This is a blog series highlighting the amazing women who are living examples of the MamaSuds Manifesto.

How did you find MamaSuds in the first place?

I honestly cannot recall exactly how I stumbled upon MamaSuds. One way or another, it was luck! I do know that 2 years ago I began looking into non-toxic products and making my own products at home. I know I acquired a post on Pinterest from the MamaSuds blog, so I may have found MamaSuds through Pinterest, or I really think it was when I was searching for an alternate option to Dr. Bronners Castile Soap that everyone likes to rave about. I was far from impressed with the price to product amount ratio with Dr. Bronner's, and I like to find products that aren't so commercialized. When I found MamaSuds I remember coming back to the site a few times knowing I wanted to place an order but hesitant about splurging on the gallon of Castile soap. I finally "took the plunge" and ordered laundry soap, all purpose spray, and a gallon of Castile Soap! Best purchases ever!

What's your favorite MamaSuds Product? 

I love the Castile Soap and Laundry Soap. The Castile soap is so versatile and I am able to make my own all purpose cleaner, face wash, and floor cleaner from one product! The laundry soap is the safest I have found and probably will ever find, and I was excited to find a liquid! The absolute best part of all of this is to know that I am buying from the US and from a mother who started her own business and is so passionate about her products!

What is your favorite thing about yourself? 

My favorite thing about myself is my personality. Don't get me wrong -I have my moments- but overall I am an easy going, happy, there to help everyone kind of person. Life is too short to dwell on things or be mad at the people you love!

What is your clean living tip? 

My clean living tip is to take it one day or one week at a time! Start with one item in your home and replace it, and then find another item and try replacing that one. It takes time and does not have to happen overnight. In time you will love the changes and keep moving forward towards a more non-toxic living environment, that you can be proud of!

What inspires you to live more sustainably?

My family is what inspires me to live more sustainably. After having my daughter, I began to become even more aware of the toxins that surround us. I began working at changing out everything from personal care products to cleaning products and everything in-between, as well as living a more "greener" lifestyle. I work in a Cancer Center and it truly is scary to see all the different types of cancer and what people and their families go through. I would like to think and hope that small changes made in my home may help my family to avoid unnecessary health issues that are linked to toxins in our daily environments.

We hope you enjoyed Jessica's story! If you have a story to tell, we'd love to hear it. 

 

Celebrate a whole NEW MamaSuds!

MamaSuds has a whole NEW look! It's been months of research and many more months of designing (thank you RowanMade) and we are ready to launch our brand new look.

Hold up- I want to reassure you that even though we've changed the packaging, the product itself.... the inside stuff, the ingredients- it hasn't changed at all. It's still fresh, pure, clean and truly safe. We now have the packaging to match! 

Our LAUNCH date for the NEW MamaSuds website is
Wednesday, August 23, 2017. 
But you won't have to wait for that date. YOU will get special early bird 🐦 shopping an entire day early.  A special password will be sent to you to enter our new site and get it first. Plus, our old packaging will be available at first-come first-serve prices! 

Dates to remember:

Monday August 21: BLACK OUT DAY
coinciding with Solar Eclipse Day 🌑, the MamaSuds website will be "under construction"
Tuesday August 22: Early Bird 🐦 Shopping
A private password will be emailed to those on our Email List: they will get to shop a day early and receive special pricing on our old packaging.
Wednesday August 23: NEW MamaSuds site will be LAUNCHED 🚀 
The new site will be open to the public 🌿

In just a few more days we'll be announcing a BIG giveaway and begin unveiling our New MamaSuds Collection!

 

Join the MamaSuds Email List HERE.

Big Dreams + A New Look

  

It's been 8 months of hard work and late nights, but the time is finally here to tell you our big news: MamaSuds is getting a makeover!

We are really excited about our new look and we hope you love it too. Why the new look? Well, a year ago I had a big dream: to bring our products closer to you. I reached out to hundreds of stores, send countless samples all over the country, and heard a common theme when I asked for feedback: "We love your products, but your packaging doesn't match the aesthetic of our customers."

At first I was confused. What? What does that mean? I researched and read and decided I needed help. So I hired Lela Barker from Lucky Break Consulting to guide me through rebranding MamaSuds. 

I am not going to lie. It was really hard. But the end result is stunning and beautiful. 

In the upcoming days, I will be sharing our rebrand story and the new look with you. If you'd like to get sneak peeks and news then I invite you to join our mailing list HERE. 

12 ways to live a more sustainable life

1. Think before you shop and become and environmentally conscious consumer

2. Ditch the plastic water bottles

3. Speaking of water.... be water wise! Here are 100 Ways to Conserve Wise 

4. Eat less meat (Resources: Take Extinction Off Your Plate and Reducing Your Footprint 

 

5. Reduce your household energy use by using the right lightbulb

6. Quit using ridiculous disposable products  

7. Support fashion brands that are ethical and environmentally conscious: Loomstate, Patagonia, and Reformation are just a few you may want to check out

8. Use washable stainless steel straws instead of disposable plastic straws

9. Borrow books from the library instead of purchasing them directly or buy them used from a local used bookstore (now you're buying used AND local!)

10. Donate unused clothing and household items to The Salvation Army

11. Buy second-hand

12. Support local and indie businesses

How many of these do you already do? Which do you feel has the greatest impact? 

