Frequently Asked Questions

These come up again and again, in emails, at markets and on the website, from people
curious about DIY but unsure where to start, or who have started and hit a
problem they can’t explain. I have answered each as plainly as I can.

Is DIY expensive to start?

The upfront cost is real but modest. You are buying ingredients in quantities that
make multiple batches rather than a finished product once, so the cost per
batch drops sharply once the core ingredients are on hand. Start with the
cleaning and laundry recipes, where the ingredients are cheap and the saving is
immediate; most beginner recipes cost under $2 a batch. Personal care involves
more specialist ingredients and a higher initial outlay, but the cost per use
still typically undercuts the commercial equivalent.

Do I need to use distilled water?

For cleaning recipes such as surface sprays, floor cleaners and laundry products,
tap water is generally fine. The mineral content doesn’t matter for anything
rinsed or wiped off a surface. For personal care, meaning anything left on the
skin or hair, distilled water is strongly recommended. The mineral ions in tap
water interact with emulsifiers, preservatives and actives in ways that affect
stability and shelf life. Distilled water has those minerals removed, costs
little and gives consistent results batch to batch.

Can I substitute ingredients in a recipe?

Sometimes, with care. Generally safe: swapping one carrier oil for another of similar
profile, or one essential oil for another in the same recipe. These affect
scent and minor performance but don’t alter the chemistry. Substitutions to
avoid: swapping the emulsifier in a lotion or cream, changing the preservative,
or replacing distilled water with tap water. Treat anything listed as a key
ingredient as non-substitutable unless you understand the implications.

What if my product separates or doesn’t set properly?

For emulsified products like lotions and creams, separation usually means the
emulsion failed while making it, most often from the oil and water phases
combining at different temperatures, too little mixing or the wrong emulsifier
amount. Reheat gently and re-blend with a stick blender; this often rescues it.
For balms and set products, too soft means too little wax or too much oil, so
reheat and add a little beeswax; too hard is the reverse. Clumped powder means
moisture has got in, so keep storage airtight and your equipment completely
dry.

Don’t I need antibacterial products to keep my home clean?

For everyday cleaning, no, and it is a useful thing to unlearn. Most surfaces don’t need sterilising; they need cleaning, and the two aren’t the same job. Lifting
dirt and grease off a surface with soap and water, then wiping or rinsing it
away, deals with most of what a home throws at you. There is also a wider cost
to constant antibacterial use: research increasingly links over-sanitised
environments to allergies and weaker immune responses. Some moments do call for it, a board that has held raw meat, a bathroom after someone has been unwell, and there are recipes built for those. The rest of the time, clean is enough.

How do I know if a product has gone off?

Discard any product that shows an unusual smell, discolouration or cloudiness that
wasn’t there when made, mould, a change in texture not explained by
temperature, or a skin reaction where there wasn’t one before. A water-based
product that wasn’t preserved correctly may show no obvious sign before
contamination reaches a level that can irritate skin. That is why a preservative is non-negotiable in any water-containing formula: the risk is invisible growth, not visible spoilage. When in doubt, discard and make a fresh batch.