Homemade Products (soaps, cleaners, lotions, etc.)

I recently decided to try out making some homemade products for various reasons...and decided to write a post of the ones that I liked (and also, so that all the recipes for said products would be in one easy-to-locate place). I first made all of these in February of this year...so I've been using them all for quite a while now. I'll say what I liked/didn't like about each as posted...and these are in no particular order...

Also...
NOTE: When you make your own soaps, you are NOT supposed to add vinegar (think of a baking soda/vinegar reaction). I always clean with my soap and, if needed, spray the item with my vinegar all purpose spray after...or mix the two AS NEEDED (instead of making the soap with both...which is what a lot of the recipes I found did...which then makes the mixture unstable). Anyway, to the recipes...

Kitchen Stuffs

Dishwashing Detergent
Adapted from: http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-soap/

Ingredients:

• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/4 cup citric acid
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• white vinegar

Directions:

1. Mix the borax, washing soda, citric acid, and kosher salt in a container. Shake until mixed. Also, shake every day for the first week or so to prevent clumping. 
2. Use 1 tbsp. of detergent per load. 
3. Put white vinegar in the rinse dispenser of your dishwasher, otherwise your plates/glasses will have a dingy film on them. 

NOTES: This works fairly well...though I have forgotten the vinegar before and had dingy looking/feeling plates. Also, not the best at removing food scraps...though our dishwasher has always sucked at that (we basically have to clean them before we clean them)...so our problem is the dishwasher itself...not the cleaner. The regular store-bought cleaners never fully removed things sometimes either...and the instances where I had leftover stuffs on the dishes after using this, I ran another cycle with my regular store-bought detergent and the items weren't removed then either, so I ended up having to just hand wash those items.

All Purpose Cleaner
Adapted from the following:
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/make-your-own-citrus-enzyme-cleaner.html
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadehouseholdcleaners.htm

Ingredients:

• orange skins
• white vinegar
• water

Directions:

1. Fill a container (about 2 cup sized; I use an old glass ghee container) with orange skins, cover them with vinegar, and let pickle in the fridge for 6-8 weeks, shaking the container to mix at least once/week. 
2. Once your skins have thoroughly pickled, strain the orange/vinegar mixture into a spray bottle (should be about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle). Fill the rest of the bottle with water. Shake to blend. 
3. When you empty one out to refill your spray bottle, it's a good idea to make another jar to pickle at the same time. By the time you run out of cleaner the next time, your newly pickled jar will have been pickling for long enough hopefully. 

I like the smell of this mixture better, but IF you're in a crunch and don't want to wait for the orange skins to pickle, just do a plain water/vinegar mixture. You'll want to do 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar.

NOTES: Works well with general kitchen counter cleaning (cutting through grease, spills of eggs, etc.)...as well as cleaning glass. 

Dish Soap (for handwashing dishes/pots/pans)
Adapted from: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/09/how-to-make-your-own-dish-soap.html

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. (1/4 cup) of castile soap (I like Kirk's brand), grated
• 1 tbsp. liquid castile soap (I usually get Dr. Bronner's almond)
• 2 cups distilled water
• 1 tbsp. vegetable glycerin (optional)
• 1 tbsp. honey (optional, this is for added antibacterial/antifungal properties...but isn't really needed)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a double boiler and allowed to melt/integrate.
2. Place in a bottle (I usually just re-use my old plastic dish soap bottle). Allow to cool, shaking every 30 minutes or so until cooled (it will turn white when cooled). 

NOTES: Sometimes this mixture gels up too much. When this happens, I add more water (there's always been about 1/4 cups worth of space in the bottle before the top) and shake to combine. I continue doing this until I reach the end of the bottle (basically just diluting the mixture...I haven't had any problems with it not working as effectively doing this). I really like the way this mixture works. There have been several times where I have a peanut butter jar or something similar that I just add some of this and water to, close it, shake it for a bit, and all the extra little "bits" are gone without having to really get in there and scrub or worry about my dishwasher (which I've already said sucks. lol) not getting all the little extra bits out.  Seems to also not have issues with getting off caked on items. Just let them soak for a bit in a soap/water bath and they seem to come right off. I've sometimes needed to do multiple washings when dealing with extra greasy things (like the lotion recipe you'll find below)...but with general day-to-day washing/cleaning up, I haven't had any problems.

