Written by Emily McClements, Contributing Writer

If you are somewhat new to going green, or are just beginning to dabble in homemade and non-toxic cleaning, you may be a little overwhelmed about where to start, what products to use and where, and how to get rid of toxic cleaners from you cupboards once and for all.

The thing that I love the most about homemade, green cleaners is how simplified my cleaning cupboard, and cleaning routine in general, has become. Gone are the days of needing a separate cleaner for each different job, and each different room - kitchen cleaner, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaner, tub & tile cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, window cleaner, dusting spray, multipurpose cleaner - these can all be replaced by a few basic products that you probably already have in your kitchen cabinets or somewhere around your home.

To create simple, green, and frugal cleaning products, I have found that the following 5 items are the ones that I use the most, are the most multi-tasking, and the best performing.

Basics for Frugal and Green Cleaning

:: White Vinegar

This is probably the most frugal and versatile non-toxic cleaner. It is a safe and natural disinfectant that, mixed in a 1/1 ratio with water, can clean everything from floor to ceiling in pretty much any room, including mirrors and window. You should not, however use vinegar on porous natural surfaces like marble or granite.

I use vinegar to clean my kitchen counter and floors, and wipe down cabinets (although that doesn't happen very often!), it's great at cutting grease. I also use it to clean my bathroom, it's especially good at cleaning up stainless steel fixtures and making them shiny. The vinegar and water mixture is also works as a stain remover on carpets and rugs!

Some people, like my hubs, have a hard time with the smell of vinegar. I find that the scent disperses pretty quickly, especially with a fan or window open. But, you can also try adding essential oils to your vinegar and water mixture to achieve a scent that you can live with, and maybe even enjoy!

You can also use vinegar in the rinse aid compartment of your dishwasher instead of a commercial brand like Jet Dry. It helps to keep residue off dishes and keep them spot free.

Vinegar is also a great replacement for fabric softener in you laundry. Add it to the fabric softener dispenser, or fill an old Downy ball with vinegar.  While it doesn't leave a scent like store-bought fabric softener does, it does help to repel static cling, and I have learned that I  like the smell of just plain clean, and that artificial scents are actually irritating to me now.

Image by cjmartins

:: Baking Soda

This is an essential replacement for abrasive toxic cleaners like Comet. You can keep it in an old Parmesan cheese container, or other type of shakeable container so that it is easily accessible for cleaning. Use it alone, or make a paste by mixing it with water, it is great for scrubbing off all different types of surfaces.

I pretty much exclusively use Baking Soda to clean my toilets. Just a few shakes around the bowl and a good scrubbing with a toilet brush and we're good to go. It's also great for scrubbing off burned on food on my glass top stove, cleaning and whitening my white enamel kitchen sink.

Sprinkle baking soda on your rug or carpet and wait a few minutes and then vacuum it up for a natural freshener and deodorizer. This is especially nice if you add a few drops of essential oil to your baking soda, it adds a lovely scent to your home as you vacuum.

:: Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen Peroxide is great for cleaning areas that you want to be disinfected. It breaks down when exposed to light, so it's best kept in an opaque bottle. I leave mine in it's original bottle and add a spray nozzle from a cheap dollar store spray bottle. You can mix hydrogen peroxide 1/1 with water to stretch it even further.

Spray down surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom with hydrogen peroxide to disinfect and kill germs. It's not the best cleaner in the world as far as actually scrubbing and cleaning, but I like to use it on my kitchen counters after I have already wiped them clean, just to make sure they are disinfected.

The mix of hydrogen peroxide and water also is great at removing certain types of stains on clothing. Dark stains, like blood, blueberries or other berries, or juice, come out easily when you spray them before putting the clothing in the wash.

:: Castile Soap

Castile Soap has many uses for both cleaning and as a personal care product. Along with tea tree oil and water, it makes up my favorite homemade multipurpose cleaner. Just add water to a spray bottle and add a few quirts of castile soap and a few drops of tea tree oil and you have another multi-tasking cleaner for all around the home.

This multipurpose cleaner is a great alternative if you don't like the smell of vinegar, because it is just as versatile. I use it whenever I'm cleaning around my hubs, and for cleaning and dusting in my living room.

:: Natural Dishsoap

This is just one more great multitasking cleaner that is, obviously, excellent at cutting through grease. Not just for washing you dishes, you can dilute it with water in a spray bottle to clean pretty much any area of your kitchen. It's great for cleaning out your sink and washing down counter tops.

