Homemade "Shower Soothers"

My homemade shower soother.

Hi! And sorry I've been MIA for awhile. I was planning lots of blogging this week but then I got a bad cold that's been going around the office, so mostly I've been blowing my nose and casting annoyed glances at the DVR, wishing it would magically create more interesting shows for me to watch.

Most of the time, when I feel a little bug coming on, I take very good care of myself and marshal my homeopathic remedies to fight it off. Sure, they could be placebos - but if placebos work, then who cares? I rarely get seriously sick, so when I do it tends to be a doozy - every third year or so, I get something that knocks me out for a week or more.

This is that time, I guess. I woke up with a sore throat Sunday morning, and despite my valiant efforts to stave off, it developed into a full-blown cold.


When I do get sick, I don't necessarily rely only on homeopathy. The doctor recommended some more serious drugs, which I'm taking diligently. However, I do think that a lot of homeopathic remedies can make one feel a lot more comfortable. I especially like SudaCare Shower Soothers. They are these little hockey pucks that you put on the floor of your shower, and as the water pours over them, they release mentholly vapors into the steam, which helps to clear your sinuses.

I find them extremely comforting, especially since every illness seems to come to rest in my sinuses, but they can be hard to find at the pharmacy. That's why I was excited to find a recipe for homemade Shower Soothers on Pinterest.

Luckily, the grocery store I stopped off at to stock up on Kleenex had all the ingredients I needed: baking soda and essential oils (the store had a little natural area - you should be able to find essential oils at natural groceries or at hippie places like bead stores, candle stores, and natural beauty shops. You can also order them if you're someone - unlike me -- who has the capability of planning ahead).

If you go to the link above, there are two sets of directions - after the main post, there's an updated one. I used this one. Basically, you just mix a cup of baking soda with a half-cup of water, which creates a thick paste. Then you smash the paste into a muffin tin. You bake for 20 minutes at 350, and when it's cool, you dribble a few drops of the essential oil on to the hockey puck you've created. I used tea tree oil, because out of all the ones I sniffed in the store, it seemed the most sinus clearing, and it was cheaper than some of the others.

I'd definitely consider this another Pinterest success. Plus -- making your own shower soothers means cutting back on lots of packaging and you can feel good about where the ingredients came from.

Apartment Cleaning Smackdown - Round 1

Round 1 = The KitchenLook! The galley is shiny-clean!

As I mentioned the other day, I am transitioning to a new job soon, and am blessed to have a few weeks to chillax before that job starts. Of course, being the person I am, which is the sort of person who likes to give herself projects and goals, I set a big goal for my first week of "freedom."

Each day this week, I plan to clean one room of my small apartment - but not just clean. Deep clean. Organize, do the floors, take everything off the shelves and scrub them. I figured one room per day would give me the opportunity to do other things each day (of course, I have goals for that "free time" as well).

Each day, I'll be blogging about how I wrestled dirt and germs to the ground, using cleaning methods of a variety of shades of green. I'll be labeling them Green, meaning I used the least environmentally-harmful methods I know; Light Green, meaning I was used methods that were somewhat green; and Red. Red means traditional cleaning. I hope you'll be able to try out some of these methods as well, and if you have any suggestions for my Red cleaning options, let me know.

Green:

• I cleaned the cupboards, shelves, stove, fridge doors, and pretty much everything else with undiluted vinegar, spraying it just as I would a store-bought cleaner and wiping with a wet sponge.
  
• I used a combination of vinegar and baking soda to clean the sink. First I filled the sink with about an inch of vinegar to cut the mineralization, then rinsed it and scrubbed using the baking soda as a mild abrasive.
• I used homemade rags (cut up T-shirts from my closet-cleaning adventure) to dust and dry.
• I recycled a bunch of containers and cans, and found some reusable stuff for Goodwill.
  

Light Green:

• I washed the dishes with Mrs. Meyer's dish soap, which uses plant-based cleaners.
• I used about 5 paper towels. They were a recycled brand - Small Steps. They work well, I've found, as compared to some others I've tried (see below).
  

