Make Natural Lip Balm                  Supernatural Cleaning Recipes & Formulas

by Deborah Dolen bestselling DIY author   

                           automatic dishwasher formula *  castile as a laundry soap *  dry laundry booster  essential oils in mop water                         

Cleaning with natural liquid castile soap & essential oils or any natural liquid soap

You can use any natural liquid soap for recipes in this article.  We do love our Liquid Castile Soap so much we keep a 1/2 gallon by the kitchen sink, in the laundry room and in the bathroom to use as a body wash.    Our cool looking crane pumps measure one perfect ounce every time! Old fashioned goodness complimented by modern technology.  Beyond great function our method of dispensing liquid soap is definitely a conversation piece.  Everyone wants to know what they are for and what it does!  Our Liquid Castile Soap is now available in Pearly Peppermint and Myers Lemon as well.  The new lemon has  a  natural yellow color from lemon essential oil.  We find the Peppermint great for bath and body.  The Lemon is  more for kitchen/laundry use.  click here to buy natural liquid soap

This article will provide you with easy and uplifting cleaning methods, recipes with liquid castile soap and formulas to lift your spirits while you really go green at home base.   *You can use any natural liquid soap you can find. click here to buy natural liquid soap articles by Deborah Dolen bestselling author of Aromatherapy Basics on Nook and Amazon Kindle.

garden soap  * castile & pets   mold spray    * natural liquid soap                                                                          

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Cleaning with essential oils by Deborah Dolen is a non-toxic way to clean the home while lifting your spirits at the same time!  As shown below, the power and energy of an essential oil can be delivered through a variety of systems, alcohol (for disinfecting) and the most common cleaning medium-good old soap and water.   As you may all be aware, we use our own liquid castile soap to clean almost everything. 

Sold on our site or under the brand "Mabel's Miracle" is a natural liquid castile soap which is a vegetable based soap made with 100%  olive oil for its gentle nature and a little coconut for its lather. It's multipurpose and can be used as a gentle yet effective, fruit and vegetable wash, floor & counter cleaner, laundry soap, window wash, pet shampoo and even straight on the body as the worlds most gentle cleaner. Made in America, it's petrol-free, detergent-free, completely biodegradable with literally hundreds of uses. *Our products are never tested on animals, only on husbands.

Incidentally, bubbles do matter and castile generates beautiful natural soap bubbles.  They are not dramatic, fake and uniform as with the chemical laden SLS surfacants.  We know 60% of what goes on your skin gets in the blood stream.  So go Castile!  (Photo: Castile Bubbles.) 

 

Cleaning Recipes & Formulas  (excerpts from Maid Holistic by Deborah Dolen)

Every formula has a "base".  In this case we are using soapy water made with a natural liquid soap as our base for most cleaning, alcohol 90% or higher as our disinfectant base, bases such as Borax (the Mule Team salts), and/or simple items like baking soda and vinegar.  This also saves substantial money by not having to buy several pricey commercial products to do the time thing. Some of the commercial products we buy we do not even use often-so the overall price is high to you as well as the environment.   click here to buy natural liquid soap

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Automatic Dishwasher Formula

1/4 Teaspoon of Lemon Liquid Natural Castile Soap [Any natural liquid soap will do]

2 heaping tablespoons of citric acid [You can now get Citric in the preservation section of and store that carries canning supplies.  Usually in the seasonal section, Wal-M does seem to carry the new "Ball" brand of citric acid year round.]

Put the 1 Teaspoon of Lemon or unscented Liquid Castile Soap in the soap compartment, and 1 heaping tablespoon of citric shine (citric acid) tossed in the bottom of the unit. It does not matter where. The citric shines everything beyond taking care of the alkaline look when using natural soaps.   Do not use more than 1/4 teaspoon of Castile Liquid Soap or you will have a kitchen full of suds.  This is not going to work without the citric so don't even try it.  To clean residue out of a dishwasher-(we recommend once a year) run 1/2 cup of citric acid through a whole cycle with a 1/4 teaspoon of castile and no dishes in it. This usually will shine your unit and remove any soap build up.  The same principle works anywhere there is a soap build up, such as bath tubs.  * For wine glasses-just pump a little into each dirty glass and let sit over night.  I LOVE the crane neck pump because it saves reaching for a heavy jug when I am already exhausted. Tags: Natural Liquid Soap Uses, Castile Automatic Dishwasher Recipe. DIY Dishwasher Soap.

