A couple people have expressed interest on any success of switching to natural alternatives so here they are. If you want to try any out, be forewarned, sometimes the transition isn't pretty until your body adjusts. For me, all the transitions were actually quite smooth. But I've heard of people breaking out (face wash), or scalp getting flaky or oil until their body gets used to what they're doing. For me, I did everything gradually and I had no issues. Also, for each thing I was really paranoid and "over did it" until I got braver and braver to be "less thorough". I mention below that I just rinse my body with water in the shower instead of soaping all over. I used to stand in the hot water FOREVER, worried I would be greasy and gross afterwards. Little by little, I did that less and less and now I literally quickly rinse and am done and the effect is the same. Same with my hair washing. I would scrub forever and keep pouring more and more soda water on, convinced my hair wasn't getting cleaned well enough. Now I use a 1/2 cup liquid or so and just scrub normally. My point is, if you want to try it- just do it all normally as if you haven't changed anything. It will seem like less of a pain. That is just my take on it all.

A lot of people switch because it's natural and safe, others do it for the price. I used to be confused on the price part because some things are actually really expensive (like the Bronner's soap), but they all last a ridiculously long time. So it IS in fact cheaper. It also depends, I suppose on what you're using. If you're using some all natural shampoo- that's gonna be expensive, so the switch would definitely be cheaper.


Shampoo- 1Tb baking soda + 1 Cup water
Conditioner- Apple Cider Vinegar

I've been doing this with great success, the last 3-4 weeks and I really like it! I've come to decide that you can use ANY vinegar, but the apple cider smells the best and that's why people say to use it. You will smell it in your hair. So that may be an adjustment for some people. But it's not overwhelming, by any means. I put each in a little squeezy bottle and squirt the soda water on my roots, scrub it around and rinse out. The vinegar I squirt on my ends, rub around and rinse. Done. I've been amazed that it completely cleans my hair and afterwards my hair is totally conditioned, as if I've used what I've been using my whole life. I probably only use 1/2 a cup soda water on my hair for washing. The first time I tried this, my hair was REALLY greasy- I went forever without washing my hair and the ratio above didn't hack it. The next time I used 2Tb and it did the trick. But since then, this ratio seems to be perfect. It's different, because it doesn't lather and so you feel like it's doing absolutely nothing and you think you need to squirt more and more on. But in fact it's completely cleaning your hair- it just feels different.



Deodorant- baking soda

I've been doing this probably 2 years now and I love it. I put the soda in a little bowl and powder it on my arm pits with a make up brush. It works great. I used to put it on my my hands and it made such a mess. I would imagine a little puff pad thing would work great too. I don't dry my pits after a shower to try to ensure that it STICKS to my body. But honestly, I use it when I'm dry and have no issues at all. When I first started I would try to apply so much, even though it would just fall off. I now hardly put any on, the tiniest invisible layer and it works just fine! I honestly thing it may work better than deodorant. With deodorant, if I didn't shower, I would have to reapply or get stinky, but with this, I don't reapply between showers and don't smell! I was also curious if I was just not as stinky or sweaty as I used to be, and maybe this is why it works so well, but Greg JUST ran out of deodorant a couple days ago and had to use soda and it worked great! No smells.


Soap/Shaving purposes- Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castille Soap

I experimented with making my own shaving gels and it was a total waste of time, money and it plain just didn't work well. So I tried this soap and it is SO GENTLE!!!! As for soap in the shower, I just rinse my body with water. I stopped cleansing with soap at least 3 months ago. This was the easiest switch of all. No big deal. This Bronner's soap is basically 99% oil, but it's not oily at all. It works just like soap. It is amazing. I think I will start using Bronners for other purposes (like cleaning dishes and floors, instead of regular liquid dish soap), but for now I haven't yet.



Face Wash- 1 part Olive Oil + 1 part Castor Oil

I have really loved this. I put it in a mini squirt bottle and put a quarter size into my hands and rub all over my face. Soak a rag in HOT water and lay it on your face. After 10 seconds I wipe it all off and scrub as I go. Done. Easy. I love it. Online, they say to let it steam your face for a full minute, but my rag cools so quickly it seems pointless to me. If you find your face is too dry from this, use less castor oil, if it's too oily- use more. You can work in other oils, but castor is a natural exfoliant, apparently. I really like this because after I get out of the shower, my face isn't uncomfortably dry, needing to rush to the moisturizer. I'm just done. I really like it.



Moisturizer- 100% Shea Butter, occasionally olive or coconut oil

I've heard really good things about Almond Oil and Jojoba Oil for the skin. They're supposed to be really similar to our skin's natural oils, or something like that. I sort of forget the specifics now. I want to try them later on, when I run out of what I have now.



All Purpose Cleaner- 1 part white vinegar + 1 part water

This works great for counter tops, toilets, etc. Put it in a spray bottle or wait until you run out of what you have and refill it with the vinegar water. It definitely has a vinegar smell, but fades once it dries. I just put a few drops of mint oil and now it smells MINTY, instead of vinegary. You could use any essential oil to make it smell nice. WARNING- don't use vinegar on granite countertops. This also leaves my mirrors foggy. For mirrors, I find water works just fine on it's own.



Tub Cleaner- 1 part white vinegar + 1 part liquid dish soap

I would say this works ridiculously well. I put it in a squeezy bottle and squirt, scrub and rinse. I saw on pinterest to put it in one of those dish washer scrubbers that HOLD the soap and put the mixture in that and just use it to scrub in the shower. I really like that idea, but couldn't get my hands on one over here. I'm not sure how "natural" the soap is, but it says it's biodegradable so it's what I'm using for now. I also just use water and a squirt of dish soap for washing floors. I'm tempted to use just plain water.


Scrub- baking soda + water or vinegar or dish soap

Baking soda is magnificent. It seems to work for everything.


Carpet Cleaner- vinegar and baking soda

For a real stain pour vinegar on it and the pour baking soda on it. It will fizz and work out the stain. Let it dry out and vacuum later, or blot it out after 30 minutes. Alternatively spray spots with vinegar, put a damp towel on top and iron out. This works. I've done it. I was pretty blown away. But depending on how nasty your carpet is, it can be time consuming.


So basically I use vinegar and baking soda for everything. I'm pretty amazed at the job they do. The baking soda is great for getting out smells and scrubbing things away and the vinegar actually kills bacteria and things that are bad for you. I really like that if the kids get into the vinegar/soda stuff- it's not going to hurt them. I mean, we eat these things. I like that I know what it is and I don't have to worry about breathing it in while I'm using it.

I've made all these switches little by little and been very happy with them all.