A spray bottle with dishsoap diluted with water (actually mostly water and a few squirts of dishsoap) makes an acceptable laundry stain remover.  While it doesn't work for some stains, like grass or dirt, it is good on food based stains and those annoying little grease spots that are hard to get out of clothes.  Keep a bottle handy in your laundry room along with the other natural stain removers we've been talking about here the past few weeks.

:: I have to mention one more product that finds it way into several of my homemade cleaning products, so an Honorable Mention goes to Tea Tree Oil.  TTO is a natural antiseptic and disinfectant and is great to add to homemade multi-purpose cleaners.  I also use it in my cloth wipes solution, as well as when I make homemade disinfecting wipes (like reusable Clorox wipes).

Those are the basic items that I use for cleaning all around my home. What are your top green and frugal cleaning products?

Emily is a blessed wife and mama to two little ones. She is passionate about caring for God’s creation and people by being a good steward of the resources He has provided. As part of her journey towards living more “frugally green” she blogs about the things she is learning and the changes she is making at Live Renewed.

Top photo by Chiot's Run

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Written by Sherrie Cook, Contributing Writer

There are many reasons to choose cloth diapers for your baby.  Many mums choose cloth to aid in the prevention of diaper rashes. Cloth diapers are breathable, allowing air to flow freely through them.  This  constant air movement provides a natural, dry environment without using harsh chemicals next to baby's skin.  In most cases, rashes are "gone with the wind".

Unfortunately, not even using cloth guarantees a rash-free childhood for your little one.  Rashes in the diaper area can be caused and/or made worse by a variety of different things.

Some of the most common irritants include:

• moisture trapped against the skin from heavy wetters, infrequent diaper changes or insufficient diaper absorbency
• irritation from urine and feces (pH is raised with this combo to a higher alkalinity allowing baby's delicate skin to break down more rapidly)
• chemical irritants from detergents/soaps
• allergic reactions from dyes, fragrances, fibers, etc.
• friction/chaffing
• restricted air flow
• oral antibiotics (kill the "good" bacteria and leave the "yeasty" bacteria to run a muck)
• microorganisms
• diarrhea
• introduction of new foods
• commercial wipes

How do you know which one(s) of these factors is causing your child's rash?

Unfortunately, it's basically a process of elimination (no pun intended).  In the meantime, while you solve the mystery of the rash, it is extremely important to give your baby's skin a helping hand while it heals. This does NOT mean you will be forced to dig into the far reaches of the hall closet for that dusty, left-over disposable diaper (now two sizes too small) from last May!

Here are a few ideas to give you hope for finding more natural solutions:

:: Ointments

Most diapering systems suggest that you do NOT use creams and ointments since these products can coat the fabric of your diapers and cause repelling issues.  Nobody wants that!  What I suggest to concerned moms is two-fold.

Choose a cloth diaper friendly ointment. A couple of my favorites are petroleum-free Baby Bottom Better Salve and Grandma El's Rash Cream.  (Many moms really like Northern Essence Diaper Salves, too, though I haven't needed to try the latter because the first two always worked well for my babies.)  Used sparingly, a little goes a long way, these ointments should not clog your diaper fabric.

If you are still concerned that the use of ointments might ruin your diapers, place a piece of fabric (i.e. flannel, fleece, a cloth wipey, a prefold diaper, or even a strip ripped from an old tee shirt) between your baby's bum and the cloth diaper.

This additional layer will serve as a barrier and will keep most ointment residue from transferring onto your favorite diapers.  Once used, you may launder the fabric with your cloth diapers or, for cautious parents, with a load of jeans.  If you think yeast may be involved secondary to your child's rash, this may be one case where tossing the barrier fabric might be your best bet.

*Be sure to check your manufacturers warranty prior to the use of any diapering ointments listed here.

:: Naked Time

(If your babies are like mine, they're cheering already!)  Babies generally LOVE to be freed from all things that bind them - including diapers! 

Right after a bath or diaper change, consider letting your little one air out a bit before replacing the diaper. Make sure all baby's cracks and crevices are patted completely dry.

Resist the urge to use talcum powder (bad for the lungs if inhaled) or cornstarch (cornstarch rings the dinner bell for yeast - you don't ever want to encourage the presence of yeast by setting out a yummy treat) in the diaper area, especially when the skin is already broken and vulnerable with a rash.