Laundry – Making Your Own Laundry Soap

You can use Mabel's Liquid Castile Soap or any natural liquid soap as laundry soap in your 'green routine'. To clean laundry naturally use ¼ cup of liquid castile soap in the wash.  You can add scent by adding it to the soap you are about to use.  This disperses the scent into the soap first and not directly onto clothes.  The lemon scent will not over ride your choice of scent.  Although uplifting and clean, Lemon is a more "fleeting" scent is one reason why.

1/4 Cup (2 Ounces) of  Mabel's Liquid Castile Soap

1 Cup of dry Green Laundry Booster (Baking Soda, Borax, Citric Mix)

For serious cleaning power add one cup of a dry booster (baking soda, borax, and citric mix described below). You can add essential oils to the soap about to be used into the soap you poured to wash too! Lavender is a nice choice, Lemon a clean scent, or my favorite, 'Fresh Cut Grass', not an essential oil, per se--but an effective aromatherapy grounding scent. For adding scent we use one pipette full, (1/10 of a ounce) although prudent people suggest only a few drops of essential oil. Either way is fine if it is mixed in the soap first, since the oil disperses into the soap first and not your clothes.  Tags: Castile Do It Yourself Laundry Recipe. Make your own laundry soap. DIY Laundry Soap, natural liquid soap uses.

Dry Green Laundry Booster  

2 parts mule team borax

1 part baking soda

1 part citric (Optional)

Borax is a natural salt and helps the soap clean more effectively.  Citric Acid is a great fabric softener. People who try to use vinegar but complain of smell, should use citric acid.  We mix ours and keep it in a reusable one gallon white pail. Many people have tried this entire system and say it cleans just as well as the commercial brands. We agree. They also swear using the soap directly on a stain as a stain remover is as good as the commercial brands. Again, we agree.  Blood, however comes out better with hydrogen peroxide and ink comes out better with hair spray. Something in hair spray lifts ink out really well. Gummy items come off real well with real orange essential oil.  It acts as a solvent.  click here to buy natural liquid soap

Keep hydrogen peroxide in your natural laundry bag of tricks.

Making White's More "White" by Deborah Dolen

The darkness of a closet is enough to yellow your clothes over a period of years.  When I learned the sun is the most powerful whitener I tested it by taking shirts I loved and was about to toss - washing them in borax and drying them in the sun.  It saved them all and made them white again.

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Disinfecting

Colds and Flu viruses were reduced 100% in our lab area since we started wiping down after everyone with 90% or higher alcohol over two years ago.  We actually keep it in marked-but pretty hand painted vinegar bottles that have that easy pour spout. 

We use the alcohol to disinfect communicable areas, but not until it is cleaned with soapy Castile water. Exceptions to soapy water would be like key boards, but we sure do wipe them down with the alcohal that is ethanol grade.  Alcohol may disinfect (by making germs evaporate with it--sucking the life out of them), but it does not 'clean' an area. Alcohol is not really effective until it's all evaporated, so you need to wait a good five minutes to use an area after wiping it down with alcohol.  Any kind of 90 proof or higher of alcohol is okay; we use Everclear for the liquor store or the highest proof grain alcohal we can get - which is 150 proof in FL.  You can still use the stuff  from the pharmacy, just regular rubbing alcohol, but make sure it is the highest grade you can get there.  (Photo name: Stickem Up)

You can add essential oils to alcohol giving it a great scent. Just add a couple of drops of Lavender, Tea Tree (which is a germ busting powerhouse in its own right) per 8 ounces of alcohol. You can even add Ylang Ylang, from the floral family; Lemon, Lime or Siberian Fir Needle essential oils may also be appealing candidates to scent your alcohol. In the autumn you could add a touch of orange and clove essential oils.  The catalytic lamps? This is ALL the base is for fuel.  Alcohol 90% or higher and a few pipettes of scent per 16 ounces of "base." Base meaning alcohol.  by Deborah Dolen

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Adding Liquid Castile and Essential Oils to Mop Water

Mop water has never been more interesting!  We use one ounce of Liquid Castile per gallon of mop water, dropping essential oils into our mop water to give it a refreshing, natural and clean scent. Our favorites? Lemon for kitchen and dining areas, Lavender for bedroom areas, and Peppermint essential oils for the bathrooms.  Siberian Fir Needle is quite pretty and smells like a high class pine. One Mabel Rep told me she loves Spearmint. I tried it and it was seductive.  I know, spearmint seductive?

