Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World (20 page)

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Deodorants

Below are two simple and natural deodorants. The first is a stick deodorant, which is made like a salve. In essence, it’s a giant lip balm. The second is a cleansing spray that could be used alone or in conjunction with the stick.

Herbal Stick Deodorant

PREPARATION:
15 min

Homemade deodorants can take many forms, but we make it this way because it can be applied like a commercial stick deodorant. That familiar shape fits into our routine, travels well, and goes stealth in public situations, like the gym. Note that this is a deodorant, not an antiperspirant. The olive oil lets the skin breathe and will not stain clothing when used in reasonable quantity. The essential oils repress bacterial growth.

Before you make this recipe, you’ll need to find an old deodorant applicator, the stick sort rather than the roll-on, and clean it out. Don’t subject it to heat while you do this, just wipe it out well and then sanitize with vinegar or rubbing alcohol. While cleaning, take a moment to measure the capacity of your stick. Roll the platform down as far as it will go and add water a tablespoon at a time to see how much it will hold. Factor that into the recipe. We’re assuming your stick holds 5 tablespoons.

YOU’LL NEED

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 tablespoon organic beeswax
  
• 1/8 teaspoon tea tree oil
  
• 1/8 teaspoon rosemary essential oil
  
• 1/8 teaspoon lavender essential oil (optional)
  
• Stick-type deodorant applicator
  

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Combine the oil and wax over a water bath and heat the water to a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally until the wax melts in the oil. Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the tea tree and rosemary oils. Add the lavender oil for a sweeter scent, if desired.

Make sure your applicator is clean and dry. Roll it down to its lowest position. Add just enough hot oil to cover the platform. Wait a moment while it cools slightly. Some applicators have tiny holes in them—this step will block the holes. Add the rest of the mixture. Let it cool before capping.

Baking Soda Cleansing Spray

PREPARATION:
5 min

Sweat doesn’t stink. Odors set in when old sweat forms a breeding ground for bacteria. To stay odor free, all you have to do is keep your armpits clean. Use this deodorizing wash between showers and after exercise. The cleansing spray can be used instead of the Herbal Stick Deodorant or in conjunction with it.

YOU’LL NEED

• 1 cup water
  
• 1 tablespoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
  
• 4 drops tea tree oil
  
• Small bottle fitted with a spray pump
  

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Mix the water, baking soda, and tea tree oil in the bottle. You’ll probably have to use a funnel to get the baking soda inside. You can improvise one with a piece of paper. Shake the mixture to blend, and shake before each use. Use this spray to freshen armpits, neck, and chest. Pat dry afterward. If you don’t like the scent of tea tree oil, replace it with lavender or rosemary, or just use plain baking soda and water. And yes, this is basically the same recipe as our mouthwash. What can we say? The best things serve multiple purposes.

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Keeping the Bugs Away

Old folk wisdom says you can dissuade insects from biting you by eating raw garlic or drinking vinegar. The most palatable way to drink vinegar is by enjoying our old-fashioned vinegar-based beverages in Project 23. We’ve found these drinks protective—against lazy California mosquitoes, at least. In Minnesota, the story might be different. It can’t hurt to try. For further protection, you can make a skin spray that confuses mosquitoes and other biting insects.

Strong scents like citronella, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, cedar, and lemon-grass repel mosquitoes. You can mix essential oils of these herbs in vodka to make a spray or in olive oil to make insect repellent body oil. However, herbal scents like these may attract bees. In fact, lemongrass, a very effective mosquito repellent, is used as a bee
lure.
This may or may not be a problem, depending on where you live and when you’re going to be outside. Bees go to bed at twilight, when the mosquitoes come out in force, but there is some morning crossover. We love bees and want to keep bee-human relations positive, so we offer an alternative mosquito repellent that bees don’t like as much: common yarrow.

Yarrow Mosquito Repellent

PREPARATION:
5 min

WAITING:
4-6 weeks

This repellent calls for the white flowers of common yarrow
(Achillea millefolium).
Yellow- or pink-flowered varieties don’t work as well. Common yarrow grows wild and in many gardens. Harvest the flowers yourself, or buy dried yarrow flowers from online herbal suppliers.

YOU’LL NEED

• Fresh or dried yarrow flowers (It’s okay to include the little flower stems, but don’t use the main stalk or leaves.)
  
• 100 proof vodka
  

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Fill a clean, dry glass jar with the yarrow flowers. Cover the flowers with the vodka and put a lid on the jar. Let the jar sit for 6 weeks. Give it a shake every day, or as often as you can. After 6 weeks, strain out the flowers and transfer the liquid to a spray bottle. To use the spray, apply to the body every hour or so. Unlike
DEET,
yarrow’s insect-repellent qualities are short-lived. The liquid itself, however, keeps indefinitely.

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Curiously Homemade Peppermints

PREPARATION:
1 hour

WAITING:
1 week

Empty tins were beginning to pile up around our house, dusty little memorials to our mint habit. Sure, they can be repurposed, but that only goes so far. Hit with a bolt of
DIY
inspiration, we asked, “Why can’t we make our own mints and refill these tins?” After some pretty sticky rounds of
R&D
, we decided that the closest homemade approximation to Altoids would be peppermint-flavored fondant.

Fondant is the stuff they use to make the roses on wedding cakes. There are many ways to make fondant, but this recipe is so simple it’s almost magical. The resulting mints are not as hard as commercial mints, their texture being more akin to buttermints, but they hold up fine in a tin.