An absorbent prefold placed under your baby (if he's not yet mobile) will provide ample coverage for a few minutes . If your baby is on the run, a loose fitting prefold, soft diaper cover or trainer will do the trick for a few minutes - just don't forget he's not leak proof and start dinner.  :)

Happy Rash-Free Diapering!

Photos courtesy of:  Ozrix, La Grande Farmer's Market & crimfants

Sherrie is a wife, mother, peer counselor, speaker and author. She enjoys helping fellow moms in their quest for a simple, God-centered home for their natural living families. She notes her (hopefully) helpful hints at The Proverbial Woman.

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This was a good night. A really good night.

Johanna LOVES to eat. With her fingers. Exactly what we are eating. While yanking off her bib.

My three year old still desperately needs a bib at mealtimes, though he fights it. My 5 1/2 year old ought to wear one permanently. Just for walking, talking and breathing. Here's her shirt from today:

Again, this was a good day. Only a few small paint stains? Bravo! Hip hip hooray!

For the longest time, I was just losing it over the daily clothing massacre that was occurring in our household. It felt so needless, so wasteful, yet I seemed to be powerless to put an end to it.

I've been using natural stain removers for a long time, and I was coming to grips with the fact that they just didn't seem to cut it. Oh yes, I carefully sorted through the dirty clothes, pre-treated everything while I got my piles of laundry ready to go and my washer filled up. It didn't matter, though. Inevitably there was at least one permanent stain left behind for all of the others that came out each time I did laundry.

I wasn't willing to switch to something stronger and more chemical-filled. I also couldn't afford to keep replacing my children's clothing.

This little spray bottle became the answer to my dilemma.

There's nothing particularly fancy about it. It is filled up with:

• half Biokleen Bac-Out
• half water

I've also made this work using my homemade stain remover, but I've decided that ultimately the Bac-Out works just a little better and is just as cost-effective because I buy it when it goes on sale and I water it down by half.

Here's my trick:

I got my husband to buy three of these little bottles at the dollar store one day. I decided that I needed to put them in 3 important places:

1. The kid's bedroom
2. Our bedroom
3. The laundry room

My line of thinking is this: When you use chemical stain removers (like Shout or similar) you can usually just apply them 5 minutes before you wash, giving them a good spray or scrub, etc. These powerful removers can work quickly like that.

Natural stain removers don't work like that. They need time to work and they need to be applied right away.

I was initially concerned about using an enzyme-cleaner like Bac-Out and leaving it sitting on our clothes for possibly days before I got around to washing them. It hasn't been a problem. I have not noticed any marks or wearing out of clothes in places where I have sprayed them and let them sit.

Here's me spraying Abbie's paint-adorned shirt tonight, up in our family closet, where we keep everyone's clothes together (look for an upcoming video of how we've organized our family closet!).

(Note that I am too busy taking a picture to actually spray the stain.)

Nothing dirty is allowed to go into the hamper without being looked over and sprayed first. That's my new rule. Then they sit as long as they sit. Half a day, 5 days, it doesn't seem to really make a difference.

The end result?

When I do actually focus my aim and pre-treat all stains immediately when clothes come off (or even immediately after the stain occurs, if I catch it that fast), something miraculous happens in the wash. Even in the cold water, natural detergent wash.

Stains come out! Hallelujah, jubilee!

It works for me, it will work for you, too. Get thee to a dollar store, get as many bottles as you have bedrooms, fill them with Bac-Out (or your favorite natural stain remover) and spray away. Soon you will be singing "oh happy day" along with me.

How do YOU ensure that stains come out of your children's clothes, without using strong chemicals, and without taking a lot of time and effort to get them out?

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Oh, it's been way too long since I highlighted what's going on in the community forum here at Keeper of the Home (have you checked it out lately)? It's now up to over 650 members, with 2138 posts-- wow!

If you haven't joined yet and are unsure of what the forum is all about, you can start here by reading more about my vision for the forum, and then sign yourself up as a member and jump right in! It might just take me up to a couple days to approve your membership, simply because I approve each one manually, rather than automatically, to ensure that the forum stays clean and free of spam (and so far, so good!).

Here are some of the recent topics of interest in the forum:

Natural Living (Personal Care/Beauty Products)- natural hair removal

Food (Recipes)- Looking for white/navy bean recipes

Home Educating (Curriculum)- Basic music for kindergarten?