Add up to an ounce of Tea Tree Essential oil to soapy castile water if you need serious germ busting effects-such as areas that are conducive to mold such as showers and toilets.  A few drops of lemon oil can replicate what you may be using to smelling as "clean and fresh."  click here to buy natural liquid soap

 

Mold Spray

You can also make a spray in a spray bottle to specifically target mold instead of using chlorine products. To have that fresh and clean commercial scent, use Lemon essential oil and Tea Tree essential oil for its mold busting powers--shaken with water in a sprayer. Spray all potential mold areas until mixture is gone. This is because certain essential oils do not store well and may melt the plastic pump parts. You may want to "flush out" your pump when done with soapy water made from liquid castile soap.   click here to buy natural liquid soap

What is the Best Mop?

Well sit down next to me and I will tell you!  I have changed mop loyalties.  The Clorox Mop was "OK" even when I made my own essential oil solution to go in their pads. I cannot say it really cleaned much and just became convoluted and expensive over time.  I found a really chic mop that helps me look forward to "mopping" and works!  Under $10 I like the Libman mop.  It does not tend to "hold" micro-organisms in like the cotton mops can-so we need not use Clorox as we would have to really clean the mop.  And with this I am able to drop essential oils into the mop water, switching pretty easily as I change rooms. With essential oils, my time is almost as fun as bath time! Click the photo of the mop to find out where to buy it.  click here to buy natural liquid soap

 

 

WMD Garden Soap: Spiders and Bug Spray

To make your own natural garden bug controller, add a tablespoon of Mabel’s Liquid Castile Soap to a 16 ounce spray bottle of water.  Adding a few tablespoons of cooking oil to the 'potion' and shaking well will really do them in. Bugs do not really like to hang around soap, and oil seems to suffocate tiny ones. Spray the base of your plants because that is where they tend to 'hop on' and leaves, that they are trying to eat in the first place. If you need extra fighting power, they HATE Geranium Essential Oil, (this is why planting geraniums often protects gardens). So a few drops of geranium and maybe Black Pepper Oil, in your potion, will give you WMD in the garden. Other essential oils they do not like include Lemongrass, Orange, Spearmint, & Peppermint. To make a spider spray for inside the home, you may just want to omit the oil part of the recipe and spray where you think they are gaining entry.

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Pets & Liquid Castile

Rich and creamy, our Castile Liquid Soap is the way to lather Rover and also achieve a clean and shiny coat naturally. Most commercial products in the market are overpriced and geared with heavy scent to make the humans happy. They don't have the proper PH, make the dog miserable as well as rob natural oils from the pets coat as well as cause skin conditions. Also, animals often develop sensitivities to the detergent chemicals commonly used in synthetic pet shampoos. Then we are told they are 'hot spots' as if they are some unexplained phenomena. When your pet suddenly has a skin condition, then they have more high priced products for that too. As far as scent, dogs have 25 more times scent receptors than humans do. It does not take much to overwhelm them. For this reason, essential oils can be used, but sparingly. To use, mix 4 ounces (1/2) a cup of our Castile Liquid Soap too a gallon bucket of water. Mix well and lather away.  (That is Ringo my very spoiled adopted Katrina pooch to the left.)

Essential Oils and Dogs

Never apply essential oils directly to your dogs skin. To repel buds, a dosage of 1 drop per 8 ounces of soapy water of the following essential oils can be used on your pooch: Lemongrass, Lavender, and/or Tea Tree.  Our lemon Castile Soap has enough lemon essential oil to be sufficient. 

