How to Butcher Your Own Poultry

Why Learn to Butcher Poultry?

Most people live a pretty comfy life compared to our ancestors. We have an abundance of fairly cheap food available at the local grocery store. Meat comes packaged on slabs of Styrofoam, with the bones and skin removed. Heck, you can even buy it marinated, cooked, and ready to eat.

It wasn’t that long ago when most people went out back, caught a chicken, and wrung its neck for their dinner. But these days, if you mention that you butcher your own birds you just might get an earful about animal rights and what a horrible person you are. Never mind the fact that your accuser often buys meat from the grocery store.

You’ll have the last laugh when the stores have been looted clean, the grid is down, and the only source of meat is what you kill and cook yourself. If you plan ahead and build a covert chicken coop, you’ll have a source of fresh poultry for your post apocalyptic dinners.  But don’t wait until the SHTF to learn to kill and dress your birds, get started now! Having this skill will allow you to dress poultry you raise or hunt in the wild. If you are an enterprising individual, you could post an ad on Craigslist offering to take old laying hens for free. You’d be amazed at how many people out there want chickens for eggs, but don’t have the emotional fortitude to do the dirty work and turn their ‘pet’ chickens into a hearty meal.

Raising Poultry for Meat

Why not try your hand at raising chickens, turkeys, geese, or ducks for the table?Heritage chickens take about 4 to 6 months to reach butcher size, while the Cornish hybrids only take 2 months and are much larger (although you won’t be able to get them post SHTF). Ducks should be butchered at 7 to 8 weeks for the easiest plucking and most tender meat. Turkeys and geese are ready in about 4 to 6 months, depending on how big you want them.

Although these photos were taken the last time I butchered a duck, all birds are dressed pretty much the same way. Ducks and geese may need to be dunked in the scalding pot more than once to remove their downy fluff. Keep in mind that it’s a bit more work to butcher the larger birds. Enlist the help of a friend or family member if you are butchering a lot of birds or larger birds.

Killing cone for bleeding out poultry. You can make your own too. Photo Source – Cottage CraftWorks

This stainless steel table provides an easy, clean spot for dressing your birds. Photo source:Cabela’s

What You Need:

• Hatchet and chopping block, or…
• Killing cone
• Sharp knife – a paring knife works best for dressing your bird
• Whet stone
• Scalding pot and burner
• Work table
• Bleach water and cloth

The equipment doesn’t need to set you back a fortune. Of course, like every other aspect of chicken keeping, you can find plenty of ‘great stuff’ online to help you do the deed. But I find that this basic list is all that’s really necessary. Make sure that your hatchet and knife are nice and sharp, your scalding pot is big enough to dunk a whole bird, and you have a clean spot to work.

The down is a pain to clean off a duck carcass.

How to Butcher:

• Set up: Start by getting all of your gear together. Put your scalding pot of water on to heat up to 145 – 150 degrees Fahrenheit (You can use propane or electric…or a wood fire in a survival situation). While the water is heating: sharpen your knives and hatchet, clean your table with bleach water, catch your birds and put them in a small pen or a cage (if you didn’t already do that the day before), get a container for the feathers and guts ready.
• Dispatch bird: Once the scalding water is ready, you can get started. If you are chopping the head off, I suggest putting the bird into a feed bag with a hole cut out of one corner for the head to poke through (see first photo). This will allow you to hold the bird and keep it from flapping around and getting bruised. You may put it head first into a killing cone and nick the main arteries in the neck to bleed the bird to death instead (not my preferred method, but do what you gotta do). In my experience, chopping the head off is faster and more humane. Just make sure you sever the spinal column in one quick blow.
• Wash bird: Once the bird stops struggling, give it a quick hose down. I press on the abdomen to push any feces out of the vent. Wash the feet to remove dirt.
• Scald: Dunk the whole bird in the scalding pot and swish around for 40 seconds to 1 minute.
• Pluck: Remove the feathers. This is much easier after scalding. I usually hang the bird over a large bin to catch the feathers and free my hands. Give the bird another rinse when you’re done plucking.

Cut around the vent carefully when disemboweling your bird.

• Disembowel: Start by carefully cutting around the vent. You don’t want to cut into the intestines and get crap all over the carcass. If this happens, wash the bird well. Make the hole large enough to reach in and pull the guts out. Remove intestines first then pull out the gizzard, liver, and heart. Save these organs. The crop might come along with the gizzard, or you may need to remove it from the neck area. To remove the lungs you will need to use your fingers to dig between the ribs and pull them out. Rinse the whole bird in cold water to chill.

