DIY Recipes

If you have cats, you probably have experienced at least one time when your cat urinated on a couch, carpet or bed. The smell of cat urine is almost impossible to get out! There are many products that break down the enzymes in the cat urine, but we have found the smell still remains no matter what we try.

That is, until this weekend! Our cat must have peed on the couch some time during the night, because by the next morning the room smelled strongly of cat urine. Sure enough, right in the middle of the couch – a big pool of cat pee. I poured a whole bottle of cat urine enzyme solution on the cushion, but I still smelled the urine by the end of the day. In desperation I started searching the internet – and after reading many home remedies I made up my own formula to remove the smell of cat urine – and it worked!

The measurements are sketchy, at best. I put a little bit of this in and a little bit of that… then I poured the entire bowl of homemade cat urine remover over the couch. To my great amazement, the solution actually worked to get rid of that terrible odor! I was afraid my couch would be faded after the treatment, but it didn’t bleach it at all. Of course, you should spot test your couch (or carpet) with this mixture before pouring it all over the cushions!

Before I used the solution, I had already used a product that breaks down cat urine enzymes. This might be the key to the whole process – using the product first, and then the solution below after that had dried – but this is only a guess.

Homemade Recipe to Remove the Cat Urine Smell:

• ¼ cup hydrogen peroxide
• ¼ cup baking soda
• 2 good squirts of dish detergent
• ¼ cup white vinegar

Now remember, I didn’t measure – I just threw it all in together. So if it doesn’t work the first time, try adding a bit more of each and repeating the process.

Put all of the ingredients into a big mixing bowl, and then fill the bowl with hot water from the tap. Then (after spot testing the item you are cleaning) pour the entire bowl of solution over the smelly area. Wipe the cleaner into the item so it will soak through. Now let it dry, and voila! No more stinky cat smell!

Why not make your own DIY body butter, face cream, lotion or healing balm? It literally takes ten minutes to make and you’re going to love the fact that it’s all natural and there are no chemicals or nasty ingredients in it. The basic recipe for all of these is coconut oil and beeswax. Depending on what you want to use it for, i.e., moisturizer, acne or eczema, you can add what you need. For mature skin, you can add in essential oils like frankincense and helichrysum.

If desired, you can add a carrier oil specifically for your skin. Generally, you’ll want heavier oils for mature skin and lighter oil for younger skin. Scroll down to see my carrier oil guide. Add a scent like lavender, vanilla, rose or geranium and enjoy! You’ll have much healthier glowing skin than using products from your local drugstore. Your skin will thank you for it.

BODY BUTTER RECIPE / BODY LOTION

• 1/2 cup olive oil or any other carrier oil (see below)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup beeswax
• 2 tablespoon Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter (optional)
• 10 drops of essential oil or vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of Vitamin E Oil (optional)

HEALING BALM RECIPE

• 1/4 cup of coconut oil
• 1/4 cup of beeswax
• 10 drops of essential oil or vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of Vitamin E Oil (optional)

Combine coconut oil, beeswax and olive oil or butter if used, in a glass bowl or mason jar and place inside a sauce pan with about 2 inches of water. Turn it on low or medium heat to melt and stir the cocoa butter and beeswax occasionally, until completely melted. ?Move from stove and pour into a container that you have set aside to use. Immediately stir in essential oils or vanilla extract. Add Vitamin E Oil and stir thoroughly (Vitamin E oil can be added to help preserve the balm in addition to healing properties to the skin.) Let sit to cool. Enjoy!

For a lighter moisturizing cream, use a different carrier oil in place of the olive oil. Heavier oils are the most moisturizing.

A few years ago, I purchased carpet cleaner for pet stain removal from our local Petco store that promised to take out pet stains and odor. We had just gotten our new puppy and she had accidents pretty much everywhere during her housebreaking training. Of course the day came when we ran out of that little red miracle bottle. There’s never a good time to run out of something like that as you don’t let puppy accidents sit on the carpet until your next trip to the store.

Without hesitation, I went to my laptop to look for a homemade Oxiclean remedy online that would be safe for carpets since that was an ingredient listed on the bottle. To my surprise, there was such a homemade concoction. The great thing is that there were only two ingredients needed for one of these recipes and I had both in my house, washing soda and hydrogen peroxide (water was a given).

