Bucket AC-Hack (and review)

Equipment needed:  

5 gallon bucket with lid

Gallon of water (or 2 to rotate)

Rotary tool

Desk fan

Tape

Step 1 -- Cut out center.

Step 2 -- Tape fan over lid.

Step 3 -- Cut out 3 holes in bucket.

Step 4 -- Place previously frozen gallon of water in bucket.

Step 5 -- Turn on fan and enjoy.

Review:
This works better than just a fan.  I wouldn't say it is as cold as an AC unit.  However, I have heard dry ice works the best with this system.  We just couldn't find any.

Ditch the Deo without the BO

Is it possible?  Yes it is.  Last Friday was my first day in attempting my freeing of the armpits.  I'm going to be honest and say I didn't do much research starting out, so I came by some knowledge just in experience and then wondering why it worked persuaded me to find the answer.

So when I began a week ago I read a blog where a woman was just documenting her experience to a point where it seemed her sweat moderated itself and all was well.  I hadn't heard this was possible.  It sounded like when I entered the "No 'Poo" method of hair washing, where we can get the sebaceous glands to take a chill pill in overproduction as we stop making them overproduce with stripping, but these are different glands.  If this can be done, then logically I approached it the same way -- just as hair needs sebum as a protector, so this excretion is also needed.  I didn't stop my sebum production completely when I went to the "No 'Poo" method; I just taught my scalp to not overproduce because I stopped giving it a reason to continuously replenish -- I stopped stripping it with detergent shampoos.  It was just a thought, but I wondered if overproduction of sweat was due to stripping moisture from the armpits, which in turn is linked to the body odor; to add, that over-kill of the skin's bacteria (odor contributor) made an imbalance of it as well.

First, you need to understand a few things about deodorant and why you should stay away from it.  Well, before that we need to establish that there is a difference between deodorant and antiperspirant.  Most sticks you label "deodorant" are a combination of both a deodorizing agent and an antiperspirant, though a true deodorant itself does not contain antiperspirant.  Most organic or natural deodorants are in this field.  They do not stop sweat production but handle the bacteria on the surface of the skin which causes the odor.  My issue with this is that they are quite costly.

Going back to body odor -- the apocrine glands are those that are associated with hair follicles, and are the ones you find under your armpits.  The fluid is odorless until it is met with bacteria on the skin's surface.  Logically, this should be good bacteria, unless you mess with it, which you often do in deodorants.  My theory above was perhaps the bacterial imbalance that would make very pungent odors are due to messing too much with the bacteria with chemicals in deodorants and antiperspirants.  Most natural deodorants will deal with the bacteria in the form of essential oils like lavender, tea tree, etc.  These oils are good antibacterial agents.

Your conventional deodorant-antiperspirant stick uses a form of aluminum to contract the pores to the point of keeping you dry.  It clogs them, in a nutshell.  I have an issue with this because you need to sweat.  There is a reason why God made those glands, and failure to expel toxins and pheromones, and failure to release sodium back into the blood stream after bodily stress each has their own set of consequences that can be quite damaging to other systems of the body, not to mention outpours of claims that aluminum is toxic internally.

Back to the problem I have with buying natural deodorants:  I already have plenty of items in my house that handle bacteria.  I actually used to make my own deodorant with lemon essential oil, coconut oil, and baking soda.  I was annoyed at how often I had to apply it.  I personally wanted a bit more freedom for my armpits, and not have a sandy, oily, substance sitting under them.  So I decided to just use an essential oil and see how long I could go.  My test was with ylang ylang, simply because I love the smell.

The week was especially interesting.  First, I washed my armpits each day with baking soda.  Since I was trying to handle the sweat-production imbalance in the same way I handled my sebum-production imbalance, I'd use the same product.  I'm not sure if that did much for the sweat production, but in the very least it did help out as I realized that the fluid of the apocrine gland will mix with sebum before it makes it to the surface.  So since sebum was involved, balancing it out with baking soda seemed to be a bonus to my deodorant-free trial.

On with the day to day... Day 1 was my day to clean my house for the week, filled with bathtub scrubbing, elbow grease in the oven, etc.  I only had to apply it once, first thing in the morning and I felt so free by the end of the day.  Weird, I know.  Day 2 was interesting since it was Saturday and I am a part of a flag worship team in our congregation.  I thought it mightily brave of me to do all the dancing and whipping of arms up and down without anything under those pits except for a single drop of ylang ylang applied to each.  Let me tell you, worked like a charm.  Day 3 was especially interesting because it was our hiking day.  We hiked up to a ridge at over 5800 ft elevation.  I applied a drop of ylang ylang under each arm before we even left the house and brought the bottle with me.  I was shocked to note that I did not have to reuse that bottle, and boy was I sweating!  Just in case my own nose was acclimating to my pits faster than my pits were acclimating to my new routine, I asked my family's input.  No body odor apparent.  The rest of the week was quite mild, though one day I tried bergamot instead and noticed that it did not work as well for me, another I tried lemon, and then another I tried lavender.  Both of those worked well.  I am sure they each dealt with the bacteria at hand.  Yesterday when I showed up to dance practice, a couple of people noted how I actually smelled good.  No deodorant and I smell good -- how about that!