Clockwise from top right: lungs, gizzard, heart, liver (notice the green bile that needs to be removed).

• Clean organs: Remove the gall bladder full of green bile from the liver carefully. You don’t want to get the bile on the liver. Wash the heart and liver and set in cold water. Cut the gizzard open and wash out the grit and food. Peel the yellow lining from the inside of gizzard. Place gizzard in cold water.

Cut open the gizzard and wash out the grit and food. Peel the yellow lining.

• Remove feet and oil gland: Find the joint where the foot and drumstick meet. Cut the tissue holding them together. You aren’t cutting through bone, just the ligaments and skin. The oil gland is on the top of the tail and looks like a big pimple. You want to cut under and around this to remove the oil glands or your meat might taste gamey.

Remove the feet by cutting through the ligaments, not the bone.

• Wash carcass: Wash the bird again in cold water and…
• Chill: A cooler full of ice water works great. In a post SHTF world you might want to just put the bird in a pot and start cooking. However, chilling the carcass and letting it ‘rest’ for 24 to 48 hours will relax the muscle tissue and make the bird tender.

Before you get started it’s a good idea to put the birds designated for butchering into a cage the night before. Give them clean water but no feed. This will make the disemboweling a lot less messy and will decrease the chances of spilling feces on the meat. If you’re butchering multiple birds, take a moment between each one and sharpen your knife. It will make a huge difference in cutting through ligaments and skin. When I butcher up a mess ‘o stewing hens, I like to cook them down in a big pot the same day. Then I cool the carcasses, pick the meat off the bones, and can the meat and broth in quart jars in a pressure canner. (Chicken should be processed for 90 minutes at 15 pounds pressure.) You can also can a Mason Jar Meal, like chicken soup, that’s ready to eat as is. When you’re all done with butchering, you can wash out the intestines and toss all the blood and guts to your remaining chickens…they’ll go into a feeding frenzy over all those nummy bits and pieces.

Getting Your Hands Dirty

Killing an animal isn’t something to take lightly, but it is an important skill to learn. If you want to eat meat in a survival situation, you’ll need to take its life first. This will be more difficult for some folks, especially when you are up close and ready to swing a hatchet. Shooting prey from a distance with a bow or shotgun is more detached. You don’t see the life leaving its eyes. So, if it’s your first time butchering a bird, you need to prepare yourself and know in your heart that it’s right and proper to eat an animal and that you are giving it a humane end.

I’m glad that I’ve had plenty of experience butchering my own poultry and rabbits, so if I’m ever faced with a breakdown of society I can provide meat for my family. There is a real sense of self reliance that comes along with this skill. I know that my animals have a good life and a swift and humane end. And I really don’t give a crap if someone thinks I’m a big meanie. Let ‘em eat cake after the apocalypse, I say.

*** Photos not otherwise listed are sourced from The Prepper Project

Eggs from your poultry will make survival so much easier after the SHTF. Photo Source: The Prepper Project

Why Should Preppers Keep Poultry?

There are several reasons poultry are great for preppers.  They are smaller and easier to house and feed compared to most livestock. They can also free range for much of their own feed quite well. If you keep poultry you’ll have protein in the form of eggs and meat for your survival table. You can save the down from butchering to stuff pillows, comforters, and jackets if we run into a long term survival situation. Having your own birds around will also provide entertainment, which could come in handy when there aren’t any sitcoms on the airwaves.

When you talk about poultry, most people think of chickens. They are the most commonly kept birds, but there are others that can make great livestock for families that are prepping for economic collapse or other SHTF scenarios.

Top Poultry Picks

All of these birds have their own merits as survival livestock. Depending on your situation, you may want to keep some or all of these poultry to help keep your family fed post SHTF.

Chickens are the best layers and will provide several eggs a week for your family. Photo Source: The Prepper Project

Chickens

Chickens are the best egg layers of all the poultry. One or two eggs will provide a nice meal for a lone survivor, along with some vegetables. A freshly butchered chicken will make a big pot of soup to feed quite a few people, or it can be roasted to serve a family of 4 to 6 very easily.

Chickens can be a bit noisy, so if you are prepping in the suburbs where they are restricted you’ll have a tough time keeping a covert coop. To raise your own chicks, you’ll need several hens and a rooster. The best breeds of chickens for preppers will hatch and raise their own young, as well as forage for their own food.

