Going No-Poo

For those of you that aren't into make it yourself cleaning and hygiene projects, no-poo doesn't mean that you don't need to go the bathroom, it means going without shampoo. 
     I first considered finding a recipe for making my own shampoo and conditioner, but found that every site or blog I visited brought up no-poo as an alternative. I figured I would try it and I was pleasantly surprised! This is the method I use. I take two small plastic re-purposed margarine tubs into the shower with me (I actually set them on the side of the tub till I'm ready to fill them with water). In one I put two tablespoons of baking soda and in the other I put two tablespoons of vinegar and a drop or two of essential oil (I used rose most of the time). First I fill the baking soda dish with warm water and stir it up with my finger. Then I message it through my hair and rinse it out. Then I do the same with the vinegar mixture. It works really well for me. The vinegar mixture makes it easy to comb out.
My biggest concern was that I have psoriasis and I was worried that the vinegar would trigger a break out, but so far (I've used the method three times now) it hasn't.

My Fave Homemade Fabric Softener recipe

     So, I may not be the best person around to ask for "roughing it" type recipes since I really love to have soft, good smelling clean cloths. I know a lot of folks have forgone with the fabric softener and have found creative ways to lessen the static without them, but I wasn't quite able to conform. I tried using a mixture of half hair conditioner (until I went no-poo and stopped using it) and water in a spray bottle. I would just spritz it on a washcloth and throw it in the dryer. WaLa! a fabric softener sheet without the nasty, clingy sheets all around the laundry area!
     Now I'm using this recipe and using it in the fabric softener dispenser in my washing machine (I'm told it also works well in those little Downy fabric softener balls that you can buy).

6 cups water
1/2 cup baking soda
3 cups white vinegar
essential oil optional to your desired strength.

I mix it all together in a big mixing bowl and then, using a funnel, pour it into a 2 liter re-purposed soda bottle that still has a lid. I like to use rose scented essential oil that I pick up at a local pagan spiritual shop near my home, but you can use any scent that you like.  
I got this recipe from the following blog site where he has some great stuff for us DIY, Prepper, Off the Grid, Nature lovin' folk.
 http://www.myearthgarden.com/2012/03/how-to-make-homemade-fabric-softener/

Homemade Laundry Soap

This is my homemade laundry soap:

1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda (I use Arm & Hammer since its sold at my local grocery store)
1 cup Baking Soda
1 bar of Ivory soap that is grated

I put them all in a large plastic tub and stir it up real good. My scoop is a repurposed lid from spray on cooking oil can (about 1/4 cup). I've been using this recipe for about 2 years and love it. I'm able to get all the ingredients at the local store and it makes as many loads as I used to get out of one of the boxes of commercial soaps. Only a lot cheaper!!

 

Homemade Dish soap!

Here's the dish soap recipe that I have so far:
6 cups water, hot so it will melt the other ingredients
1 bar of ivory that is grated (eventually I plan to learn to make my own castille soap)
2 tbl regular ole vinegar (or lemon if you can't stand vinegar)
1tbl washing soda.

Heat the water to boiling, add the grated soap and other ingredients and whisk with a wire whisk. You should let the dish soap cool some. This recipe will solidify and turn kind of stringy and gooy so it doesn't do well in a bottle with a squirt spout. I just put it in a re-purposed margarine dish and scoop it out when I need it. I also keep a re-purposed jar with holes in the lid next to the sink that I put baking soda in for scouring purposes. This soap will leave a tiny bit of foggyness on the dishes so you'll want to use hot water to rinse and you'll want to dry your dishes right away and not let them sit. I'm not sure how much of the residue is from the dishesoap and how much is due to the hard water that we have at our place. Also keep in mind if you need your soap to be real foamy, this may not be the right recipe for you. I don't especially care as long as my dishes get clean and the grease gets cut.
Ok, so I use this soap, but I'm not as pleased with it as I could be. If anyone knows of a soap that will cut grease, not leave a film, and is homemade (of course), please leave me a comment! I'm still looking for the right one!

Learning Skills

     My daughter and I were going over some of the things we need to do to prepare and I have to say...its hard not to be overwhelmed. I just hope that the rest of the world will hold off on being idiots long enough to allow us time to learn the skills we need before they go and let their greed and consumerism destroy our society. 
     It appears that my role in our community of survivors will be to make sure that people have clothing to wear and that we can keep our living situation clean and healthy. I am doing research and compiling what herbs and home remedies we will need to have around. It seems like a daunting task right now. 
     On the clothing front, I do pretty good with sewing and knitting and we will be able to have most of the clothing items we'll need. My next skill to learn is going to be spinning yarn. Our plan is to attempt to grow enough cotton to make yarn for socks and tops (living in the desert will make coming up with clothing an easier chore). I'm looking at purchasing a spinning wheel that is made from pvc pipe. 