Note:
The best days for candy making are dry, clear days.

YOU’LL NEED

• 2 cups white sugar
  
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
  
• ½ cup water
  
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract (in the baking section of the supermarket)
  
• 4-5 drops (or more) peppermint essential oil (optional)
  
• Confectioners’ sugar
  
• Candy thermometer (optional)
  

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and cream of tartar. (The cream of tartar acts to retard crystallization, making the fondant smoother.) Add the water and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the sugar water to a simmer over medium heat. Do not stir. Just watch it. You may notice sugar crystals forming on the sides of the saucepan. Most candy books will tell you these must be washed down with a wet pastry brush or else crystals could end up in your fondant. We’ve stopped bothering and have not noticed any difference.

Your goal is to heat the syrup to between 235° and 240°F, which signals it’s reduced to 85 percent sugar. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can use the cold-water candy test. As sugar heats, it goes through several transformational plateaus, each of which yields a different sort of candy: fondant, taffy, hard candy, etc. These stages are signaled by the behavior of the sugar syrup in cold water. To make fondant, you need to take the sugar off the heat at the stage called soft ball. It will only take a few minutes of simmering to reach 240°F, or soft ball. So pay very close attention to the syrup. Don’t leave the kitchen while it’s cooking.

To test for the soft ball stage, keep a small bowl of cold water by the stove. As the sugar simmers, take a bit out with a spoon every minute or so and drop it into the water. At first, the syrup will vanish or settle to the bottom. You won’t be able to pick it up. Eventually, the sugar will congeal. At the soft ball stage, you’ll be able to pick up the sugar and manipulate it into a squishy lump that won’t hold its shape. As soon the syrup reaches 240°F or the soft ball stage, take the pan off the heat. If the sugar heats up past 240°F, or to the point where the syrup makes a firm ball, the sugar is overcooked and you’ll have to start over again.

TO WORK THE CANDY BY HAND

Pour the hot syrup onto a clean cookie sheet, a big baking dish, or a big platter: anything smooth and heatproof with a lot of surface area and a raised edge (so the syrup doesn’t spill over the sides). Let the syrup cool for a few minutes. You can tell it’s cooling if the surface wrinkles when you poke at it. Then, using a spatula or a wooden spoon, start stirring the syrup in a slow figure-eight pattern. By stirring, you are helping the syrup cool and working air into the mix. As it cools, it will thicken and turn opaque. When it’s thick enough, you can use a spatula (or two) to scrape up the congealing sugar and fold it over and over on itself. Eventually it will turn white and become very stiff. If you stir too enthusiastically, it may turn crumbly. This is fine. It will come together again when you work it with your hands.

Keep moving the candy mixture until it’s cool enough to work with your hands. It shouldn’t stick to your fingers much, but wet your hands if it does. After a minute of kneading, the texture will be smooth and cohesive. The dough should look like white playdough and be about the size of a tennis ball. Congratulations. This is fondant.

TO WORK THE CANDY WITH A STAND MIXER

It was a happy day when we realized we could process the syrup in our KitchenAid. Just pour the hot syrup into the mixing bowl. Attach the mixing paddle, turn the mixer on the lowest setting, and let it go. The agitation will cool the sugar quickly. It will turn creamy, then solid white, then break into crumbles. This takes only a couple of minutes. Scrape down the sides to make sure it’s mixed evenly. Dry white crumbles indicate the end of the line. Turn the mixer off. Let the crumbles cool a little before you try to work with them: Go do something for a few minutes and come back. Gather the crumbles in your hands and squish and knead them until you have a ball of cohesive dough.

CURING

However you mixed your fondant, you need to let it rest overnight to cure. Put the dough in a covered container and leave it on the countertop for 12 to 24 hours. If you put a little confectioners’ sugar on the bottom, the dough won’t stick to the container—or you can wrap it in plastic wrap. If you can’t get to it the next day, don’t worry, it won’t go bad. It can stay out at room temperature a good while. For long-term storage, put it in the fridge.

FLAVORING AND SHAPING

The next day (or when you are ready to move to the next step), sprinkle a cutting board with confectioners’ sugar and knead the fondant until it has a nice, smooth texture. Wet hands will help moisten the dough if it feels dry, and powdered sugar will dry it if it’s too sticky. When it turns smooth, flatten it into a pancake. Sprinkle the peppermint extract over the dough. Fold it over and knead some more to distribute the flavoring. Taste it. You can add more extract or, for a stronger mint punch, add a few drops of peppermint essential oil. If you use the essential oil, be sparing. Start with 4 or 5 drops. Too much is unpleasant and can actually make you sick. You might also want to try flavor variations using anise or cinnamon extracts. One ball of dough could be divided to make a few different flavors.

Shape your mints any way you want. Roll them into balls, press them into candy molds, or sculpt each one into a tiny rose—it is fondant, after all. Chilling the dough makes it stiffer and easier to shape. All we do is roll the dough into snakes and then use a sharp knife to cut the snakes into rough, oval-shaped slices. It’s not fancy, but it works for us.

Spread the mints out to dry on a plate or tray dusted with confectioners’ sugar. It will take a few days, maybe as much as a week, for the mints to harden. If it’s humid, you may want to put them in front of a fan. Don’t put them in the oven, whatever you do—they’ll melt!