Deodorants that are commercially made can have a lot of chemicals that might not necessarily be desirable. Either way, I am often on the lookout for simple, healthful and natural ways to do things.
Here is my recipe for a simple home-made deodorant that has been working well for me.
All we need to make the home-made deodorant is as follows:
Take a bowl with a lid
Add some corn starch powder
Add an equal amount of baking soda
Add 2-3 few drops of an essential oil. I use the ‘stress free blend’. Here is a link for the product on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Solutions-Stress-Therapeutic-Essential/dp/B00QXVNRGY
Close the lid to the bowl with all the above ingredient.
Shake the above mixture
Add a powder puff to use as an applicator.
You are all set!
Baking soda can cause a little burn or irritation if applied on wet skin. So try to dry your skin well before applying the deodorant.
The pursuit of healthful and natural ways to diaper my child, led me to the idea of exploring similar options for myself during menstrual cycles. Afterall, disposable menstrual pads can also contain various chemicals and accumulate in landfills.
After some researching and trial and error, I found some cloth pads on Amazon and a system to wash and maintain them in a way that is easy and fairly feasible for me even with a toddler and a job.
My most favorite cloth pads for a regular day of bleeding is from the company ‘Heartfelt‘.
I found that charcoal pads can feel too warm or itchy and uncomfortable if the bleeding is not high, like on the first day or spotting etc. Charcoal pads seem the most comfortable on days where is medium to heavy bleeding.
For overnight and heavy bleeding days, I use an extra long charcoal pad from the company ‘HiBaby’ and also Heartfelt.
Once again, these charcoal pads are very comfortable and best-suited for days of heavy flow and overnight use. I still change these pads atleast once overnight.
With any menstrual pad, the key is to change the pad when it starts to feel wet. With charcoal pads, it is harder to see the wetness because of the color of the charcoal. I have found charcoal pads to be wonderfully absorbent. So at the first sign of wetness, I assume that the pad is sufficiently soaked and change them.
For the days of lower bleeding, I use the pads from the company ‘Love My Antibacterial Bamboo‘ pads. These pads are very soft and comfortable. However, they don’t seem to absorb too much fluid. These are best suited for the last few days of a period where this is a much lighter flow. On such days, a charcoal pad could feel itchy and dry. These pads feel very comfortable on those days.
I recently also discovered some soft liners that can be used for the last few days of spotting after a period. I found them also on Amazon, here.
These pads from the company Heartfelt, also have some good liners for the last few days of light flow.
Despite using the pads, sometimes, one needs an additional layer of protection to prevent leaks. One of the ways to prevent leakages is to wear period-panties. The ones I have used and have worked for me very well are from the company: Yoyi
One can also find some additional buttons to use to secure the pads to the unedrwear. I found some good ones at ‘Party in my pants’
While outside the house, I can just fold and place a used cloth pad in a colorful and waterproof carrying pouch
My assortment of pads: from the ones for heaviest flow to the left to the ones for lightest flow to the right.
Maintenance of cloth pads:
The main advantage in my opinion, of using disposable pads is the ease and convenience of just dropping a used pad and getting a fresh new one…With a simple system, I have been able to get a similar convenience with my cloth pads.
I have two stainless steel containers (bought for a few bucks at a local store), in which I add warm water, oxyclean, baking soda and a few drops of Tea Tree Oil. I just put my used pads in this mixture to soak. Usually, I soak the heavily absorbant pads in one container and a lightly soiled pad in another container, with a similar mixture. It is important to change the water every 8 hours atleast. The menstrual blood comes out of the pads into the water and so it must be carefully poured out into the toilet using gloves. By the time one has changed the water/oxyclean mixture 2-3 times, most of the menstrual blood comes out of the pads. Then one can just wash the pads with some bar detergent. I use RIN bar detergent to gently wash the pads. Any clothes detergent should workf or this purpose.
My cleaning mix: Baking Soda, Oxyclean and Tea Tree Oil to mix with warm water in the stainless steel container to soak the pads in.
I don’t put any of my menstrual pads in the laundry because I consider that to be very unhygienic. Laundry machines have a tendency to accumulate germs and I would not want to put my menstrual pads in the same machine where the rest of my family’s laundry also goes in.
Once I wash the pads, I just hang them out to dry. Any regular clothes-handing line could work. I try not to expose the pads to direct sun, but do let them dry outside for a few days.