Anyway, later I linked the ylang ylang success to the fact that it is a muscle relaxer of a sort.  It prevents muscle contraction, and though slight contraction is used to expel sweat from armpits, the excessive contraction is the science behind antiperspirants.  Therefore, I wondered if the freedom versus the constraint made my body happy and that even the more often that fluid reaches the surface, the less bacteria has a chance to build up to mix with it and make a pungent smell.  Going against an antiperspirant's contraction, it was the difference between being continuously moist, versus being dry but dumping sweat profusely when nervous.  My balance theory proving itself?  Note, my armpits were not dry, but neither were they sweaty.  Couple this with ylang ylang just smelling good, and hey, it worked!  I later read that ylang ylang is an anti-seborrhic, which tells me it further would balance out the over production of sebum.  I wonder if the oily substance (sebum mixes with the fluid that becomes sweat before it expels) has anything to do with odor lasting, and that even if I had odor from the apocrine glands expelling, it wouldn't stick around anyway without a fat like sebum.   Hmmm...

I'd enjoy hearing your experiences and successes!

Homemade Scoby & Kombucha

I am fairly new to kombucha, only a few months but was immediately hooked.  It took me a while to purchase my first one because I just could not bring myself to spend over $3 on a beverage, and it really just did not look appealing.  Marlene's had them on sale -- $1 less than normal price -- and so then started the kombucha bottle collection in my cupboards!

Well if it didn't look appealing at first bottled sight, then certainly it doesn't when making it!  My husband could not believe I fell in love with kombucha.  He spent some years as a server in Florida -- the "South" part of Florida in the Panhandle, where sweet tea is ordered before the water comes out.  He wondered why I didn't just make it myself if I loved it so much.  I then looked up scobies and saw how unappealing the process looked and how much a kit would cost me.  He said they would make scobies all the time, not intentionally, but just by being so busy and never washing out the urns.  So I began my experiment.

From what I read online, I am finding article after article no longer recommended the homemade scoby method that I used.  However, even if you bought a scoby, in reusing it past your first batch you are still practically doing the homemade scoby method by using some of the old tea to feed the scoby, because each batch will make new scoby -- like you are initially atttempting to do with the homemade scoby method.  It's the same process in the second go-round if you bought your scoby.  It just sounds fishy to me to say it is not a recommended method, and seems more like a way to keep making money off of people on something that often unintentionally gets made in the South.  Yeah, you know what road I took!

I started with these ingredients:

1 bottle of store bought original black bottle kombucha
Homemade sweetened black tea

I wanted a good start so I used the black bottle kombucha.  If you are using GT's, this is the kind that says it contains alchohol because it has a slightly longer fermentation process than the clear bottle stuff.  I have seen in those non-recommended articles that the clear bottle is often used, though the darker bottles have much more of that cloudy blob on the bottom and I wanted a good starter for a scoby.

I started by steeping tea and molasses in a mason jar and a jam jar, halfway full, and then let cool completely.  I decided on molasses because I wanted the extra minerals in my kombucha.  Note -- I have read that in choosing sugar types for kombucha, since molasses has extra minerals, it is harder on the scoby; however, my scoby formed just fine in 5 days' time.  It didn't seem to have a bad effect on my batch!  I will stick to natural, raw sugars like raw honey and raw agave, because of contained minerals and ohter properties.  I just love that I can add healthiness (if I can even say a sugar source could be healthy with offending some) to something already healthy.

After the tea fully cooled, I split the store bought kombucha into the 2 jars.  I let it fully cool as to not kill the cultures in the kombucha I added.  Then I simply set the lids on top, not tightened, and let it sit in my pantry.

Right before I put the lids on. 

Day 5 gave me a healthy scoby, though I waited until day 8 to do the second fermentation on this batch and do a second initial batch. 

The initial fermentation can go from 7-30 days.  I thought mine would have to be on the high end since I was using molasses.  Yet, this wasn't the case for me, and the smell of tartness was to my precise liking on day eight.  It might have been because of the good starter black bottle kombucha that I used, rather than the clear bottle.  Our secret.

On day 8 I took the contents from this batch, removing the scoby and reserving some from of the bottom for another new batch, and bottled it into 2 kombucha bottles.  I decided on a gingerade flavor, squeezing fresh lemon into each bottle and 2 drops of ginger essential oil.  I gave it a quick try, and the ginger was very strong.  Next time I do this flavor, I will use just one essential oil drop per bottle.  Then I tightened the lids and put back into my pantry for another 2 days.  This is to enhance the flavor and to allow carbonation to build from fermentation to gain a fizzy kombucha.  With the scoby and reserve, I started another batch of kombucha, repeating my initial batch with a scoby this time.  

Second fermentation process.  The scoby did grow from day five to eight.

Second batch, reusing scoby.

It was a very easy process.  It's like ghee -- I can't believe I've been buying this stuff!  This second batch I will add chia seeds to make my favorite type of kombucha.  What are some of your flavors you have experienced making?  You know, I never was into sweet tea.  I actually even took a bit of pride in knowing it didn't get a hold of me.  Ha, but with kombucha... I guess in a way, sweet tea got a hold of me too.

