Loving the most out of your clothes*

Good Morning OGIK Readers,
Update:
I wanted to update you all on the homemade deodorant from last week.
I am excited to say that I love love love it! It works great!!!
My armpits are super soft and I have had no odor whatsoever. Also not much sweating. Unless of course its warm outside and im doing my spring planting. (lol) But even then, its not much and like I said NO ODOR!
I encourage you to try this or maybe just go buy a small bottle of Toms of Maine.
http://www.tomsofmaine.com/products/deodorant


Now that we have that out of the way, Today I want to talk to you about Washing and Drying your clothes!

As you all know, I use a DIY (do-it-yourself) Laundry detergent. Im still working out the bugs, but am for the most part satisfied. My detergent is part Dr. Bronners Castile Soap (Shout out to Escondido, CA...), Lavender water, and borax or Baking Soda. It washes the clothes well, Its super inexpensive to make, and a small jar is lasting about 2 dozen good sized loads, And the clothes smell clean, but not as fragrant as I would like.

So while Im still trying to find the perfect ratio of "this and that" to perfect my detergent, Ive decided to take another approach to the fragrance of my linens, and such.

Im having a hard time not running out and getting a huge bottle of Gain, and some Snuggle Softener and some static cling fabric sheets. The thing Ive noticed with Baking Soda in my detergent and in my hair, Is that Im battling a tad bit with the much hated and feared STATIC!!!
It really is a pain in the butt. I have to fight off things like frizz and fly aways out here in the middle of humidity hell, You'd think the Natural/Green/Tree Hugging fairies could cut me a break!!*(lol, ok, so theres no such thing, But it was better than the alternative of cursing my luck on a public site)

So after a little inspiration and a lot of thinking,...I have come up with two great ideas.

DIY Fabric Softener & DIY Dryer Sheets!

I know right, Super great idea. Why I waited so long is beyond me.
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I love the way my clothes smell with that faint scent of Lavender on them. If I could intensify that smell I would. But the only way I could think to do that is add Lavender Essential Oil to the washer. Not only would that be ridiculously costly, but it might damage some of the materials in there. So
ex-nay that idea. Maybe I could just toss the lavender right into the wash, but then I may clog it up and would be pulling lavender petals out of My unmentionables all day.
I read some other blogs and did some research online as to how others are doing it. I seen some great ideas, and took notes. I also seen some that just wouldn't work for me.
I don't want chemicals in the laundry or on my children's skin.
However, It was a great idea for a home-made cheap softener.

You take and mix up a cup of vinegar to a gallon of water and add into it a half bottle of cheap conditioner. They mentioned using Sauve. A fragrance you love.
You put all this into a stockpot and simmer on low heat just enough to break down the binding compounds and incorporate the conditioner so its not a chunky mess floating through out the water,
Then just put in back into the gallon jug and use about a half cup in each load.


That would cost you approximately 3 dollars to make and would last an average of 30+ loads.
A 2 gallon bottle of Snuggle is over 50 dollars.

(I prefer to use a very fragrant organic conditioner, Or Tates Miracle Conditioner because it has no dyes, parabens, and chemicals in it.)(This costs about 2 dollars extra per batch if using an organic conditioner)

Then after using my Natural Homemade Fabric Softener, theres nothing better than hanging the clothes on the line outside. The sun naturally bleaches my whites, Keep my towels and linens fresh, and adds the smell of sunshine, and spring flowers to my clothes.

I understand that there are those of you without a clothesline, or who have too many neighbors and not enough privacy to feel comfortable hanging their skivvys out for the neighbors to see. So for you I have a great idea to reap the same benefits using the dryer.


When the weather was crappy, wet, windy, overcast, stormy, etc.I wanted a way to have soft clothes thats were less static clingy and smelled just as good as blowing in the breeze. I researched several ideas....
I thought about buying dryer balls to throw in, but don't feel comfortable with the idea of hot plastic in the dryer. So I pondered. The concept of something heavy that beats your clothes is do-able. What next...
Smell, Hmmm. Something pleasant and calming. Without the dyes, commercial fragrances, and the cost....(Who doesn't want to smell amazing right :-)But how can I do it without having to prep a new batch every week, .....

And last but not least....Static. I was ready to give up fleece and silk inevitably!!

But then, A miracle,....Here's what I came up with,.........
Its simple and cheap. And you can do it in minutes!!!

You could take old wash cloths, drench them with your home made Softener,(above) wring them out, and throw that in the dryer as a dryer sheet.

~~~~> Or you can take pebbles, stones, or marbles,...

For now, I used Pebbles as I have a garden full of them. The husband is working in Savannah Georgia right now and will be bringing home Beach Rocks for me. (They are wonderful because they are infused naturally with Sea Salt which helps with static and softening.)

Then Take an old sock, or some Cheese Cloth,.....



Unfold it partially, but keep it double layered, Then add the pebbles to it. It shouldn't be super heavy, Just enough to throw its weight around. About as heavy as an apple.

I then added a handful of lavender. You can add whatever you like. Flower petals, potpourri, essential oils,  Orange And Lemon peels works great!!! Fresh or Dried!!! The heat draws out the oranges' natural oils. Or get a little crazy and combine several scents.

Then make a knot in the top of your sock or gather your up your cheesecloth. Make small incisions in your cloth and tie some yarn through it or a zip tie. Something that wont break. I say make the incisions like your sewing the bag closed so that tie wont slip off while its beating around it the dryer. Or you can find Milk Nut bags and Drawstring Cheesecloth bags like this one at your local health food store...

Throw it in every dryer load. It should be good for quite some time. When you want a fresh & strong smelling batch, Take out the pebbles and add them to a new bag with fresh lavender.... The great thing is you can hang the old batch in your closet. It helps ward off moths that may ruin your clothes. So you're reusing/recycling and it smells way better than moth balls.
And thats it, Easy Peesy Lemon Squeezy. :-)

Im so excited for you all to try this and cant wait to hear about what you thought.
Please leave your comments..... Let me know if loved it, hated it, shared it,....etc.

And let me know if theres anything youd like to learn more about.

Sincerely <3 Miranda from OGIK.