The Story Of Stuff

You must watch this video. Its child friendly and about 21 minutes long. Have the whole family watch it amd maybe discuss how your household can make changes.
http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html I'm sorry for the need to cut and paste but the hyperlink and I just don't seem compatible.

Unstunk

My family room furniture no longer reeks. I did just what I said I would...suds scrub with a vinegar and water sponging rinse on the arms and the cushion covers went into the washer. Then I sprayed the bejesus out of the furniture with the homemade Febreeze. There was a bit of a vinegary scent lingering but that beats the strange gaggy odour that was there. I didn't use as much Essential oil as the recipe called for so that could be part of the problem there. I used Tea Tree and Lavender oils. That vinegary scent has dissipated from the fabrics and the room smells so much better all around. (Also I took the trash out. The microwave popcorn addicts in this house are gonna have to stop bringing the bags down stairs and tossing them in the trash after because those things really stink up the place.)

Makin' a stink...

Actually, its my family room sofa thats smelly. Its seen lots of snacks, smelly socks, pets, etc etc etc and is now sporting a funky aroma that I am getting really grossed out by. I could do the usual, empty a bottle of Febreze onto its surfaces, but Febreze makes me nervous (despite its awesome deodorizing properties) and I don't like the smell. Makes me think of Raid. Blech.

So, I have been trawling the innernets for something low impact that I can make myself to destink the old sofa.

Most of the recipes I found called for the use of liquid fabric softener, but that in itself is loaded with ingredients that are known carcinogens, neurotoxins, and make fabrics more flammable. Plus I don't have any.

I have tried baking soda and water and essential oils but that left a nasty residue on my floors and hard surfaces when it dried.

So, this recipe is the one I am going to try next as well as cleaning the cushiom covers and sponging the surfaces with soap suds to try and lift some grime.

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp glycerine
1/2 tsp essential oil of choice

Apparently the glycerine will work to emulsify the mixture so the oils don't just sit on the water and vinegar, separating after shaking or mixing etc. Wish me luck.

Also, many green recipes call for vegetable glycerine but I haven't been able to find any so far and bought plain old glycerine at the drug store instead. Will I go to hippie hell for using that instead?

I vacuumed today

Hand knit Swiffer cloths from Knittywhipped.

My floor was a nasty mess by the time I vacuumed today. In my defense I will say that my kids have been sick and so I didn't do it sooner. Then again, it needed doin' before the kids took sick. ahem.
I am also a total geek when it comes to household DIY: homemade anything to get the house cleaner etc with less waste and less impact? YEAH! Today on TipNut I found a link to someone's blog...someone who may be geekier'n me. Hard to believe! I know!
She not only knits Swiffer covers for dry dust mopping bare floors BUT she knit two different patterns and compared.
Pattern link for the 'Zoom' dust mop cloth : http://erica.brembos.googlepages.com/KPZoom.pdf
The KnittyWhipped showdown: http://knittywhipped.blogspot.com/2008/03/swiffer-showdown.html

The fiber of choice for dust cloths etc is cotton. I have been thinking though...cotton drags on the floor making the dry mop less slidey and more difficult to use. I saw on another blog that a Swiffer cover maker recommends machine washable wool. its slidey on floors and washable. I think too that the fuzziness would make it catch the dust and hairs better. This is what I am planning to use when I get around to making myself a "Zoom" . Wool producers often have wool "feather" dusters etc for sale. The fiber grips that dusties better in theory so this should work in this instance too, non? Anyone got some dusting science to back me up here?

I loves me some Tip Nut!! I tottally need a dry mop and hand knit cloths for it! Cat hair, BEGONE!

Updates;

2 loads of dishes done and so far the powder is doing well. Its still early days though. I am only uing one spoonful...I may have been using too much before and also I am pretty sure my rinse agent dispenser in the old machine didn't work right. This stuff also makes a great sink scouring powder if you add some tea tree oil to a tblspoonful. Or not. My disgusting sink was shiney and clean after a scrub with it.

I am pretty sure that I can cut the laundry powder back to one Tbsp per load. Another homemade laundry person uses 2 but she has a top loader (lots more water used to dilute the soap)so I am reasonably sure that one will be suffice for my HE. I have a little voice in my head that doesn't agree but that little voice has a very big "More Is Better!" personality. Hence the size of my ass.

Also, the links that were broken in the Links list, have been fixed or removed as warranted.

Gonna try it again

I keep blathering about making my own stuffs. i do it because A) I want to try and save some cash and B) I want a product easier on the environment. I also want th damn thing to work.
I am going to try the home made dishwasher powder thing again. I have a different recipe this time that uses a wee amount of dishwashing liquid and citric acid in the mix. If this causes a reisdue like the last mixes I made then I will officially give up and pay through the nose for the eco-kindnessy brands.
Here's what i am gonna try:
equal parts washing soda and baking soda
1/2 part borax
1/4 part salt
1/16th part citric acid and also dish soap OR liquid castile soap (which I am
making using this recipe: 1 cup grated castile (or marseilles), 4 cups water, 2 Tbsp glycerine)

Example: 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup borax, 1/4 cup salt, 1 Tbspoon each citric acid and liquid soap(dish liquid or liquid castile).

This is just an example. I actually will probably try it with less citric acid because that stuff ain't cheap and the bottle is small.

The math on Laundry Powder

Based on my costs for ingredients and using 2 Tbsp of powder per load, I can make a 25-30 load batch of laundry powder for approxiamately $2.28 plus tax, or .078 cents per load in my front loading washer. Thats pretty good in my books. I decided to start with 2 Tbsp (or 30 grams) per large load and see how the cleaning was, then cut it back until I cannot cut it back anymore and still have clean clothes. The less I use the more value is added to the batch(Can you imagine 60 loads for $2.28???)
Costs: 24 127 gram bars of Ivory Soap (I broke down because of the smell): $10.99
1 3 KG box of Washing Soda: $6.49
1 2 KG box of Borax: $5.49

I grated two bars of soap (254 grams) with the finer blade of my food processor, and then powdered it up with the other ingredients (254 grams of each) until it wasn't going to powder anymore. Because of the soap its a bit of a cakey powder. It reminded me of Ivory Snow that my mom used to buy (smell and texture) I measured everything by weight because its both more accurate and was easier since I have a digital kitchen scale.
My only worry is how it will perform in cold water.