Repellent spray and stick on the left; itch relief ointment and stick on the right

The other ingredients I use are witch hazel extract, soybean oil, lanolin, and beeswax, some of which have healing properties but in these recipes, they are used as the carrier or base for the essential oils. It is a matter of preference as to the type of product you’re going for – a cooling spray, a convenient stick, or a soothing cream. Using essential oil based bug repellent works great and makes me feel better about the amount of repellent I use regularly on myself and my kids. These recipes are very easy to make and last all season, probably longer but I usually just start over every year; there are no oil and water emulsions to mess with. I’m also entering this post in the Mountain Rose Herbs recipe contest – medicinal.

Bug repellent spray

This spray has a cooling effect but it doesn’t last long and must be applied often.
Ingredients by weight:

• witch hazel extract
• citronella oil
• peppermint essential oil

Fill a spray bottle with witch hazel extract. For a diluted version, use equal parts witch hazel extract and water. Add one drop each of the citronella and peppermint essential oil for each fl oz of liquid.

Bug repellent stick – makes approx. 2 oz

Ingredients by weight:

• 0.5 oz beeswax
• 1.5 oz soybean oil
• 2 drops each citronella and peppermint essential oils

Heat oil and beeswax in a microwave or water bath until dissolved. Add essential oils. Pour into stick tube and refrigerate about 5 minutes to let it set. Let sit at room temperature until fully set, at least an hour.

Bug bite relief ointment – makes approx. 2 oz

Ingredients by weight:

• 0.3 oz beeswax
• 0.7 oz lanolin
• 1.0 oz soybean oil
• 0.04 oz camphor

Heat beeswax, lanolin, and oil in a microwave or water bath until dissolved. Add camphor. Let cool. Blend with a stick blender and store in a jar. Alternative: omit lanolin and use 1.7 oz soybean oil.

Bug bite relief stick – makes approx. 2 oz

Ingredients by weight:

• 0.4 oz beeswax
• 1.6 oz lanolin
• 0.04 oz camphor

Heat lanolin and beeswax in a microwave or water bath until dissolved. Add camphor. Pour into stick tube and refrigerate about 5 minutes to let it set. Let sit at room temperature until fully set, at least an hour. Alternative: Use 0.5 oz beeswax and 1.5 oz soybean oil and omit lanolin.

Additional Notes:

• In the U.S, the FDA approves camphor for over-the-counter external analgesic drug products at concentrations of 0.1% to 3%. As a pain reliever and mild anesthetic, the FDA approves camphor at concentrations of 3% to 11%. So if the product is labeled as an anti-itch ointment such as Blue Star, you will see camphor listed as the active ingredient at 3% or less but if the product is labeled as a sore muscle rub like Badger and Tiger Balm, then camphor is listed at greater than 3%. These recipes contain 2% camphor. I’ve included this note here to show that you can use more camphor.
• You can substitute any carrier oil that is liquid at room temperature for the soybean oil.

First thing you need to know is that it’s all about your water. Soap or a surfactant combined with water is the base of most cleaners. But its effectiveness is very much dependent on your water source which is in turn dependent on your geography. If you are harvesting and using rainwater, then cleaning with just plain ole soap, water, and elbow grease like people did back in the old days would work just fine. But times have changed and part of modernization means most of us get our water through municipal water systems which in turn get their supply mostly from groundwater and surface water. Water from these sources flow through soil and rock, picking up minerals along the way before reaching our water lines. The amount of these minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, is what determines water hardness. Hard water is not a health hazard but it does make cleaning a nuisance. Soap is more affected by hard water than detergent since it reacts with the minerals to form a greasy curd, soap scum, that’s insoluble in water. More soap may clean more but also leaves behind more soap scum. With detergents however, you can usually use more to counterbalance the effects of hard water. Here’s a good site that describes basic soap and detergent chemistry.

The majority of households in the U.S. has hard water. That means that unless you’re softening the water in some way, cleaning with soap and water isn’t going to get the job done. Softening your water (by installing a water softener or adding borax or washing soda) and then following with a vinegar rinse will help soap clean significantly better. But the drawbacks are that you’re using more resources – water, your time, money, etc… and increasing the salinity/sodium content of your used water. The latter may not be such a concern if you’re plugged into your local sewer system but if you have a septic tank or greywater system to reclaim and reuse your water, then you definitely want to limit and control your water’s sodium content.

