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Home made cleaners:
Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
� cup washing soda
� cup borax powder
~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use � cup per load.
Home cleaner Spray:
Mix in a sprayer bottle:
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
In the kitchen, use vinegar-and-water spray to clean countertops, lightly soiled range surfaces and backsplash areas.
In the bathroom, use vinegar spray cleaner to clean countertops, floors, and exterior surfaces of the toilet.
For really tough bathroom surfaces such as shower walls, pump up the cleaning power by removing the sprayer element and heating the solution in the microwave until barely hot. Spray shower walls with the warmed generously, allow to stand for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrub and rinse. The heat helps soften stubborn soap scum and loosens hard water deposits.
Undiluted white vinegar:
Undiluted white vinegar straight from the jug makes quick work of tougher cleaning problems involving hard water deposits or soap scum.
Use undiluted white vinegar to scrub the inside of the toilet bowl. Before you begin, dump a bucket of water into the toilet to force water out of the bowl and allow access to the sides. Pour undiluted white vinegar around the bowl and scrub with a toilet brush to remove stains and odor. Use a pumice stone to remove any remaining hard water rings.
Clean shower heads that have been clogged with mineral deposits with undiluted white vinegar. Place 1/4 to 1/2 cup vinegar in a plastic food storage bag, and secure the bag to the shower head with a rubber band. Let stand for 2 hours to overnight, then rinse and buff the fixture to a shiny finish.
Add one cup of undiluted white vinegar to the laundry rinse cycle instead of commercial fabric softener. White vinegar softens clothes and cuts detergent residue--a plus for family members with sensitive skin.
Baking soda:
Baking soda's mild abrasive action and natural deodorizing properties make it a powerful replacement for harsh commercial scouring powders. Put baking soda to work in your organized home:
Sprinkle baking soda onto a damp sponge to tackle grimy bathtub rings, scour vanities, or remove food deposits from the kitchen sink. For tougher grime, make a paste of baking soda and water, apply to the tub or sink, and allow to stand for 10 to 20 minutes. Dirt, soap scum and deposits soften and are easier to remove.
Slow-running drains? Keep bathroom drains running freely by pouring 1/2 to 3/4 cup baking soda into the drain, and dribbling just enough hot water to wash the solution down. Let stand for 2 hours to overnight, then flush thoroughly with hot water. The deodorizing effect is an added bonus! [Do not use this method on blocked drains.]
Making Soap:
Scale
Stainless Steel Pan
Wooden and SS Spoons
Glass bowls and measuring cups
Thermometer
Goggles
Stick Blender
Soap Molds
Gloves
White Vinegar
Scale: must be able to weigh in ounces to the 10th of an ounce. Postal scales work well for this if you are not making a huge amount of soap
Stainless Steel Pan: Revere Ware and similar pans work well. I found mine at thrift stores. It is good to have separate soap making pans
Spoons: You will need wooden spoons and SS spoons for stirring lye and oils
Bowls and measuring cups: These are needed to measure out the oils, liquids and lye.
Thermometers: You will need 2 of them; one for measuring your lye/liquid and one for the oils. You don�t want to share the same one. An inexpensive dial thermometer works just fine. They can be found at the grocery store.
Goggles: Look for them in hardware stores
Stick Blender: This is not a �must have� .. at least technically, I personally would not make soap without it. I have hand mixed soap for 2 hours before. With a hand mixer I have never mixed more than 10 minutes. This saves a lot of time and energy! It is worth the $20 investment if you plan on making soap regularly.
Soap Molds: Almost anything can be used as a soap mold. Cardboard boxes lined with plastic wrap or a bag, Pringle potato chip cans, juice cans, milk cartons, silverware drawer dividers, wooden molds, plastic molds. Once you start making soap your eyes will see every container around as a potential soap mold!
Gloves: Rubber type gloves to protect your hands from the lye while making soap.
Extras: long sleeve shirt to protect your arms, white vinegar in case you do get a little lye on your skin.
White Vinegar: If for some reason at any point of the soap making process you get lye on your skin rub some white vinegar on it to stop the burning.
The Process
You need to get out all your ingredients, set your equipment out, measure all your ingredients and put them in bowls, etc. You do all the prep work ahead of time. The easy part is simply making the soap!
