washing soda Archives

Lavender and Fir Wax Tarts + Carpet Freshener Tutorial

January 28, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Home Crafts

One of the best things about a clean home is a crisp, fresh scent. It’s so nice to walk into a room and smell lavender, lemon and fir. This is especially true in areas where people spend a lot of time, like the living room. Natural ingredients are perfect for freshening a room.

The Natural Carpet Refresher is made with baking soda and cornstarch, which absorb odors. The recipe also contains washing soda, which can help get rid of carpet stains. A mixture of lavender 40/42 essential oil and lemon essential oil add a relaxing citrus scent. To use, lightly sprinkle the powder on a carpet or rug, let sit for 5-10 minutes, vacuum and enjoy the pleasant aroma!

Like any cleaning product, make sure to keep it away from children and pets. You don’t want anybody walking on the rug or carpet after the product has been sprinkled on. Make sure to vacuum the powder up thoroughly – in our tests we went over the carpet twice to be extra careful. In addition, you should test a small area of your rug or carpet with the powder before covering the entire surface. The amount of essential oil in this recipe is quite small, but you want to make sure it will not leave any oil marks on your floor before using. In addition, you can download and print these free Natural Cleaning Labels to give your products a professional look.

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Natural Laundry Soap + Natural Dryer Sheet Recipe

January 21, 2016 Filed Under: Home Crafts

A new year is the perfect time to get organized and start fresh. It’s also a great time to clean rooms you might forget about, like the laundry room! Several years ago, the team and I thoroughly tested recipes for laundry soap and posted our favorites here. My laundry soap recipes have several main ingredients: washing soda, citric acid and shredded soap. Citric acid works to break down enzymes in stains, washing soda is a stain remover, and shredded soap adds cleansing properties.

Homemade laundry soap is also a great time to use up any lye-heavy cold process soap you may have on hand. While lye-heavy soap is too harsh for the skin, it works great on dirty clothes that need extra cleansing! You can also use regular, non-lye heavy soap in your laundry recipes. Just keep in mind that any free floating oils in your soap will be added to the laundry as well. I prefer to use soap with a superfat of 3% or less in my laundry soap recipes. In addition, you can download and print these free Natural Cleaning Labels to give your products a professional look.

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Top DIY Cleaning Ingredients

January 18, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried a lot of cleaning products. There are so many to choose from in the store. After countless tests, I find myself going back to natural cleaners I already have in my cupboard. They’re simple, effective and not full of unpronounceable chemicals. For the next two weeks, the blog will feature some easy handmade cleaner recipes for each room in your home.

These are some of my favorite ingredients to use when making natural cleaning products. They can be used for everything from cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and living room. If you’re looking for more natural cleaning recipes, check out this Spring Cleaning Roundup. The post includes recipes for laundry soap, wood polish and more. What is your favorite natural cleaning ingredient?

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Sunday Night Spotlight: Baking Soda

March 8, 2015 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a versatile ingredient. Commonly used as a leavening agent in baking, baking soda also has a place in bath and beauty products. It is the primary ingredient in bath fizzies and adds gentle exfoliation to soap and scrubs.

Baking soda is a light, fine white powder. The mineral form of sodium bicarbonate is called nahcolite. The majority of the baking soda in the U.S. comes from the vast trona mines in Green River, Wyoming. What is trona? According to the city of Green River Wyoming, “trona is the raw material which is refined into soda ash. Soda ash, in turn, is used to make glass, paper products, laundry detergents, and many other products. It also is used in the manufacturing of other chemicals, such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium phosphates (detergents).”
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