Surfactants have come a long way and are not as hazardous as they were back in the fifties. Surfactants today are also much more biodegradable, enough to be suitable for reuse as greywater. Not all surfactants are created equal. If you have hard water, then choosing a detergent with the least environmental hazard for your area and use condition is much more environmental and effective at cleaning than using soap. I wish there was a site to rate all the detergents available to us here in the U.S. so we can make more of an informed decision on which detergent to choose. Australians and New Zealanders have Lanfax Labs to thank for their in-depth research and very useful information on detergents commercially available down under. As for the rest of us, just stick with a mild liquid detergent. Liquids and powders are built differently. In general, liquid detergents are less alkaline and less corrosive than powders. That means liquids are gentler on your fabrics and surfaces but it also means that they don’t clean as well as powders. Then again, it is better to spot treat soils than to use a strong cleaner allover.

Water is called the “universal solvent” because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Water alone can clean most dirt and non-greasy food mess so long as it’s still fresh. Add surfactants to water and you can clean almost everything around your house. Heat and a little bit of elbow grease also helps. Basically, make your homemade cleaners from commercially available laundering products that you’re already using to clean your clothes. Use common additives like borax and refer to laundering do’s and don’ts for proper usage and knowing what you can or cannot mix together. Examples: Never mix chlorine bleach with ammonia, vinegar or anything acidic; it’s okay to mix borax and baking soda with detergent; vinegar solution and detergent is also fine. Stick with simple mixtures and basic chemistry. When you stick with laundering products, not only does it work but these products come with safety guidelines and you’re less likely to mix two unknown chemicals.

As of January 2010, the Consumer Product Communication Initiative Program took effect as a volunteer program within the household product manufacturers industry to inform consumers about the ingredients in their products. Not only is this useful for evaluating store-bought products but you can use this information to safely mix your own cleaners so long as you stick to common laundering products. No, you probably won’t achieve the same product, but you’ll get good enough cleaning power. Take for example Seventh Generation. Notice the similarity between their liquid detergents and all-purpose cleaners. So, if you’re already using their detergent, simply mix one tsp of it with 32 oz of water for a similar all-purpose cleaner.

The SDA site lists just some of the participants with links directly to the manufacturer’s websites. Another good site is the Household Products Database through the U.S. Dept. of Health and Services. There is also the Consumer Product Information Database which seems redundant but still worth a mention. Notice how water and surfactants make up a large portion of everyday cleaners. Many of the other ingredients exist to enhance the cleaning power of water and/or surfactants. And of course, there are those that are unnecessary for cleaning, like fragrance and dyes.

In the next post will be my homemade cleaning recipes (using mostly laundering products of course). Finally!

And now, I’m going to explain why I brought up the subject of microbes.

A large portion of my posts are dedicated to homemade, do-it-yourself crafts and necessities. I do it mostly to save money without sacrificing quality, the trade-off being sacrificing personal time and a little effort on my part which I think is worth it. Some of the topics like cooking, aren’t so foreign to the vast majority. But other topics like homemade skin care and housecleaning seem to raise a lot of questions. Mainly, is it better? Does it work? IS IT SAFE?

I brought the subject of microbes to answer the safety question as it is one of the of the main concerns or aversions people have with anything homemade. Understandably so. Some of our concerns with contamination are misplaced and stem from our germaphobic mentality. In a public setting, then yes, it would be prudent to exercise some precautions. But in our very own home, a healthy home is one that co-exists with microbes. Again, I am not advocating living in filth. But we don’t live in a bubble. Trying to engage in a full-on war against microbes can have adverse consequences. So, the goal of homemade, whether it’s cooking, housecleaning, skin care, or some other craft, is still safety but without too much help from man-made biocides. The safety trade-off here means having a realistic expectation of what our homemade goods can accomplish. For example, in the case of housecleaning products, it means that your house will be clean but you won’t even come close to imitating a clinical, almost sterile environment. Not that this should be your goal – you’re not trying to operate on your kitchen table after all. Even in a clean house, bacteria can still spread and cause infections but again, that’s not a bad thing if you view it as exercising your immune system (provided it is not compromised in the first place). In the case of your homemade perishable goods, food and cosmetics, it means a significantly shortened shelf life. With cooking, we are accustomed to this trade-off. We know that the cupcake we bake and leave out on the counter is not going to last as long as a Twinkie. And we use our senses to determine when it’s past its prime and chuck it. Homemade skin care is also a perishable and shares many of the same ingredients you would find in food. However, it seems that we still have unrealistic expectations as to its shelf life and aren’t as accustomed to using our senses to judge when it is past its prime as we do with food. I will address this topic in detail in many future posts. For now, assume that as long as you apply the same mentality to homemade cosmetics as you do to homecooking, you should be fine.

