We’ve Been Duped

If you are like me you have about a gazillion products in your home. Something for everything right? Toilet bowl cleaner, body wash, toothpaste, laundry detergent, dish detergent, car soap, etc. the list goes on and on. Not only does this wide variety of goodies damage your wallet but they take up tons of space, they usually come in non-recyclable containers, and usually contain harmful chemicals so that you have to handle them carefully. Think CAUTION: keep out of reach of children, CAUTION: external use only, CAUTION: poisonous if consumed, etc.

What if I told you there was a product that could be used for the majority of those things? Would you believe me if I told you I found something I can wash my car with, my kid with, my teeth with, my sink and toilets and laundry with? Something that can be used for countertop spray, hand wash, face wash, shampoo, dog wash, cleaning fruits and veggies and more? Well it exists and it’s inexpensive and it is food grade so guess what… NO CAUTION labels (except don’t spray directly in eyes)!

Enter Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. Dr. Bronner is rumored to be a nephew of Albert Einstein. He was a brilliant soap maker who mastered the art of Castile Soap making. Castile soap is from the Castile region of Spain. It is a super mild, gentle soap that can be used for dozens of things. Don’t let the word “mild” fool you though. Mild in this circumstance is meaning non-damaging, not mild in its cleaning strength.

For example, two days ago Ty said “babe, what can we do to get this sink clean? Bleach?” We have a huge white sink that gets pretty mucky looking.

I said “no, Dr. Bronners will do it.”

Ty said “you think so? It’s really dirty.”

I said “yup.”

So I dropped about 5 drops of Dr. Bronner concentrate in the sink and let it sit there for about 10 minutes. Then I scrubbed the sink with warm water and a sponge. Took about two minutes and the sink looked brand new… squeaky clean. When you looked at the sink you could hear the “ding!” coming off the shiny surface.

So aside from the fact that I now know I don’t need all this whoopla that I have to clean this and that. I am encouraged to know that I can use this safe cleaner all throughout my home, therefore keeping the toxic level of our home to a minimum – a very good thing with munchkins wouldn’t you say?

To bring home the point about just how safe this cleaner is here are the ingredients: Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol.

Definition of suspect ingredients:

Potassium Hydroxide: A caustic toxic white solid used in making soap. None remains in Dr. Bronners after converting oils into soap and glycerin. (Encarta Dictionary)

Tocopherol: antioxidant compound that is one of a group of fat-soluble compounds that make up vitamin E, it is present in vegetable oils and leafy greens (Encarta Dictionary).

So… as far as I can see the only downside to using Dr. Bronners whenever and wherever you can is that (assuming you use the peppermint kind for toothpaste) the threat to wash your child’s mouth out with soap will become rather empty. J

Happy cleaning!

Christina

P.S. I plan to post many at home cleaner ideas as time goes along. And please post yours! So this may be a great article to check back on and see what comments have been added.

Documentary Obsession

So, it turns out I am obsessed with information. I have been a google junkie for a long time so that is nothing new. While I was pregnant with Trevor my husband would send me random texts that said… “stop googling” because it was a safe assumption that I was researching the latest thought that had crept into my mind about my unborn child. At night I have a hard time falling asleep because my mind races. Sometimes, in order to fall asleep, I will get out of bed and google what I am currently curious about, read up on it, and then go back to bed and fall sound asleep. Like my mind says “ah… curiousity fulfilled.”

Now, and with a thanks to my pastor’s wife, I am beginning to be obsessed with documentaries. Talk about a great way to learn A TON of information about just about anything. If you stream Netflix or have Netflix membership then documentaries are at your fingertips. Considering my fascination with health and diet my latest favorites are listed below:

The Gerson Miracle

The New Medicine

Dying to Have Known

The Beautiful Truth

Ingredients

Food, Inc.

The Medicated Child

Waiting for Superman

Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price

Babies

The Business of Being Born

Food Matters

In my queue are several more including a few National Geographics about the Human body, the Lee Strobel Case for Faith and Case for Christ ones, one about Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, a few more food ones, another pregnancy one, one about the Chaplain of NYFD who died on 9/11… you get the picture. There are simply FASCINATING documentaries to watch. Unlike daytime TV they stretch your mind and teach you new things. I love them.

What are you watching?