Home Educating (General Topics)- Looking for readers/book recommendations (for young child with high reading ability)

Mothering (Pregnancy)- Midwives in the Atlanta(Marietta/Kenesaw) area?

Natural Living (Mama Cloth)- So how do you go about doing this? (Discreetly washing cloth pads)

Mothering (Pregnancy)- Avoiding Antibiotics for GBS+... help!

Food (Recipes)- Soup (looking for healthier soup recipes to serve in a university cafeteria- let's help her feed those students well!)

Natural Living (Household Cleaning)- Cologne smell on couch

Food (Kitchen Equipment)- Blenders

Health (Natural Remedies)- Health insurance alternatives

Organic Gardening (Pests and Problems)- Earwigs

Join in!

Why don't you take a few moments to go on over, read through some of the topics and join in with your own responses or even start a new thread!

The forum is a wonderful place to get to know other like-minded women, and can be a valuable resource for getting answers and help with natural living questions.

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Back by popular demand, my second vlog! This time it's on how to use the Oil Cleansing Method for keeping your face beautiful and clear!

I'll show you how I mix up the oils that I use, in what ratio I use them, and then give a bit of a demo of the actual washing process:

Want to learn more about the Oil Cleansing Method?

The Oil Cleansing Method- Some great, basic information on the method and why/how it works.

How to Clean Your Face Naturally @ Simple Mom

Oil Cleansing Method @ Sorta Crunchy

What do you use to clean your face? Any other Oil Cleansing gals out there?

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Written by Anne Elliot, Contributing Writer

I first learned about the benefits of raw milk ten years ago. It was obviously God’s leading and guidance because I wasn’t looking for it. I didn’t even know you could buy milk that hadn’t been pasteurized or homogenized. I didn’t know all the benefits that would come when our family switched to raw milk.

One day, in the providence of God, I “accidentally” clicked on the Weston A. Price website after a Yahoo search. I remember voraciously reading everything on their website, which eventually ended in our family beginning to drink raw milk. We’ve never gone back to that ol’ store-bought stuff!

However, we’ve lived in four states since that time. Each time we move, it’s very difficult to find a new source of raw milk. The first time, raw milk was legal in our state. A wonderful, Christian farmer delivered it right to my door each week for only $2 per gallon, often taking it right into my kitchen for me.

In the second state, milk was legal but dairy farms were few and far between. We had a sick daughter who depended on quality milk for her health, so we purchased milk from a faraway dairy and had it delivered by UPS to our door. As you can imagine, the rest of us didn’t drink much milk at all because of the expense!

In the third state, the sale of raw milk was illegal, but we were close enough to the state line to be able to drive into the next state to purchase the milk legally. Where I live now, our laws require that I drive to the farm with my own milk containers and leave a donation for the milk.

With all the varying laws and the general public fear of raw milk’s safety, it can be difficult to find milk. It can be intimidating to even try. However, with a little persistence, you also can find a great local source of raw milk and provide one of the best foods on the planet to your family. Here are some steps to follow:

1. Learn the current laws where you live.

• Real Milk - scroll down for summaries by state
• The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

2. Find a farmer.

Depending on where you live, you have several options. I always begin by calling my local Weston A. Price chapter leader. This person will be well informed on farmers who might sell raw milk in your area.

Another option would be to see if any local farmers have a listing on www.localharvest.org.

You might try talking to farmers at your local farmer's market, or maybe some local Amish or Mennonite families who know of someone who raises cows. It's even a good idea to just get in the car and drive around, asking anyone you see if they know of any dairy farmers who might sell directly to you.

Please don't forget to pray! At one time, we badly needed some milk but didn't know how to find it. My little son boldly asked God for a cow! I laughed, but then I remembered that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Finding a little dairy farm is nothing to Him! Sure enough, God answered his prayer quickly. He delights in answering your prayers, too.

3. Determine if the milk you find is of good quality.

Most of the fears over raw milk can be answered by common-sense cleanliness. RawUsa's website has many suggestions for determining if a farm produces safe milk. My own local farmer's wife told me, though, two basic things to watch for:

Does the farm look basically clean and kept up?

Are the cows out on pasture when possible, eating green grass like God intended for them?

