Wash wash wash

I am changing the way I do things, and it's working! I started with making my own soap - I am a redhead with 'sensitive' skin, and I wasn't that happy with what I was using anyway. I made a batch which my husband jokingly said would last a year, and I think he may be right. Although I made a few mistakes when making it (you need precision and I'm not a perfectionist), it worked out OK and I'll know how to make it better next time. We're using it now and I LOVE it.

My husband asked me to look up home-made deoderant and the simplest one I found was just bicarb of soda. People use it as a cleaner and odour neutraliser for other things, so it makes sense. He's a PE teacher so he needs a decent deoderant and I have to say he was very skeptical about this but once again, he's been soooo happy with it, every day he comes home and tme how great it is and tells me how good it is and that he can't believe it!

I've made my own cleanser too - the bought ones, even the 'Ph neutral/very gentle/sensitive skin' ones still made my face so dry, I needed 4 applications of moisturiser just to feel normal. My home-made one is just ground oats and natural yoghurt mixed into a paste. I keep it in the fridge and use it each day. It's beautiful and my face feels clean but not dry. I've been using it for 2 weeks and my skin is much better. It's hard to wash off with your hands as it's a bit gluggy, so I.....

knitted my own face-washers! I think the commercial ones are too big, so I knitted my own, just plain stitch with 4 ply cotton, and once again I'm amazed at how good they are. I just made two, and swap them on washing day (ha ha, as if I have one of those!) The face cleansercomes off easily, and the rest of me is exfoliated gently too.

While I was at it, I knitted a dish-cloth too. I made it in 8-ply cotton and it's great too. I only have one, I'm still knitting the other, but the idea is that they're washed in the machine when dirty and re-used. I don't have to buy sponges any more, and they have a bit more texture so they get dirt off better than the sponges I used to use.

I've made my own washing liquid for the washing machine, but I only made it yesterday (after I finally finished the old bought one) so I'll see how it goes. I'm looking for something else to use with washing dishes but I haven't found anything yet.

I've also changed all my bathroom-cleaning products, using things made from borax, vinegar, bicarb, etc. They're going OK so far but I'll need a few more cleans to see if they're working as well as the bought stuff.

I'm happy that my cleaners are more natural (I'm not as scared of my baby getting hold of them, although things like borax are still poisonous) and because I'm making them myself, there's less packaging. It's also a lot cheaper and more fun (if you're like me and get a kick out of doing it yourself).