Other Natural & Aromatherapy Household Tips

You can spray bath towels with a slight mist of Peppermint for that 'luxurious hotel' feeling. This idea has been borrowed from a Ritz Carlton.  I have said this before and I will say it again. BUY WHITE COTTON TOWELS to rewash instead of paper towels.  That alone will save you a fortune.  I have a "clean" bucket and a "dirty" bucket just for cloth towels.  If you are in the UK you will NOT see a paper towel.  Last I heard they are alive and well over there.

Eucalyptus is another viable essential oil to use in the disinfecting department. 

Orange essential oil will dissolve and get gum off most anything.

Castile for Bathing

Everyone loves the peppermint because it always give a tingly fresh feeling even when entering the hot steamy weather of the summer.  It feels revitalizing.  I look forward to using it as a body wash along with essential oils I drop in the tub.  I know it is natural and will not present toxins into my blood stream. Castile bubbles are also more friendly to those who usually cannot use bubble baths for a reason.  This is because commercial surfactants clean too harshly and strip good bacteria, allowing an imbalance-thus yeast infection.  And Castile Liquid Soap works great in Jacuzzi bath tubs as a bubble bath.  It does not take much-maybe 2 ounces for total luxury!

click here to buy natural liquid soap
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About Author Deborah Dolen return to home page

Deborah Dolen is the Editor in Chief for Mabel White DIY and author of over 25 DIY books, 1,000 articles and several TV "how to" Films.  Deborah Dolen is also an environmental writer and has her own content syndication.  Deborah Dolen was widowed when she was on her 30's and went on to raise three great daughters in FL up against many obstacles.  This is the time period she generated her most fascinating DIY books.

Deborah Dolen was born in a Catholic Infant Home on Niagara Falls, the U.S. side.  It was known as Our Lady of Victory.  Deborah grew up in the Adirondack mountains in Upstate New York although moved around a lot and always in transition.  Her teenage years were more stable and thoroughbred race horses were her passion. She skipped school a lot in the 70's to walk and groom the likes of Man o' War and Secretariat.  When she was not grooming horses in Saratoga she was hitting the ski slopes of Killington in Vermont, Pikes Peak, or Gore Mountain to name a few.  To this day K-2's are her favorite skis and Head are her favorite bindings.

In her 20's  Deborah Dolen built some 520 legal clinics for the poor from the ground up and ran for 17 years.  People simply needed affordable legal access and that still has not changed much.  Having grown up poor and discriminated against-even disallowed to play with certain toys...Deborah had never been a quiet type and bucked many regimes as an adult.  In the 80's she felt almost all legal fees were oppressive to the majority for no reason and feels they still are.  Her organization helped well over 100,000 people.  Many of those were able to teach other people in turn.  As with health care, Canada does not charge its citizens for most common family law issues and Deborah feels family issues, including financial ones, should not be a feeding frenzy in the states as it still certainly is. No one should profit of the demise of another person.

Fast forward a few decades and Deborah Dolen is very much into flying and canine rescue as well as DIY projects she writes about and films from her Florida home.  Although her passions have always been with horse racing she is very into auto racing, focus and performance in Daytona and Charlotte, NC.  Deborah presently writes about environmental topics beyond DIY subjects that will always fascinate her.  Her dog Ringo, adopted from Katrina, is usually by her side.

You can join Deborah Dolen her on twitter facebook or check out her home page for RSS syndication.    See demos of her work on YouTube here and Amazon here.  Mabel White

 

Read about Ringo a dog flown in from Katrina.  Official Bio of his owner and short Bio RSS Syndicated Feeds on the environment.  How Twitter is best used.  Deborah Dolen Books on Amazon.   Review of her books on Open Library,  Paperback Swap, Good Reads and ReviewScout.  You can also read Google Profile.    Deborah Dolen on MySpace Facebook, and Flickr.  This is our favorite blogspot.   See Deborah Dolen on YouTube and her last book written London Apothecary and book.  For more environmental articles on water and oil.

Visit Deborah on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/deborah.dolen MySpace   http://www.myspace.com/deborah_dolen Twitter http://twitter.com/DeborahDolen or BlogSpot http://deborahdolen.blogspot.com/   Buy Natural Liquid Soap!  It is much safer than commercial brands.  Natural Liquid Soap for People or Natural Liquid Soap for pets.