A whole new world is opening up to me. A world free of chemicals, free of commercialized product use, and better, more frugal cleaning practices. And I am loving it. Well, we haven't gone completely chemical free, but I am getting more educated about it and am slowly moving us closer to that place.
This is a new thing for me, and the people who really know me know that I am not usually into this kind of thing. So the question becomes then, why am I doing this?
FIRST, chemicals are bad, folks. And we ingest them at every corner. They're in our laundry detergent, our household cleaners, our shampoo, face wash, make-up, our hand soap, our deodorant, just about everything. And I really want to keep my family as healthy as possible.
SECOND, I really want to have more wisdom in how we spend our money. If I can make our cleaning products, detergent, face wash, shampoo, etc, with the same products and do it for cheaper than buying all those products separately, then that is a big plus to me! I have to say that I will probably never buy organic things like shampoo or make-up. As much as I would love it, those things just aren't cost effective for our family, and to be honest, I don't wear make-up but twice a week anyway.
THIRD, I am finding that I really love the way the more natural products clean, deodorize, and feel on my face/clothes/etc. The vinegar/baking soda mix cleaned the snot out of my oven the other day (there wasn't actual snot in my oven, that would be gross)... probably moreso than any degreasing oven cleaner would. And you can pretty much use it to clean anything, ANYTHING! (Oh, and its cheap--baking soda is $2something for a big box, the vinegar is $2something for a big bottle. Love!)
FOURTH, its just fun! This journey has been fun, and I have so enjoyed discovering new homey things!
With allllllll that being said, my latest DtD challenge was to use the Castile Soap that my sweet friend let me have this past week. I must report that for the last week, I've been using it to wash my hair...with homemade coconut milk (I will post on how to do that another time). I also do a apple cider vinegar rinse after the shampoo- which sounds weird, I know. I never even knew about Castile Soap before this, so I was pretty pumped to learn about it. It is a little expensive in my opinion, but you can use it for lots of different things, which I love. Multipurpose things/cleaners rock! And I didn't have to buy this small batch to try, so I was even more pumped.
So, this is how I do it. I prepare a single serving batch before my shower, 1 tbsp Castile Soap (I learned that amount was too much, so I started doing 1/2 tbsp), and 1 tsp of homemade coconut milk. I would swish it around, gently, and set that aside. I would then make my ACV conditioner rinse (1 tbsp ACV to 1 cup water), and take that to the shower. I'd lather up with the sorta 'poo (as Crunchy Betty calls it), then rinse out really, really well. Then I'd do my ACV rinse, concentrating on the ends (since ACV is a great detangler) and leave that in while I finished showering, but I would rinse that out before I got out of the shower.
After a week of doing this, I have to report that I don't like the way my hair feels while doing this washing regimen. It feels dingy, not very clean and not soft or shiny or any of the things I read it was supposed to feel like. Yes, I'm disappointed. And now I want to chop all my hair off because I am thinking it will be easier to clean and manage.
HOWEVER, doing this type of hair care regimen is a science, and you have to figure out what works best for your hair. And I think I did a few things wrong. First, I think I wasn't supposed to wash every day. Our hair wasn't meant to be washed every single day. When we use commercial shampoo, our scalp freaks out, since its been stripped of all the oils it needs, and starts overproducing oil like crazy, which is why our hair feels oily 24 hours after washing. I think I might start an every other day wash and see if that helps. Also, Ross told me that it may take awhile for my hair to get used to the new way of washing, which makes sense. So I may give it a little more time before giving up on it altogether. And I am considering doing a baking soda wash for awhile too, if I don't like this.
I'm not sure if this hair thing is truly frugal or not and I really haven't decided yet if this is something I really should care about. Some things are worth caring about, some are not. This seems to be harder instead of easier on me and my family, which isn't good, but if there is a better way to take care of ourselves, I am all for it. I am praying for wisdom and discernment, because I just don't know yet!
Comments? Suggestions?
Up next week: Homemade laundry detergent! Does it work? Is it frugal? Is it easy or hard to make? I'll let you know!