Grandpas are Fun

Last week, our boys enjoyed visiting with BOTH sets of grandparents.  Grandpa took them fishing.  2yo caught a fish! (with Grandpa's assistance, I'm sure)  Also, Papa built a birdhouse with them and they got to drcorate it.  They enjoyed ALL of it.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I've always enjoyed the smell of clean laundry.  I try to make wise choices about the chemicals we use in the house.  There are some cheap and easy options to at least reduce them. I had to evaluate our laundry detergent. I made some with Fels Naptha soap. I made some with Dove or something like that. It was cheaper, but the "chemical" aspect was still there. I bought some Charlie's Soap- which is very safe and I liked it just fine, but after buying it a few times, I felt a pain in my wallet. I switched back to Tide somewhere in there to see if it was any better at cleaning the clothes- it wasn't, really. (I only see cleaner clothes when I treat stains, it doesn't seem to matter which detergent.)

So, when I ran out of Charlie's the last time, I remembered I now make my own natural bar soap- so I could use THAT in homemade laundry detergent! Wow, that took me a long time to figure out, since I've been making soap for a long while now. So, here's a quick version of how to make Homemade Laundry Soap (There are a lot of recipes out there):


#1. Grate a bar of soap. You can use any kind you'd like. (Even if it is not natural, your homemade laundry detergent- per load- will save you a LOT of money.)

#2. Melt the grated soap in a pan of water until ALL the soap is melted and you have a pan of slimy water.

#3. Pour the slimy HOT water into a buck- 5 gallon if you have it. Add 1Cup of Borax and 1 Cup of Washing Soda. I did not have any at the moment, so I used baking soda. They say DON'T use baking soda- but I DO...sometimes. Stir. (I recently learned how to make BAKING soda into WASHING soda, thanks to a friend)

#4. Add more hot water to make the bucket full and stir. (I've actually been making a more concentrated laundry soap by using a 2.5 gallon bucket. Then, I just add less laundry soap per load.)

#5. It is supposed to thicken a little if you leave it overnight. Then shake it and pour it into whatever container is convenient to use.

#6. Opinions vary as to how much to use per load- Seems like 1/2 C to 1 C is a good range for the 5 gallon recipe.

It hasn't made the folding and putting away any easier, though.

Update:  I'm soon going to try the dry powder version of homemade laundry soap- to take up less space.

Beeswax

My love of beeswax began with honeycomb left over from a honey extraction my father-in-law let me help with. He gave me plenty of the comb and I studied up on it. There are many healthy qualities to the comb, like these, but I really like to use it in topical recipes. I use it to make lip balms, salves, and lotions.

For some strange reason, I find it rewarding to refine the comb into a beautiful yellow solid mass of pure beeswax. I have no need to refine beeswax, since I have all I need for a while stored up. It is a messy process, a little too messy to do when I don't actually need it, yet.

Here is a run down of how to refine beeswax (without how-to pictures since I'm not planning in doing it at the present.) After I've gotten as much honey out of the comb as I can, I place it in a double broiler of some sort. I use a small pan resting in a larger pan with enough water at the bottom for the small pan to float. FYI- I now cannot use the small pan for anything except honeycomb because it sticks like glue and I can never get it all cleaned out.

Let the honeycomb melt down in the double broiler. There will be pollen, gunk, even bee parts floating around. Now, I make a strainer from one of those cross stitch rings and sheer fabric (like sheer curtains). Holding the strainer over a container that can handle the heat of the melted wax, I carefully pour the wax through it, into the container. I often use old cottage cheese tubs.

I let it cool for a while, usually overnight. It will pop out if you use a flexible plastic container. Be careful, it can get stuck in non-flexible containers. For smaller chunks (which are easier to melt down when I need them), I pour it into styrofoam cups which can be torn off if need be. It is also fun to use those little flexible ice cube tray with shapes, but I line those with shortening first for easier removal. Any small particles and honey sinks, so it can be cut off after it cools.

Seeing this goopy slop turn into a solid chunk of beeswax somehow makes me feel accomplished. Its a calming process in some way. Weird, I know.

Here are a few more cautions when working with beeswax:

It is a great fire starter- so be care not to get it on a burner or flame. I've never had a problem, but maybe that's because I've been cautious. In fact, some people have coated paper towels with it and taken it along for a fire starter on camping trips.

It sticks, VERY stubbornly to many surfaces and dishes. It is like a glue. Don't plan on using most of the same utensils for anything else. Disposable, wooden chopsticks are great for stirring.

A homemade solar wax melter can be made for low cost if you want to keep the mess out of the kitchen. I did not find it as effective, but I don't think I used the best method. Maybe I'll try again one of these days.