the heart that you call home.

Clogged homemade cleaner spray bottle

: iagoda112 wrote in naturalliving; December 20th, 22:48

I have been having a weird problem with my homemade household cleaner. I am using a mix of white vinegar and lemon juice, but in each spray bottle I have tried, it seems to be clogging up the tube and basically the spray will not work. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I really want to use my mixture, it works well, but I hate that I can't use it in a convenient way.

Tags: home: cleaning

new goodies for sale

: silkorchid wrote in corset_shoppe; December 21st, 12:40

I have a lolita esque set and a steampunk/victorian dress

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
SilkOrchidCorsetry.etsy.com

click on the widgety thing to see more photos, sizes and other goodies.

and don't forget, place an order and deposit of $50 before the 24th, and you'll get 10% off that order

Invisbile Zinc

: artlessthan3 wrote in naturalliving; December 21st, 11:42

I've found conflicting information about invisible zince. Is it safe? And how natural is it?
Thanks!

Clearing drains without chemicals

: elven_ranger wrote in naturalliving; December 20th, 18:19

Just a quick question to ask if anyone has any good tips for how to clear the pipes from the bathroom washbasin . The way the basin is, I cant get at the pipes themselves to undo the pipes to clean them, but its rather blocked up, with soap residue and such i reckon, and before I have to go and buy a bottle of drain cleaning chemicals (EW!), I wondered if you have any ideas for clearing it in a more eco-friendly way. (have tried hot water and such already).

Thank you! :)

OCM help or maybe switch to a natural face wash?

: ecoskink wrote in naturalliving; December 19th, 16:00

I have very sensitive and dry skin on my face that has been horrible lately. I've been breaking out like crazy..mostly on my chin and forehead. (is that your "t-zone"?) I can't remember the last time I used an actually face cleanser. I switched to OCM a while ago, first using about 75% EVOO and 25% Castor Oil, and moisturizing with a little EVOO or sometimes Coconut Oil. That worked well for a while, but I started breaking out again and getting white heads (by the way, what causes white heads? It always seems like grease or oil trapped under the skin..is that correct?) So I thought the EVOO was too heavy, so I switched to Grapeseed oil (same 75%/25%) I also started moiusturizing with pure Vitamin E oil almost every night. Well, again I'm getting white heads and zits all the time and they take forever to go away. Honestly I'll have a pimple for 2 weeks or more, and they usually leave a red spot when they do go away. I spot treat with Tea Tree Oil and that seems to do nothing. I also have some black heads appearing on my chin. So I temporarily stopped using anything but water on my face. I still need to moisturize after though, because even just plain water dries it out. This doesn't seem to be helping the cause at all. HELP. I'm beginining to think that OCM is not for me, which really bums me out because I do see some positive things from it. My skin seems so much less dry, and much smoother (aside from the pimples) Does anyone have any recomendations? I'm looking for tips on OCM or even a good, natural store bought cleanser + moisturizer. I'd like to stay away from chemicals/fragrances that will likely dry me out even more. I've tried Burts Bees back in the day and that didn't work out so well (plus I've been boycotting their products since the Clorox thing :p ) I eat a healthy vegetarian diet and drink plenty of water. I don't ever wear makeup, so i don't think I need any heavy cleanser. I just want clear skin. The rest of the skin on my body is always clear, whats the deal with my face?

Tags: skin care: facial, skin care: oil cleansing method

Carpet Deoderizers?

: theliveofv wrote in naturalliving; December 19th, 12:52

Hi everyone. It's me again. I have yet another problem. This past July I offered to take a friends un-neutered male cat to the vet's office for a checkup. The poor cat freaked out and peed all over my car. As anyone with an un-neutered male cat might know, their pee is EXCEPTIONALLY pungent and...putrid. I have tried EVERYTHING to get this horrible smell out short of a professional shampoo. I've tried carpet foam, baking soda and several upholstery cleaners and they all seem to work at first...until I leave the car out in the cold with the windows up for the night and then the horrible smell is back. Does anyone have any home remedies that might work? I'm starting to think I might just have to replace that section of carpet. Sigh. Thanks so much for any recommendations. You guys are always such a big help. :)

FIV and FeVL?

