First steps on shopping plastic-free
A year ago we decided to cut down bringing plastic into our home. How did we do on our first trying plastic-free shopping more than a year ago? We are glad to admit, that we are glad past is not present!
Tag: low impact
Why plastic is nasty and why to stop using it
We are daily surrounded with so much plastic, that we even do not notice how much of it is out there. It is practical, it is poisonous and it is forever. Make a change and stop using plastic!
Baking soda – the household wonder helper
I have known that baking soda is good, but I never realized how good it is for the environment, my wallet and my everyday life!
Be warned that this is going to be a mammoth post, but it has do be done, as EVERYBODY should know the tens and tens of wonderful purposes of SODA. The best part about baking soda is that it is CHEAP and comes oftentimes in a carton box – a real treat to those, who want to save money and save planet earth!
Baking soda or washing soda?
There are two kinds out there – baking soda and washing soda. I have mainly used baking soda. If you want to know what the difference is between the two, then it is water and carbon dioxide.
Baking soda’s chemical makeup is NaHCO3 (1 sodium, 1 hydrogen, 1 carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules).
Washing soda’s chemical makeup is Na2CO3 (2 sodium, 1 carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). Some of that school knowledge must have floated in, right? 🙂 If you want to read more about them both, please kindly visit this website for more information Science Struck.
How to use baking soda?
For your health
1. Use soda as a deodorant, rubbing it into the underarm – you can do it like that, but rather, mix it with coconut oil, some starch and add a little bit of essential oil, whichever is to your liking (ie. lavender or tea-tree). Your own natural deodorant is done!
Eve says: “When I first made natural deodorant, I felt my life and social life had changed because I had no odor! Sadly, the excitement was short-lived and my armpits started to burn. I had used too much soda and it burned my armpits! What we do know is to keep a jar of coconut oil and an open jar of baking soda. Ideally each morning, I take a tiny bit of coconut oil with my first two fingers and rub it gently under my arms, I then I dip my fingers into the jar of soda and then apply them to my underarms.
I can’t help but think that it may be unsanitary – so it’s probably safer to dip into the oil and rub it till it melts some, then dip into the soda then apply to your pits or just make the recipe Kerly provided above. I’m shutting up now! 🙂
2. Mix half a teaspoon of soda with a peroxide paste and use it to wash your teeth – would love to try that, but have to find peroxide paste first! (It sounds a bit dangerous, so before you try it, research it and be careful.
3. Add a cup of soda bath to make your skin softer.
4. Reduce pain caused by sunburn, while applying soda on it.
5. To remove strong smells from hands, rub them with baking soda and water.
6. Apply soda to rashes, insect bites and irritated skin of poisonous plants.
7. Add soda to bathwater to relieve skin irritation or to heal diaper rash, while washing infants.
8. Does heartburn afflict? Drink half a glass of water with a tablespoon of baking soda stirred in.
10. Freshen your breath by gargling a cup of water, mix half a tablespoon of baking soda and the same goes to heal any cuts in the mouth.
11. Use soda to heal bee stings.
12. Use a baking soda to reduce the pain caused by a medusa touch.
Home use
13. You can keep your vase flowers fresher longer if to add a tablespoon of soda to the water.
14. It is possible to get rid of unpleasant smells from the fridge if an open box of baking soda is placed in it.
15. Sprinkle the soda to the ashtray to reduce the smell of smoke and the smell of butts and use to clean the trays with soda as well.
16. Sprinkle soda to remove unpleasant odors in your wooden homeware, boots, shoes, and socks.
17. Removing the food smell, wipe baby’s chin and chest after eating with a wet cloth sprinkled with baking soda.
18. Rub the car’s windshield with soda to counteract rain.
19. The smell of a washing sponge can be improved if the sponge has been soaked in soda water.
20. Suck soda into the vacuum cleaner to ease the unpleasant smell coming from inside of the machine.
Eve says: ”This one made me laugh out loud!”
21. You can mix soda with some scented bath salts to refresh the air and put the mixture into small bags.
22. Soften rigid brushes by cooking them in a solution consisting of two liters of water, three tablespoons of vinegar and a bowl of baking soda.
23. Keep the soda near sink and basement windows to control cockroaches and ants.
24. Sprinkle baking soda on flower beds to prevent rabbits from eating your prized vegetables.
Eve says: ”I have a vision of Bugs bunny eating your carrots if you don’t try this.”
25. Improve the taste of tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda in the soil surrounding the tomato plant.
26. Sprinkle the soda in your cat’s sandbox to lose that unpleasant odor.
27. Sprinkle the soda on your pet’s ridge or comb to make the sheath smell more pleasant.
Cooking
28. Use soda as a substitute for baking powder by mixing soda with tartar or vinegar.
29. Wash with soda fruit and vegetables to remove the greasy residue.
30. Soaking the dried beans in a soda and water solution makes the beans easier to digest.
31. Make your own sports drink by mixing baking soda with boiled water, salt, and juice powder.
32. Reduce the acidic content of tomato-based dishes by sprinkling them with a pinch of baking soda.
33. Use soda to reduce acidity – I made a large pot of leek-mushroom risotto and added a tad too much of lemon juice. Thought that it is all ruined, but found out after short research, that a half teaspoon of baking soda would save my dinner. It sure did!
