Disinfectant: Fill 16 oz. spray bottle 3/4 full with water. Add 1 T. borax. Shake well. Add 3 T. castile soap (Dr. Bronner's) and 15-20 drops pure tea tree oil. Shake well before each use.
All Purpose Cleaner: Fill 16 oz. spray bottle up to the 16 oz. line with water. Add 1 t. borax, and 1/2 t. baking soda. Shake well. Add 2 T. vinegar, 1 T. lemon juice, and 10 drops of your favorite essential oil. (I used lavender)
When choosing which essential oil to use, you can either use one you like or use one of the following: lavender, tea tree, lemon. I learned at the workshop that all three are anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal. They'll add a little extra "oomph" to your cleaner!
So far, I've found plenty of uses for both! Each evening after I do my dishes, I spray the counter down with the disinfectant and wipe it well, and rinse out my sponge and spray it several times with the disinfectant. I cleaned my bathroom today and used the disinfectant for the toilet with some baking soda in the bowl (dump a bucket of water in the toilet and it will empty the toilet bowl. Then you can clean with the disinfectant/baking soda). For the tub and sink I used the all purpose cleaner and put baking soda on my sponge. They both worked great, and I feel so much better cleaning with all natural cleaners and not having to worry about what fumes I'm breathing in.
One thing about green cleaners is that sometimes you'll need to add a little elbow grease. Another option is to do preventative cleaning. Moving away from
4 comments:
Have you heard of the book Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan? It has a lot of cleaning recipes in it. It's really good. I'd still be using it but loaned it to a friend and never got it back.
It has a lot of good info in it! One thing I really liked was the author would give a recipe for a cleaner, and then give a comparison for how that cleaner worked compared to ones on the market (like Comet or toilet cleaner or whatever). It's good.
Anyway, thanks for posting about this - it's another push for me to get making my own again!
Have a wonderful day!
Melody, I think I checked that book out of the library a few years ago. I didn't make any of the cleaners though! I will have to look for that book again, thanks for mentioning it.
Speaking of preventative cleaning, I've been spending a lot of time with an elderly friend who has been housebound for a couple of months. She's always talking about how she used to clean, and I'm learning a lot from her. One thing she has always done is clean her tub after her bath each day. Now, she goes the extra mile and fills it with water and cleaner and lets it soak and then scrubs it - even after just one bath - and her tub looks brand new although it's 50 years old. I decided to try just lightly cleaning my tub each day, though, and I must say I love it. I just spritz it lightly, let it sit for a minute or two while I do something else, then give it a quick wipe and rinse. It's stayed sparkling clean for a month and I love it. The other day I was thinking that I could do this with a homemade cleaner very easily, because I never have to scrub it. The problem I've had with homemade cleaners is that "elbow grease" - I didn't want to use it! All that to say that preventative cleaning doesn't take long and it's worth it - saves time in the long run!
Susan, I think the preventative cleaning is where I fail the most. I wait till I absoletely have to clean, and then of course with a homemade cleaner that will entail extra "elbow grease". Now that I'm using the homemade cleaners I need to get better at cleaning more regularly!
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