Is Your Fabric Softener Toxic? / Issue #118 February 27, 2008

Home Spa Lady's
Tips of the Week
Issue # 118 - February 27, 2008
Publisher: Marilee Tolen RN
mailto:marilee777@aol.com
http://www.HomeSpaLady.com
http://www.HomeSpaLady.com/blog (Blog)
Home Spa Lady (TM)

Circulation: 2669


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Home Spa Lady ~ Simple Solutions for Self-Care At Home
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In This Issue
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1. Is Your Fabric Softener Toxic?

2. Essential Oil Tip: Natural Laundry Sheets

3. Success Tip: No Clean Laundry

4. Recipe of the Week: Sheet Cake

5. HSL's Joke or Cute Quote of the Week


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1. Is Your Fabric Softener Toxic?
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When I walk my dog Prin, I have this little "smell" game
that I play. I got the idea from watching him sniff at his
favorite checkpoints around the block.

I observe the many smells that I encounter in my
neighborhood and try to decide what is natural and what is
chemical, and see what wins out.

In the spring and summer the natural smells usually win
with the flowering of plants and the fresh cut grass.

The chemical smells win out on various days throughout the year
when I smell exhaust fumes from cars and perfumy vapors from clothes dryers.

Most people would enjoy the wafting scents from the clothes
dryers but I don't because I know those "spring fresh"
scents are from:

--Benzyl acetate
--Ethyl Acetate
--Chloroform
--Pentane
--Camphor
--Alph-terpineol

... and that these chemicals, when built up in the body, can
cause:

--Central nervous system disorders
--Headaches
--Nausea
--Vomiting
--Dizziness
--Blood pressure reduction
--Irritation to skin, mucus membranes and respiratory tract

All this for soft scented clothes?

There are natural solutions to soften fabric, here are two of
them:

--Add a quarter cup of baking soda to wash cycle

--Add a quarter cup of white vinegar to rinse cycle

To reduce static cling you can bunch up a piece of tin foil and
put in your dryer.

And my favorite tip is to make our own fabric softener sheet
with essential oils - see this tip below!


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2. Essential Oil Tip: Make Your Own Laundry Sheets
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I have my essential oil bottles in just about every room in my
house. The laundry room is where I use my oils frequently.

For my laundry I make my own Natural Fabric Softener Sheets and
here is a video on how to do that:

http://snipurl.com/naturaldryersheets


For more info or to order contact your Young Living
distributor or go to: http://tinyurl.com/aenfp


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3. Success Tip: No Clean Laundry
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"I believe you should live each day as if it is your last,
which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because, come on
who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?"

~Don't know who said this - but it's funny!


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4. Recipe of the Week: Organic Sheet Cake
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This is a delish recipe with mostly organic ingredients
- but beware - it does have sugar (although organic)!

It falls into the category of what I am now calling a
"Slap My Hand" recipe!

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Organic Chocolate Sheet Cake with Butter Cream Glaze

1 stick butter
2 heaping tablespoons organic cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup organic cane sugar
pinch salt
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 egg beaten
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

--In saucepan melt butter
--Add cocoa to melted butter and mix well
--Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then
turn off heat.
--Combine flour, sugar and salt
--Pour cocoa mixture over flour mixture
--Mix gently and let cool


--Combine yogurt, egg, baking soda and vanilla
--Stir mixture into butter/chocolate mixture
--Pour into greased 9 inch cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for
25-30 minutes.

Pour glaze (below) over cake while warm


Chocolate Butter Cream Glaze

3 1/2 oz organic German Sweet Chocolate, chopped
2 - 3 Tbsp Coffee or water
3 Tbsp Butter

--Melt the chocolate with the coffee or the water until smooth
--Remove from the heat and stir in the butter
--Pour on top of the chocolate cake using a metal spatula (best
to first moisten metal with hot water and then dry for easy
spreading)

You can sprinkle toasted slivered almonds on top too!


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5. HSL's Joke or Cute Quote of the Week
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Humor from George Carlin

"Commercials show you how detergents take out bloodstains.

I think if you've got a T-shirt with bloodstains all over it,
maybe your laundry isn't your biggest problem."


********************
Want to know about my new ebook?

Look at the 99 testimonials on this page -
you are all so beautiful!

http://snipurl.com/8_steps_ebook


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Where to Meet, Hear, or Learn with Home Spa Lady:

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June 11 - 14, 2008

Rise to Excellence
Young Living Essential Oils Convention
Salt Lake City, UT


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Reprinted from "Home Spa Lady's Tips of the Week," a free ezine
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http://www.HomeSpaLady.com.

=======================================================
Marilee Tolen RN
a.k.a. Home Spa Lady
marilee777@aol.com
Phone: 856-857-1799 (East Coast)