Home Remedies

I love home remedies as long as they actually work. I’m always looking for good, natural ways to treat issues. Recently, with the constant weather changes in my area, my sinuses have been really upset. My son is also in the middle of teething, so my mind has certainly been on treating these issues. So here are a few home remedies that I’ve found work for me and my family. They may be ones you already use, but perhaps there will be a new idea in the mix.

Ear Aches:

A couple drops of olive oil in the ear relieves earaches for me. I’ve used this with my son also and it seemed to work for him as well.

I know some people who use a little hydrogen peroxide, and they say that works as well.

Congestion:

I realize this is probably obvious, but steam works amazingly well. For adults, a pot of water heating on the stove works great. When my son was congested, we spent a lot of time sitting in the bathroom with the hot water on steaming up the room.

Saline drops are great as well. These are sold, but are also really easy to make. It’s just ¼ teaspoon salt mixed in 1 cup of warm water.

Teething:

A little bit of olive oil on your finger and rubbed into the gums seems to help with the teething pain.

My son has no interest in teething toys. He really just wants to chew on fabric and hands. He’s pretty impartial; any hand or piece of fabric will do. With that being the case, gum massages seem to help most.

Diaper rash:

I love certain commercial all natural diaper ointments, but have also found that coconut oil works great. If you aren’t familiar with coconut oil, check it out. It has a lot of uses along with being good for cooking.

I hope at least one of these is a new idea for you. Hoping your weather has been calmer than ours!

3 Uses for Left Over Pieces of Soap

If you use bars of soap, you may, like us, end up with those little pieces of the bar left over. Did you know those little pieces are actually quite useful? Here are three ideas for those pieces.

1. You can make those pieces into a new bar of soap. 

Just save up the little pieces until you have enough to make a new bar. I keep a plastic bag in my bathroom drawer. When I see a little piece left on the soap dish, I move it to the bag. Once I’ve collected enough pieces, I put them in a glass microwave safe measuring cup, add a little water and microwave. I do 30 seconds at a time and check and stir. Once the soap is fairly well melted, I pour it into one of those travel snap close soap dishes and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Once it’s hardened back, I pop it out of the mold and viola! You have a usable bar of soap. I make melt and pour soaps, which are certainly much prettier than the lumpy bar of soap produced from the store bought bars of soap, but it serves its purpose.

2. You can also make liquid soap out of your left over soap pieces. 

To make liquid soap, collect enough to make about 1 whole bar of soap (if they almost fill the travel type snap closed soap dish, you have enough) and grate them using a cheese grater. Mix the grated pieces in a glass microwave safe dish or measuring cup along with 3 cups of hot water. Microwave at 30 second increments until it is completely melted. Once all the pieces are melted, let it cool and then pour into a container to store and use.

3. You can make dish detergent. 

For dish detergent, grate the pieces of soap until you have ¼ cup. Melt the pieces into 2 cups of water either in the microwave or on the stove top. Once it’s melted, allow it to cool then add one teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice. I have found that the detergent using lemon juice doesn’t last quite as long as when it is made with vinegar.

So before you throw out your left over pieces of soap, think about saving them for an easy weekend project. 

Homemade Toothpaste

Again a story. I have one of the strangest allergies. I am allergic to sodium lauryl sulfate, which is a key ingredient in most toothpastes and mouthwashes among other things. Because of this, I had to buy the expensive all natural toothpaste. I really hate spending more than I have to, so I started trying to figure out what really needs to be in toothpaste. I spoke with a dentist who told me that as long as there is fluoride in my water, it wouldn't hurt to not have fluoride in my toothpaste and that baking soda is as effective as anything else at cleaning teeth.

The base is 2/3 cup baking soda and water to form a paste at whatever consistency you prefer. You can then add 1-2 teaspoons of flavoring to make it taste less like baking soda. I use a little bit of peppermint extract, which really doesn't provide much in way of flavor but does benefit the breath.

You can use peppermint essential oil, BUT some research has suggested that peppermint extract may cause bleeding during pregnancy. That was not a chance I was willing to take, so I don't use the essential oil. It would provide more flavor than the extract if that's not a concern for you. You can also use vanilla extract or whatever other flavor is preferable.

I store mine in a glass jar, but you can store it in whatever sealable container you prefer to keep it from drying out. It lasts quite a long time. Hint: moisten the toothbrush and then put some paste on the toothbrush. It will dissolve off the toothbrush if you pour water over the paste.

Cost breakdown:
Baking soda $0.58 for 1 lb (makes 3 recipes)
Peppermint extract (optional) $3.48 (makes 3 or 6 recipes depending on if you use 1 or 2 teaspoons)

Cost per recipe is $0.77 or $1.35. One recipe lasts me much longer than a tube of toothpaste by at least 2 or 3 times.