really old style living?

witchwoopiggy

Caterina wrote: »

Only, I am a bit confused, isn't carbolic soap meant to smell really bad? I don't know because I have never used it, but only heard about it. How do you use it if it is in block, do you dilute it? Thanks.

i think its one of those smells you either like or dislike to be honest, its hard to discribe so if anyone else can do better than this feel free :rotfl::rotfl: its a antibotic smell, diffrent to detol though not the best discription i know i use it as a bar of soap to make sure hands are really clean after cleaning guinea pigs out , gardening ect:D as a pre wash bar on cuffs and collors but normall household soap is good for this as well, hubby has a peg tube ect and we have found this is very good for stoping him getting infections around the pipes, i put a bar in the wring out bit of a mop bucket i use it to wash floors, and i grate some off and put into the drum of a washing machine if im pre washing soiled beding, but my father in law uses it to fully wash body and hair every day he always has a lovely clean smell

Seakay

ceridwen wrote: »

Have made a note of that site.

I just went in and checked it out for borax - as I keep seeing "borax substitute" these days, but not "borax".

Does anyone know where I can get "borax" please - or cant we get it any more anywhere. If not - why cant we? What is the difference between "borax substitute" and "borax"?

I don't think that original borax is available any more,

http://www.thegreenstoreonline.co.uk/default.aspx/Page/97/Product/871/Borax-Substitute---500g

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dri-Pak-Household-Borax-Substitute/dp/B001DMQZW6

Seakay

anguk wrote: »

Ikea have one for £13.27 (don't you just love the odd prices with this vat increase):
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40176078

I fancy getting one for the kitchen but I'm not sure how they fix to the ceiling? I'm afraid it would fall down with a full load of washing on it.

It's easiest if you know where your ceiling joists are so that you can attach though into them

Some more ideas in this discussion of the subject on Mumsnet

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/good_housekeeping/979921-Anyone-got-a-Sheila-maid-type-airer/AllOnOnePage

Charis

ceridwen wrote: »

Have made a note of that site.

I just went in and checked it out for borax - as I keep seeing "borax substitute" these days, but not "borax".

Does anyone know where I can get "borax" please - or cant we get it any more anywhere. If not - why cant we? What is the difference between "borax substitute" and "borax"?

From an interesting thread on Selfsufficientish.com

"Borates as a family (including sodium borate also known as Borax), have been proposed as Reprotoxins and I think this is the reason they have been removed from the consumer market. A reprotoxin is something that can have long term systemic effects on the reproductive systems in humans (Risk phrases will be R60 may impair fertility and R61 may cause harm to the unborn child)."

You can't kill ants with the substitute, apparently.

ceridwen

Well - I guess I won't be trying any of the cosmetic recipes I have in one of my older beauty books that include borax as an ingredient any time soon then (ie I have some borax left from way back).

Come to think of it - don't think I fancy the thought of those particular recipes using borax substitute even....:cool:

Got me quite a reasonable moisturizer now - of 2 parts coconut oil and 1 part cocoa butter all melted together in a double boiler (my equivalent of anyway - which is a Pyrex casserole dish across the top of a saucepan of boiling water).

Caterina

Hi all

witchwoopiggy thank you for the reply re. carbolic soap and for the very interesting link, I might give it a go for the floors.

Ceridwen I found borax in a chemist shop in Stratford (east London) and still have a bit left but after reading that it is toxic (thank you for the info, Charis) I think I shall not buy any more. I use it in minute amount in the laundry when I wash sheets and towels, but I shall buy the substitute from now on.

ginnyknit

Many thanks withywoopiggy, love the site for the carbolic soap. Also noticed they have the real Sheila maids on it. Bit of an investment but when you think how much money you save on drying its worth it.:T

Charis

ceridwen wrote: »

Got me quite a reasonable moisturizer now - of 2 parts coconut oil and 1 part cocoa butter all melted together in a double boiler (my equivalent of anyway - which is a Pyrex casserole dish across the top of a saucepan of boiling water).

One thing I hadn't thought of when making your own cosmetics is the amount of nasties that can colonise it if you don't use any preservatives. It was something that came to light on one of these threads when someone was hoping to make some cosmetics to sell. It seems we may eliminate the synthetics at our peril :eek:

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

One thing I hadn't thought of when making your own cosmetics is the amount of nasties that can colonise it if you don't use any preservatives. It was something that came to light on one of these threads when someone was hoping to make some cosmetics to sell. It seems we may eliminate the synthetics at our peril :eek:

I am only getting back into trying again at making cosmetics just for myself - not sure whether any "commercial venture" would accept the texture of some of them anyway:cool:. I'm most concerned with not putting anything on my skin that I dont approve of - knowing that the skin absorbs a lot of what is put on it...

This time round I'm conscious of the number of times I found that some oil in the cosmetic had gone rancid (judging by the smell) before I got round to finishing using it. So - I'm now cutting open a Vitamin E capsule or two and pouring the contents into the cosmetic to preserve it (seem to recall one can use grapefruit extract as well for this purpose??). In keeping with my wish to keep things as simple as possible I shall stick to the Vit. E capsules though - as they are easy to get.

Me - I just want to buy my cosmetics readymade - as I want things as simple as possible - but I know the prices of the cheapest level I feel happy with - and they are :eek: level. Hence the decision to make my own instead - but they must be as simple as simple can be (both to get the ingredients and to make them subsequently) because of this being something I dont want to do particularly.

Charis

ceridwen wrote: »

Me - I just want to buy my cosmetics readymade - as I want things as simple as possible - but I know the prices of the cheapest level I feel happy with - and they are :eek: level.

Very true! I bought a bottle of special bath oil, which claimed to be 'a wonderful bathing experience' from the local health outlet. It was very expensive but I thought, well, you only have to put a small capful in each bath, according to the box. There was a long list of fanciful ingredients but the main ingredient was 'Helianthus Annus' - Sunflower oil. It may be '100% ethically sourced' but it has barely any fragrance, it's barely visible/noticeable in the bath and I could have bought a heck of a lot of sunflower oil for the same price. Lesson learned