No 'Poo and deodorant free.

No poo. Wouldn't that be nice? No more poopy diapers.. ahhhh.  A mama can dream. Or stop making babies. But, since the latter isn't likely to happen, dreaming it is.

This post isn't about poop. Or diapers. But about getting rid of shampoo. I had a frugal fit last year and began stocking up when there was a sale. Mostly on personal care items. So I now have a big box of shampoos, body wash, etc. Guess who's developed sensitivities to all of it? I've even tried some hypoallergenic snake oil type products, to no avail. I'll spare you the photos, but I broke out in a an oozing, gross rash from mid arm, down my arm pits, and onto my breasts and belly from a supposed hypoallergenic deodorant.

Lovely.

What fixed it? Coconut oil, a few drops of tea tree oil, and keeping my arms in the air for days. Though that last part is more due to the pain of lowering my arms. So, I stopped wearing deodorant entirely. Mostly of fear of the rash coming back. Since then, I've noticed something weird/good. I don't stink. Well, not right away. As long as I wash out my pits, apply a dab of coconut oil, and remember to do that daily, no smell. Sweat is how the body flushes toxins. So I don't mind a little sweatiness here and there. Coconut oil is anti fungal and anti microbial, among other things. So, no more buying deodorant. My plan for if I know I'll be getting sweaty and gross is to also use some baking soda.

The no 'poo method I'm using a simple. I filled a spare peri-bottle (basically a water bottle with a pop top) with 8oz of warm water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, and shook. It's hanging out in the shower. Every few days, I "shampoo" my hair with that. Followed by a similar dilution of vinegar and water as a rinse. Conditioner is the tiniest amount of coconut oil applied to damp hair. Done and done.

My hair is in the "ewwww greeeeeeeasy" mode currently while it figures out what to do with its own oils. This phase is temporary. and given that my current hair style is 'pin my bangs out of my effin face', not noticeable at all to anyone but me.

So, there you have it. 4 more products gone (deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, leave in treatment), and replaced with things that cost pennies per month.

Green & Frugal Laundry Part 2

I had planned on taking photos of our laundry situation, but the weather is rainy, so I'll just write instead.

The pros and cons of line drying laundry are pretty straight forward. On the pro side, it's free, easy, and your clothes smell like sunshine. On the con side, the weather affects the ability to line dry, people with allergies may be sensitive to clothes dried outside, and the clothes are sometimes stiff. That last one is a big deal for most people. But, alas, I have great news! You can line dry without wearing sandpaper! Here's how:

Option 1- After taking the clothes off the line, throw them in your dryer for about 5 minutes. They'll be soft.
Option 2- Just rustle or scrunch up the clothes a few times until they reach desired softness.
Option 3- Dry them overnight. The darkness and night air lends to a softer end product.
Option 4- Put 1 cup of white vinegar into the rinse cycle.

TIP: Using scratchy line dried towels is GREAT for your skin! It gets your blood pumping, and sloughs off nasty, dead skin cells.

Another issue that worries people is that the sun may fade their clothing. Again, this one is easy. Dry your whites and lights during the day and your darks overnight. "Sunning" is a great way to get stains out of cloth diapers and white/light clothing. To get stains out before the drying portion of your laundry, rub with a paste of baking soda and vinegar. Try to do this as quickly as possible after the stain/spot happens to make sure you get it out.

Tomorrow's post will focus on getting away from nasty chemical detergents.

Line Drying Your Clothes

We own a nice stackable washer/dryer that was a housewarming gift from my parents. During the winter, the electric portion of our utility bill is only about $30-50 per month. The furnace, water heater, and stove are all gas powered, and made up about 75% of our utility bills over the winter. I did use the dryer, vented into the house through a indoor dryer vent to not only help heat the house, but also to add some moisture to the dry air. With summer on its way, we know that our electric bill will increase substantially. With a newborn in the house (and a mama who is VERY grumpy when she's hot) we will be using an air conditioner. We did buy the most energy efficient model available, but I refuse to heat the house with a dryer while cooling it with a/c.

Drying clothes on a line is the most frugal way to get your laundry dry. There are many different ways to do this, and they each depend on your level of laundry, yard space (if any), and willingness to stick with it. Today I'll cover the different options for line drying, and tomorrow I will give tips on how to go about line drying your laundry. You may not realize that different clothes require different methods for line drying, or how great wearing a line dried item of clothing can be.

There are many different options available for the hardware involved in line drying. Here at our house, we have both a drying rack and a pulley line system. Other options include parallel or umbrella dryers, various retractable dryers , or the least expensive option of just hooking a length of clothesline between two points.

If you do not have a yard, or just have a small patio or balcony, the drying racks are likely your best choice. That is my preferred tool for drying cloth diapers and delicates. We have a large yard, so our pulley system spans about 50ft between a post and a tree. The system is simple. There's a pulley on either end, attached to heavy duty steel hooks. The rope is passed through both pulleys and cinched together to form a loop. Then you just pull/push the rope to hang the clothes on. Total, we spent about $20 to put it together, and it's something we'll use for years.

The problem with most of the line based drying methods is the sagging line. Even the heavy duty nylon or wire lines will sag with use. I prefer to stick to the cotton line and just tighten as needed. To do that, you'll need a line tightener, available through this link.

Tomorrow, we'll go into further detail of the pros and cons of these systems, as well as some tips.

NOTE: The highlighted links in this post will take you, via referral, to Amazon.com, where you can purchase these products.