Am I Smelling SOUR MILK?? Not anymore :)

15 smelly hockey jerseys…..ridiculously smelly.  Seemed like a combination of good old hockey sweat and sour milk.  Like, sippy cup accidentally left in a hot car for a week sour milk.

 

So….on a whim, I decided to use my fabric softener dispenser (which never gets used) for a new purpose.  I filled the little dispenser with apple cider vinegar and 8 drops of tea tree oil.

The combination of my homemade laundry soap and the apple cider/tea tree rinse was pretty impressive!

The jerseys came out smelling a lot like tea tree.  Uh oh, some of these hockey players are going to hate me!! 

I hung them to dry overnight.  The next morning, I couldn’t smell overpowering tea tree anymore.  And guess what else?  Not an ounce of “hockey” smell left either!  Now THAT is a “sniff, sniff hooray” moment.  I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t given them a few more sniffs before putting them away!

 

Terrific Table Cleaner!

I wanted to try something different to clean the kitchen table this weekend.  I have changed most of the products I use for cleaning, but store bought spray cleaner for the kitchen table is one that is still kicking around.  

The kids do spill (just occasionally of course - haha) and will then pick the food up off of the table and eat it.  So....does it make sense to be spraying the table with a chemical cleaner when there are other options available?  Probably not!  

Here's what I tried....
-6 cups warm water
-almost a full squirt of Mrs Dunphy's Wash Day Simple Soap (a castille soap product I recently purchased from Rae Dunphy Aromatics in Calgary, AB, and love BTW)
-5 drops lemon essential oil
-4 drops eucalyptus essential oil

**You don't need to use this many drops of EO's if you don't want to, I just prefer a little extra!

**Together, these EO's add antibacterial and antimicrobial properties to your solution!

The result was a clean table with lots of shine!

I then used the same products on my kitchen floor (porcelain tile), which worked nicely as well!

**Be sure to do a test patch when trying new solutions to be sure it is a good match for your finishes!

Happy Cleaning!

Apple Cider Kitchen Sink Scrub

Inspired by a recipe in this awesome book I purchased recently....

I made a little adjustment and created a sweet sink cleaning paste!

1 cup baking soda
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 drops lemon or orange essential oil (I used lemon but would have used orange if I had some)
1 drop clove essential oil 

Place ingredients in an air-tight container and shake until blended.  

Shake into sink and scrub with damp sponge.  

While it was still damp:

The end result:

It worked SO well and the house smells AMAZING!!  Just like I have a pot of apple cider on the stove.  

**You may choose to wear gloves while using this blend, as clove is known as a potential skin irritant**

**The discolouration above the plug area is the result of the finish of my sink being accidentally removed by a product my husband was using a year or so ago.  GRRRRR......**

“Cocoa Vanilla with a Hint of Mint” Lotion Bars and Lip Balm

Hi there!  Long time no blog!  Winter has been busy, but it is time to get back at it!  

I went to start this project today and went, “Wait a minute!!  I need to document this and post it!”  

I have been terrible lately for testing and trying new things…and neglecting to share.  So…here’s what I did today!

I call this “Cocoa Vanilla with a Hint of Mint” Lotion Bars and Lip Balm

Step 1:

Measure out ½ cup beeswax pellets

Step 2:

Add ½ cup cocoa butter

Step 3:

Add ½ cup grapeseed oil

Step 4:

Mix together gently

Step 5:

Melt on low heat, ideally using a double boiler

Step 6:

Remove from heat and add ½ tsp natural vanilla

Step 7:

Add 10 drops spearmint essential oil and 5 drops peppermint essential oil and blend

Step 8:

Pour into deodorant/lotion bar tubes and let cool

This recipe made enough product for 3 lotion bars and 3 lip balms as well.  If you don’t want the lip balms, use one more deodorant tube, knowing that it won’t be quite full.

Ta da!  The finished product!  It smells SO YUMMY!!

Tips:

This product cools and hardens quickly once removed from the heat.  Not to worry though!  If you need to re-liquefy it, simply reheat it!

I topped up all of my filled tubes at the end to use up the last of the liquid.  This resulted in a less than smooth finish on top.  This is no big deal for home use, but if you want to make these for a gift, I would suggest one pour, and no top up to ensure a smooth, even finished product. 

You don’t need a double boiler.  I don’t have one.  I just boiled one larger pot of water and held my small pot over top of the heat. 

Wash your pot, spoons etc. quickly after use.  I find wiping the bulk of the product off with a piece of paper towel before washing works well. 

This recipe does not have to be made with the above oil and butter.  It could be shea butter and olive oil for example, whatever you prefer.  Just equal parts of beeswax, “butter” and oil.

You can use whatever EO you want as well, it doesn't have to be mints!  And the vanilla was just for scent, so can easily be omitted.