I actually found a few different recipes during my search. Some used baking soda instead of washing soda but the general consensus on those sites was that the washing soda worked better than the baking soda on stains. Some recipes called for both and all were natural or organic. You can search online if you want to try other homemade Oxiclean recipes, but here is the one I used and it worked well as a laundry booster.

I made my solution and poured it back into the dark colored peroxide plastic bottle and added a sprayer on top, a huge mistake! I left mine on the sink for about two hours, came back and found the bottle bloated so badly that it wouldn’t stand up. The bottom was more round than flat and the solution was oozing out of the top around the sprayer. What happened next must have been a funny sight for my daughter who saw Mom grab the bottle thinking it might explode running to the back door loudly asking her to open the door and to hurry. It didn’t explode although the bottom of the bottle was now permanently round. I tossed it and ordered a glass amber bottle online with a sprayer on top to use for the next time. It worked perfectly.

The best thing about this whole thing is that this is green with no chemicals and this solution can be used on clothing stains or anything Oxiclean was used for and you might just have the ingredients on hand like I did.

Lately, I have been on a mission to see how many products I can make at home and also save my family money. Next, I will post a laundry detergent recipe that I have my eye on that is supposed to save money. My only question is, how well does it work? We shall see.

Note: If you do not have washing soda but do have baking soda, you can turn it into washing soda powder by doing the following according to an ehow.com article: Spread a box of baking soda so it bakes evenly on a cookie sheet (with sides). Place it in the oven for an hour at 300 degrees F. Let cool. Because it will become more alkaline after baking, it would be best to use gloves and a spoon to handle it. Scoop it into a container and its ready to use as washing soda.

Ever wonder how to make homemade dry shampoo? I personally can’t stand the smell of most of the aerosol type dry shampoos on the market. The smell is much too strong but the one I do love is Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Dry Shampoo and at $5 a pop I do buy it. When I run out, well that’s a different story. With two teenage daughters in the house, this happens way to often and it’s good to know that I can make my own homemade dry shampoo.

Homemade Dry Shampoo Recipe for 3 Hair Colors:

In addition to the ingredients below, you will need a container with a top for storing your dry shampoo. See below for more suggestions on what you can use.

Light Blonde Hair

2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
3 teaspoons of cornstarch

Light Brown or Dark Blonde

2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of cornstarch

Dark Brown Hair

2 teaspoons of special dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of cornstarch

* You can test this recipe to find your perfect hair color by adding or reducing cornstarch or cocoa powder.

Directions for Using Dry Shampoo:

We used a large fluffy makeup brush to apply lightly to the roots and on the top 2-3 layers of our hair and then used the blow dryer with our hair upside down for just a few seconds to blow it out. The cornstarch absorbs the oil and dirt and the cocoa powder gives color to the cornstarch to blend with your hair. When you brush and blow out the product that has absorbed the oil in your hair, your hair looks and feels cleaner. Bending over to blow dry the product out of my hair adds volume for me but is optional after applying and is not necessary for the application. Our hair looked like it had just been washed, not as shiny but fabulous.

Storing the Dry Shampoo

You can use a shaker that is used for confectioner sugar to store your dry shampoo and sprinkle on instead of brushing on. It works just as well and may be preferred over the brush. I found one at Amazon but I remember Pampered Chef having one too. Come to think of it, you may have an old mineral foundation container that has a shaker top. It would be perfect for your DIY dry shampoo.

Compare to Other Dry Shampoos

Usually our hair gets oily the day after we wash it and this gives us an extra day of clean hair. It worked as good, if not better than the dry shampoos I had previously purchased at Ulta or Sephora for $20-$30 before finding the brand I like now. And our hair smells nicer too. The other thing to consider is the cost. You can make a ton of this homemade dry shampoo for the price of a can of commercial dry shampoo.

My teen daughter used it tonight before going to play practice and I told her if someone said they were craving an Almond Joy, she will know they were smelling her hair. She uses a shampoo that smells like coconut. Add that too the cocoa and you have the smell of a candy bar!