Two Cents a Load, as Low as ONE (DIY Laundry Soap)

Yesterday I was trying to configure proportions in laundry detergent ingredients and ended up enlisting my husband's help on his lunch break.  We texted back and forth and the result was a laundry chemist walked through the door shortly before dinner.  He had spent some time reading the science behind detergent during his breaks.  Oh, what a man.  Then before we went to bed I changed my mind on the powder option and decided to go with liquid -- because the last time I used powder I had an issue with it clumping in cold water.  I stopped with an abrupt, "I think I need friends."  Please tell me there have been other women who are at home with their littles all day and have pondered such DIY projects down to the science.

Once I gave up the powder concept, the liquid formula was easy to figure out.  In a detergent I have to think of a few things -- 1) cleanliness; 2) natural; 3) gentle but effective, since I have a baby; 4) does not cause me to strip diapers; 5) does not tear down my PUL diapers nor bamboo.  With this, I opted to eliminate anything too high in pH and too low.  In fact, my detergent from Trader Joe's labels itself as pH balanced.  I know that may shock majority of the laundry detergent makers who understand that you need a high pH to degrease.  Since soda ash is high up there at an 11, I wanted to refrain from using it (bamboo does not like high pH anyway).  I know water is the biggest thing you need for cleaning.  I also know, thanks to my husband's research, that though you may not need soda ash, you need a surfactant.  Magnesium sulfate (Epsom) would be my choice in that -- it is also not too acidic, at an average pH of six.

When I looked at my Trader Joe's pH balanced detergent it reads, "Purified water, plant based surfactant, soy based fabric softener, cellulose optical brightener, lavender oil."  Honestly, I thought to sub a few things and stick with their sort of ingredients -- like Epsom for the surfactant, vinegar instead of fabric softener, salt for brightener, and lavender oil.  However, just by knowing those ingredients, it would keep the solution slightly acidic because of the vinegar.

I also use their dish detergent, which is quite similar in ingredients.  Dish soap is almost always used in liquid homemade detergent, if not a bar soap.  I wouldn't use a bar soap because of the chance of repel in the cloth diapers.  It was easy for me to just use their dish soap in my laundry soap.  So, so far I knew I would use the balanced dish soap and Epsom.  My last active ingredient would be baking soda.  Why?  Because it is a milder alternative of the soda ash.  It sits around 9 on the pH scale.

Using only a shy less than half gallon (multiply accordingly for more), my formula was:

3 TB dish soap
2 TB baking soda
3 TB Epsom salt
(Optional) essential oils

I stirred these in a pot with a few cups of sink hot water until dissolved, then poured into my old detergent bottle and filled the rest with cold water.  I am using the same measurements of others' post to use 1/2 cup per standard load.  For HE, my Trader Joe's detergent uses half (1/4 cup) to yield 26 HE loads, or 13 standard loads.  You could always work between these 2 numbers and go with a 1/3, as I've seen in other posts as well.

So let's talk cost and how I figured it was only 2 pennies a load.  Let me first say, I bought that smallest box of baking soda and smallest bag of Epsom salt.  If you go with the larger quantities, you will truly only spend a penny a load, as these things get cheaper the larger the package.

Dish soap -- $2.99 at 25 ounces (50 TB) That's $.059/less than $.06 an TB
Baking soda -- $.54 at 16 ounces (32 TB) That's $.016/scarcely over a penny a TB
Epsom salt -- $.88 at 16 ounces (32 TB) That's $.027/less than $.03 a TB

For once 13-26 (depending on HE or standard) load bottle (53 ounce) I need $.17 of dish soap, $.03 baking soda, and $.08 of Epsom salt.  Total, this is $.28 of ingredients needed for no less than 13 loads, and up to 26 loads.  Divide that into the 13 loads and it makes each load 2 cents, but divide that into 26 and you get...a penny a load.  I did also put some essential oils, rolling with 7 drops each of lavender and bergamot.  This is optional, as the dish soap already has lavender.  I added lavender to roll with the oil it already had, and added bergamot since it is such a good skin oil.  I imagine I'll switch it up each time, alternating between lemon, sweet orange, peppermint, lavender, tea tree, bergamot, etc.  Again, it's not needed, but at 1-2 pennies a load...why not?

Machine Free Cloth Diapering (Hand Wash Method)

Why in the world would anybody be interested in washing diapers by hand?  Well, there are some of us that temporarily use laundering facilities.  Honestly, when you can buy a case of diapers at Walmart for $20 and compare that to the amount you spend to wash a load of cloth diapers at a mat, it really does have you wonder if you are cloth diapering for cost-efficiency or if the health nutty earth moms' exploitation of cloth diapering turned it into a trend for you.

I am a health nutty hippy mom myself, but I am also more so of the camp that refuses to let go of the budget-friendliness of cloth diapering.  I just can't spend $30 a diaper that I would actually use, and in the same sense I just can't spend $30 a week on cleaning diapers!  Even when we did own a washing machine before cloth diapering, I would limit its usage, and so adding diapers into the load adds amounts of time I'd have to use it and my head would be counting the costs.  Simply, I had to learn to successfully hand wash my diapers.

