REAL Clean Roundup #1 and a Giveaway

Now that we’ve all be thinking about new places we’d like to detox our personal care and housecleaning products it’s time for a roundup to see how we’re all doing. Comment on this post and you’ll be entered to win a bottle of Tropical Traditions Moisturizing Lotion. We’ll choose a winner during next week’s roundup. We have a winner!

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Here at Chiot’s Run we’ve been on the hunt for a non-toxic deodorant. I have to admit it’s a bit of a challenge for Mr Chiots, but he’s been a real trooper willing to try all the kinds I’ve brought home. I’ll be doing a post specifically about deodorant later this month so I won’t talk about it here today.

When we first went non-toxic I had trouble finding a moisturizing lotion that I liked. Eventually I started using extra virgin coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. I works beautifully on my skin and I love the smell. I also like that it doesn’t have all kinds of weirdness in it. I use it as a body lotion and to moisturize my hair. Tropical Traditions was kind enough to send me a bottle of their moisturizing lotion for me to test during our REAL Clean month here at Not Dabbling and I must admit, I like it. If you can’t handle the oiliness of using straight olive oil or coconut oil you’ll love this lotion. It feels like a regular lotion, goes on smoothly and soaks in quickly. Leaves your skin soft and not greasy at all. It has a pleasant scent, not overpowering and very natural. I use it when I’m running out the door and don’t have time to let coconut oil soak in. I also put some on my hands at night before I go to bed. (remember to comment below for your chance to win a bottle of this great lotion)

One of the most frustrating things about detoxing your routine is often spending money on products that you end up not liking. Then you feel wasteful throwing not using them or throwing them out. We had a few such products in our cabinet and this week I finally got rid of them. I passed them along to my sister so she could try them. It can also be hard to get rid of things you already have in order to replace it with a non-toxic product. So I challenge you to go through your cabinets and detox them as well, get rid of those things you’ve purchased and haven’t loved. If you can pass them along to someone else who might like them.

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No more excuses in Chicago (Xan). After all the great comments on my Monday w̶h̶i̶n̶e̶ post, I ordered washing soda and dish rags which came today, although I’m still more focused on packaging than on contents. I confess, I pulled out the Swiffer for a quick rinse of the floor this morning, but once the stock is down that will be it. And over the next two weeks, I’ll be looking to work natural lotions and cleaners into the mix of things-I-make-myself.

I have been using Soap Nuts for my laundry for about a month. Now available from Ten Thousand Villages shops (hey 10k- free plug!), these do a perfectly fine job on day-to-day type laundry, but are less sufficient for really stinky workout and really dirty gardening clothes. I’ll be trying some of the baking soda, borax, soap and salt advice I’ve found elsewhere, but for now I’m, again, using the stock of what I have. One of the challenges is time–how do I make this part of my routine so that, while it becomes a chore, it’s not, if you see what I mean, a chore.

Getting my husband on board is another job. He’s game, but slow to adopt the new (old) ways. I just tell him we’re marching gamely into the 19th century.

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It has been an extremely busy week for me, Jennifer. I’ve been spending every moment of available time catching up on gardening, projects for the birds, and tidying up the yard. I’m officially calling our “garden” a farmette now that we’re growing grains to feed the critters. We also had a hive swarm this week which took up a good portion of the day to collect.

All of this has left me with little time and energy to put into much concocting and researching, however I did play mad scientist just a little bit and I love the results so far. Since it’s rose season here, going on lavender time, I’ve been collecting rose petals to make more rosewater. I’m also daydreaming about collecting magnolia blossoms to preserve their wonderful odor for later in the year. It’s my husband’s favorite scent and what a treat it would be to brew a little eau de magnolia.

My favorite so far? A facial scrub made with 1-2 Tbsp raw milk (store bought would work fine), 1 tsp honey, and 1 Tbsp shredded coconut. If you don’t eat it first, it makes a great gentle exfoliant. The honey helps to heal any acne, the coconut exfoliates and moisturizes and the sugars from the honey and milk help to hydrate, moisturize, and firm the skin. My skin’s clear, soft and I smell fabulous. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month brings!

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Things have been busy at Tanglewood as well (ie my last post!). This time of year is when I find myself running around with so much to do that I’ll get an entire day without coming inside the house even once, often forgetting to even eat. The best thing I’ve learned so far about real cleaning is that there are several all low-impact natural cleaning products available at our local farmer’s market. We have soap, shampoo, hand cream, lip balm, laundry detergent… all from local businesses and all organic and natural.

My favorite find so far has been a simple bar of oatmeal soap that I now use in the shower. The oatmeal is soothing to my garden-weathered skin and I find that I’m considerably less itchy than when I was using another natural bar soap that was more harsh. The oatmeal soap was 100% packaging free, though I admit I took her business card for information.

While I haven’t had any time to try making my own new additions to my real clean household, I have been able to start researching the more commercial natural products that I already use, so that I can stop buying them and start making them. The one I’m most interested in is a rosemary based disinfectant and bathroom cleaner. While I haven’t made this yet, so I can’t vouch for it’s cleaning ability, I look forward to trying it. Making it is as simple as mixing several sprigs of fresh rosemary, along with a half cup of borax into a gallon of very-hot-water. Supposedly this releases the rosemary’s natural oils and they are suspended within the boric acid solution. When I get around to making this, I may actually add some rosemary essential oil if I can find it, just to make sure the cleaning spray is potent. Borax is great as a drying agent, and I’ve used it in my bathtub to help prevent mildew buildup (which in a 100+ year old house is an ongoing battle). I’ve also heard adding a few drops of tea tree oil to your natural cleaner will help as well.

The one DIY thing I have managed to try this week was the use of honey and sugar face scrub. Jennifer’s scrub sounds more appetizing to me, but I have skin that can be very oily at times so I was looking for a more gritty recipe. Basically I’ve been mixing a 2:1 ration of Honey:Sugar, and adding a drop or two of tea tree oil for it’s astringent healing qualities. So far my face has been feeling refreshed and healthier. I do wonder about making a toner for breakouts, but I haven’t had the time yet to research it thoroughly. I used to use Burt’s Bees’ tomato toner and would love to find a similar diy recipe, but I think that’ll have to wait until a time when I’m not spending 90% of my life in the garden.

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Don’t forget to comment below to enter to win Tropical Traditions Moisturizing Lotion!

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