Eve says: ”It was so delicious, and I was in awe of the magic of that stuff.”
For cleaning up
34. Pour a cup of a soda into the toilet bowl, allow it to stand for an hour and then flush it down. Soda cleans the inside of the toilet bowl and absorbs bad smells.
35. Use sodas for scouring sinks, shower cubicles, plastic surfaces, and porcelain baths. Works like a miracle on white coffee and teacups! Removes all lines!
36. ​​Use soda for cleaning the walls, mirrors, and kitchen counters.
37. Add a spoonful of soda to the dishwasher to simplify the cleaning of the dish.
38. Remove grease stains from pots and pans with soda.
39. Dry clean carpets and upholstered furniture – sprinkle baking soda on the items and scatter it gently with a cloth. Leave the soda to stand there for a few hours or overnight and then clean the surface with a vacuum cleaner.
40. Increase the cleansing power of your washer, sprinkling a handful of soda on dirty clothes.
41. Stainless steel and chrome surfaces can be polished with water-soda paste.
42. Scratches can be removed from the linoleum floors and walls with soda.
43. You can clean waste bins with soda.
44. Hairbrushes and combs soaked in the water-soda mixture will get rid of the grout. You have no idea how useful this tip came to me not long ago – read more in the future post of our site!
45. Use a damp cloth to absorb soda and then clean with the cloth laminated surfaces.
46. Use soda to remove stinking odor from coolers and thermoses.
47. Heat the soda in the coffee machine and then rinse with it the contents of the machine.
48. Sprinkle the soda on the dirty garage floors, rub the floor and rinse it with clean water.
49. Remove easily burned food from the pan, soaking it before washing for 10 minutes in a soda solution.
50. Clean the drain pipes by pouring in them every week four tablespoons of baking soda and then flush it down with hot water.
51. Clean the shower curtains by soaking them in soda water.
52. Use soda to clean your dentures.
53. Make a thick paste from baking soda and water and use it for scouring your baking oven.
54. Use soda to scrub clean your kitchen cupboard doors. Matte or shiny works on both!
55. Baking soda doesn’t make you poor!
Thank you for making it to the end.
Translated from an Estonian site.
All in all once more
The most amazing thing about baking soda is its cheap price. All of the above points can be made at a very low cost. Baking soda is a real miracle product, whether it is used in cooking or elsewhere. These 55 listed points here are not all the good uses of soda, there is plenty of more and I am sure the readers can add their own recommendations, which would make a great addition to this list here!
My praises of baking soda are not done yet!
Berlin Clothing Swap – time to swap!
Attend the upcoming swap on November 24th, 2019 at the Museum of European Art from 1-4pm. It’s free! Take advantage of this free offer, engrave is normally 2€.
Sorting garbage in the kitchen
Though we are trying to become plastic free, we do not believe in trashing bags and containers that we already have just to be free of it. In other words – how to manage your garbage?
Homemade laundry detergent, a bang for your money
Various experiments in the all-natural laundry detergent field. What works and what doesn’t. Mother Earth to rescue!
While there are of course many things to think of, when on such a new path, as we are in our new home and it all may be a bit overwhelming. The situations you have to tackle, just come living your everyday life. Like was I thinking of the laundry detergent as we got the keys of the apartment? No. But when the laundry basket was getting quite full for our large and energy-efficient washing machine.
Getting to know the world of all-natural cleaners
Now, when the laundry asked to be cleaned I was on research to find the best washing detergent for the laundry machine. My key wishes were that it had to be all-natural and can be self-made. I didn’t know that, when I opened the chest to this wonderful DIY home cleaning products, that it will be quite a ride.
Many people have been sharing their recipes, using many different ingredients resulting different looks of the detergents and therefore different results. No wonder that my own Word document of “The ultimate guide to homemade all-natural cleaning recipes” became a whopping 30 pages of research. I just kept finding new stuff, which I should consider and which would cover not only laundry but also cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, toilet and the rest of the house, including windows.
The road finding what really works the best was a bit bumpy in the beginning as there were tips to try and detergents to mix. Often times it didn’t give the needed results. But after a while, I found recipes, which worked for me and which I am happy to share with you as well.
Liquid laundry detergent – fail
I am not sure why I decided that the laundry detergent has to be liquid. Though I have been using a powder one all my life. Anyway, most likely it seemed the best and the easiest option to make. I used it a couple of times, but I wasn’t sure how long such liquid would last in a jar. Also how much to really use, as I didn’t use Borax in my recipe.
This is a tricky ingredient, as in many countries it is forbidden or just not available. I was trying to find new ones, which wouldn’t have any ingredients I had no way of getting my hands to, such as Borax, Dawn dish soap or any of Dr. Bronner’s products. These all are luckily available to those living in North America. The liquid detergent did do its job. But I think I just over-used it and it wasn’t so cost-saving, as it should have been.
