Originally published at Women Not Dabbling by emphelan
I have seen and heard a lot of talk about homemade soaps, body/dish/laundry, but not much on other homemade bathroom supplies. And this stuff is far more simpler to make than the soaps. Let’s go take a peek in my bathroom cabinet, shall we?
Hand care; working outside in all kinds of weather can make your hands rough, dry and the combination of the two can cause your hands to bleed, ok maybe that’s just me. To help with this use Bran water.
Boil 1 cup water and seep 1/2 cup natural bran for 15 minutes. Strain the bran out. Leave some of the water in a bowl next to the sink, and place the remainder in the fridge. Dip your hands in the water after you have washed your hands (like when you do dishes or cleaning all the poop/dirt/oil off of them) Do this at least 3 times a day. It also helps if you use a moisturizer at night. A traditional recipe for this is:
2 oz of honey
4 oz lanolin
2 oz of sweet almond oil
Melt your honey in a double broiler, stir in Lanolin, allow to cool, stir in the almond oil. Apply at night before bed. If you own your own sheep, or have a friend that does, you might think about making your own lanolin. As This is something I have yet to do, I will refer you to an article by Elaine Benfatto; The Scouring Post.
Toothpaste is another simple and necessary item to have in your cabinet. Fresh strawberries are a wonderfully pleasant way to clean your teeth, simply rub the fresh fruit across your teeth. Or you can combine 3 parts bicarbonate of soda with 1 part salt, then add 3 teaspoons of glycerin for every 1/4 cup of soda/salt mix. Add only enough water to make a paste, add a favorite oil to help with taste and smell.
As for breath fresheners, eat more veggies! or make a rose water to gargle with.
Deodorants (not antiperspirants)
few drops of lavender oil
1 teaspoon lavender water
mix and apply to underarms after a warm shower or bath.
You can just add lots of lovage or sage to your bath water or use cider vinegar under your arms. No worries, the vinegar smell dissipates after a bit.
A basic shaving cream:
8 ounces glycostearin (diglycol stearate)
8 ounces heavy mineral oil
40 ounces water
Using double boiler, combine the heavy mineral oil and glycostearin and heat to 150 F. In a separate pot, heat the water to 150 F, and then slowly stir in the glycosterian/mineral oil mixture. Once mixed, remove from heat and allow cool. When the mixture is cool, you can add perfume if desired. Store in tins or canning jars.
There you have it, a quick peek into the homesteaders bathroom cabinet.
Thanks! I was just starting to look at toothpaste alternatives. Beyond the non-consumerist benefits, I have a thyroid problem and fluoride aggravates it. When you say “add a favorite oil” to the toothpaste recipe – which kinds of oil are nontoxic? I was thinking peppermint oil, but what are other good choices?
How do you use and store the homemade paste? Does everyone dip their brush in it? What kind of container do you use?
i just use baking soda for my teeth and patchouli essential oil for deoderant.
as for shaving, i don’t.
i’ll start shaving when my husband shaves! ha
i should try the toothpaste recipe for my kids though. they hate using baking soda. silly kids!
to get the lanolin from your wool, take up spinning and do it ‘in the raw.’ it leaves your hands nice and moisturized!
Peppermint oil is the most popular, but we vary ours with strawberry extract, or banana. Extract are simple to make, seeping your herb or fruit in vodka for a week in a closed container, straining and leaving the lid off the jar for another week. And there you have your homemade extract. Leaving the lid off the jar the second week evaporates the alcohol. As for keeping toot paste, I use a half pint canning jar. We use a small spoon to pull out what is needed, and rinse the spoon off before placing it in the holder. My boys however are still young, and prefer to dip it directly into the jar. Of course some people get upset about hearing that, but as long as no one is ill, and we are oked with a dentist every six months, no biggie. They will learn and or grow out of it.