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Greener and greener and greener still. How far do I take this? How do you ever decide when you are done? These are the questions that are plaguing my heart out!
I am really loving my homemade laundry detergent (or is it a soap? who knows?).
I am also loving the no-poo. It is an extreme joy to NOT have an itchy scalp, although, it still feels really weird to just pour baking soda/water on my head.
I still have my hands over my ears and am singing, “LA, la, la la la la, la, la la la, la!” rather loudly in case anyone starts talking about eliminating sugar and/or dairy from our diets. I don’t even want to look at that yet.
But, I know that we have to switch to the natural brand ($$$) of peanut butter because of the… I dunno, something about the fats involved. And that means we have to stop. eating. so. stinking. much. of. it. because we still want to be able to pay the electric bill, too.
But here is the straw that broke my back today. Hand soap. Liquid hand soap. Convenient, liquid, wonderful hand soap for the washing of the filthy Pirate hands before meals and after the potty and for preventing the spread of illness (like this stinking cold that has turned my head into a giant marshmallow).
I don’t know why I read the label on the giant refill bottle of hand soap. The first ingredient, of course, is water. But the very next ingredient is Sodium Laureth (not green, even though it sounds vaguely floral) Sulfate. Second ingredient! How much do I not like this? (I wonder how far down the ingredient list it would have to be before I would be happy letting my kids rub it on their hands?)
I went searching (read: googling) and easily found this recipe for liquid hand soap. We’ll do this today.
But that is just the start, folks. That nasty SLS is in everything that makes foam or suds.
So I thought we would go on a search, just here in the house, for items that have Sodiun Laureth (or Laurel) Sulfate. Just a little label-reading-mania. We are calling it a Chemistry lesson.
Here’s our list.
- Colgate
- Dawn dishwashing liquid (I have no idea what I’ll use instead)
- Pantene (technically speaking it actually has 2 ingredients that are near kinsmen to SLS)
- Suave for Kids (sorry Princess)
- Pert plus (I guess the plus is their way of telling us it has both Sodium Laurel Sulfate AND Sodium Laureth Sulfate)
- Clean & Clear blackhead clearing scrub
- Clean & Clear Daily Pore Cleanser
- Garnier Fructis shampoo
- Skin Effects Gentle Foaming Cleanser
- Hill Country Fare Liquid Handsoap
Well, that’s the short list. That stopped being fun real fast.
We also explored Wikipedia and learned about a ton of the chemicals in the things we expose our skin, and therefore our bloodstream to every day. Scary stuff.
The up side…
wait…
there has to be an up side…
I have to say, I’m a little bummed out by this. But, it (dependence on chemical laden products) can be over-come. I have a whole world of info right here at my finger tips. I just have to keep searching. I found the liquid hand soap recipe. I’ll find the rest.
I’ll keep ya posted on our verde quest.
No related posts.
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the peanut butter tip, alas, no Kroger here. And, yes, I came to my senses and decided to put a bar of Ivory or Kirk’s by the sink, big, whopping DUH moment aboard ship. I am gonna check out the Murphy’s, thanks!
My local Kroger sells an all natural Kroger brand peanut butter for 1.99 a jar (normal sized, 16 or 18 oz jar). It is not organic, but the ingredients are peanuts and salt. That’s all we buy.
Also, in regards to hand soap, why not use just bar soap? It does not have SLS.
And, in regards to Melissa, the most natural things to wash your house are white vinegar, baking soda, and Murphy’s oil soap. None are expensive at all and you can clean everything with those! Some steaming hot water with a glub of Murphy’s oil soap will clean the messiest bathroom and make it smell so clean! Baking soda made into a paste with water will clean shower scum with ease (needs a good extra rinse or can leave a film) and you can make hard surface cleaner with 1 part white vinegar, 1 part alcohol (rubbing works fine), one drop of liquid soap, and about three parts water in a spray bottle. I have used this for years for glass, kitchen, and bath, tables, etc. It’s a really wonderful cleaner. I’ve heard people say that they were having problems with this recipe streaking, but I’ve also read if you’ve been using commercial cleaners, there may be a residue left from those commercial cleaners. Give a few washes with the home made one and it’ll work great. I haven’t used anything else in years!
Heather in Macon, Georgia
Thanks Theresa! I’ll have to check that out.
Sorry I meant, Sodium Laurel Sulfate.
If you happen to have a costco around, their brand of organic peanut butter is really good and not very expensive (compared to the stuff HEB and Randell sells anyway.)
Costco also has their own brand of dishsoap and laundry detergent that does not have laural sulfate or the other nasty things in them, it works well and relatively inexpensive. Hope that helps.
Yep, that is in EVERYTHING!!! A couple of years ago I switched to an expensive “natural” company for all of our cleaning products and a friend nicely pointed out that they still had that ingredient in them. So back to the cheap stuff
. But you are inspiring me . . .
That’s a possiblility. Let’s chat.
Guess your Walgreen’s runs won’t be so fun?
I have some soap making supplies which I no longer have the time to use… are you interested?