Dirt Cheap Dad

Why Waste Your Time? Let Mother Nature Do All Of The Hard Work! Unless you are a hardcore gardener that needs compost right away (15-30 days), this lazy cold compost method is probably just what you're looking for. Why waste time building a fancy bin and turning your compost every day? The fact of the matter is, if you throw a bunch of food scraps and yard waste in a pile, it'll eventually create compost in about a year or so with little or no effort.  Why Not Just Throw Everything In The Garbage? When you throw food scraps into your garbage for pickup, it is dumped into a landfill. The problem with landfills is that they are completely sealed from the outside world to prevent all of the nasty chemicals and waste people throw out from seeping back into the soil and / or water supply. When you throw food scraps into the garbage, you're essentially wasting space in the landfill and preventing all of those good nutrients from ever making their way back into the food c...

And To Think I Almost Threw These Old Boots Into The Garbage We've all had a pair of shoes or boots that look like they've already given up the ghost but if they are made of leather you shouldn't throw them out just yet. I'll show you how to preserve your leather boots and make them look like new again.  Leather Oils and Preservatives There are a lot of options out there when it comes to leather oils and preservatives. I'll show you a few of my favorites as well as the best option if you need maximum protection for your heavy duty work boots.  Mink Oil Mink oil is made from rendered mink fat (pulled from pelts). It's great for smooth leather and most people find its light scent pleasant. It will soften up leather and provide a waterproof barrier to protect from the elements but won't provide the best protection in harsh environments. Be aware that any good leather preservative will darken the the leather a bit, and Mink oil is no exception....

We've always been concerned with the number of chemicals put into store bought laundry soap so we started to make our own. The following DIY recipe is very simple and is made from products that have a very good rating on EWG's ( Environmental Working Group ) website. You should be able to find almost all of these ingredients at your local store except the Biokleen Oxygen Bleach which we  purchased in bulk from Amazon . The primary reason we came up with our own recipe is because Borax has a terrible (F) rating on EWG. This recipe has an almost A+ rating on EWG, with the exception of the Dr. Bronner's bar soap because it's not rated; however, most of Dr. Bronner's liquid soaps get an A+! Ingredients of Homemade Laundry Soap Use 1/8 cup scoop per load. 1 bar Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Bar Soap (grated)  1 cup Washing Soda 1/2 cup  Baking Soda 1/4 cup  Epsom Salt 1 cup  Biokleen Oxygen Bleach Why Not Borax? Borax received an F+ from the EWG ...

Build Yourself A Coffee Table From An Old Salvaged Door We went to our local salvage store and picked up an old door for $20, a small $5 coffee table with ruined top (for the legs), and we had a few boards for the sides just laying around in the garage. We've been using it for a few years now and we love it (although it needs to be refinished now). We came up with this idea after we decided to get a nice looking large coffee table but didn't have a lot of money to spend.  Putting It All Together The build was pretty simple; we just used the hardware and legs from the small ruined coffee table and attached them to the door with side boards (after staining of course).  The colors don't quite match up but it has grown on use over the years. It has seen better days so I plan on refinishing and adding extra cross supports next time I get some spare time, and maybe better plate cover for under the door knob. I'll be sure to post an update while refinishing!  ...