Since I've been doing it in this way for nearing a month and we have had zero stink, zero stains, and zero infections, I figured what we are doing is very doable and so here is the way our house makes the most of cloth diapering, keeping it eco-friendly and budget-friendly.  This method is essentially equipment-free cleansing, it does not require a plunger or other device, just your hand.  Truly, a hand washing and agitation method.

Prepping
Since dry time without a dryer took a tad longer than...a dryer, I had to invest in a few more prefolds for my PUL covers, so I wouldn't run out of diapers while awaiting ones to dry.  This meant I had to put a well known non-machine prep method to the test:  boiling.  I purchased both bamboo and unbleached cotton prefolds.  The instructions for prep mentioned natural oils in the material that need to be broken down.  Logically, I just thought what it was essentially saying is that you need a degreaser -- a sulfate.  Now, we don't own any chemical sulfates in our house, but our dishsoap does use a plant-based one.  So, I boiled the diapers in dishsoap water for 30 minutes, let them cool down, rinse really well (to get as much soap out as I could), then I did a second boil in straight water to release the remainder of the dishsoap out of them.  Ta-da.  Prepped diapers.  I know they prepped correctly because those bamboo ones have lasted a minimum of 4 hours between changing.

Washing
Okay so before I even wash, I immediately rinse the diaper I just took off of baby.  Since correct cleansing without a machine is greatly dependent upon the soak, I had to rinse the diapers of urine to ensure they aren't soaking in urine, tainting the cleanse.  All I really do is run faucet water into the prefold to its max absorbency and squeeze out, flip to the other side and do the same thing.  I repeat this twice and throw into the baby's bathtub for a soak.  I use baby's bathtub because it is a water-saver.

As for the detergent -- as of this moment we had been using Trader Joe's pH balanced plant-based regular laundry detergent.  I only need 1-2 T for her baby tub.  My goal this week is to develop my own laundry soap that I can use instead; howbeit, it cannot be predominately baking/washing soda like most others, because bamboo breaks down in high pH.  I'm sure that soap invention will make its way into a post sometime -- stay tuned.  In the soapy tub, I knead each diaper for a couple of minutes like I would bread dough -- I consider it practice for my once-a-week challah making.  I then let it soak all day until after dinner.  I wring the diapers out and repeat the faucet rinse I mentioned above to get the detergent out (run water over one side to its fill, squeeze, repeat on other side, repeat each side again).

Final Rinse
From my days of being below the poverty line, as well as my days in Spain and Costa Rica -- times when I did not have a dryer -- I learned that hang drying creates stiff clothes.  So for this purpose, a fabric softener comes in handy.  Of course you would not use one on your cloth diapers, but an excellent alternative is vinegar.  Likewise, vinegar will also further sanitize.  My second soak (which lasts until I go to bed) is in vinegar/water in the tub as my final rinse soak.  I knead the diapers once again to get the vinegar in there and the remainder soap out of there.  Before I go to bed I will wring out and do the faucet rinse mentioned above.  I do not put my covers in a vinegar rinse, as I read that vinegar will break down the PUL.

Drying
This is simple.  I keep them on a rack overnight and then throw them on my car's dash in the morning and they are dry in a matter of a couple of hours.  The sun is whitening and sanitizing.  In the overcast days (which we do see in Washington), I keep them on the rack and will use the fan or throw them in front of the heater and they are dry in a little over an hour.

It really does not take up that much time to knead a diaper and wring it, etc.  Don't be intimidated by all the instructions of needing x amount of washes for a good prep or machine washing.  It wasn't too long ago that cloth diapers were the only option and not too long before that hand washing was the only option as well.  We didn't always have machines and, hey, it worked out.  I am determined that it can still work out.

Using My Surplus for FREE Wipes

Prior to last week I had not even thought I would want to do cloth wipes.  I saw we were running low on wipes and figured why not give them a try.

This is the thing... I am all about spending a bit to save in the long run.  Yet, cloth diapering is one of those things that can easily turn on you.  What happened to the days when cloth diapering was the cheapest way to go?  Determined to keep it that way, I hand wash my diapers, don't do AIOs (all-in-ones), but use prefolds (which are much cheaper), and cycle through 4 wipeable covers (the old Smart Bottoms).

Keeping up with keeping it cheap and simple, cloth wipes only made sense to me if I did not have to buy some special wipe solution nor had to buy the terry or flannel for wipes.  I considered what I already own -- flannel receiving blankets (just cut them up), and terry wash cloths.  For some reason I have seen moms always have more receiving blankets and wash cloths than they need, and these happen to be the best materials you could use for wipes.  Flannel works great for urine cleanup, and the terry does well for the poopy ones.  Of course, these are not ones I already had in use for baby, but were surpluses collecting dust.

