DIY lotion and laundry detergent



I made my own lotion and laundry detergent, as inspired by articles in Readymade and Bust magazines.  Both turned out awesome and were very easy and cheap to make.  I made the lotion with coconut and avocado oils.  All you need is a blender, any edible oil, beeswax, and essential oil for fragrance if you'd like.  It makes a great gift for the holidays packaged in a simple mason jar.  Click the readymade link for more detailed directions.

Lotion:
1 C water or cooled brewed green tea
3/4 C any edible oil (olive, safflower, coconut, avocado, etc.)
2 T grated beeswax
several drops essential oil

Heat the oil and beeswax in a double boiler (or a pyrex mixing bowl placed over a pot of boiling water) until the wax melts.  Remove from heat and let cool for 2 min.  Blend the water on high in the blender, remove the stopper on top and slowly pour in the oil.  Blend until it's emulsified completely. 




 

The laundry detergent cost about $1 per gallon to make.  It acutally works better than a lot of the expensive eco-detergents.  And even better does not have migraine-inducing fragrances like most conventional detergents.  I scented it with eucalyptus and lavender essential oils, and it smells wonderful.  I used a coconut based soap that did separate when the detergent cooled, but it still worked great all the same.  I couldn't find the recipe on Bust's website so here are the instructions: 

Laundry Detergent:

Grate 2 C of unscented bar soap

bring 4.5 C water to a boil and stir in soap till dissolved

add fresh herbs (4 sprigs lavender would do)

2 C each of borax and washing soda (some grocery stores have them in the laundry section or hardware stores)

pour mixture into pail with 2 gallons water

add 10 drops of essential oil such as ylang ylang, lavender, or eucalyptus

let stand overnight and strain into a large container, discarding herbs
use 1/2 C per load, shake before using



You can find these in the laundry detergent section.