Red

• I washed the rags, rug, and towels with Tide Essentials with Baking Soda. I don't think it's really any different than Tide, because it has the same material-safety data sheet. It doesn't, however, have the uber-chemically fragrance of regular detergent. When I have tried more environmentally-responsible detergents, such as Seventh Generation, they have not worked AT ALL. I actually had to wash my clothes again after using Seventh Generation, because they were still stinky. What's the point of buying "green" products if they don't do what they're supposed to? (Seventh Generation is on my bad list for this particular reason, after their paper towels also failed me.)
  
• I used some floor cleaner that I had under the sink to mop.

Tomorrow: The living room!

Re-Purpose: Baking Soda + A fish taco recipe

The Many Uses of ...

Baking Soda

Use #2: Air Freshening

Everyone knows baking soda absorbs odors. For years Arm & Hammer has been advertising the odor-busting powers of baking soda - "naturally."

Remember this ad from 1980?

I didn't really buy it. I couldn't imagine how placing an open box of baking soda in the refrigerator could make any difference in stinkiness.

Until last night.

There are all kinds of constantly-improving products meant to freshen the air you breathe. I'm migraine-prone, however (such a nerdy ailment, I know) and so I'm not a big fan of commercial products. Their perfumes trigger headaches. Plus, after the air freshener-ingestion incident I'm not down with air freshening products.

But, last night, I had an air freshening emergency!

I made fish tacos -- the world's best fish tacos -- and then went to visit my friends Sarah, Trae, and my adopted nephew Eli. Upon returning home, the house reeked of "eau d' poisson." In other words, it stank of fish.

I wracked my brain to think where I might have some kind of air freshening product hidden. To no avail. That was when I remembered the amazing powers of baking soda and thought I would give it a try.

I placed a bowl of baking soda in the fridge and one on the stove, the two places where the fish stank seemed to have centered. In the morning, I woke up, sniffed, and ...

... all was relatively fresh.

By the time I got home from work, the house smelled normal, and I was sold. Baking soda absorbs odors "naturally", as the commercial says. It's pretty amazing that a bowl of white powder can just sit there and magically take away smells (if you're more interested in the coolness of baking soda, a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate, check out the Wikipedia article. Ancient Egypt... who knew?).

Air fresheners are expensive, and baking soda is cheap. Air fresheners are poison, and baking soda is a part of bread. It seems pretty clear to me ... baking soda is the answer to all life's little stinkies.

Now ... A fish taco recipe

The cause of all the stinkiness was the fish tacos. But don't hold it against them. They were delicious, and usually smell just fine. Here's the recipe, for all my pescetarian friends (and those who just wish they were in Baja).

This is how you make them:

You want tilapia, cod, or other mild white fish. It can be fresh or frozen. Prepare according to package directions or common sense. I like to use frozen fillets (1 per person, from Costco) cooked with a generous sprinkling of some sort of fish rub. Salt, pepper, thyme, and a squeeze of lemon would also work.

While the fish is cooking, finely chop some tomatoes (one 1/2 per person), avocado (1/4 per person), and lettuce (as much as you desire).

With a fork, stir together 1 tablespoon olive oil, a 1/4 tsp. garlic salt, and a squeeze from 1/2 a lemon (that's per person, once again) and drizzle the goodies all over the veggies. Toss.

When the fish is ready, flake it with a fork. Transfer the flaky fish to the veggies and toss everything together. Then, spoon the mixture into a warm tortilla. Corn, or flour, whatever is your pleasure.

Now, enjoy, secure in the knowledge that you can de-stinkify your home with just a little baking soda.

Re-Purpose

The Many Uses of ...
Baking Soda

Use #1: Scrubbing Stuff

Perhaps the most versatile all-around eco-friendly household product, baking soda is well known for deodorizing refrigerators and being and ingredient in various yummy baked goods. It is, however, also an awesome lightly abrasive scrubber for sinks, counters, tubs ... pretty much anything you can think of. Just sprinkle it liberally on the surface you want to scrub and apply elbow grease with a wet sponge or rag.

Baking soda not harsh chemically or as an abrasive, so it doesn't poison you or scratch surfaces. There's not warning about using in a well-ventilated area, because it won't choke you when you use it.

Living in Houston, land of humidity, I've always had a problem trying to keep my sponges from mildewing. Since I've been using baking soda to scrub the sinks, however - voila! the problem is gone. No commercial cleanser has ever been able to compare.