Clean laundry, ahhhh. It's wonderful, but can sometimes seem so elusive. I have been searching for the perfect natural laundry detergent for almost two years, and it has sometimes been frustrating and annoying when detergents don't work as well as I want or expect them too. I admit that several times over the past two years I have returned to All Free & Clear, which was the detergent that my mom used when I was growing up, and there's something about that comfort of using what your mom … [Read more...]
How To Make Homemade Dryer Sheets
Don't you just love the cute fluffy little bear that giggles and rolls around in his soft and cuddly towels and laundry? We've been sold the idea that our clothes have to be super soft and snuggly, and smell of lilacs and wildflowers and rain in the mountains. But what is really lurking in those fabric softeners that make our clothes that way? While it's important to avoid conventional fabric softeners, which is something I'll be discussing next week in my guest post at Green...Your Way, … [Read more...]
How to Choose Natural Laundry Detergent and Why it’s Important
I'm so excited about Natural Laundry month here at Live Renewed, and I have so much to talk about that I hardly even know where to start! And now it's almost the middle of the month, so we better get going! We talked about hanging our clothes out to dry last week, but one of the most important things about laundry is the detergent. I mean, that's the main product that we use to clean our clothing, right? I will admit that I have struggled with the detergent aspect of switching to green … [Read more...]
Simple Steps – Hang Your Laundry Out
Clothes on the line, blowing in the breeze and bright in the sun. It's a picture of days passed, or of driving through Amish country not too far from where I live. Although it seems like fewer and fewer people hang their clothes out to dry these days, I also think that hanging clothes out is making a comeback. It's natural laundry month here at Live Renewed, and I wanted to start with taking the Simple Step of hanging your clothes out to dry. Hanging out your clothes is any important part of … [Read more...]
Question of the Day – Natural Laundry
Photo by Magic Madzik Next month we'll be covering all different aspects of natural laundry. I've been busy testing some different natural laundry products, but I have to admit that I have struggled with going green in the laundry area. We'll talk more about that next month, but today I want to know... What area of natural laundry to do struggle with the most? Getting stains out? Finding a good natural detergent? Line drying your laundry? Whatever it is, I'd love to know so that I … [Read more...]
FAQ – Are Reusable Products Really Better For The Environment Than Disposable?
Photo by Andreanna Moya Photography I'm starting a new monthly series here at Live Renewed - Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs. I often get asked similar questions from friends, family, and people who are learning about going green, or know what my blog is about and ask me about it. Also, I really want to hear from you guys, my readers, what you have questions about, or want to know or learn more about. To start things off, since we've been talking some about reducing our disposables … [Read more...]
How to Use Cloth Diapers in Your Daily Life
Whenever I tell someone I use cloth diapers I get lots of questions that could be used as reasons someone wouldn't want to cloth diaper - Don't they stink? How do you use a diaper pail? What do you do with the poop? How do you run errands or travel with them? How do you wash them? What about wipes? Now that we've covered the basics of cloth diapers, let's talk about the details - the reality of using cloth in our everyday lives. The Changing Table Let's start with the changing table - … [Read more...]
Finally, A Clothesline – And National Hanging Out Day
It's mid-April, and already we've accomplished 2 out of my 3 outdoor projects for the month. I'm pretty happy with that. My hubby and dad put up our clothesline for us last weekend and I've been using it and loving it all week. And hubs also made a rain barrel for us, but has to redo the lid, so it's not operational quite yet, but it's close enough that I'll call it done! Thanks babe! Maybe it's still new and novel, but I LOVE going out and hanging my clothes on the line. There … [Read more...]
How I Quit Using Paper Towels, and You Can Too!
As part of the Change Challenge series, I want to tell you a little bit about how I do things on a day to day basis at our house. Not that I think how I do things is the best or only way to do things. I have just been getting lots of questions lately from friends and family about how I do some of the things that I do. So, I figured many of you would have similar types of questions. Sometimes the thought of changing habits, or doing something new, like not buying paper towels, can be … [Read more...]
Homemade Spray Starch
photo by get downOne of the ways that we have cut back on our budget is by eliminating dry cleaning. We used to have my hubby's work shirts dry cleaned every week. It was really nice to not have to worry about washing and ironing his shirts for work everyday.But, dry cleaning, especially for dress shirts, is an unnecessary expense when you can easily wash and iron your own clothes at home. And now that I know more about the chemicals used in dry cleaning, I would still choose to launder his … [Read more...]