Next was the solution.  I have a stock of essential oils, and often use them on baby.  For my everyday solution I decided to go with Mountain Rose's sweet orange oil and tea tree, 7 drops a piece, in a 50 mL glass bottle filled with my Berkey's water.  That size is good enough for us; I have a bit less than half a bottle left after a week.  Note, I use glass because the essential oils are strong and it appears as if some of them causes almost a stripping reaction to plastic.  I speak through experience, having dropped a bit of oregano oil on my keyboard once and the polish came off of that area.  I also have friends that will likewise refrain from putting essential oil dilutions in plastic containers.

You could be diverse with this though.  For instance, lavender is a great diaper rash oil, so you may want to use that instead.  Tea tree is good for yeast rashes (I use as preventative for my baby) and orange oil's limonene is a known cleanser, hence why I chose these.

I dabble some of the solution on baby's bottom and wipe up.  Since the solution is sanitizing, if the diaper was just wet one, I have found myself to rinse and reuse a couple of times, if not dab a bit of soap and then rinse and reuse.  You could use a spray glass bottle for your solution, which would probably be easier.  I just didn't have one, and you know I'm all about using what I already have.  In this, cloth wiping has literally cost me...nothing!

Natural Moisturizing Hand-Sanitizer

Who is the naive person that thought that hand-sanitizer was simply alcohol and aloe vera just by looking at it?  (This woman, right here).  Remember the days when you were singing the praises of the hand-sanitizer makers?  Wahoo -- not only can we cleanse our hands anywhere without water, but we can also opt out of chemical-filled detergent hand soaps in the public bathrooms and choose sanitizer instead.  Um, yeah, that was hopeful thinking.

The full ingredients from my conventional hand sanitizer reads as follows:  Ethyl alcohol (active), water, glyceryl caprylate/caprate, glyerin, isopropyl myristate, tocopheryl acetate, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, fragrance, benzophenone-4.  Whoa!  Then you have to moisturize your hands after the stripping of moisture from that sanitizer.  This means after the numerous chemicals you just put upon your hands (which are one of the easiest ways to get things in through the skin, by the way), you have to add the chemicals from the lotion/moisturizer.  Talk about overload.

Well, here is a very simple recipe that gets your hands clean, water-free, and moisturizes them with as little as two ingredients.  I use 3 ingredients in mine, but it is not needed.

The 2 main things you will need:

Coconut oil
Sanitizing essential oil(s) -- i.e. sweet orange, lemon, grapefruit, oregano, lavender, or a synergy blend such as Thieves, etc.

I opt for the cheaper citrus oils, because I am also always thinking of cost-efficiency.  In mine, I used sweet orange, which is extremely high in limonene, an ingredient often used in household cleaners.  Did I also mention cheap?  My organic sweet orange from Mountain Rose, with a lot/batch number on it, costs but dollars.  I also used oregano essential oil, which alone is anti-everything harmful.  Caution -- oregano oil is a hot oil, so be careful in handling.  Per couple of tablespoons, I only used 3 drops of oregano vs. the 7 drops of sweet orange essential oil.  I did also did test (taste) the hotness with this dilution -- nothing to note, as it is highly diluted in the coconut oil.  The coconut oil also helps remove dirt and grime (even car grease), via oil-cleansing method.  Stir it up really well in a small glass jar (like a baby food jar), and take it everywhere.

Cloth Diapers & the Difference in Styles

"Cloth diapering is cheaper," that is the what we are all told.  However, they are not cheap to purchase.  Elisha's came from my mother-in-law, though when I went to purchase a few more, I figured I better really test out if I like them.  She gave 2 different styles to try out -- the pocket and the AI2 (all-in-two, the cover and separate padding option).  To be quite clear, since there are so many brands out there and upgrades to different systems, I am giving you a review of the BumGenius 4.0 (pocket-style) and the Smart Bottoms Too Smart (AI2) diapering systems.

The pocket style diaper has an outer waterproof covering and internal microfiber liner.  Between the two is the pocket where you would put the absorbent padding.  This style is interchangeable in size, by snaps in the front.  The microfiber liner is great for wicking wetness away from the baby's bottom.  In fact, I started using the cloth diapers when she had a bad rash, which went away the next day.  Then I figured this was a good time to just make the switch to the cloth.

I worried if the internal liner would stain badly and if bleach was needed often.  I will say that this material is great for wicking, not retaining.  The stain will come out, if you target it quickly and with some good hand scrubbing.

The AI2 diaper has a waterproof cover, with microfiber-lined elastic along the legs, wherein there is a hidden hook and loop system for sizing.  This is a single layer liner, with the absorbent padding (I use folds, as they call it, which are the standard cloths) folded directly atop (tucked under the top and bottom of inside of cover) and ready for use.

There are pros and cons to these diapering systems.  For the pocket ones, the pros I have are the wicking internal liner, and the pads they come with offer a better absorbency than I've seen with its ancestors.  The pros for the AI2 ones are that the covers are reusable between changes.  Since they are merely a good, waterproof liner, you just need to give it a good santizing wipe and throw a new insert pad into it, as long as the leg's liner didn't get wet.  That sort of system is very agreeable for a eco-mom like myself who hand-washes the cloth diapers.  Another pro I have for my AI2 diapers, as opposed to pockets, is the sizing system.  The snaps may seem like a huge step up from the hook and loop system, but for us that is only deceiving.  I have had more leaks from the pocket diapers than the AI2 just because the hook and loop system provides a snugger hold on the legs.  When you are dealing with petite misses, this makes a difference.