Hand Soap
Adapted from: http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/10/homemade-antibacterial-foaming-hand-soap.html

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup distilled water
• 1/4 cup liquid castile soap (again, I like Dr. Bronner's almond scent)

 Directions: 

1. Combine ingredients in a small re-used hand pump soap bottle. Shake to blend.   

NOTES: This won't lather up as much as a regular hand soap...but that's fine by me. Add some tea tree oil, lavender oil, etc. if you want to make your hand soap antibacterial. Will supposedly foam if you put it in a foaming hand soap bottle...but I haven't personally tried that and don't mind the liquid soap.


Bathroom Stuffs

Bodywash
Adapted from: http://proverbs2six.blogspot.com/2010/01/homemade-bodywash.html and http://www.ehow.com/way_5507474_natural-homemade-bodywash.html

Ingredients:

• 2 cups distilled water
• 1/2 cup grated castile soap 
• 1/4 cup liquid castile soap 
• 1/2 tbsp. vegetable glycerin
• 1 1/2 tbsp. coconut oil

Directions:

1. Melt all ingredients in a double boiler, stirring occasionally. 
2. Pour into jars and let cool. Shake/stir until reach the desired consistency. 

NOTES: I really like this homemade bodywash as I feel it doesn't dry out my skin as much as my old store-bought bodywash did. Like the hand soap, it also won't lather quite as much as the store bought stuff...and like the dish soap, this recipe may get too congealed for you and you may need to dilute it with water and shake until it reaches the desired consistency.  Even with its problems, I still like it.

Lotion
Adapted from: http://www.motherearthliving.com/beauty-products/how-to-make-your-own-lotion-lip-balm-and-salve.aspx

Ingredients:

• 1.7 oz. coconut oil 
• 1.3 oz. cocoa butter
• 6 oz. olive oil 
• 1.5 oz. beeswax, grated
• 8 oz. distilled water

Directions: 

1. Combine everything except the distilled water in the top of a double boiler. Stir until melted. 
2. Let cool to body temperature, stirring occasionally. Slowly pour the water into the mixture and stir/blend until combined.     

NOTES: This is a fairly greasy lotion (though it does an AWESOME job at locking in moisture as well) and is an absolute PAIN to clean up after making...but, overall, I liked it (and I usually hate greasy lotions...so that in and of itself says something for it) and really like the way it smells. Just keep in mind that a little bit goes a LONG way and the greasiness of it shouldn't bother you as much. 

Lip Balm
Adapted from: http://www.motherearthliving.com/beauty-products/how-to-make-your-own-lotion-lip-balm-and-salve.aspx

Ingredients: 

• 1 oz. olive oil 
• 1/4 oz. coconut oil
• 1/4 oz. cocoa butter
• 1/4 oz. beeswax, grated

Directions: 

1. Melt ingredients in the top of a double boiler. 
2. Place in a lip balm container (or use an old Altoids tin container like I did) and allow to cool. 

NOTES: The lip balm melts under the heat of your finger when you're ready to apply it. I really have liked this recipe...though I know there are some people allergic to beeswax who could potentially have reactions to it. I'm sure you could probably replace the beeswax with some other solid oil (more of the cocoa butter comes to mind) if needed. 

Facial Cleanser
From: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/11/make-your-own-homemade-facial-cleansers-4-all-natural-recipes.html

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable glycerin
• 2 tbsp. liquid castile soap

Directions: 

1. Place ingredients in a clean glass jar with a lid. Shake/mix together and use as you would regular facewash in the morning and before bed.

NOTES: I have really, really liked this recipe for a facial cleanser. The honey smells awesome and it's super easy to make. 

