Last week, I shared some of the natural, synthetic-chemical-free products we’ve started using to clean our home. Today, we’re onto going chemical-free in the bathroom. Here are the natural toiletry alternatives we’ve swapped to so far:
Natural bar soap
We used to use liquid hand “soaps” and body wash, but began to realize that these are not true soaps (saponified oils), but are usually chemical based detergents. They often contain sodium lauryl sulfate amongst other dubious chemicals. Especially given that I have had skin issues on my hands, when someone suggested giving these the flick, we were more than happy to. Instead we now use basic bar soap and choose ones that only contain natural ingredients. One day I would like to make our own, but for the present time we’ve decided to buy it. The only ingredients required are oil (which is saponified in the soap making process) and lye (sodium hydroxide), with essential oils being an optional extra for scent. Simple, old fashioned effectiveness and not as harsh on skin.
Moisturiser
Two words: coconut oil. That’s it! I use it for moisturizer on both my face and the rest of my body. So good you could eat it!
Tooth powder
For this one, we started with Wellness Mama’s Remineralizing Toothpaste recipe but found that because of the coconut oil, it was hard to work with when cold and the dry ingredients settled to the bottom when the oil melted in hot weather so that it didn’t stay evenly mixed. Our solution is to just make this recipe as a tooth powder by leaving out the coconut oil. To use, we wet our toothbrushes and then stick them in the jar to get some of the powder on our brushes. You can split it across multiple small jars if you’re not comfortable sharing a jar with other family members. As I’m having some issues with my gums, I find the bi carb irritates my gums but if I use just a tiny amount, I am fine and my teeth still feel smooth and very clean. We use peppermint essential oil in ours which gives a lovely fresh mouth feel and is also a natural teeth whitener. And to top it all off, the kids approve!
Shampoo and Conditioner
From my research, this appears to be one of the trickiest ones to find the right recipe for, because everyone has different hair types so there is no “one size fits all” recipe. We’ve been making Wellness Mama’s Natural Shampoo recipe which is as easy as mixing equal parts of liquid castile soap and coconut milk. For conditioner we’ve been using the 50:50 water-apple cider vinegar mix she mentions. We just put the latter in a spray bottle. Hubby finds it works great for him, but it doesn’t do quite as well for me. However it works enough that it’s better to use it than to not wash my hair, and I prefer this to lathering my hair with dubious chemicals. Eventually I plan to try some different recipes but for now, this will work.
What other natural toiletry alternatives do you use and love?
Originally posted 2015-10-19 15:00:32.