I also prefer the 3 snap tabs of the AI2, rather than the 2 snap tab enclosure of my pocket diapers.  This might not make a difference with bigger babies and toddlers, but with little ones that third snap keeps the front of the diaper in place, helping against front leaks.

The BumGenius material bunch

The snugger fit of the Smart Bottoms Too Smart diapers

As you can see, I much prefer the Smart Bottoms Too Smart.  There is a huge difference between the two.  Of course, the build of your baby makes the biggest difference.  As far as other options, namely the AIO system (all-in-one), that isn't a good choice for me seeing that I hand wash and line -- the dry time would be too long, or I'd need too many of them for use in between drying.  Finding the good match ensures you stick with it, saving money, rather than making a hefty purchase gone poopy...speaking of diapers. ;-)

DIY $9 Set of Flag Swivel Rods

Yesterday I got the news that I can officially be a part of the flag team in our congregation.  Yay!  With that, I had been scoping out what type of flags they use.  Most often I see the swivel sorts, with the ball on the end that helps rolling the rod in the hand, probably saving the wrist.  I bought some cheaper ones that have flags already attached (though swivel), outside of the beautiful non-swivel ones I shared in a previous post for $12.  For cost efficiency, I wanted swivel rods that didn't have their flags permanently attached, that way I could interchange the same rod with multiple flags.  I had did online window shopping for a while and could not find these any cheaper than $18 a rod.  That's $36/set.  Perhaps if that included the flags, that would have been the most I was comfortable spending, but it didn't (flags were still ranging around $14 just for one detachable/$28 a set!).  A praise session could easily turn into $64+.  I'm just a little more economical than that.  I ventured to make my own.

The blueprint I used was from ones that I had previously purchased, whose flags were not removable.  First of the all, it wasn't just the luxury of changing flags on one rod that made me want more rods, but it was the fact that the dowels of the ones I had purchased were thin and caused hand cramping.  However, they were an example for me in the task I was undertaking.  They are pictured below.

It took just 2 stores -- Home Depot and Hobby Lobby.

At Hobby Lobby, I picked up 2 5x8 dowels and the ball caps in the same aisle.  Those balls can only fit over a 5x8, hence that is the dowel size I had to get.  Note, the dowels are 36 inches long, which is rather heavy-duty.  You could always use a rotary tool to cut it down a few inches, but not too much because you will still need it long enough for the poly pipe and your hands.  Or, you could take it to Home Depot (which was my next stop) and use their aisle saw for free.  You can also get a strip of velcro here for less than a dollar.

At Home Depot, I really only needed the poly pipes that spin over the dowels.  These pipes were in the PVC pipe section, under the bundles of lightweight pipes that are sold in rolls.  These are much thinner and lighter, and $.90 a pipe.  I purchased 2 at the 3/4 size, 24 inches long.  Again, you can have these cut shorter at Home Depot (even their tools department will help you out for free) or do at home if you have the tools.  If you don't already have it, you can also pick up electrical tape and wood glue (I already had these).

Use wood glue to cap off one end with the wooden ball.  Put dowel through the pipe.  Secure the other end of it in place with electrical tape, as pictured below.  This will allow free spinning without friction.

Then I secured the other end of dowel with the same wood glue and wooden ball.  There are a few options you can do to secure a flag to the swivel pipe.  The option I chose was to use the soft side of velcro.  Just a wrap around on the 2 ends of the pipe is sufficent to stick to a flag made of certain materials.  Or you could always use the other side of the velcro and sew it into the end of the flag that wraps around the pole/rod.

Grand total?  For both rods, all things considering... $9, and still with plenty of balls left over for another project.  That's $27 dollar savings!

Worship Flags for 1/4 of the Cost

Yesterday my husband helped me make some worship flags.  The day prior I had been looking at separate vendors for purchase.  There are a few types to choose from -- some that swivel on the rod, and others that do not swivel.  From there, there are quite a few styles.  The ones we did yesterday are the bigger, non-swivel flags that look like they emit forth directly from your hand, as if they were an extension of it.  These are the kinds that I see people get by with just one single one, or two if you are skilled.  We made two, for practice and the future, and because we have children.

Now one of the lady flaggers I know told me that the starting price of $40 a pair of those style of flags that I found on from a certain vendor was a really good deal, since most of them start at $70 for that certain style.  When I read that flag maker's technique, how she prays over the flags ordered, I thought how special it would be to do my own, and had hoped to make it even cheaper.  Brant wanted to do it as love offering to me.  