4. Maintain a good relationship with your farmer.

Once you find a farmer who will sell raw milk to you, be sure to treat him respectfully. Be on time if you'll be meeting him at his farm, since he has a zillion other jobs to do besides providing you with yummy milk. If you use his equipment to fill your own containers, clean up after yourself when you're done. Ask him for permission before telling others about his farm, especially if your state's laws are more stringent. Don't allow your children to wander around his farm without permission. Most of all, pay him well! After all, we want to encourage more farmers to sell directly to consumers!

Many of these ideas work for anything local that you want to find, from grass-fed meat, to eggs, to fresh produce. Do your homework, ask God for help, and treat others like you would want to be treated.

May you find the best food this year!

Does your family drink raw milk? How did you find a good, clean source of milk to purchase?

Anne is a pastor's wife and homeschooling mom to seven sweet kiddos, all living in southern Minnesota. Her passion is trying to discover what the Bible says about almost every topic affecting moms, and she blogs about it at http://anneelliott.com/blog.

Image from istockphoto

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One of the themes at Keeper of the Home this month has been making your own beauty supplies. Beth has showed us how to make our own soap, and Angela gave us a plethora of simple options for making beauty supplies like facial moisturizer, body scrub, even hairspray and more!

As for me, I'm breaking out of my comfortable little mold. I happen to enjoy "hiding" behind my writing and my computer. It's tidy and safe and it has a delete button. :)

Behold, I give you my first ever vlog... Using the No Shampoo Method. Let me show and tell all about how I use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to clean and condition my hair!

Want to learn more about going "no shampoo"?

How to Clean Your Hair Without Shampoo @ Simple Mom

No 'Poo Update @ Keeper of the Home

Shampoo Free @Babyslime

Shampoo Free- Why and How @Sorta Crunchy

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Today I want to celebrate Earth Day by sharing just a bit about why I, as a Christian, care about the environment and choose to put time, money and effort towards practicing mindful stewardship of God's glorious creation.

Here are some of the main reasons that our family has made environmental stewardship a priority as we seek to honor the Lord in all that we do:

1. The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it (Ps 24:1)

Although we have graciously been given this earth to live in and have dominion over, it is not ours. It is His.

When I live and act in a way that shows disregard to that which God has created, I am not honoring Him. It would be unthinkable to be invited to Buckingham Palace to dine with the Queen, and leave a trail of rubbish in my wake. Dirty tissues on the bathroom counter, muddy footprints in the entry, garbage from my purse on the coffee table. We wouldn't dare.

Yet, we think nothing of weekly tossing bulging bags of trash into landfills that dot the countryside and mountains. We use products that seep toxic chemical waste into His pristine rivers, lakes and oceans. Why is it any different?

I love this Abraham Kuyper quote:

"There is not a square inch

in the whole domain of our human existence

over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all,

does not cry: 'Mine!'"

When we begin to view the earth as one of the domains over which Christ sovereignly declares "Mine!", it becomes much harder to ignore the effects of our (often thoughtless) everyday actions, doesn't it?

Image by tibchris

2. Dominion should not equal destruction.

“Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry around the ground.” Genesis 1:28

Multiply. Fill. Govern. Reign.

We have been entrusted with a high and sacred calling to govern over the earth and all that is in it. What a responsibility!

Sadly, we have taken this dominion mandate and used it as justification to do, well, whatever we want. In order to satiate the appetite of our society to have more and have it cheaper and faster, we greedily use up precious natural resources, fill the air, water and soil with dangerous toxic chemicals, raise animals in cruel and harmful ways, consume and then toss our "stuff" into landfills where it will sit for hundreds of years (or longer)...

The word "dominion" means to exercise control. I firmly believe that this earth and its resources have been given to us to have authority over and to use for the benefit of the human race. But rather than taking this as permission to do as we like, we ought to view this authority as a great privelege.

The longer I study natural living, nutrition, the human body, gardening and how things grow... the more in awe I am of our indescribably kind and intelligent Creator. He has given us the most intricate, beautiful world that I could ever imagine.

In my own life, beginning to understand and appreciate His creation has spurred on a much deeper love and respect for God himself. I increasingly long to be more mindful with all that He has graciously given me to steward, and this earth is one of those things.

3. We have a multi-generational vision.

Not one of us knows when the Lord will return. It could be tomorrow. It could be 800 years from now.

I long for Christ to return. Yet should he tarry, what will be left for future generations?

As a family, we have a vision for raising up godly offspring that will serve the Lord and will who will in turn raise up more godly men and women to continue serving the Lord for as long as we should remain on this earth.

