Its been a while since my last blog. I've been busy, you see. Spring as sprung and with it comes a lot of chores and work that all needs to be done RIGHT NOW. Plus with the vast amount of current events its hard to decide what to talk about. Between that twit who spit out 14 kids, the thieves at AIG spending vast amount of tax payer money on bonuses for obviously exemplery performance, our new President spending money that doesn't exist on projects that will mostly likey prove fruitless, and the various other day-to-day goodness how is a person to chose?

Thinking along these lines this morning I came to a conclusion on todays blog. The focus will be on:

Foot Powder

Honestly, no hidden meanings. I really mean foot powder. For your feet. Why this as a topic of discuession? Because wet stinky feet are gross and 30 seconds of time and a tiny bit of effort can solve that easily. The reason I think more people don't regularly apply foot powder, or at least the reason I didn't for years, is the cost. Foot powder is expensive! A months supply can cost around $12 for some of the bigger brands and probably won't last more than a month. Thats $144 a year that could be spent on a lot of things that aren't foot powder. So whats the solution? Make your own!

Even the best primum brands out there are composed of two major ingredients. They may have a few other things thrown in there such as Tolnaftate (an anti-fungal) or Menthol (anti-itch) but in reality you don't need them at all. What you need is 50% corn starch and 50% baking soda. Put it in a small water-tight container, shake it up and there you have it. Instant foot powder at the cost of about $.50 for a months supply. Want it to smell pretty? Put a drop or two of essential oil in there (I like lavender) and shake the hell out of it. If it has a tendency to clump a little bit throw some dry rice or a penny in there too and the problem is solved.

Heres how it works. Corn starch is hydroscopic. That means it like moisture. A lot. Way more than any fungus does. Any time your feet start to sweat the corn starch will absorb it instantly making it unavailable for the fungus. The baking soda acts in two ways. First, it stops odor. Everyone who's ever put a box of Arm and Hammer in their fridge can testify to the fact that their fridge doesn't stink as long as that box is in there. Same goes with your feet. The baking soda will absorb foot funk like no ones business. It also upsets the PH balance around your feet. By making your feet slightly more alkali than the fungus likes it will help to kill it off.

"But what if I want the anti-fungal? What if I want the anti-itch? Your stuff isn't going to work for me!" You don't need either. You see foot fungus, like any other plant, requires moisture to thrive. Since the corn starch is much more hydroscopic than the fungus its soon going to be moisture deprived and will die off. As for the itching, it was caused by the fungus which is now dead. Besides, more and more menthol based products are being found to be somewhat harmful in the long run possibly even causing surfice-nerve damage.

So why spend all that money? Make it yourself with two simple ingredients that you probably have in the house anyway. Your feet will thank you.