I resoak all my washed pads into the steel container, but now with just some water and vinegar. This makes the pads get an additional level of disinfection as well as making them soft for the next use. I soak the pads overnight and just rinse them out with water and dry them again, before finally putting my nice, clean, dry pads in my pads container in the bathroom for their next use.
Sometimes, I don’t have enough space in my steel container to soak all the pads. During that time, I store my pads in a small trash can, meant specifically for my pads (no trash goes in it!). I use a waterproof liner in the can.
I also soak my period panties in the steel containers with the water/oxyclean/baking soda/Tea tree Oil mixture. After perhaps one change of water, all the stains of blood come out and I just use a bar detergent too handwash the period panty and dry them outside.
Once the panties have been washed and dried, I may occasionally put them in the laundry with my regular wash, since the only get a few stains and don’t soak a lot of blood.
One important contraption I use to keep my pads in place in my panties is : Fabric Velcro This is really an inexpensive but very useful product that keeps my pads in place and prevent leakages.
It might seem like a lot of financial investment to set up the cloth pads. However, I have not wanted to go back to purchasing any disposable pads since the December of 2017. The investment of my pads, cheap stainless steel containers to soak them in, baking soda, oxyclean and other materials has given me many rewards.
I am not sure if it is a psychological effect or a physiological effect. But it sure does feel like my periods are a lot of comfortable and even sometimes pleasant due to the cloth pads.
After discovering cloth menstrual pads, I feel like I have found a better alternative to disposable pads for my monthly cycles.
I hope you find this article useful and if you do, please send in your comments and suggestions.
My colorful carrying pouch to store used and unused pads when out and about.
One thing the Coronavirus outbreak has made clear- toilet paper is an essential commodity in many western households.
As people struggled to find toilet paper on empty shelves in stores and others hoarded them in western countries, other places in the world that use water for washing after toilet visits, starkly do not even encounter that problem.
Having grown up in India and used to a clean washing of my behind, it was not easy to adjust to using just paper, even if it was soft and super toilet paper!
I requested to have a bidet installed and couldn’t be happier.
A bidet can be one protection against toilet-paper anxiety, especially during times of shortages!
With an Indian toilet, a plain old bucket and mug would suffice to watch the behind. However, it is hard to use a mug on a western style toilet. This is where a bidet comes in handy.
One can always use a little toilet paper, to dry after the washing and get a good clean feeling! However, using a bidet can significantly reduce toilet paper consumption.
For women, washing after urination can help reduce chances of UTIs. Again, a little toilet paper used to dry the area after washing helps further improve hygiene.
One can also simply wet a toilet paper to clean, when at a public restroom.
But having a bidet at home, one can safely avoid the anxiety of toilet paper shortages, especially during disasters and pandemics.
Growing up in the South Eastern Inidan sub-continent, I am used to the concept of a ‘bucket’ bath’. Simply put, a ‘bucket bath’ is a way to bathe oneself using a bucketfull of water and a mug. Simple!
Having lived in the west and also tried showers, I recently found a way back to having bucket baths. Simply, buy a bucket that can hold about 10-20 litres of water and a mug.
How to bathe with a bucket bath?
Simple. Fill the bucket with water from the tap at the right temperature for your bath. Then use a mug to pour water over the body. Pause to use soap and then rinse with the mug and bucket water again. That’s it.
Advantages:
Bucket baths reduce water wastage in many ways. Try turning off the shower portion and see just how much water comes out of the tap for a regular shower. Showers use a lot of water as compared to collecting water and using just that with a bucket.
The hassle of resetting the temperature of water after using soap. If one ever paused the shower to use soap, then one knows that one has to reset the shower’s temperature yet again. With a bucket bath, one can just collect the water at the right temperature and not have to worry about it again. If one wants the water to be slightly warmer or colder later, it takes smaller adjustments and much less water to do the same.
Mold and moisture: with a shower , there is a large spray of warm water and humidity on the bathroom walls, making it less likely that mold can grow. But with a bucket bath, the spread of moisture is greatly minimized.
Feels good: the splash of a mug full of water on the skin feels quite good. This is especially so, when one is bathing with warm water on a cold day. The splash of a mug-full of water feels better, at least to me, than sprinkles of water from a shower.
If you want to start saving water, a bucket bath is a simple, quick and refreshing way to do so-one bucket at a time!
