Finally!  After several months of tweaking, fine tuning, dumping out and starting all over and many, many soapy overflows onto the kitchen floor (one spill in particular comes to mind – sorry ’bout your ass babe!)….I have done it!  Well, at least I think I’ve done it.  I never had a dishwasher in my home until we moved here.  I just always felt like they were energy and water wasters.  We never really even talked about getting one in our old place and when we bought this house, I figured I’d do with mine what my Grandma did with hers.  She kept her booze in it.  But once I had the chance to fire that baby up and take her on a test drive…I was smitten!  I love my dishwasher and all that she does for me!  I make sure I run full loads (I can pack a dishwasher like no one else…trust.) and I only run it once a day and sometimes skip a day or two.  But what I hate the most is buying dishwasher soap.  First, it’s super expensive if you buy green-detergents and second I feel like I waste it.  I am a little, ehem, heavy handed so when I squirt the stuff in to the cup…I fill that sucker to the brim.  And the other little cup gets a full squirt as well.  I was buying Seventh Generation in bulk from Amazon and felt like we were saving some money..but there had to be a way to do it cheaper.  So I started my quest for the perfect formula for homemade dishwasher soap.  I think this one is the best by far so I wanted to share.  Feel free to try it out and let me know what you think!  If you come up with different ingredients or measurements, let me know cuz I want to check them out too!

Sals Suds Homemade Dishwasher Soap

1/2 cup Sals Suds

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp lemon juice

couple of drops of your fave essential oil  (I used tea tree)

How pretty is that?

I use about 1tbsp per load or two if I’m washing pots and pans.  Play around with the amounts and see what is best for your dishwasher.  You should be able to get about 48 loads if you use 1 tablespoon.  I also use straight vinegar for my rinse aid..no diluting with water.  It’ll get plenty of water with the dishwasher running!  Not only does the vinegar do a great job rinsing the dishes – it gives your washer a good cleaning at the same time.  Good luck and let me know how this works for you!

Naturally yours, Dallas

Hello everyone! 

Well, here I go.  I’m blogging.  Today is my birthday and I promised myself that I would get this blog up and running by my birthday.  Actually, I had my web designer hubby set it up for me.  And it was his gift to me.  So technically, I didn’t do anything to get this going.  (Thanks babe!)

Anyways – I want to share with peeps (or anyone that is interested) my slight obsession with creating a “natural” home for me and my fam.  Now I’m not talking about becoming a tree hugging-bra burning-nonshaving-eating my own placenta-naturalist.  (Not that there is anything wrong with hugging trees or burning bras or not shaving or making placenta soup – it’s  just not my bag.)  I’m talking about trying to get away all the chemicals and unnecessary excess that is out there in the world and creating a healthy way of life and home for my family. I want to share the things that I come across in my day to day life trying to fulfill this goal o’mine and maybe make a few people laugh along the way.  I’m by no means an expert but I try research everything and I believe that when you purchase something from a company, you are buying into everything that company believes and stands for.  I don’t always get it right but it’s not for lack of trying!  I want this blog to be a source of information and a online community for those of us who are trying to live as naturally as possible.  Soooo…I hope you’ll come back from time to time to see what we’re up to and hopefully the ideas we share will help you out, too! 

Naturally yours,  Dallas