One last point I want to make is that just like microbes, man-made biocides do have their place in our society. In a public setting, for better or worse, the public is more trustful of clinical-like environments and prepackaged, commercially prepared goods. So no homemade goodies to hand out at our kids’ soccer games. But it’s okay. A little bit of man-made biocide in our lives is not harmful. It is the cumulative overexposure that create problems. In the same manner that the dangers of the presence of germs has been blown out of proportion, the toxicity of man-made biocides has equally been overexaggerated. More on this topic in a future post. My point is to minimize, not eliminate, our exposure to biocides. How? By not including synthetic preservatives in our homemade goodies and only using germ-killing household cleaners when necessary, not as part of routine cleaning.

Humans are tough and very adaptable, whether it’s to normal levels of microbes or small amounts of man-made biocides. How else did we come out on top of the food chain and overpopulate the Earth? But if we let science over-intervene, eventually, our bodies and our environment will not be able to keep up with our science.

Everything in moderation.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Preservatives, like disinfectants, inhibit microbrial growth. But their main purpose is to extend a product’s shelf life. In our fast-paced, industrialized world where we as consumers expect to get what we want and when we want with minimal effort, it seems reasonable that so many of our products contain preservatives. But just like disinfectants and antibiotics, microorganisms do develop resistance to synthetic preservatives. Perishable goods like cosmetics and food are not expected to be aseptic – free of microbes. It is practically impossible! As you gleam through the product recalls, you will notice that contamination also happens to preserved products.

So why use it? From a business perspective, if you are going to produce perishables for a large consumer base and need to have a long shelf life to maximize profits, legal and consumer health benefits do outweigh the risks. The demand is also there; consumers do want the convenience and availability of perishable goods and so, preservative-laden products are a fact of life. Again, just like with disinfectants, we can limit our exposure by limiting our intake of commercially prepared perishables. But unlike reducing our use of antibacterial household cleaners, limiting preserved products means significant lifestyle trade-offs: cost, time and personal responsibility. We would have to pay a higher price for quality perishables or spend more of our time making our short-lasting homemade goods and trust ourselves in our ability to make safe products at home (without adding preservatives). The latter comes with practice. But these trade-offs are hard to come to terms with. I guess the point I’m trying to make is to limit your use of preserved products for the same reasons you don’t want to overuse antibiotics and antibacterial products – too much can turn into a health risk.

Next, I’ll close off this series of posts with my personal opinions and why I brought up this topic.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

A few more references

FDA. Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM). This manual represents the agency’s preferred laboratory procedures for microbiological analyses of foods and cosmetics and is now available online to the public.

Chapman, J.S. Characterizing bacterial resistance to preservatives and disinfectants. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 1998; 41:241-245.

Flores M, et al. Deterioration of Raw Materials and Cosmetic Products by Preservative Resistant Microorganisms. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, Volume 40, Number 2, September 1997 , pp. 157-160.

Chapman, J.S., Diehl, M.A., Fearnside, K.J., 1997. Preservative tolerance and resistance. Int. J. Cosmetic Sci. 19, l-10.

Photo via Scott Sodora/WSJ

We hear a lot about the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The medical community has done well in informing both medical health professionals AND patients. We know that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics lead to drug resistance and newer drugs must be developed to keep up. But what about non-medical, everyday cleaning products? Like anti-bacterial soaps with triclosan and germ-killing household cleaners?

Though antibiotics are meant to treat whereas anti-bacterial products are meant to prevent infectious disease, the underlying concept is practically the same. They are all biocides and share similar traits. Including developing bacterial resistance. The concept is nothing new. Bacterial resistance is well observed and documented (see medical reference below) both in man-made biocides and in nature. At first, this may sound like an alarming issue. In the case of antibiotics, it is a cause for concern especially if antibiotics development can’t keep up and stay one step ahead. As for household disinfectants, there are no strong evidence that biocide resistance has escalated to a point of major health risk. That’s good news I guess, especially for the manufacturers of consumer household products. There aren’t sufficient data and the medical community can only speculate on the future. Some experts believe that the recent explosion of biocide containing household products could lead to highly resistant bacteria and therefore reduce the product’s effectiveness but more importantly, that this phenomenon could even directly or indirectly affect antibiotic resistance. On the other hand, other experts believe that the relatively low usage of such biocides in the real world as compared to a clinical setting is not enough to drastically disturb the microflora. Future speculations aside, most of the research do indicate that the regular use of antibacterial agents and disinfectants in a healthy household is unecessary and does not provide any additional health benefits. Not only that but overuse disturbs the balance within our immune system as I pointed out in Part I. Many of these products were not meant to be used on a regular basis. We all have times in our lives where our immune system is compromised. For me, it was the weeks after delivering my babies. Other than that, there hasn’t been any need for our family to use antibacterial products regularly. Just occasionally.