It's light weight and less expensive than most wooden versions that I've seen, and unfortunately, I'm on a tight budget. After that, I hope to learn to re-purpose stuff to make a loom to weave with.  I'm planning on stockpiling fabric as much as I can, however, so that I won't need the loom as soon. I already learned the talent of darning clothing and that will come in handy. 
     Another thing that I need to get started right away is a garden. Living in the desert puts an extra level of challenge in that project. I live in an apartment, but have a dining room that we don't use that I can devote to pots and planters for that purpose. I realize that we might not have space to make a garden large enough to serve all our needs, but it'll help. I'm especially interested in getting herbs for medicinal use going. 
     I feel that even if we don't have a major crises that will happen all at once, we are looking at a slow decline of our society. It never hurts to get more self sustaining and be prepared. I just feel like I'm getting a little old to learn all these new tricks!
     I guess what I just want to say right now is that I'm just an average, middle aged mom that did a little research and "woke up" to what is going on in our society. I always believed that hard work and careful planning would be enough to get the house with the yard and the nice car, but it wasn't enough. Not only that, but I was right there with everyone else, shopping at Walmart and picking up things that I saw on tv and thought I needed in my life. I ate the typical American diet that was high in meat and fat and low on vegetables and I thought that people who claimed that we were going to have a crash of our system were crackpots.  I'm not sure what made me change my mind, but it was a gradual thing. First I decided to change my activity level and then my diet. I started looking into a vegetarian diet and found that I was able to afford it after all. Then I looked at what it would take to become a vegan and realized that it wasn't all that much of a step.  After that I started looking into becoming more "green" and making my own cleaning and laundry supplies. I started finding ways around the house to reduce waste and to be frugal. That meant more cooking and less eating out, making my own cloths and selling my knitting for extra funds. 
     The more I looked for recipes for my cleaning stuff the more I was led to websites that talked about learning not to be a consumer and how to make my own things so that I can be self-sustaining. It wasn't much of a step from that to looking at activism and getting prepared for an emergency. 
     I look back and mentally compare the person I was three years ago and the person I am today and I shake my head in amazement.

Getting Started

     Ok, so I'm really new at all of this. It kind of started with my own little awakening. I was in a dying relationship and was slowly getting sicker and sicker. It was like I was just waiting for it all to end. I was diagnosed with diabetes, fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, arthritis, and psoriasis. I spent my entire day sitting at the computer, vegging out and not caring any more. Except that I must have still had a tiny spark of survival in me after all. 

     That was 3 years ago. I decided in a last ditch effort to pull myself out of my funk to go visit my daughter in Las Vegas. It was going to be a one week trip and then I was going to go back to my squalid little apartment and a life that was going nowhere. I was 51 and I felt and walked like my 80 year old Grandmother. I had deteriated to the point that I was in a wheelchair most of my day and couldn't leave the house without it. Only, I didn't go back. Well, I did go back to gather my belongings, but that was it. I decided it was time to change my life. I woke up.

     The first thing I did was to take small steps and gradually increase my activity. I started cooking and knitting again and started going out with my daughter and visiting friends. Eventually, the two of us got an apartment of our own (we were living with room mates in their house) and I started searching for my life. Our new place had a pool and an exercise room and I started using it regularly. Then, less than a year ago, we decided to switch to vegetarian. 

     I'm not sure exactly when it was, but sometime during that first year we both started searching for our spirituality. We discussed what we really believed and we started becoming more earth aware. We found that we needed the spiritual uplifting to find ourselves and to progress. Whatever we decided we wanted to do in the future needed to be in tune with the earth. We made a vow to start moving away from commercially purchased household items and start working towards self sustainability. Our first attempt at gardening wasn't very successful. The plants just didn't grow past a point and were sickly. We had a bout of pests, tiny white flies that were in everything. We had to grow the plants indoors because the heat outside was too much and the plants wouldn't survive. The only thing that grew enough that I was able to use it was my chives. We knew that we had to keep trying. In order to be truly sustainable, we needed to grow our own food.

       We found ourselves in a couple roommate situations in those last two years. Both couples that came to live with us didn't have the same values as we did. They kind of thought we were wackos for our choices to go vegetarian and to prepare for a crisis. There was even a hint of us being Zombie believers or something from the last couple. We just shrugged our shoulders and kept preparing. Eventually, we came to the realization that we didn't do well with roommates and needed our own space. My son moved in during the last year and settled into our somewhat unconventional household.

      My daughter gave up her car and we started using public transportation and good ole shoe soles and that also helped with my activity level and health. Gradually my blood sugar came down to normal and my blood pressure righted itself. I lost a little weight and, even though it was painful, got myself moving even more. 

     My goals are to get off of blood sugar medication and the cpap machine completely. I want to be in good enough shape that I can start hiking and riding a bike. We have food storage started and I plan to buy a canner and start canning produce that we get from a local market that specializes in organically grown food. I am working towards sustainability in making our own clothing and household cloth items. I knit our own socks and other items and am working on getting a spinning wheel. My hope is that I can grow cotton and produce my own yarn to knit with. I also want to look into getting a loom of some sort to use. I have started doing all my own baking as well.

     Right now, I have working recipes that I use to make my own laundry soap and fabric softener and I make my own shampoo (actually considered as no-poo) and detangler.  I make my own dishsoap, vegetable oil spray, etc. I hope to learn to make my own soap too. 

      I am a huge proponent of re-purposing everything I can find a use for. That especially goes for re-using cloth and yarn. I researched how to unravel, wash, straighten, and re-use yarn. I also pirate tossed out clothing for buttons and zippers and for pieces that are large enough to provide enough fabric for projects. I like to look at yard sales and thrift shops for "treasures". I will make sure to post pictures of things I make here as I blog. I also plan to share recipes for household cleaners, cosmetics, etc. as I find the ones that work for me.

     Life is good and the planet is worth saving a little at a time. Lets all work together to make it happen!

Peg