: pixie___masque wrote in naturalliving; December 18th, 18:36

I looked in the memories but nothing was listed for this. I just got a cat this morning. My sister found her wandering looking for food. Turns out she was pregnant. My sisters co worker took her in to help birth the kittens and it was decided that I would take the mother when she was ready. The woman gave the kittens to a pet store and I stopped in to see her babies where they informed me that all kittens have feline aids and leukemia. I can only assume the mother has it too. I am going to get her tested and spayed. I'm feeding her Halo dry food and Natural balance wet food. She devoured both when I fed them to her. Does anyone here have experience in caring for a cat with both FIV and FeLV? There's no by-product or "meals" in the halo dry. I went to a clinic and asked the vet there but she didn't really have much to say other than what I already know. Right now she's a tiny little thing, pure white with blue eyes, and surprisingly not deaf. I do not know how old she is or where she came from I just know I want to give as good a life as I possibly can. Thanks for any responses and if you need further clarification on anything feel free to ask.

(no subject)

: quazar79 wrote in naturalliving; December 18th, 15:28

I have two questions to ask if anyone has any suggestions.

1. I'll be moving from the city to a very rural town after my divorce and wondered if anyone has any natural living dating tips. The last time I was dating I shaved my legs, wore makeup, wore perfume, showered daily (I've been showering weekly and may need to change this should my sex-life improve/exist), and basically my medicine cabinet didn't consist of bottles of oils and homemade toothpaste and other "strange things". Does anyone have any advice, words of inspiration, anything that may help me be true to myself and my "natural" beliefs/lifestyle while dating?

2. I'll be moving into my parent's house in the country with lots of acres of land surrounded by woods, lucky me! They have an extra five acres on the opposite side of the woods that is basically a field their neighbor pays to cut down to make hay. I would love to one day build a little homestead here and it all sounds so perfect except right next to their plot of land is a field of corn/soybeans (alternating every year). I'm thinking this would be a bad thing to raise my son next to a field that is sprayed and whatever other "unnatural" things occur, not to mention that I'm sure the corn/soybeans would be genetically modified and would not be good for any private, organic, natural crops I'd like to produce myself. Am I correct in thinking that living on this plot of land would not be good for a person wanting to live as organic, natural, chemical free as possible?

Thank you all and please forgive anything that may need forgiving. I've never posted here before, but have really enjoyed reading other people's posts.

Toothpaste

: bluestardrop wrote in naturalliving; December 18th, 12:40

Current Mood:: tired

Current Music:: Slacker Radio - Adult Alternative

I remember a few posts back somebody asking about homemade toothpaste and I found this link. It looks pretty interesting and thought I'd share. There's a lot of other awesome stuff on this blog as well that I thought you guys would like. Here it is.. Enjoy the holidays!

rosacea face cream?

: cmshank wrote in naturalliving; December 18th, 11:24

My mom has rosacea on her face, and I was thinking that a good christmas gift might be a homemade cream that would specifically address that issue. I know that she uses prescription creams (not sure which one) and a "non-comedogenic" cleanser (probably not a very natural one), but these don't always seem to work so well.

I looked through the tagged posts an only found one on rosacea, and a couple people who commented in that post mentioned seabuckthorn oil and rosehips. I have shea butter, which I personally think makes a good base for hand/body creams but I'm not sure about face. From what I know about coconut oil, it seems that this might be a good base, but I'm not really sure what else to include and I haven't had much luck finding ideas in books or online.

Does anyone have any specific suggestions as to ingredients to include in a moisturizer for someone with rosacea? Any recipes?

I should also add that she has severe tree nut allergies, and I've read that nut oils can bother some people with nut allergies, so maybe these should be avoided.