To begin with I prepare my soap molds. I line the molds or do any type of preparations that are needed. Then I gather together all the oils, scent oils, lye and liquid. I also gather together all my equipment; my scales, spoons, pans, measuring cups, etc.
If I am making a batch of soap with water as my liquid I start by measuring my water and my lye. I mix this together and let it begin to cool down. All the necessary safety precautions should be taken. Lye is dangerous and can burn. Put your gloves and goggles on, wear long sleeves, and carefully pour your lye into your water. Never ever do it the other way around and pour your water into your lye. You could end up with a rupturing volcano! So pour your lye into your water, have windows open and/or a fan going. The fumes from this are smelly and not good to directly breathe. As you add the lye to the water stir, stir and stir. The mixture will be cloudy. Continue to stir until the water clears. You can take the temperature of you lye mixture now. It will be very hot.
Next I measure all my oils into my pot and set this on the stove to melt on low. I then measure out my scent oils and if I am adding any other ingredients to the soap (ground up oats, flower buds or petals, etc.) I prepare those and set them aside. If you are adding any coloring to your soap you would get that ready now as well.
While the lye is cooling and the oils are melting I set up my work space. I lay newspaper on my counter, get out my stick blender, set all my pre-measured additions to my soap near by.
Now check the temps of your lye/liquid and of your oils. Sometimes I need to cool one or both down. If I am impatient I will do this in a sink full of cold water.
The proper temps for your soap are usually indicated on your recipe. Typically for basic water type soap I aim for between 100 and 110 degrees for both.
When the lye solution and the oils are at the correct temperature it is time to start the fun!
Put your gloves and goggles on again and slowly pour the lye/liquid into the oil while you stir with a spoon. As soon as all your lye has been completely added to the oil you can begin using your stick blender to stir.
Now you will stir your soap until your soap �traces�. At first your soap will remind of you thin vanilla pudding. As you continue to stir your soap will start to thicken up and you will notice that the blender leaves a little trail as you are stirring it around. The mix begins to look like thicker pudding.
When it looks creamy and mixed together, this is called a light trace. At this point I add my scent oil and any other additives. I don�t add coloring to my soap, but if I did this would be the time to add it.
Now you will continue to mix the additions in well and check to see if the soap has traced yet. Your mixture will look begin to look like thick pudding. To check for trace stop the blender, lift it out of the pot and drizzle the soap that is dripping back into the pan back and forth. When you can see some of the drizzled soap stay on top of the mixture for a few seconds before falling into the rest of the mix this is called tracing and it is time to pour your soap into the mold.
Take your pot over to your mold and pour it in. Put this soap in a place that it will not be disturbed for 24 hours. Cover and insulate your soap mold with a thick blanket or towels. This is necessary for your soap to continue the soap making process. Your mold will get very hot due to the chemical reaction that is taking place. This reaction is called �saponification� and this is what�s turning the lye, liquid and oils into soap.
After 24 hours you can remove the blanket. Sometimes I let the soap set another 24 hours in the mold. I do this especially if the soap still seems soft. After that I remove it from the mold. I may let it sit another day or so to harden up a little more and then I cut my bars.
Now put the cut bars of soap on a shelf that has been lined with a brown paper, a paper sack or cardboard. The soap will need to cure. More than 90% of the lye is gone, but it will now take about 3 to 4 weeks for the last 10% or less of the lye to evaporate.
At the end of your cure time your bars of soap are ready to use!
Safety Note: If for some reason at any point of the soap making process you get lye on your skin rub some white vinegar on it to stop the burning .
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Baking soda is absolutely the miracle cleaner. I have never found a stain on a counter top that it won't remove. Just sprinkle a small amount on the stain and use a damp cloth over your index finger and polish in a circular motion. The stain will lift like magic.
If you own a pet, you know your carpets can start to smell like bowser. Just sprinkle baking soda on your carpets, let it set for few minutes and vacuum.
Bragg - I can see it now.
RCMP - "What is this scale for?"
Bragg - "Making soap"
All RCMP laughing at once
RCMP - "And what are these spoons for"
Bragg - "Making soap"
All RCMP laughing at once
RCMP - "And the thermometer and goggles"
Bragg shaking his head - "Never mind"
RCMP - "Turn around, sir, and place your hands behind your back."
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This is informative for home cleaners.
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