 

Since I had kids I have changed a lot. I think most people can relate to that sentence. But I often think about how pre-kids Michelle and post-kids Michelle would probably not be friends. Just the thought of these two personalities in the same room together makes me laugh. There is no way pre-kids Michelle would even recognize herself 10 years later.

Okay, enough talking about myself in the third person.

When I first heard about cloth diapering I scoffed at the idea. In fact, I am pretty certain I was repulsed. I remember someone showing me the “new” cloth diapers (probably an AIO: all in one) and thinking: why would you use that when you can just throw a disposable out?

I can’t pinpoint what exactly made me decide to check into cloth diapers. But what bothered me about disposables was the time it took for them to decompose. I have read everything from 250 years to more than 500 years. And you can’t recycle disposables. It's very disturbing to me to think about how many diapers I used with my oldest, then multiply that by multiple kids, multiple families.... I just can't comprehend it. 

 Using cloth diapers, even part-time, is extremely eco friendly and economical. Not to mention they are really cute too! 

 I used cloth full time with my middle daughter, using disposables for just a week when we went on a trip. But with my third daughter, I had the hardest time finding anything that would not leak at night. I spent a lot of money trying to find the answers to dry pajamas and sheets, but I didn't find anything (this was 5 years ago), so I did do disposables at night with her. 

I wish there were better options back then for disposables, but there really weren't many choices.....

Now though? There are many good options and a few great options. Check out this company, called Poof that makes completely biodegradable diapers AND wipes! Hooray for innovation! 

 

How was your experience with cloth? I'd love to hear! 

• Sammy Dolan of Home Clean Expert offers tips to get kids involved in helping with the cleaning.
• Age-appropriate chores should be assigned to each child.
• Use chore charts to organize the tasks and have children check off when completed.
• Incentivize kids by providing rewards for completing consecutive chores.
• Consistent cleaning habits and a good work ethic can be instilled in kids through their involvement in household chores.

• Irina Webb is the creator of I Read Labels For You, an website that researches ingredients for health and wellness.
• She began researching ingredients when she was pregnant and wanted to find healthy and safe products.
• She publishes books on the topic and offers consults to families on how to clean out their homes of toxic products.
• Irina recently reviewed MamaSuds Automatic Dishwasher Powder on her blog, sharing questions she asked while researching it.
• She is also active on social media, so be sure to follow her Instagram and Facebook!

Clean out your kitchen

Is it time your Kitchen needs to be cleaned and detoxed? Do you still have cleaning products in the back of your cupboard that you're ashamed of, or maybe you're just not sure if they are safe or not? 

Let's Detox Your Kitchen

1. Get a laundry basket. Put everything you find that doesn't belong in the kitchen in the laundry basket. This helps stop Cleaning A.D.D. You know, when you go to put something away in another room and suddenly start cleaning something in that room? Then a few hours later you realize you started with the kitchen and suddenly ended up cleaning the toy box out in the play room? Yeah, guilty! The laundry basket is how I get myself to not do that. 

2. Clear everything off of your counters. 

3. Start at the top of your Kitchen and work down. Take everything off the top of your cupboards or shelves and refrigerator and wash/clean them off. Vacuum up there. Use MamaSuds® All Purpose Cleaner to clean the grease/grime/dust. 

4. Spray your cupboards and handles/knobs and wipe them down. Use a cotton swab to get in any nooks and crannies. 

5. Take everything out of your refrigerator and wash it out. A bucket of hot water with about a half an ounce of MamaSuds® Castile Soap would work great, or continue using the spray. Put refrigerator contents back.

6. Take items out of cupboards one section at a time. Anything that your don't use or isn't yours put in the laundry basket. Wipe out cupboard and put contents back. Do the same with the drawers too. 

7. Oven. This can be done at night if your oven it particularly filthy. It may need a good wiping down or a scrub. Vacuum or sweep out anything sitting at the bottom. Sprinkle baking soda on the bottom so it creates a thin layer. Spray it with white distilled vinegar and shut the down. Leave it over night then scrub the oven floor and walls. Wipe out. 

8. Spray kitchen surfaces and back splash and appliances. Wipe down.

9. Dispose of any other cleaning products you no longer use. You really can get away with just a few cleaning products! 

10. Take your laundry basket and put items away. 

Now have a cup of something tasty and enjoy your clean kitchen! 

So when was the last time you cleaned those make-up brushes? I have to admit, I do it less than I probably should, however now that my girls are at the "love-to-put-makeup-on" stage, I do it more. Only because I have black eyeshadow on my kabuki brush and blush on my eyeshadow brush. 😳

If you have one MamaSuds product or quite a few, there are multiple products you can use to clean your makeup brushes. Here are your steps:

1.) Rinse your brushes off. Experts say to avoid getting anything but the bristles, but I am not very good at that. 

2.) Get a shallow bowl and put either a small amount of a)  MamaSuds Castile Soap b)  MamaSuds Laundry Soap or c)  MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner. Then add enough water to have up to the middle of the brushes submerged. 

3.) You can let your brushes sit in it for about 10 minutes or just start swirling  each of them around in it, working out the makeup.

4.) Rinse and dry carefully. Then put a towel or washcloth down and lean them up against something (like the wall or mirror) so they are leaning with the brushes down. Let them dry overnight. 

That's it! Try it and let me know how it works!