The supplies we needed were:

1 large (4 ft), or 2 smaller (2 ft), fiberglass rods as dowels

2 yards of lame or organza fabric

electrical tape (optional)

I pondered where I would find fiberglass rods.  Since these types of flags have a smaller dowel, wood is just not going to be durable.  I have seen a flexible poly being used as well, but knew that since I am just starting out, a strong fiberglass rod would suit best.  Well, I will tell you I found a fiberglass rod at Home Depot's sign department, right next to where they would have the garage sale signs.  It is a simple reflector rod/stake, and it comes in 4 ft at $2.  I swapped that one up, and my husband took the rotary tool to it to make it 2 2ft rods.  Note, you don't need tools.  Home Depot has saws for customer use sitting in the lumber department.  This rod comes with rubber ends.  Make sure to snatch that up to ensure the end does not jam into your hand when in use, or rip through your fabric.  Though, if you are using electrical tape (later explained), it won't matter much.

Then we wrapped our orange rods up with electrical tape, securing the ends for a smooth finish.  The rods are complete -- moving onto the fabric.

Two yards is more than enough for 2 of these flags, even if you only used one flag in your dance.  Simply cut in half and begin to hem edges.  My end product was 35" x 44" on each flag.  Before I hemmed, I took a lighter to the loose ends to ensure they would not unravel in the sewing process.  This fabric is very delicate and I did not want needle snags to turn into fabric coming undone.  

Now you have a rectangle.  On the smaller edge, I folded over 7/8" once, pinned, then rolled over again, releasing first pin to repin the second fold.  This is for the pole.  Then we hemmed.  I only hemmed 2 ft (plus 2 inches, will explain why later) from the top of that smaller side because the rod is only 2 ft long and I want the excess to hang like a wing off of my hand.  I've seen most will cut around that area to accencuate that wing piece.  It will do fine on its own if you just let if freely hang, like I explained.  

So that extra 2 inches on the rod's side is so that you have enough fabric to fold over where the top of the pole would be, securing the fabric's integrity, that the pole does not rip through your fabric.  Once this is done, you simply slip the rod in and the flag is ready for use.  Notice, we did not secure the other end of the fabric to the rod.  This is because you will be holding that end -- it is not needed.  This also allows you to have a removeable rod for other flags.  Picture of handheld end, below.

Ta-da!  The best part?  The grand total was $12.  

DIY Toothpaste

Some years ago I switched my family a natural toothpaste.  At first it was to save money -- since toddlers aren't supposed to have flouride toothpaste (in case they swallow it), it was cheaper for all of us to switch to a flouride-free, natural, alternative, than to purchase 2 separate pastes.

That lasted a good few years until I was sick of the cost.  It was just logical to me, that if I see almost all brands of toothpaste advertise that they use baking soda and peroxide as their magic formula, I might as well just use those 2 ingredients and save over the years.  Mind you, a tube of natural toothpaste cost me anywhere from $3 - $5, lasting a month or so.  Baking soda comes at a price between .$50 - $1 a regular box, and lasts almost 2 months in my house, being used for more than just toothpaste.  Hey, the dollars add up.  If we do things ourselves in all areas of our lives, the dollars will really add up!

I started using just straight up baking soda for our teeth-cleanser, and peroxide for my mouthwash.  Then I realized I could cut out the nasty, foaming peroxide-of-a-wash if I adapted my oil-cleansing method, once used for my whole body for over a year (yes, I went soapless over a year!), on my teeth.  This fell in line with seeing other people using coconut oil for their oil-pulling method as a mouthwash.  I could never swish around oil in my mouth, so just as a part of the actual teeth brushing it remained.  I will say, though, that with adding coconut oil to my baking soda on my toothbrush, I have been able to get out of using mouthwash altogether.

The base I use is only 2 ingredients:  baking soda and coconut oil.  Baking soda is generally known to be a cleanser and deodorizes.  It's grittiness also aids to be a little abrasion to fight plaque.  Among many other benefits, coconut oil is antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial.

My mixture is a 70/30 -- the majority being baking soda, while the latter is the coconut oil.  I use this mixture to ensure that the baking soda's grit is not diminished fully by the oil.  I mix mine in a bowl with a spoon until well-blended.  The result looks like it is on the verge of being crumbly.

Then you can add essential oils to your homemade toothpaste, but it is not required.  For years, just baking soda worked for my family and me, and thereafter until just recently (with the addition of essential oils), coconut oil added to it was sufficient.  Essential oils are great for countering bad breath, as well as general tooth and gum health.  The most common flavors I see in toothpastes are peppermint and spearmint.   I choose to use lemon and eucalyptus.  I use lemon because is high in limonene, a component within the rind used as a cleanser; and it is a whitening agent.  I use eucalyptus, rather than peppermint, because I have read that it fights plaque and periodontal diseases, while being a great deodorizer.  For my 4 ounce jar of toothpaste, I added 15 drops of lemon and 10 drops of eucalytus.  The ratio is higher in lemon for me simply because eucalyptus' aroma would overpower the lemon, if in equal measures.

Put the toothpaste in your jar and store in a cool place.

First Fermentation Project: Sauerkraut

I am on this fermenting kick.  It's been over a year now that I've been intending on getting into it.  I wanted to ferment goat milk in Costa Rica, and even hoped to ferment the bananas into vinegar.  For some reason I just thought it was extremely difficult, or too laborious, and instead used the milk for cereal, and bananas for things like pancakes and the Chamorro donuts.  I switched up ferment for fried.  I'm a different person now.  First of all, I'm not pregnant -- which saw me so nauseous a year ago that I was willing to eat anything I could stomach without the acid.  Yes, even eggs and cheese.

