More Natural Stuff

So, I've gone natural with shampoo, conditioner, and face cleanser. I also wanted to try some natural household cleaners, so I started with homemade dish detergent and laundry detergent. I used this recipe for dish detergent and so far, it's working great. One time I noticed some residue left on the dishes after the dishwasher had run, but I can't say for certain if it was a result of the detergent or the person who did the rinsing (hint: it wasn't me). I'm very much a rinse-it-almost-clean kind of girl. I have yet to find the right combination of dishwasher and detergent that will actually clean dirty dishes without having to rinse them first. If someone out there knows this magical combination, please share it with me for the love of all that is dishpan hands!! As a general (and rather concise, wouldn't you say?) review, I rate this recipe as effective as commercial detergent and certainly cheaper, more simple and environmentally friendly to boot.

Equally cheap and green, this site has some great recipes for homemade laundry detergent. I chose the powdered one, mainly because I don't have any two- or five-gallon buckets that I want to leave lying about in my laundry room full of tempting goo for a toddler and preschooler to happen upon. I did sub Ivory soap for the Fels Naptha because I couldn't find the latter. I haven't noticed any problems with it dissolving in the washer, but next time I will use the fine side of my grater to grate the Ivory, just for my peace of mind. It seems to get the clothes just as clean as the liquid All that I was using. I'm still using Shout as a spray pre-treatment, especially on all of C's stains. I'm not sure if it's the Shout or the detergent that gets it all clean. But I know I'm saving a load of dough on laundry detergent!

Cheer it with me....Yyyyyeeaaa, GO NATURAL!