No, that is not crack. It's baking soda. If you have some in your house, you're already halfway to never buying Soft Scrub again.Today I thought I'd share some of the recipes I use to "clean my house" (I do this occasionally). Kind of fun, pretty easy, and really cheap. Everyone wins.
These cleaners are effective, at least by my standards. If you don't want a single speck of dirt or bacteria around, they might not be for you, but I've always thought it makes sense not to have a sterile house. In Iowa they'll tell you, "farm kids don't get sick". I think it's because they're surrounded by dirt and animal poo, and as a result they have IMMUNE SYSTEMS OF STEEL. I've tried to replicate this situation in my own home - ha.
The main ingredients in most of these recipes are baking soda, Borax, castile soap and vinegar, so make sure you have that stuff on hand first. I wasn't familiar with Borax when I first started making these, but I found it in the same aisle as all of the other cleaning products (go figure). Another tip: many of the recipes call for essential oils to give the cleaners a pleasant smell, but I just buy Dr. Bronner's Lavendar Scented Castile Soap and skip the oils for most of them.
"Soft Scrub" (Hippie Edition)
In medium-sized bowl, mix 1 cup baking soda with 1/4 cup castile soap. Mix thoroughly with a fork. Add 1/2 teaspoon of essential oil of choice. Store in an 8-oz. jar with a tightly fitted lid to prevent the mixture from drying out.
All-Purpose Cleaner
Fill a 16 oz. spray bottle with 1 tsp. Borax and hot water. Shake until the Borax is dissolved. Add 2 Tbsp. of vinegar and shake again. Add 1/4 cup castile soap.
Scouring Powder
1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Borax, 1 cup salt. Mix together thoroughly with a fork. Add 15 - 30 drops of essential oil of choice (rosemary tea tree, lemon, lavendar, etc.). Store in a jar with holes drilled in the top. Cover with plastic wrap to keep the essential oils from evaporating between uses.
Toilet Cleaner
Put 1 cup Borax and 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice in the toilet bowl. Let it rest for an hour or two and scrub.
Spot Remover
Make a paste with 4 Tbsp. baking soda or salt and 1/4 cup warm water. Rub the paste on the spot and let it sit for an hour, then wash as usual.
Bleach Alternatives
Free bleach: hang your clothes in the sun! Or put 1/4 cup lemon juice in the wash cycle. Vinegar also acts as a mild bleach and is safe for most fabrics. Use it as a presoak for dingy whites and diapers. Or add 1+ cups of vinegar to the presoak cycle or to the rinse cycle.
You'll keep the baking soda people in business, and put the chemical-happy folks out of it. Rage against the machine.
P.S. If you think I'm weird, check out this chick. She's all Little House on the Prairie and makes her own deoderant, shampoo, the works. Not signing up for that yet, though I am intrigued.
(Pic from sillypenguins.com)
7 comments:
You are such an inspirational earth woman!! What about the green cleaners that you can buy at the supermarket? Do we get any points for using those?
Absolutely! "Seventh Generation" is a good brand, though it's a lot more expensive than the homemade cleaners. Just like with food, check the ingredients on cleaners from more conventional companies. Sometimes they'll put "green" on something and it's really just the same cleaner with some avocado juice or something tossed in - ha ;)
thanks for the receipes - i'm excited to try them.
I made the switch to baking soda, vinegar, borax etc. to clean with over a year ago and am very satisfied. No toxic smells for me and when I see my kids playing on the floor or with their face burried in the carpet, I don't worry about what chemicals are left on there. I also am no clean freak and don't like the "sterile" mentality.
Hey, I made that deodorant a couple months ago and have been using and like it :) I also have a recipe for alcohol free, natural hand sanitizer if you want it.
Mal, I would love the recipe for hand sanitizer. My hesitation with the homemade deoderant is I tend to sweat and smell right through that stuff. So for me I'd almost rather not wear any at all most days, and when I have to be "presentable" I use the hardcore stuff ;)
Here goes,
In a glass jar with a lid, mix
1/4 cup aloe vera gel
1/4 cup witch hazel
1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
10 drops tea tree oil.
Shake well.
Use it like you would any other sanitizer, put some on and rub it in.
I think I put some lavender oil in mine too so it wasn't so "tea tree-y"
Sounds delicious ;) Thank you!
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