and soft, so it was just in the shower that I had to get used to the stickiness, and it was worth it to me.

My most recent endeavor has been making my own goat's milk soap. I just unmolded and cut it last night. I made Oatmeal and Honey Goat's Milk Soap. I'm actually very excited about it, so much so, that I may have started a new hobby. We'll see :)

Since I'm on this all-natural "kick", I'm extending my passion into my Christmas gifts this year. Watch out, family, all you're getting is handmade stuff! ;) But seriously, I'm really excited to share these things with people. 

I've made many other handmade, homemade, all-natural things in my own kitchen and I plan on sharing them, along with my recipes, on this blog. So stay tuned! Follow me in this new adventure. Maybe you'll catch a little of my passion!