Frugal Green

I always hear people say it's so expensive to be green. I am so confused by that because we do it because it saves us money!! Then I realized why some think it's so expensive. They haven't discovered the world of DIY.  Have you seen the cost of "green" products! YIKES!! So, I'm starting a Frugal Green section, showing how easy and cheap it is to be GREEN!

Here's a list of home products I make:

Laundry soap
Fabric Softener
Shampoo/Conditioner
Lotion
Deoderant
All Purpose All Purpose Cleaner- including mirrors/windows
Air Freshener
Lip Balm
Hand salve
Body Wash
Bug Spray
Bug Bite cream- that sounds kind of funny, if the bug spray worked then why would I need the bug bite cream, lol!! The bug spray works WHEN WE REMEMBER TO USE IT!!
and soon, toothpaste- just waiting to finish up the commercial toothpaste we have

It seems as though I make more of our stuff, but that's all I can think of for now.

If you would like to start stocking ingredients for upcoming recipes, I HIGHLY recommend these products:

Soap Nuts from Green Virgin Products- great price, great product. Most of my cleaning products have liquid soap nuts as it's base. You don't buy liquid soap nuts, you buy regular soap nuts and then make the liquid. It's easy, I promise. You just have to be able to boil water.

Nixall- anti everything. great disinfectant.

Baking Soda, Vinegar, Liquid Castille Soap, Borax (optional), Various Essential Oils

I use Emulsifying Wax for my lotion. Some people take issue with emulsifying wax. If you're one who does, then you won't like my lotion recipe. If you don't and want to make awesome lotion for literally pennies for commercial lotion, then I recommend buying Emulsifying Wax from Mountain Rose Herbs. You might want to also pick up some beeswax while you're at it.

Containers: I've tried reusing my old spray bottles, but I think there's a conspiracy for the spring in the sprayer. They always seem to break. It's like they know you're not going to buy the commercial stuff anymore and they don't want to participate. I don't even have luck with the spray bottles in the cleaning section, the empty ones that are supposed to be for cleaning and should last. They don't. The best spray bottles I have found are in the laundry section at Wal-Mart, with the irons and ironing boards (I know, Wal-Mart). They are 16 oz. and work for more than just a couple of spritzes. Also, they're a dollar apiece. We use them for all kinds of things- well, water based things that is.