Heritage turkeys can raise their own young, an important feature of survival livestock.   Photo source: Wikimedia (author Martin Pettitt) 

Turkeys

Heritage breeds of turkeys, such as the Bourbon Red, Narrangansett, and the domesticated wild turkey, will raise offspring and forage for their own food if allowed to free range. These are not the bulky, broad breasted birds that the grocery stores sell for Thanksgiving. Those behemoths are unable to mate naturally or fly up into trees. So choose a heritage breed that can raise their own young, and has better camouflage from predators for your survival flock. They will have the added advantage of being able to fly up and roost in trees for the night to prevent predation.

Turkeys lay eggs much larger and higher in nutrients than chicken eggs. However turkeys will not lay nearly as many eggs each year compared to chickens and most are laid in the spring, when turkeys naturally raise their young.

Guinea Fowl are odd looking birds but make a good source of meat.   Photo source: Wikimedia (author – Steve from Washington D.C.)

Guinea Fowl

These odd looking birds from Africa are excellent foragers and will clean up the ticks and other pests around your survival retreat. That’s a huge bonus when there’s no doctor or meds around to treat Lyme’s Disease. Guinea fowl will sound the alarm when predators are close by and have been known to attack and kill snakes and rodents. They roost in trees at night to avoid predators, but will become fairly wild and hard to catch when you want to butcher one for a meal. The best idea is to train them to roost in a coop at night where they will be protected. The hens do a much better job of raising their young if they are penned in until their keets are old enough to fend for themselves. Their eggs are smaller than chicken eggs, but their ability to obtain almost all of their feed from the wild makes them a good bird for survival. Harsh winters can be pretty tough on them, so you’ll need to provide shelter and some feed in the winter.

Geese will be happiest on a survival retreat with a body of water.   Photo source: Wikimedia

Geese

Geese make very good guardians for your other livestock. When they sense an intruder they will set to honking an alarm for the whole world to hear. This is good if you want to be alerted to danger, but maybe not so good if you’re aiming for a covert survival retreat. They will also deal out a generous dose of whoop ass on any unarmed intruders, possibly removing a nice chunk of butt cheek in the process. A pond or other body of water will keep them much happier and they will gladly mow your grass all day, supplying their own feed. The Emden and Toulouse are good breeds for guarding your property, while the Pilgrim are friendlier and quieter. Most geese will only lay 30 to 45 eggs each spring. You can steal the eggs from their nest and put them under a broody hen or duck to encourage the goose to lay more of their large, delicious eggs. Geese live for a long time and one breeding trio will raise quite a few youngsters for meat each year.

Muscovy Ducks will raise several clutches of ducklings each year and make excellent mothers.  Photo source: Wikimedia (Author – Christian Jansky)

Muscovy Ducks

Of all the ducks on the market, the best survival breed is the Muscovy. These quiet birds do not need a pond or lake. Unlike most ducks, they make excellent mothers and will raise several clutches of ducklings each summer. Their meat and eggs are delicious and have less fat than most ducks. They are good at supplying their own feed during the summer and will happily rid your retreat of mosquitoes, flies, and other pests. Muscovies are very good fliers, so be sure to clip their wings or hand feed them to train them to stick around. They are a rather odd looking birds but their meat tastes so good, you’ll be glad to have them around.

A flock of pigeons can be had for free, if you can attract and trap them. Photo Source: The Prepper Project

Pigeons

Yeah, you read that right…pigeons are a great bird to keep in a post apocalyptic world. First of all, many people will be caught without any livestock when the SHTF and nice, fat chickens will be really hard to come by. So what’s an unprepared survivor to do? If you can attract a small flock of pigeons to your survival retreat, trap them, then keep them caged in their new digs for a couple of weeks, they will stick around and provide you with eggs and meat. You’ll need to provide them with grain and water during this adjustment period, but after that they will forage for all of their feed! If you want to get started on pigeon keeping now, you’ll need a dove cote for housing them. A dove cote is basically a small coop with holes for the pigeons to come and go. Usually they are built up high in the hay mow of a barn, for example. The birds will need nesting boxes to build their nests and lay their eggs. It’s also a good idea to provide fresh water in the winter if everything is frozen. You may want to have a little extra grain to keep them plump during the winter too.