Image by Arwen Abendstern

I want my children and grandchildren and grandchildren's children to have an earth that is still inhabitable. One where they can enjoy the good health, bountiful food and the wonders of creation.

This is possible, but it requires something of our generation. To think beyond ourselves. To consider what will remain and endure past our lifetimes. What legacy will we leave for our children and all the generations to follow?

"In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations."

(taken from the Seventh Generation website and the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy)

I celebrate Earth Day, not just because I am some hippie, tree-hugger who wants to save the whales. Indeed, I do want to save the trees and the whales and the rivers and the icecaps and the rainforests and the topsoil.

But not just for the sake of saving them, and not just for the sake of humankind. I want to save them because they are an expression of my glorious God and an important part of His loving provision for His people.

Is this the most important thing for me to focus on as a Christian? No, not at all. There are so many other critically important parts of the Christian life, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this aspect of life is also important and worthy of our thought and effort.

If I am to eat, drink and do all that I do to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), then it only follows that my lifestyle and actions should also have the goal of bringing glory to God in the ways that they impact His creation.

How important is it to you that you are carefully stewarding the environment? Why do you feel that way?

Image by powi

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• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
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By Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer

To start, I just want to say I am so excited that Stephanie is allowing me the opportunity to share with you one of my favorite hobbies--soap making.  I have been making bar soap for my family for almost a year now, and I have tried different methods and a variety of recipes, and today I’m going to share what I think is one of the easiest methods of soap making—hot process using a crock pot.

I really wanted to share this tutorial because a lot of people I have met have said to me, “Beth, you make soap?! But isn’t that difficult and time consuming and dangerous?!” I am hoping to show you that you, too, can make high quality, good-for-your-skin (and inexpensive) lye soap at home with just a little instruction and encouragement. When I started making soap, I was very intimidated and confused.  But I found that having someone walk me through the process really helped.  So that is just exactly what I want to do for you!

The purpose of this tutorial is not to define all the soap making terms or to give you a list of resources.  But after you check out my tutorial, if you head over to my blog, I’ll have a page that hits more on the tips and resources for soap making aimed at helping the soapmaking “newbie.”

That said, let the fun begin!

Necessary soap supplies

To start your soap making experience, you will want to lay out all your necessary items.  While you probably don’t have lye just sitting around your home, you may already have many of the items you need.

Equipment you will need includes:

• Crockpot
• Spoons (wooden or rubber/plastic only!)
• A disposable cup or plastic sandwich baggie
• A pitcher
• A heat resistant container such as a mason jar
• An immersion blender
• A soap mold of your choice
• Vaseline
• An accurate food scale that you can zero out.

You will also need proper safety equipment such as goggles and gloves to protect from the lye.  You will want to also make sure to wear long sleeved shirts and long pants and closed toed shoes. You don’t want a chemical burn!!

Finally, you will need the oils for your recipe, the lye, cold tap water, and essential oils or additives, vinegar to clean everything afterward—the cheapest kind will do—and, finally, some paper towels to clean up the lye because you won’t want to use cloth rags to clean up the caustic chemicals.

Measuring the oil on the scale

Once you have gathered everything, you will want to set your crockpot to high and let it heat up.  Place the pitcher on the scale and zero it out.  Measure the oils, one at a time, into the pitcher.  Your recipe will tell you how much of each oil you need.  Remember that in soap recipes, the ounces refer to weight, not liquid measurement!!

Coconut oil melting in the crockpot

After measuring each oil, pour it into the crockpot. Using a spoon, you’ll want to get as much as possible out of that pitcher to maintain the proper ratio of lye to oil.  If you have solid oils, such as coconut or palm, let the oils melt down in the crockpot.

Modeling the proper safety precautions

At this point, you will want to put on your gloves and goggles.

Dissolving the lye into the water

While the oils are melting down, place your heat proof container (I use a wide mouthed mason jar) on the scale and zero it out.  Add the proper measurement of water to the jar.  Then, remove the jar and set aside.

Using a plastic disposable cup or a plastic baggie on the scale, carefully measure your lye.  Then, slowly pour it into the water, stirring as your pour to avoid any clumping.

Note: NEVER add water to lye.  ALWAYS add the lye to the water. Stir until it is completely dissolved and the water is mostly clear.  At this point, the water will be extremely hot because of the chemical reaction.  So make sure you don’t burn yourself or your counter top!

