Comments on: Our Journey to GNOWFGLINS™

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:48:03 +0000

I tried using just corn starch and water on my hair for about a week (corn starch is supposed to absorb oil and is the main ingredient in a lot of dry shampoos), but my hair eventually got very greasy, dull, flat and stiff. I would really like to know as well if anyone has found a simple all natural product that works well for the hair, or if they’ve managed to go without using anything at all. It doesn’t seem possible, though, to have soft shiny hair without using shampoo. I think you have to either braid your hair or get dreadlocks in order to go the no shampoo route, like Avatar…

By: Pat Noe

Pat Noe — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:06:49 +0000

I am very interested in the no-soap, no-deodorant discussion going on. (I have always wondered how people in other centuries breathed, but maybe they actually had it better than we do!) Anyway, @Julie, do you use shampoo? My hair looks awful after a day or two between shampoos, but the more I think about it, I wonder if that’s the soap and conditioner residues rather than my hair? I would love more info, if anyone has anything to add.

Blessings,
Pat

By: Wardeh

Wardeh — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:09:07 +0000

Julie – That’s amazing! I think I’ll try the no-deodorant. I’ll pick a time when it is okay to be stinky, if there is such a time.

We use baking soda quite often instead of or with soap.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:08:20 +0000

Okay, I’m going to jump in and add to the deodorant discussion a tad –

I made the bold move to NO deodorant about 3 years ago. About the same time that I went to NO soap. I know, crazy, huh? Here’s my observations and what I do use:

Just as Suzanne says, there is about a 2-week detox period in which you should expect to stink. I’d recommend you plan to start when you don’t intend to have any social engagements.

I started this right at the beginning of summer, so I really did put it to the test even right off. Instead of deodorant, I filled a small coffee cup with baking soda and used an old blusher brush to dust my armpits with baking soda. Initially, and now also in the depths of a heat wave, I would do this just out of a shower while my skin was still damp and then again before I got dressed. I was so impressed at how I could wear a shirt for at least 2 days with no stink! Every time I removed my shirt, I’d check for stink. I was sniffing my armpits daily for about 6 months with astonishment. I kept asking my husband to sniff, but he wasn’t interested. Took him about a year before he decided to give it a shot. My man is a hard worker, and does a lot of manual labor in his job as well as at home. But he discovered (after his detox period), NO STINK! Now, for him, when he’s working hard, he can’t go more than a day without showering and refreshing the baking soda. HOWEVER, he also still uses soap. There have been a few times when I could FEEL myself sweat – you know, the drip in the armpit feeling. BUT NO STINK!

About 6 months after I started using baking soda for my armpits, I stopped using soap. Somebody on a forum I was a part of suggested that part of the reason our skin stinks is because of the soap buildup or residue mixing with our skin’s oils and perspiration. Yes, I still wash in the shower. But if I feel I need more than just a scrub down with water, I’ll spray my skin with diluted apple cider vinegar that I have in a spray bottle in the shower.

Baking soda doesn’t work for everybody. My best friend suffers from eczema and the baking soda gave her a rash. My mom hasn’t tried baking soda, but she just wipes her armpits with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. (Not exactly non-toxic, but healthier than aluminum in pit sticks.) I’m excited to share the above coconut oil recipe with my friend to see if it will benefit her.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:29:48 +0000

Wardeh,
Have you tried the Crystal Stick deodorant?
http://www.thecrystal.com/

This is what I use and love it because it’s completely clear and leaves no residue on your skin, so you don’t have to worry about getting it on your clothes (which I can imagine would be a problem with any homemade recipe that uses oils and powders and such). When you switch to a natural deodorant, you need to give yourself a 2-week detox period, because regular deodorants clog you up, so when you switch to a natural deodorant, all those toxins come out of your pores. That’s why you smell.

Give the Crystal Stick 2 weeks and I think you’ll be amazed. It’s also really affordable, I’ve had the same one for 7 years and it’s still not gone!

It does contain an ingredient called “alum”, which some people think is the same thing as aluminum, but it’s not. Alum is a very plentiful element found in nature (we ingest a lot of it everyday in water and food) and it is 30 times larger molucule than water so, even though it would be perfectly safe if it did absorb into your skin, the molecules are actually too large to be absorbed, so no need to worry.

By: Wardeh

Wardeh — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:52:32 +0000

Val – I’ve often wanted to try this recipe. Lindsay has a wonderful website – and it was so kind of her to spread the word about my eCourse.

By: Val

Val — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:03:20 +0000

Just an idea to pass along, haven’t tried it yet but will as soon as my coconut oil gets here…homemade deodorant! I love Lindsay’s website…actually where I read about this GNOWFGLINS course! She has a recipe for deodorant they’ve been using for 2 years now and love. Even posted a video tutorial today (2/08/10) on making it. Hope it might be helpful to you and others! Looking forward to your course and applying it to our lives! Thanks.

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com

By: Hillery

Hillery — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:12:00 +0000

Wardeh:

Thanks for sharing your family’s journey. You are definitely an inspiration to others and I hope others will follow you.

I understand about diet changes because of little ones. My son is 2 1/2 and since he was about 6 months we knew something was wrong. He developed severe plaque psoriasis and nothing helped. Thankfully we have a wonderful friend who has studied Chinese medicine and was able to test our son for allergies. Found out he was allergic to dairy, soy and beef.

Since I was breastfeeding, out those things came, one at a time, and wouldnt you know it, his skin cleared up! The doctor was shocked and amazed at the difference, she couldn’t believe it was the same child! His hair went back to normal as well, and as long as we stick to the diet, he is a normal, healthy two year old boy.