Pigeons are small and one bird will feed one or maybe two people, in a pinch. So you’ll want to keep a nice sized flock if you are depending on them as a staple of your diet. They lay two small eggs in each clutch and will raise the young pretty quickly, then start on another clutch. If you steal the eggs to make your survival breakfast, they’ll lay more.

But Lisa, I Live in the Suburbs…

Fear not, there is a bird for you! Urban and suburban preppers who are interested in poultry, but are prohibited from keeping them may be able to ‘fly under the wire’ with a small flock of quail. These small birds are quiet and easy to keep in a cage. They begin laying at an early age and can be dressed for a gourmet survival meal. Their eggs are small so two can be used to replace one chicken egg. Keeping them in a basement or garage is possible without anyone being the wiser. Bugging out with them might be an interesting challenge, but hey, you could always eat them if you get stuck in the ‘burbs for a while.

You can also try your hand at raising pigeons, but be prepared for complaints from the neighbors!

Prepping with Poultry

Having flocks of poultry on your survival retreat will allow you to eat eggs and meat year round if you prepare ahead and take care to provide their necessary requirements. A sturdy coop is a must to prevent possums, raccoons, fox, mountain lions, and other predators from stealing your birds at night. Allowing them to free range during the day will help provide them with the protein and nutrients they need to survive, but it is not without risk. Hawks and eagles will be happy to take a nice fat bird off your hands, and will come back once they find easy prey. Check out Dave’s article on Feeding Chickens Without Buying Feed.

Keep your poultry penned up until they are old enough to forage with the rest of the flock, or they will disappear pronto. Keep some grain or other goodies on hand to call them back to the coop at night, unless you want them to be wild and roost outside at night. In northern climates they will fare much better in a coop during the winter, at least at night. Clipping their wings (just the feathers) will prevent your birds from flying off in search of new territory, but it will also make them more vulnerable to predation. Feed crushed egg shells back to your flock to help recycle the calcium they need for continued egg production. You will need some grain for the winter in cold climates and a little corn will help to heat up their bodies. They will not lay in the winter unless you trick them into thinking the days are longer with a light in their coop. Several solar powered lights might help.

Learn how to raise your poultry and butcher them for food while it’s still easy to replace them. One mistake can wipe out most of your flock, so having some real world experience under your belt before you’re in a survival situation could save your life someday.

8 Best Chicken Breeds For Preppers

Are you planning to keep chickens to provide food for your family after an economic collapse? They’re the first livestock on the prepper’s list due to their small size, low maintenance, and ability to provide both eggs and meat. They’re also a great addition to your survival plan because they produce fertilizer and eat pests that could ruin your survival plantings. Before you acquire chickens, there are some things to consider. Do some homework so you’ll choose the best breeds to suit your needs.

Climate

What climate will you be surviving in…hot, cold, wet? Choose the right breeds for the location. Chickens with large combs, such as the Brown Leghorn, are adapted to hot climates. Those same chickens are susceptible to frostbite on their combs. If you live in the frigid north, choose a cold hardy breed like the Ameraucana. For rainy climates, consider keeping a breed like the Marans that were developed in a marshy region.

Camouflage

You’ll also want breeds that blend into their surroundings. White Leghorns are awesome hens due to their low feed, high egg production. However, they’re easy to spot by predators. Look for chickens that will blend in with the natural terrain. The Egyptian Fayoumi is black and white speckled and will blend into dappled shade. The Brown Leghorn’s color is better suited to sandy areas. Choosing breeds for camouflage will help them forage more safely.

Forage

Some chickens will provide a lot of eggs or meat, but they need regular rations of grain to keep them in prime condition. Choose breeds that will actively forage.  Chickens are omnivores and will eat everything from plant material and bugs to small rodents. Be sure they have room to find the nutrients they need. In a dry area with low nutrient density they’ll have to range far and wide for food. The dense foliage and rotting logs of woodland will provide better hunting grounds.  Your chickens will also need dirt to scratch in for grit, minerals, and to take dust baths. Give them any table scraps you might have, as well as finely crushed egg shells to provide extra nutrition. They also need a source of fresh, clean water to stay healthy and provide you with eggs.

If you live in an area with a dry season or cold winter, how will you provide food for them when resources are scarce? Chickens don’t like going out in snow or heavy rains. You may need to collect food for them during the abundant season and store it. The lean season is a good time to cull your old hens, extra roosters, or the less thrifty ones for the table. Feed the guts and ground bones back to the flock.