Pouring the lye into the oil

Once your oils are melted, pour the lye/water solution into the crockpot with the oils.  Stir together well.

Carefully mixing the soap with the stick blender

Now it’s time for the immersion blender.  Carefully blend the oil and lye mixture together, pulsing for about 6-10 seconds at a time. Be sure the stick of the blender is all the way down because lye is caustic and you don’t want it flying up in your face.

This is what trace looks like

You will want to blend everything until it reaches what is called “trace.” Trace happens when the soap mixture reaches what looks like a thin pudding consistency.  Be sure to periodically turn the blender off and stir everything down because stick blenders can cause so many bubbles to form in the soap that it can create a “false trace.”  It generally takes me about 10 minutes for the soap to reach trace.

Now put the lid on the crockpot and let it cook for a while.  While it is cooking, I generally put all of my used utensils into the pitcher I used for my oil, and then I pour vinegar and water into the pitcher to neutralize the very basic lye.  I then wipe down my counter tops and gloves with vinegar before I remove my goggles and gloves.  While I’m waiting on the soap to cook, I also coat the inside of my soap mold with Vaseline so that when I am ready to pour my soap, it will not stick to the mold.

The soap is cooking

As soap cooks, it generally “grows” and looks like a gel consistency.  If it grows too big, just stir it down.

Raw soap chunks inside the cooked soap

You’ll find that inside your big gooey gel, there will be patches of smooth whitish soap.  Make sure you stir that in because that is soap that hasn’t fully cooked yet.

This is what it looks like when it is ready

Once the soap is consistently a semi-translucent yellowish color, you can now add your additives such as essential oil, oatmeal, etc.  Or you can leave it plain, which is the way I prefer.

I use an old plastic storage container for my mold.

It should now be ready to pour into your mold.  Pour quickly because it forms a crust rather quickly.  I use a rubber spatula and parchment paper to smooth my tops out in the mold.

Finished, cut soap bars

Let the soap cool thoroughly, and finish cleaning everything up.

Depending on the size of the mold, it could take up to a day for the soap to cool and dry.  Once it has cooled, carefully remove the soap from mold and cut it if necessary.  Although the soap is ready to use immediately, I let the bars sit out for a couple of days to improve their hardness. The soap also becomes milder the longer it sits.

And that’s it!  It’s really quite simple, and you have wonderfully nourishing homemade soap for your family!  And once you know what you are doing, the whole process from start to finish can be done in less than two hours, so it can be done while kids are napping.

And now for the really fun part!

How would you like to use some of the soap that I cooked while making this tutorial?

I will be giving away one pound of soap from the batch pictured above—that’s 4 bars of soap--to one lucky winner.  When you visit my blog for more tips and resources, you’ll find out more information on the giveaway.

Have you made your own soap before?  What are your favorite soap making resources to share?

I am the mother of four children—two girls and two boys, ages 7, 6, 5, and 2 ½. While not homeschooling or chauffeuring the kids to their activities, I enjoy all kinds of craft projects and learning how to be a better steward of all that the Lord has given me. My blog is stewardshipnotconvenience.blogspot.com.

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This week you can find me over at Simple Organic, where I serve as a regular contributing writer. I'm talking about how to purify the toxins in the air in our homes, by using regular houseplants! Here's a snippet from the post:

Clean air.

Not only vital to our health, but something that we don’t tend to think about. It’s easy to forget about the quality of the air that we take in, just as easy as it is to forget that we are effortlessly breathing in and out, in and out, every single moment.

Recent years have seen a trend towards more energy efficient and well-insulated homes and buildings. Good for decreasing energy waste. Bad for trapping toxic gases and fumes in the interiors of the places where we spend the bulk of our time.

Read the rest of the post.

Just so you know, I had intended to get the second part of the Real Food Makeover for the Anderson family up today. Much as I love writing this series of posts, it is incredibly time consuming for me to write them.

Though I had hoped to complete the makeovers for all 4 families in 4 weeks, it looks like I will have to stretch it out just a little bit longer (more like 5 or 6 weeks), so that I don't drive myself or my family crazy. And I value my sanity as much as my husband values having a happy and relaxed wife (you know, as opposed to a crazy one). So thanks for your patience if I get them up just a little bit more slowly!

Image by amatern

Our Sponsors:

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• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
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