So there is a big controversy I am seeing online about the proper containers for fermenting.  You all know I am all about using what I already have, and when I went to the health food store and saw a starter fermenting kit for $26, it only further justified that I will keep using what I have.  Fermenting is a process used not just for making alcohol in the past and now, but for preserving food.  We are now seeing (like many other things done in the past we are discovering) it should be done for health purposes, primarily for the probiotics that come of it.  The less fortunate around the world still ferment, safely, for food preservation.  I'm sure these don't have the luxury of purchasing a $26 starter kit.  Just saying!

I remember witnessing kimchee being made as a child...in an extremely huge, open container.  So yes, even though typically speaking, oxidation makes things go sour and moldly which logically would tell anyone that you should use an airtight sealed container (or some other fermenting-specific container) to rid oxygen, we also know that the process of fermenting provides a preservation/protection for the thing being fermented, as the lactic acid forms when the produce's suface bacteria is coupled in a brine to ferment the produce's sugars.  From the fermenting guros Google-wide I've read that as it really does not matter about the container so much as the ferment is sitting under the brine.  If you can count on this good bacteria in the brine to fight off the bad inside of your body, then it can do it in a container outside of the body before it gets there.

I didn't even go as far as using a mason jar, because I didn't have one readily available.  I used what used to be a Costco strawberry jam jar, because it was a quart size and I knew a cabbage would yield a quart.  I would today recommend, for my future uses, to use a larger size, because of the gassy overflow.

There are several methods I've seen to ensure a good, safe ferment.  I am only going to share with you the 'layer of oil' method because it is the only one I've tried, and with success on the first batch.  Therefore, here are my ingredients for this method:

• Cabbage head
• Water
• Olive oil
• Himalayan salt (or other salt)

I made my own brine, and my instructions will share it.  I don't get all technical with percentages.  You know exact measurements are just a blueprint for me.  I worked with the cabbage in fourths, chopping to smaller strips, placing them in a mixing bowl, and to each fourth I gave my salt grinder 7 revolutions.  It was a number 7 thing to me, LOL.

Then I smashed that fourth with the backside of a ceramic cup (you know I'm all about using what I already have), just slightly.  Afterward I transfered each fourth into the designated jar and smashed even more with the backside of one of my cooking utensils.

I smashed until the cabbage pieces looked watery and green, rather than the lighter color with the crunch, as shown below.

I repeated this chop and salt, smash and jar, and more smash- method with the remaining quarters and did the final smash until the cabbage's liquid was approximately one inch above the cabbage.  In my recipe, the salt percentage was just fine.  Finally, I added a small layer of olive oil to the top of the ferment.  From what I read, this film allows for CO2 off gas, but is a barrier to oxygen intake (which will rot the ferment).  It worked for me, and I even did more movement of my ferment than most I've read.

I placed the lid on, finger tight.  This also will use positive pressure to prevent oxygen intake.  Enough carbon dioxide is building up within, to give enough pressure to push out of the finger-tight lid.  The pressure it builds is too strong for oxygen to roam inside.  Again, this is just an extra precaution, because the oil should suffice.  Each day I opened the lid and pushed the cabbage down (it will want to float).  CO2 bubbles will also form in the deppths of the jar, and cause air bubble separatioon in the ferment.  I helped those release by this daily push-down.  It seemed to help my ferment gas off quicker, as opposed to others I've read who experience gassy rise to overflow days after mine ended.  This also gives you an opprtunity to try your ferment, to determine when you are satisfied with the taste to move it to the fridge.

The ferment will get gassy the first few days and will rise to pour over.  At day 3 I actually took the lid off and put a ceramic mug in there to hold it all down.  It fight nicely enough to cover the jar's opening, but also allow the overflow under much pressure.  I put a plate underneath it all to catch the drippings.  You may also have to add water in there is too much overflow.  I added a couple tablespoons 2 days in a row, and that was it.  No more salt needed.  

My ferment made it to day 7, without mold or even white scum.  The bubbles became filmy on the top, but nothing I would exactly constitute as white scum.  At day seven's push-down, I decided it was the perfect vinegar taste for me, and I moved it to the fridge.     

The ferment goes through 3 stages, and in order to go through all 3 quickly, you will need to wait it out 3 weeks at room temperature.  The fermenting will continue in the fridge, but much, much slower.  As spoken through Wikipedia:

The fermentation process has three phases, collectively sometimes referred to as population dynamics. In the first phase, anaerobic bacteria such as Klebsiella and Enterobacter lead the fermentation, and begin producing an acidic environment that favours later bacteria. The second phase starts as the acid levels become too high for many bacteria, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides and other Leuconostoc spp. take dominance. In the third phase, various Lactobacillus species, including L. brevis and L. plantarum, ferment any remaining sugars, further lowering the pH. 

I am going to enjoy sauerkraut today!  Mine was made from an organic cabbage head for less than $2 for a quart, as opposed to Bubbies' that offers 1/3 less than my yield at $6 a jar.  Yes, I surely will enjoy it!