Shampoo and Conditioner
From: http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/01/10/how-to-make-your-own-shampoo/ and http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-conditioner/

I'm not going to list the recipes for these because I just can't recommend them myself....but I thought I'd provide the links anyway in case you wanted to try them out (they might work for you, they just didn't for me). Almost all the recipes I've found on the internet for homemade shampoo/conditioner mirror the ones found in the links above. I tried all of them out...and while the baking soda/water shampoo and cider vinegar/water conditioner were alright cleanliness-wise, my curly hair just didn't seem to like them. I was having super crazy frizzy hair using them AND some not-so-pleasant tangles (especially if it was a windy day out)...so...I just didn't like them (and yes, I tried them for several weeks...so I did give them a sporting chance)...but you're welcome to try them out if you wish.

I even tried using coconut oil and other things (1/4 tsp. vegetable gelatin mixed with 1/2 cup hot distilled water) to minimize the frizz and help protect the curls...but they just weren't good enough to pass my high standards.

Deodorant
Plain and simple, I just take some unrefined coconut oil and spread it on my underarms. Some days I need to wash and reapply...but usually I don't have any problems with it. I've also heard of this recipe (using Everclear)...but haven't tried it out: http://www.diynatural.com/natural-homemade-deodorant/

Facial Cream/Moisturizer
I had actually done this recipe for facial cream...http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/2011/11/homemade-all-natural-face-cream/...but then ended up not really liking it (for one thing, it was too solid and didn't melt easily with my body temperature alone)...so I ended up just using unrefined coconut oil instead and have liked that.

Tub/Tile/Bathroom Cleaner
I usually just make a slurry/paste of baking soda and water and scrub that all over the areas that need cleaning (scrubbing rather harshly if needed). Then I spray the whole area with white vinegar and, if necessary, scrub some more before washing the whole area clean with water. 
It is rather labor intensive...but it works and I don't mind the work. Here are some recipes you can try out if you don't want to scrub as much (they might work better even, though I haven't tried them out): 
http://www.crunchybetty.com/the-best-homemade-bathroom-cleaner-ever
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2012/07/homemade-bathroom-cleaners/ 
 

Other Household Products

Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener
From: http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-soap/

Ingredients: 

• 2 bars of castile soap, grated (4 oz. bars, so 8 oz. total)
• 2 cups borax
• 2 cups washing soda
• 1/2 cup white vinegar

Directions: 

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl until the soap flakes have fully integrated into the mixture (it should look like the powdered laundry detergent you can buy instead of separate pieces). 
2. Use 1 tbsp. per load for normal loads, 2 tbsp. for heavily-soiled loads. 
3. During the rinse cycle of your machine, add in the 1/2 cup of white vinegar as a fabric softener.

NOTES: I haven't had any issues with this mixture not removing stains (or at least not doing as well as the store-bought stuff would've done). To lessen the amount of time my laundry spends in the dryer, I also use some wool dryer balls that I made (see http://www.diynatural.com/how-to-make-wool-dryer-balls/  for directions)...and I also sometimes put in a couple of rolled up balls of aluminum foil to help reduce static cling. One of these days, I'm going to get that clothesline I've been wanting so I can dry my clothes outdoors...but it just hasn't happened yet. 


I have several other recipes for things (toothpaste, mouthwash, car windshield wiper fluid, etc.)...but I haven't had a chance to try them out yet...so I can't say if they work or not. Here are some of the links to them anyway in case you want to try them out for yourself.
http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-toothpaste-recipe-easy-and-frugal/
http://www.nichetopics.info/homemade-kids-toothpaste-recipes.html
http://frugallysustainable.com/2012/02/antiseptic-homemade-mouthwash-recipe/
http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-windshield-washer-fluid/
http://www.remodelaholic.com/2012/05/homemade-natural-bug-spray/
http://tipnut.com/wood-floors/
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03aug04b.cfm#.UWMfmldPE9F
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/easy-homemade-oven-cleaner.html