Eggs and Meat

This is your whole reason for keeping chickens. Will you be able to butcher them when the time comes? Will you have a flock that actually lays eggs for your table? If you’re bugging out and taking chickens with you, keep in mind that moving them to a new location will shut down egg production for at least two weeks while they acclimate. They will also stop laying eggs if they don’t have enough food or water, and also during the winter in areas with shorter daylight hours. Store up extra eggs during the fall to help see you through the lean months. Unwashed eggs in good condition have been stored for up to 6 months unrefrigerated.

You should also be aware that most chickens will not provide you with as much meat as you are accustomed to. Cornish Rock broilers are the premier meat chicken in the US. They’ve been hybridized by the poultry industry to provide a plump, tender bird in 8 weeks. You’ll want to raise dual purpose breeds to get the most meat, but don’t expect anything like the birds you buy on a Styrofoam slab. Older chickens are pretty chewy, too. So you may want to make soup instead of roasting them.

The Next Generation

Look for chicken breeds that will hatch out and raise their own chicks. You can’t incubate eggs without a steady temperature of about 98 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Your best strategy is to let the hens take care of that. Hens that stay on a nest and hatch out their own young are referred to as ‘broody.’ A broody hen stops laying eggs until her chicks can fend for themselves. Not all hens make good mothers. Sometimes they drag their little ones all over and lose them. It takes time to breed for these characteristics. And don’t forget that you need roosters for fertile eggs. Keep more than one rooster for genetic diversity

One last note for the prepper with chickens in their survival plan – Start Now! There is a learning curve to raising livestock. You need to gain first hand knowledge ASAP. When all hell breaks loose, you’ll have enough to worry about. So get your chickens in a row and start prepping now.

 Top Chicken Picks for Preppers

These are some of the best chickens for free ranging, hot or cold climate, raising offspring, and/or laying eggs. Start with several kinds and selectively breed for your conditions. Bring in new breeding stock when possible to prevent inbreeding.

Brown Leghorn – hot climate, active forager, flighty, great layer, seldom broody, brown with green sheen.

Egyptian Fayoumi – Hot climate, active forager, wild, good layer, seldom broody, black and white speckled, disease resistant, early maturing.

Turken – Hot or cold climate, adaptable, decent layer, can be broody, good mother, color varies, docile, slow to mature.

Buckeye – Very cold hardy, adaptable, decent layer, somewhat broody, docile, dark brown, slow to mature.

Chanticler – Very cold hardy, decent layer, broody, good mother, docile, color varies, early maturing.

Dominique – Cold hardy, adaptable, decent layer, broody, good mother, barred, early maturing.

Ameraucana – Very cold hardy, adaptable, good layer, can be broody, color varies, somewhat early maturing.

Marans – Tolerant of wet conditions, adaptable, decent layer, broody, color varies.

For a great resource that lists the characteristics of different chicken breeds, check out the Henderson’s Chicken Breed Chart.

30 Must Have Kitchen Items for Any Prepper

If the power grid ever does go down for a long period of time you’re going to have to learn how to use your kitchen the same way your grandmother, or great-grandmother did. So I have put together a list of some essential kitchen items a prepper should have in there kitchen. When choosing your kitchen items you’re going to want to stay away from plastics and the cheaper products made in China, you want to have items that will last a lifetime.

Wood Cook Stove with Oven – This is going to be your biggest expense, but your greatest asset should the power grid ever go down.

Matches – There are many ways to start a fire, but when it comes down to it matches by far are the easiest way. Paper book matches are the most cost efficient.

Hand Meat Grinder – Used to make your own hamburger, and sausage, grind rabbit, venison, pork, beef, chicken and turkey

Can-Opener – Have a good sturdy hand operated can-opener also keep a couple of P-38′s on hand.

Hand Grain Mill – These are great to grind wheat, rice, barley, and oats, into flour.

Cast Iron Cookware – Cast Iron when properly taken care of will last a lifetime, plus it can handle the high temperatures of cooking over a wooden stove or an open fire.

Stainless Steel Cookware & Utensils – Like cast iron cookware, stainless steel can handle the higher temperatures of a wooden stove. You also want to choose stainless steel utensils, plastic and cheaply made utensils will just break over time. Some items you will want are:

• Pots & Pans
• Roasting Pans
• Colanders
• Cookie Sheets
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Tea Kettle – Stainless Steel or Copper
• Spatulas
• Serving Spoons & Forks
• Cheese Grater
• Potato Peeler
• Whisk
• Meat Tenderizing Hammer

Knives – Look for knives with good high-carbon stainless steel blades.