Thanks in advance!

Tags: skin care: facial, skin problems

Persistent Colds

: mawombat wrote in naturalliving; December 18th, 10:51

Hi all. I must have the worst immune system. I catch every cold that goes around, and since I work in an IGO, there are a lot going around. Every month, I get at least one cold that clings to me for 5-6 days. Is there a natural way to build up resistance? I wash my hands, I take vitamins and multi-vitamin brausetabletten, I eat lots of veggies. Right now I have a vicious cold which is all in my sinuses. I am taking RhinAdvil and my vitamins and trying to sleep (not working so much). I would really prefer not to take RhinAdvil if I can help it; but more importantly than this current cold is the fact that I catch everything. How do I build up my resistance to cold viruses? Does anyone know?

Tags: cold and flu

deep skin issues & a lack of sweat

: mortoeroe wrote in naturalliving; December 17th, 18:06

1. i have really deep bumps/acne deep in my skin that aren't cysts, & they never surface. i guess i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how to treat this kind of acne. on occasion i'll have a pimple that surfaces but sometimes i'll try to steam & squeeze out anything deep which i know is bad for my skin, but it bugs me that they never surface & that nothing seems to get to it. i've tried the OCM & it didn't work for me :-/ my skin isn't exceptionally oily, nor is it really dry. it does seem to have trouble exfoliating itself though, like it's craving some manual or chemical exfoliation, does that make sense?

2. this may or not be related, but my boyfriend and i used his sweat lodge & he was baffled that i basically didn't sweat. i sweat a little on my forehead & i think in my armpits, but it seemed like i basically stayed dry & hot while he & his friend were soaking in sweat. i've been told that i have adrenal fatigue, i have low blood pressure & my extremities are pretty much always cold, if that's of any reference; is there such a thing as the body having trouble releasing toxins? could this be related to my deep acne?

3. in the meantime of my skin woes, i've been on the lookout for face cleansers with a small amount of ingredients, & i was thinking of something like this:

ingredients: Distilled Water, Coconut Oil, Almond Oil, Coconut Emulsifier, Hamamelis Water, Citrus Oils, Vitamin E Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar & Grapefruit Seed Oil.

but i guess you apply it with a cotton ball or pad & then wipe it off, i guess like a cold cream...? i would be worried my skin wasn't being cleansed idk.

sorry if this is too long!

SHE 28 campaign

: lifeinsong wrote in naturalliving; December 17th, 19:37

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKmt7PwYPCY
Go to the site: http://www.sheinnovates.com/

Don't know how many of you are aware of this, but you may want to take this into consideration as you're planning your charitable giving.

The basic principle is raising money in order to supply low-electricity-use equipment to women in small communities in third-world countries. These women start a business (which employs other women) making sanitary pads using banana stems. Then super-cheap pads are available to women and girls of the community, and they no longer lose days of work and school every month due to menstruation.

The video is really good; I highly recommend taking at least taking a look.

Thanks! :)

Tags: charity, recommendations, take action, womens health, womens health: menstruation

Sugar Scrub Recipe?

: adorabelle wrote in naturalliving; December 17th, 19:32

I am making this sugar scrub for Christmas presents. Do you think if I leave out the Vitamin E oil it will be bad? How long will it last without it? Thanks!!

Tags: bathing

I'm worried about my dad...

: kelj99 wrote in naturalliving; December 17th, 15:59

He was admitted to the hospital last Friday for low platelet count (~3000, normal is 150,000+). The hospital *thinks* that it is ITP (where your immune system mistakes platelets as invasive cells and attacks them) and they are giving him steroids to temper the hyperactive immune system.

Please see link for more/better info: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/thrombocytopenia/DS00691/DSECTION=causes

They released him from the hospital earlier this week, even though he had not improved (and below 10,000 is considered potentially life threatening) and he was not responding to steroid therapy (*yet*..they say it could take a full 7 days to help, but that is rare).
Does anybody know anything about this phenomenon, either by experiencing it yourself or through somebody else? Do you have any ideas for how he can take care of himself and promote getting better? Not as a substitute for treatment but as a supplement? I might be grasping at straws, but any suggestions or insight would be welcome.

