Quick Tip | Make Your Own Foaming Soap

Hand washing is probably one of, if not the most, important ways to keep yourself healthy! The nasty germs are all over and our hands are usually all over everything as well: our phones, the car, grocery carts, changing diapers, touching computers, helping kids in the bathroom, wiping noses, going to the park...
And did you know that pretty much every hand soap you buy has junk in it that you don't need? Like artificial colors? Even the brands that label themselves as 'natural'. It's true. 
Check out this label on a super popular brand. The soap is CLEAR, yet they put in Violet 5. What? And more importantly, WHY??










My friend Jenny over at +Conscientious Confusion Blog posted waaaaay back in the day how to make your own foaming hand soap. I'm just now getting around to making it. 
It's so super easy and much more cost efficient than the stuff you get at the store! My five year old has been helping me make it because it's that easy!
Here's how I did it:

• 1 empty foaming soap bottle (I had these on hand, but I'm sure you could ask some friends for their old ones!)
• Castile soap (I have Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap...love this stuff and it's not expensive at all!)
• Distilled/filtered water
• Essential oils (optional - I used Wild Orange this time. Mmm!)

Simply fill your empty soap container about 1/3 full of the castile soap. Fill the rest with water and a few drops of essential oils of your choice. Give it a good shake and you've got natural, nontoxic, inexpensive foaming hand soap!
Have you made your own soaps before? 

Helpful Cleaners Cost Comparison

Hi there!
I wanted to share with you a great cost comparison for household cleaners. Some folks have a hard time swallowing the Get Clean Starter Kit at $99 (member price). I get it. It's a lot to fork out all at once. I was skeptical at first too. 

But after doing research, I found the cost savings over time are FANTASTIC! Do you want to spend up to $3000 per year just to keep your home clean? Or does about $100 sound more reasonable??
I took a chance on Shaklee's Get Clean line and our family hasn't looked back since! Not only have we SAVED a ton of money on cleaners, but we're using SAFE and NONTOXIC cleaners, too! No need to worry about calling Poison Control if one of our boys or pets gets into the cleaners.
Plus, they work and, a big deal for me...there are no perfumes or fragrances!

Click to see this wonderful Get Clean Cost Comparison sheet of our Get Clean line versus other household cleaners.
Are you surprised at how much it REALLY costs to use the brands from your local stores? And do you know what's really in those cleaners?? You can be assured that Shaklee's Get Clean line is safe, nontoxic, and natural!

Strawberry-Watermelon Popsicles | Easy Healthy Treat

Our boys love popsicles. As in they request them even when it's 40 degrees outside! Crazy boys! Anyway, I don't like to buy popsicles from the store because they're loaded with HFCS, food dyes, loads of sugar, and other fake ingredients. And really, making your own popsicles is so easy! And it's a great activity for the kids to do. Who doesn't want to push the ON button on the blender??

Here are our favorite summer popsicles: Strawberry-Watermelon! It seriously takes less than five minutes to whip these babies up! Plus, it's a great way to use up some produce that may be on it's last leg in the fridge.

• Simply cut up strawberries and watermelon (or any fruit of your choice).
• Blend it up in the blender. No sugar needed for these!
• Pour into your favorite popsicle molds and pop in the freezer! These Norpro Silicone Molds and the Orka Twist Pop Molds are our favorites. The twisted ones are perfect for the toddler and the Norpro's are great for the preschooler.
• A refreshing healthy treat for the family will be ready in about two hours!

What's your family's favorite popsicle combination?

Dyes are Everywhere! (An Ongoing Series)

With two young boys and two dogs, I feel like we all need to wash our hands at least 50 times a day.  But sometimes, washing at the sink isn't always an option so we use store bought hand sanitizer.

When we ran out a few days ago, I just grabbed the first bottle I saw at the store, not even thinking about what might be in it. Because all hand sanitizers are made the same and made to clean hands, right?

Huh.

Well much to my dismay, the name brand I grabbed, has artificial dyes in it. Really? In hand sanitizer?  Yes, indeedy. It has Blue 1 and Yellow 5. It also has fragrance in it (but that's a whole other blog post).

If you're into this type of stuff, it's long been known that artificial dyes really aren't good for you. In fact, there has been scientific proof that some cause behavioral issues in kids. Lovely.

Here's some fun facts about Blue 1

• The dye is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and 95% of the ingested dye can be found in feces (Source)
• It has been linked to ADHD, allergies, and asthma. Several European countries have banned Blue 1. (Source)

And about Yellow 5 (Tartazine)

• It is derived from coal tar and is the number one allergy-causing dye.
• It is a common dye in candy, cereal, and many other processed foods.
• It has been banned in many European countries. (Source)

I should've guessed as much, considering this sanitizer is green and not clear like the other brand we had. Not that the other brand is so healthy and safe.

Here is my beef with this sanitizer: Why must it be colored? Seriously, it's just a hand cleaner. It doesn't need to look pretty and colorful. Those dyes add NO VALUE to the sanitizer. Instead, those pesky dyes just add more proven harmful chemicals to my family's body. Not cool.

There's got to be a better, more natural way for a quick clean of the hands when good old soap and water aren't available!

Do you have any tried and true homemade hand sanitizers? Please share them!