Our oversanitized environment and germaphobic society have led to the explosion in the number of germ fighting household products. But it is unclear whether consumers first demanded those products or manufacturers began making and aggressively marketing them. After all, the global household products market is a $70+ billion dollars industry and growing. It is also fast-paced with new ingredients and technologies and continuously changing regulations. The aggressive nature of the industry drives companies to constantly churn out new products and race to be the first in the market with a new and improved, latest and greatest germ-fighter without fully knowing the long-term health and environmental effects. The plethora of products has clouded our judgment and basic common sense.

Conclusion

Humans have co-existed and co-evolved with microbes since forever. And we will continue to do so either at nature’s pace or with the aid of man-made biocides. But if man-made biocides ever become a major problem, then most likely there can only be a man-made solution as nature will not be able to keep up with the altered and accelerated evolution of our microflora.

So what to do?

Let the medical community research and debate on the future consequences of abundant biocide use. Let the environmental groups and powers-that-be fight and persuade our government and its many overburdened agencies to regulate and do something about it. And let the manufacturers continue to make and market their unecessary germ-fighting household products in the absence of regulations. The most effective action we can take right now, as stewards of our healthy home, is conquer germophobia and reduce our use of antibacterial and disinfecting cleaners. The effects of your actions will ripple through the industry. So much of our house can be cleaned with simple solutions like vinegar, water, soap, surfactants, and baking soda. You don’t even have to exert a lot of effort – let your appliances do the hard work. I will elaborate on these simple cleaners in many posts to come. I just felt like it was important to give a little backgrounder as to why. For now, suffice it to say that regular use of commercial antibacterial products is overkill. Literally.

In the next section, I’ll discuss preservatives in our perishables, food and cosmetics. It’s all related!

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

References and further reading:

Aiello et al. Antibacterial cleaning products and drug resistance. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005 Oct;11(10):1565-70. View full-text.

Russell AD. Bacterial adaptation and resistance to antiseptics, disinfectants and preservatives is not a new phenomenon. J Hosp Infect. 2004 Jun;57(2):97-104. View online.

Aiello et al. Antibacterial cleaning and hygiene products as an emerging risk factor for antibiotic resistance in the community. Lancet Infect Dis. 2003 Aug;3(8):501-6. View abstract.

Tan et al. Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Consumer Products. Arch Dermatol. 2002;138:1082-1086. View abstract.

Levy SB. Antibacterial household products: cause for concern. Emerg Infect Dis. 2001;7(3 Suppl):512–5. View full-text.

International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene. Recent publication listing on microbial resistance.

Athavaley A. Household Products Start to Come Clean on Ingredients. Wall Street Journal. April 2, 2009. View online.

Photo via IRRI

Yesterday marked the first day of Autumn, at least for us in the Northern Hemisphere. The back-to-school/end-of-summer frenzy has quieted down and everyone has settled into their Fall routine. Now, the focus has shifted to the cold and flu season and keeping our home and family safe and healthy. We begin this seasonal topic every year around this time (just like we focus on sun protection at the onset of every summer) even though we can get sick all year round. Everyone is talking about and marketing products to this effect. And the products span a very wide range from immune-boosting foods and supplements to anti-bacterial and sanitizing products to symptom relievers. But in the end, those are just products and they can only do so much. We don’t even know how effective some of them are.

The lesser talked about, cheaper (free) way to keep our home and ourselves healthy all year round is to exercise our immune system. How? By being more tolerant of the microbes in our environment. Before you jump out of your seat in disgust, let me just clarify that I’m not advocating that it’s okay to be dirty and live in filth. I’m just supporting the theory that the modern environment we’ve created for ourselves has weakened our immune system. People in the industrialized world have become too much of an indoor society and an over-sanitized one. For most individuals who don’t already have a compromised immune system, getting sick with common bacteria infection is how our bodies learn to fight it off and boost our immune system. So, when we get sick from a really severe infection, well then we have both the wonderful drugs of modern medicine and our own strong immune system to fight it off and help us recover faster. Isn’t twice the defense better than one? For more information, google the “hygiene hypothesis”. There’s also an interesting segment on this topic in the video “The Evolutionary Arms Race”.

Another downside to microbe intolerance is bacterial resistance. That’s coming up next.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV