Tuesday was house cleaning day for me this week. With the boys at my parents' I thought it would go faster, but it didn't, but at least it is done.
Over the past few months I have changed the way I clean to be more environmental and to be a better steward of our money. The following are the products I used to clean the whole house.
Homemade soft scrub
3/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup castile soap (I found my bottle in the health food area of HEB)
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon vinegar
In a bowl, combine the baking soda and castile soap. Add the water and stir. Lastly, stir in the vinegar. The mixture will fizz a little. Stir to make a nice soft, paste-like, consistency. (This is important – the vinegar must go in last or else the scrub will be like sludge instead of a creamy paste.) Scoop out the scrub with a sponge and start cleaning.
I am sure you can half or double depending on what you need to clean. The above recipe cleaned five bathroom sinks, three toilets, one stand alone shower, one tub, one tub/shower, one kitchen sink and there was a tiny bit left over. I did try and save some the other week. It dried out a lot, but I just added water and it worked fine.
Note: if you plan to use this scrub to clean the toilet get a new toilet brush. I read that is best not to mix the leftover chemical cleaners on your old brush with this scrub.
Citrus Floor Cleaner
1 gallon hot water
2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
15-20 drops sweet orange essential oil
8-10 drops lemon essential oil
Pour soap and essential oils into a large container (I use the kitchen sink.). Fill with hot water and stir. Pour some into a spray bottle to keep for cleaning the counter tops. This cleaner does not need to be rinsed off.
This cleaner smells great!! I really don't like to mop, but this makes it almost pleasant. I also use this for counter tops in the bathroom and kitchen. I basically use it like 409. The essential oils are a disinfectant.
I haven't finished my can of pledge yet so I did use it to dust. I do have a furniture polish recipe to try. I will let you know if it works once I run out of pledge. It is like the nearer ending can.
One last cleaner that I use daily is vinegar and water mix together with a 1:1 ratio. I keep this in a spray bottle in the kitchen. It is great for all the mess the boys make, I use it as a fruit and veggie cleaner, to clean the microwave, etc. I use this one also like I used to use 409 (I never used 409 on food!).
It feels so nice to use only a few cleaners and they are all safe for your health and environmentally friendly. As you run out of your normal cleaners I hope you will try these. And since there are no chemicals you can feel good about putting the kids to work with these. Happy cleaning!!!
I am sure you can half or double depending on what you need to clean. The above recipe cleaned five bathroom sinks, three toilets, one stand alone shower, one tub, one tub/shower, one kitchen sink and there was a tiny bit left over. I did try and save some the other week. It dried out a lot, but I just added water and it worked fine.
Note: if you plan to use this scrub to clean the toilet get a new toilet brush. I read that is best not to mix the leftover chemical cleaners on your old brush with this scrub.
Citrus Floor Cleaner
1 gallon hot water
2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
15-20 drops sweet orange essential oil
8-10 drops lemon essential oil
Pour soap and essential oils into a large container (I use the kitchen sink.). Fill with hot water and stir. Pour some into a spray bottle to keep for cleaning the counter tops. This cleaner does not need to be rinsed off.
This cleaner smells great!! I really don't like to mop, but this makes it almost pleasant. I also use this for counter tops in the bathroom and kitchen. I basically use it like 409. The essential oils are a disinfectant.
I haven't finished my can of pledge yet so I did use it to dust. I do have a furniture polish recipe to try. I will let you know if it works once I run out of pledge. It is like the nearer ending can.
One last cleaner that I use daily is vinegar and water mix together with a 1:1 ratio. I keep this in a spray bottle in the kitchen. It is great for all the mess the boys make, I use it as a fruit and veggie cleaner, to clean the microwave, etc. I use this one also like I used to use 409 (I never used 409 on food!).
It feels so nice to use only a few cleaners and they are all safe for your health and environmentally friendly. As you run out of your normal cleaners I hope you will try these. And since there are no chemicals you can feel good about putting the kids to work with these. Happy cleaning!!!
Suzanne, thanks for the scrub recipe! We have switched to vinegar and water for daily cleaning too. I have also been using homemade laundry detergent and homemade toothpaste (although it tastes like salt...YUCK!) We are trying to save money, become more self-sufficient, and limit the environmental toxins in our environment. You give me good motivation to also be more aware of our trash output too. I'm going to try to work on this more in the weeks to come. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJ. Levy