My 5 year old daughter is a self proclaimed vegetarian and has been since she turned one and tried meat for the first and last time. So we have one dairy free kid and one meat free kid which makes for some interested food choices around here! Thank you for inspiring me to look at some new ideas as well.

My only question for you would be did you find it to be financially difficult to trainsition your lifestyle, or have you done enough yourself so that it is not a strain? This has been my main problem with trying to do more natural and organic food, is that I couldn’t afford it.

Hello, Hillery! I find your story very encouraging! It is wonderful that with your diet changes, your little boy is healthy!

To answer your one question, we do continually find it challenging to keep our food budget down while purchasing entirely whole, natural, organic foods. We have been eating this way for a good 5 years, and have changed much along the way the entire time, so I can’t really make an across the board comparison, such as “we used to spend $__ and now we spend $___.” I think we do well keeping our costs down by buying in bulk, and buying very few packaged foods (whether they are healthy or not). And while purchasing quality nuts, fruit and other raw ingredients is more expensive, we can balance that by being frugal with treats and portion sizes; we find we are satisfied on less because the nutrition and satiation quality is so much better. When I consider that we spend very little on “medicine” — co-pays, dr. visits, prescriptions, etc. — I think we’re ahead of where we used to be. Not to mention that we’re healthy almost all the time — who can put a $ value on good health and the increased productivity and enjoyment life offers when one feels good?

I pray all the best for you as you journey toward transitioning your lifestyle to more healthy foods. With the benefits you’ve already seen from eating healthfully, I’m encouraged that you’re on the right track! (And you can always be thankful that your daughter won’t eat meat because that will save you money. )

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:42:43 +0000

Yes, what I read about was talking about cleaners and personal care products, too. How do you know what’s toxic? Do you think it makes a big difference to you, and is it very expensive to go non-toxic? I’m thinking of learning more about it, but we’re on a pretty tight budget, so I only want to do it if it really makes a difference. Thanks Wardeh!

-Erin

Hi, Erin! You generally can learn alot by going to the health food store and reading the labels on the cleaning products. All the things they claim to avoid and why is very informative! I don’t have any lists of bad chemicals, I just tend to stick with things I know are natural or companies with products that I believe are good.

If you run out and buy all the choices at the health food store, that can be expensive. The least expensive way to be non-toxic is to use homemade cleaners.

Baking soda and vinegar are inexpensive and will clean just about anything in your house. If you put a scoop of baking soda in a sink, the pour 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar on it, it will bubble all up and you can scrub that around to clean the sink. You can do the same thing in the toilet. Or to clean out a drain. You can also use just straight baking soda to scrub sinks and built up grime. It really works like Comet, only no fumes and nothing toxic heading down the drain.

Then I make up this all-purpose spray cleaner to clean countertops and tile. It smells wonderful! And tea tree oil has disinfectant properties.

I have bought and still do buy some commercial natural products. For our laundry soap, I buy Country Save laundry powder. I buy like 50 lbs at time and it lasts for a year or more, using only 1 tablespoon per load (1/2 T for front-loader). It doesn’t brighten whites or anything, but it cleans well. It has no fragrances and nothing toxic. Good for the septic, water tables, skin, etc. They also have a non-chlorine bleach for colors and whites.

I purchase dishwasher detergent either from Seventh Generation or BioKleen. I also have used Seventh Generation toilet bowl cleaner. Also BioKleen’s concentrated all-purpose cleanser and window cleaner concentrate. These are all inexpensive and concentrated and last a long time. My sink-washing dish soap is from Trader Joe’s. If you don’t have Trader Joe’s, you can get a good deal by watching the Azure sales or health foods store sales or by ordering a case — Ecover and Country Save I have tried and like. I used to use Ecover until I found TJs.

Our shampoo and conditioner comes from Trader Joe’s — $1.99 a bottle, and a great deal! I make all our bar soaps and liquid soaps. Each bar costs bout 50 cents to 1 dollar, depending on the oils I use. Too bad we didn’t live closer, you could come and make soap with me!

We use aloe vera for moisturizer. I have bought Jason aloe vera in the past, but now I am growing a great aloe vera plant with lots of shoots, so I am hoping we can use our own aloe vera from here on out. We use baking soda to wash our faces, it so far is a great exfoliant and oil controller, which I needed (I’ve been testing this for about 3 months). For astringent, we buy witch hazel, add a little more alcohol to it and some tea tree oil.

For toothpaste, I buy a more expensive toothpaste because it is SOOOOO good. Jason PowerSmile. It goes on sale now and then at Azure. You only need a tiny smidge. For the kids, I buy Tom’s brand at Trader Joe’s which has the best price. Sometimes Jeff uses just baking soda to brush his teeth.

The only product I haven’t been able to do naturally and well is deodorant. The naturals don’t work. Sorry! So mine has aluminum in it. I have tried to replace these, but I hate to smell.

Can’t think of anything else! I do want to assure you that it is better for you and for the environment. It doesn’t have to be more expensive if you try to make as much as possible yourself.

By: Christian Homekeeper

Christian Homekeeper — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:14:31 +0000

Does this limit your menu variety very severely? For example; we live in the mid south but there are no vegetables available locally from December through May. Do you have this same problem where you live? What do you do?
We can of course eat what I have canned from the previous year, but that’s not exactly fresh

love
Sylvia

Hi, Sylvia! Well, yes and no. Thanks to sprouting, we have fresh & local food all the time! But otherwise, the winter would be slim pickings! But we would make do, as we have done other years, and do the best we can. Its a guideline, not a rule. We try to eat fresh and local and organic as much as possible.