Reusing Household Products

One of the things that I have been working on, since we made the decision to homestead, is learning to use what we have. Meaning, not to run to the store for a one-issue-specific product when I have something that would have worked just as well already in my kitchen pantry. It's surprising how many things you have lying around that can be repurposed for other uses. Between repurposing and attempting to reduce waste (when you live on a private road, on 11 acres, taking the trash cans out to where they will actually pick it up is quite a chore!), it's been an ongoing learning experience.

There are the obvious things, such as feeding the kitchen scraps to the pigs and crushing up egg shells and feeding them back to the chickens for an extra dose of calcium. However, I've started finding interesting ways to use other household items. Here is a quick list of some ways that we are using other products in the house.

Diaper Rash Treatments 

If you're a parent, you've experienced a diaper rash at some point in your life. They can be horrible and it just breaks your heart to hear your child scream and cry during wiping. Baby Farmer recently had one that was just awful, despite my changing her immediately every time she goes (perks of being home with her - we've made it 8 months with NO rash until last week!). She had a bit of a tummy bug and was going constantly - the frequent wiping was tearing her little butt up and I felt like the Desitin was actually making things worse. So, I looked to some new resources online to find something a bit more natural to help her out. 

After researching, I stopped using wipes immediately and let her air out as much as possible in between diapers. I started using water and mild soap for soiled diapers and just water for pee. When I did diaper her, I coated her bottom in olive oil to protect it from any further damage. I also bathed her in warm water with a tablespoon of baking powder in it, letting her sit and soak. Within a few hours, she was already showing a big difference and the rash was completely gone the next morning. 

Animal Ear Infection Treatment 

My pony recently came up from the pasture with a horrible case of ear mites. It was so bad that you could barely see inside of her ears and she would not let you touch her head at all. My neighbor's horses apparently had pretty bad cases as well, and he was having a hell of a time trying to get rid of them. All of the products he was trying were just not working. Not wanting to waste a fortune on useless products, I checked some of my new favorite home remedy websites and found this recipe: 

Stew thinly sliced garlic cloves in olive oil for at least 24 hours. 

Strain the garlic out of the olive oil. 

Use a dropper to get the solution into your animal's ears. 

This can be used on dogs, cats, horses, goats, and I've been told humans as well. My biggest tip, though, is to stand back quickly as your animal WILL shake its head, flinging the excess all over you! 

Iced Coffee 

This is a nice and easy way to avoid wasting any coffee in the morning. Mornings are pretty hectic around here, so even though I brew X amount of cups with full intentions of drinking them, I always get sidetracked and do not get to them. I can't tell you how many cups of old coffee that I have dumped down the drain in order to brew fresh. Now, we've learned to save it and make iced coffee with it. We pour the remaining coffee into a mason jar and store it in the fridge. Then, later in the day, we pour milk or flavored creamer, a spoonful of sugar, and two ice cubes into a cup and pour the cooled coffee on top of it. That's it. Nice and easy and we're saving so much coffee!! 

Make sure to keep an eye out for future posts about reusing household products. If you have any reuses of items around your house, snap a picture and send me some info and I'll make sure to add it to the next list (you'll receive credit, of course!).