Pintesting - Teething Gel

As you know we're doing everything we can to run a chemical-free house-hold. With a new addition on his way in I didn't want anything other than a super trustworthy teething gel in my mommy arsenal for him.

Today's pintest comes to us via this pin and the info found here. 

Get all of your things together so you can avoid running all over your house while you're working.

Add your food grade cocoa butter and coconut oil to a pan or small pot and let it melt. 

It will melt quickly.

Once it has add your essential oils and put them into whatever container you planned on storing it in.
WARNING: this recipe makes 4 ounces!!!! That's A LOT of teething gel. I put mine in a 4 ounce container for the night and then reheated it and split it into smaller containers in the morning.

Pintesting - Vicks Shower Discs

I'd never heard of Vicks ever making congestion relieving shower disks but that's probably because they've been discontinued. The recipe to make your own has gained a fair amount of popularity on Pintrest.

Recently my little lamb caught a very nasty and persistent cold that came with a lot of concerning congestion. Remembering this pin I went to make it AFAP but didn't have any essential oils.

When I finally went to purchase essential oils I hadn't noticed that the recipe called for more than one. In fact, this is a fact that escaped me until I was ready to make these.

I put the baking soda in the bowl first and then added the water. My sweet little lamb was busy begging me for apples while I was attempting to prepare these so by the time I'd washed and sliced and apple for her I saw that the water and baking soda had really just gone ahead and formed its paste on its own.

I stirred it anyway for good measure and used a regular soup spoon to put the mixture into the cupcake liners.

I noticed some people had crumbling issues so I chose to cook my discs rather than let them sit out overnight.

As you can see mine didn't come out looking as smooth and beautiful as the ones in the picture from Pintrest.

This might be because I made two batched in order to utilize all of the cupcake liners in my pan, so some of them got a double dose.

My Eucalyptus oil didn't come with a dropper so I tried my best not to make a mess and only pour a little onto each disc. A small mess still ensued and my house spent the rest of the day reeking of Eucalyptus.

If your bottle doesn't come with a dropper - GO FIND ONE!!!!

When I went to remove the discs from the paper they were still very crumbly so I opted to put the disks, liner and all into some Mason jars to store under the sink in the bathroom until needed.

One dark and stormy night. Alright, it wasn't at all stormy. One evening after a hard day I felt I could really use a good blast of aromatherapy. You don't have to be sick to enjoy these so why the heck not!? Let me tell you it was just what I needed. Soothing and enjoyable. In fact, I used two discs!

Pintesting - Chemical-Free - Flea Spray

I have no idea what these fleas are on. There may be less of them but any of them is really unacceptable. My husband decided it was time to try a flea bath on the dog again and I decided to try out a chemical-free flea spray.

Todays pintest comes via this pin and the information found here.

The more common oils for repelling insects, including fleas, are:
-       Lavender
-       Citronella
-       Peppermint
-       Eucalyptus
-       Cedar
-       Lemongrass

I currently had peppermint and Eucalyptus.

Flea, tick and mosquito spray for dogs:
In a 32 ounce spray bottle filled with distilled water, add 10 drops of one of the oils listed above.  Shake the bottle well and mist your dog every day.  You can also spray this mixture on their bedding, around doorways and along baseboards to repel fleas.
This makes a good bug spray for people, too.

It was true, a lot of recipes for chemical-free bug sprays contained similar ingredients to some of those for flea sprays. So I took a cue from one of the sites that said using a mixture of oils usually provides better protection from bugs and used Peppermint, Eucalyptus, and Tee tree oil.

My spray bottle was around 18 ounces and I didn't have distilled water. I used purified water. I put 5 - 6 drops of each oil in the bottle and shook it.

Once again we play the waiting game.

Pintesting - Chemical Free Cleaning Let's Kill Some Mold!!

Mold is a problem I have run into more often than I would care to over the last few years. We ran into it the last place we lived and we've run into it a few times in the current place we are.

The places that we have these issues are in our bathroom over the shower area,

 and in the laundry room in a few spots.

Typically if you call your landlord or leasing office and complain about mold they send someone out to spray or wipe the area with bleach. In the past we have done this as well because using bleach really does work, but we now no longer keep bleach in our home.

Today's pintest comes from the information you can read right on this pin.

I purchased my spray bottle at my nearest Jo-Ann Fabrics (and I of course made sure to use a coupon.)

The tea tree oil I purchased  via Amazon.

For each cup of water you use, add one teaspoon of tea tree oil. This bottle held nearly 3 cups of water so I used 3 teaspoons of tea tree oil.

Instead of trying my very hardest to neatly pour the water into my spray bottle I used one of the funnels that come with a flask.

I noticed an immediate difference when I sprayed the wall but didn't get the full effect until I wiped the surface as well.

I wasn't going to be able to get back behind our makeshift pantry so it looked as if this would have to be a job for my husband.

I didn't notice a lot of change in the bathroom but I felt maybe that area would need to be wiped as well so once again I was going to have to wait for my tall husband to come home to give it a try.Wiping did indeed help.

This is definitely a pin worth trying. Especially for those who are either to live chemical free lives or even pregnant women who shouldn't be cleaning with harsh chemicals.