Hand Beater – A good old fashioned hand beater, you’re going to have to hit up some yard sales or antique shops to find one, because the ones made today don’t compare.

Cutting Boards

Wooden Rolling Pin

4-Cup Glass Measuring Cup

Hand Oil Press – Excellent for for making your own cooking oils from nuts and seeds.

Here are some things you will want to have on hand in your kitchen pantry also:

Sugar & Honey – Not only a sweetener but a preserver.

Salt – Not only do you need salt in your diet but its an excellent preserver.

Baking Soda – has a ton of uses from toothpaste, antacid, and extinguishing fire, its uses are almost endless.

Vinegar – Apple Cider Vinegar, white distilled vinegar and wine vinegar all have many uses, from using as a cleaner, preserving/pickling vegetables to making salad dressings.

Spices – Eating the same thing everyday will get old fast, variety is the spice of life.

50 Free E Books on Homesteading from 1930s – 1960s

Learn tried-and-true methods of building and maintaining your small farm or homestead from historic US Department of Agriculture books and bulletins.

The University of North Texas provides online editions of thousands of United States government sponsored books and documents. Here's a small sampling of USDA publications from the 1930s through the 1960s. These old works do not show the latest and best methods, but they are still valuable for ideas.

Subjects are:

Adobe or Sun-Dried Brick for Farm Buildings

Bracing Farm Buildings

Chimneys and Fireplaces: How to Build Them

Convenient Kitchens

Dairy-Barn Construction

Earth Roads

Expansible Farmhouses

Farm Buildings from Home-Grown Timber in the South

Farm Dairy Houses

Farm Drainage

Farm Fences

The Farm Garden

Farmhouse Plans

Farmhouse: Split-Level Expansible

Farm Plumbing

Farm Poultry Raising

Farmstead Water Supply

Farm Water Power

Fire-Protective Construction on the Farm

Fires on Farms

Getting Started in Farming

Good Roads for Farmers

Growing and Planting Coniferous Trees on the Farm

Heating the Farm Home

Homes for Birds

Housecleaning Made Easier

How to Build a Farm Pond

Livestock for Small Farms

Managing Farm Fishponds for Bass and Bluegills

Measuring and Marketing Farm Timber

Modernizing Farmhouses

Painting on the Farm

Part Time Farming

Plain Concrete for Farm Use

Plans of Rural Community Buildings

Poultry Houses and Fixtures

Poultry Raising on the Farm

Practical Hog Houses

Practical Suggestions for Farm Buildings

Protection of Buildings and Farm Property from Lightning

Rammed Earth Walls for Buildings

Selection of Lumber for Farm and Home Building

Seven Ways to Greater Egg Profit

Silos and Silage

Small Concrete Construction on the Farm

Techniques of Fishpond Management

Termites in Buildings

The Use of Logs and Poles in Farm Construction

Weeds and How to Kill Them

The Windbreak as a Farm Asset

***The contents of the University of North Texas Digital Library are made publicly available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Review each manuscript for copyright information. It's your responsibility to use this material according to all applicable terms.

Homemade Natural Fruit and Vegetable Wash + Soak Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

Mix it all together, pour it in a bottle/jar (to use as a soak) or in a spray bottle (to use as a spray) and shake VERY well to make baking soda dissolve. Before using, wash all the loose dirt off of fruit and vegetables. 

For spray: spray to cover produce and then rub for about 1 minute. Then rinse under cold water

For soak: fill container with water, then add some soak, mix it with water, put produce in so that water covers it and allow it soak for about 20 minutes. Then rinse under cold water. Enjoy!

DIY Natural After Sun Wipes

WHAT TO USE (ingredients for 10 wipes):

--1 tbsp Aloe Vera Gel - soothes, heals and re-hydrates skin

--8 drops of Peppermint Oil - kills bacteria and has an amazing cooling as well as healing effect

--1/2 cup Distilled Water  

--1 tbsp  Rose Water - optional - helps retain moisture, nourishes, cools and refreshes skin

Additional: 

--Spray Bottle

--Ziploc Bag 

--Dry Floor Clothes - I got a pack of 20 at Dollar Tree

HOW TO MAKE THEM:

I first mix together aloe vera gel and peppermint oil. After that I add rose water and distilledwater, pour the mixture into a spray bottle and then spray it onto the wipes. I then store the wipes in a Ziploc bag. And that's it!