I am not sharing any recipes, as it was still a lot of work and didn’t give the results. Also, this recipe created a little but took quite a lot of ingredients. Hence there is nothing to share, as this didn’t work out. So I realized, that the best would be powder, as there is nothing to go bad. The powder detergent can sit in a jar and is ready to use in an instant.
Dry laundry detergent – win
Finally, I came across this really simple laundry detergent recipe, which I have been using ever since.
Mix 2 cups of washing soda with the gratings from one 5-ounce/140 g bar of castile soap.
Use 1 tbsp for light loads; 2 tbsp for heavy loads.
I ended up using half of the recipe. Instead of castile soap, I used the Almawin curd soap, which I found for 0.90 cents from a health store. As I experimented later, any other soap will do. I used the kitchen grater to ground the soap. I mixed it with baking soda on a jar, which was home of pickles before.
Does it really work?
How do I know it really works? Unfortunately, I have no photos as proof, but I can tell a little story of a garment, which became clean after using this detergent.
In 2017 summer we worked literally as slaves for pennies at a hotel by the Black Sea in Bulgaria. Since the premises weren’t used for a few years it meant that after the renovations the place was really dirty. We had our own personal outfits we were wearing while working. The shorts I wore, were made of polyester and while wearing those I pushed, knelt, rubbed, sat and whatever there is to do when wearing pants.
I started noticing that the ends of the pants had some grey lines, which referred to heavy-duty wear and they didn’t fade or turned any lighter after many washes. When the whole nightmare was finally done and we were safely back at home and I was finally able to do a nice machine wash to all of our items I noticed for my sadness that the pants didn’t clean after all. I took it as a reality and understood that they have been just damaged until I washed them with my own made detergent described above and after the first wash – the lines were gone. I am a believer!
The best thing is yet to come – chestnuts!
I wasn’t done with it, as I knew that there had to be another way how to wash your laundry. Without spending any money at all. I remembered that somebody mentioned once, that you can use as a laundry detergent chestnuts. Cool! They are free when the season is in. Totally worthy of looking more into.
I found a few good pages, which were really helpful. One stood out though. The site described the whole process very thoroughly. Plus there were photos of every step on the way. So it was easy like bliss to follow.
Since it was October last year, when I found out that I can use chestnuts as laundry detergent, I went out to pick them. I followed the steps of the website to create a completely free all-natural product. I have been using chestnut laundry detergent for a year and I am very happy with the results. Especially with the savings 😉
Before I will write my own article about how to make chestnut laundry please read below a list of things…
…to keep in mind while using chestnut detergent
- Preparing chestnuts for the detergent is a bit of a job.
- Chestnuts need to be soaked overnight in a cup of hot water to make detergent for the next day. Takes a little planning.
- It is not a powerful stain remover. It doesn’t remove blood stains (they get lighter after few washes).
- Don’t stuff your machine too full, as it will leave some dark lines on your laundry. But this happens with commercial detergents as well.
- But it is environmentally friendly, totally free and all-natural!
Please read the ever so wonderful article by Wasteland Rebel. Believe me, it makes you want to go and collect those chestnuts now! It is not too late!
Also, please check our article on baking soda, which may come handy at home. Hint, it is also all-natural and very cheap.
Cleaning your mattress is easy as baking soda
Is this okay to get a free used bed? Can you really make something out of it? Yes, with a box of baking soda!
Empty home? eBay to the rescue!
How easy it is to fill your empty apartment? Which one of these comes the most help – malls, friends or eBay? I guess you are about to find out!
Can’t Human Properly Launch!
Hey human!
We are Evelyn and Kerly, founders of Can’t Human Properly.
First off, thank you for visiting our humble website. It means a lot to us that you are reading these words now as it indicates that we are officially live! We are grateful for the opportunity to create content that hopefully resonate with you here on Can’t Human Properly.
It is our intention to build a fearless community of those who just can’t human properly and refuse to do so, according to societal norms, as we dare to wake up! [Work it tagline!]
We’ll write about four main areas:
- Vegan ( We’re vegan now, after a decade-plus as vegetarians)
- Low-Impact–– We’re on a mission to lower our carbon footprint by using as little energy as we can. For instance, we opt for used items and plastic/package-free items.
- Financial Freedom (We have been debt-free for just over a year, and are working toward financial freedom ).
- Personal Growth (Being the best version of yourself is important to us, it’s the only way we can change the world– starts with YOU!)
Why Can’t Human Properly?
It is recognizing that we are spiritual beings in flesh suits for the time being, and we don’t need to limit ourselves to being helpless humans. We may have a hard time dealing with the material world until we wake up to the spiritual aspect of us. Can’t wait to grow together, and expand our consciousness and be more of who we were before we got here.
Thanks for visiting us, and we hope you join the Can’t Human Properly aka CHP community!
Read more ABOUT US.
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