Thanks.

EDIT: Thanks so much everyone for your advice suggestions, and experiences! It was all welcome and taken into consideration. :)

Etsy Corsetry Guild Treasury Vol. 11 by Labelle Fairy

: electradesigns wrote in corset_shoppe; December 17th, 11:39

Volume 11 was created by corsetiere, labellefairy. Please support these talented artists by clicking each item, leaving a comment, and promoting the treasury on your social networking groups.

gardening question

: dearmysoul wrote in naturalliving; December 17th, 10:57

My mother and i would like to start a little kitchen garden in the back yard in a small section of the yard where lilies used to grow, because it's the only place that has never been sprayed. I was just wondering about how to go about making the other soil where grass is growing safer if she decides to eventually expand the garden? I'm pretty sure we're going to have a raised bed, so maybe it doesn't matter that much?
They stopped spraying the yard in march or april i believe.
Sorry if this is too vague of a question, i'm totally clueless when it comes to gardening!

Tags: gardening/yard care, pesticides/herbicides

Tons of new items added!

: unique_id wrote in ready_to_wear; December 17th, 3:38

I'm having a huge sale in my journal including lots of rare Plastik Wrap at low prices, rare Lip Service, Dane, corsets, bustles, Deadly Girlz, Heavy Red, Gallery Serpentine, Versatile Fashions, Gallery Serpentine and lots more gothic/industrial/cyber/steampunk/burlesque/victorian/fairy clothing. I will be adding a lot more new items to the sale over the next few weeks so if you are interested, please add my journal to your watch list so that you can see the posts as they come.

See all the details and items in my journal:

Dry Eyes...

: eyelikerancid wrote in naturalliving; December 16th, 21:20

So, I was able to see a post in the memories about dry eyes but it wasn't close enough to my situation to be any help.

This is a BIG long shot, but maybe someone has advice!

I had PRK in both eyes the end of July (it's kind of like LASIK, but slightly grosser, so if you want details I suggest you google) The surgery went fine, healing as normal.

I do have typical post surgery dry-eye, and I've been using the artificial tears recommended by my opthamologist (Refresh Plus). Now that it's getting cold & dry here, my eyes are really starting to bother me. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I had chunks of sand under my eyelids, it hurt so much. I'm especially vigilant about the eye drops before bed, too. Anyway. I DO plan on going to the opthamologist (I'm calling tomorrow to make an appointment), but we are talking about Army healthcare here (don't get me wrong-I'm grateful to have any healthcare!) and it might be 3-4 weeks before they can see me.

Are there any supplements that could possibly help increase tear production, or am I totally crazy for asking here?? I've learned so much just by reading everyone's posts; this seems like a pretty knowledgable community :) Thanks in advance!!

Tags: eye health

Felted Soap

: ecoskink wrote in naturalliving; December 16th, 12:36

So, I was planning on making some felted soap (for the first time) for Christmas gifts this year. I got some raw wool (natural grey... wanted to stay away from super dyed, fake looking hot pinks/lime greens etc..) and a big hunk of shea butter soap base which I grated down and added some essential oils to.
Long story short, the soaps look like owl pellets. Or hairballs. They're quite unattractive, which doesn't matter in the least to me but since I'm giving them as gifts I'd like them to look somewhat more presentable and appealing. Also, not everyone who is recieving them is on the 100% natural bandwagon and I can only imagine their faces when I tell them they are supposed to rub this fuzzy mess on their naked bodies...hahaha.

I was planning on wrapping them in some cute fabric or ribbons but I don't know. Does anyone have any tips or ideas on how to make these soaps look less...well you get the picture.

I've seen felted soaps with different colored felt shapes attached to them..how is this done?

Any ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Tags: soap

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