Cleaning Recipes

Household cleaners can be so toxic to you & to your children! I recently decided I would start making my own cleaners instead of buying & using all those harmful cleaners sold at the local grocery store. While I still do have those cleaners around (only because I have yet to use the ones I had before I started making my own) and I will admit they are easy & convenient. It is said even though the cleaners you have are underneath the kitchen sink, they still produce toxic fumes that could possibly cause autism, candida (yeast overgrowth in your body), and other possibly health problems. While I'm not sure all that is true, I think the idea of homemade cleaners is awesome & so affordable (which is always a plus!).

Basics:

Soap-Water spray - add a small squirt of dish soap (Dawn or Ivory) or Dr. Bronner’s to a spray bottle full of water. Shake and spray.

Vinegar Spray—mix equal parts of white vinegar with water, and add your favorite essential oil (25 drops). Remember that vinegar and oil don’t mix well (like salad dressing), so don’t use this to clean the grease on your stove unless you’ve already cleaned with soap and water or baking soda and water.

Scented Baking Soda—fill a shaker-type container with baking soda and add about 10 drops of your favorite essential oil. Use the scented baking soda anywhere you would use a cleaner like Soft Scrub. It is amazing how well baking soda can get stains off of counter tops!

BathroomsCounters—a simple dish soap and water solution works really well. I fill the sink with warm water and a tiny squirt of dish soap or Dr. Bronner’s and use it to clean the counters, sinks, and all the parts of the toilet you touch with a sponge.

Toilet – sprinkle about ½ cup baking soda in the bowl and the water. Pour about ½ cup vinegar into the bowl. Watch it fizz. Scrub with a toilet brush. To clean the seat and rim, use your vinegar-water solution or soap-water solution.

Tub—this stuff works amazingly:
Tub Paste - Squirt some peppermint Dr. Bronner’s soap, about 1/4 cup or more, into a sealing container. I use a cleaned, 16-ounce, plastic yogurt container.
Add about half as much water as you did soap.
Mix in baking soda, adding a little at a time until it forms a nice thick paste, about the consistency of store-bought cake frosting. If you add too much baking soda, thin it with a little water.
To use, scoop some cleaner out onto a dampened sponge and scrub your bath tub. It works amazingly well and smells so good, you’ll want to eat it.

Sleep-It-Off Oven Cleaner
Ingredients: salt, baking soda, water, a shaker, and a spray bottle with water and a couple tablespoons of Dr. Bronner’s or dishwashing soap (like Dawn).
Mix ¼ cup salt with ¾ cup baking soda. Fill the shaker.
Spray the oven with soap and water spray. Shake the salt-soda mixture on. Spray again with water until the mixture is slightly damp and pasty. For the side walls, make a thick paste and sponge it on.
Leave it overnight. In the morning, get a putty knife/scraper, and scrape off the goop and pile it onto an old newspaper. Use a scotch-brite sponge to work off any tough spots. Wipe down with a soap and water spray. Rinse.
*I used this in our condo and it worked wonders! And did not have that awful smell like regular oven cleaners have.

Dishwasher Detergent
1 cup washing soda (not baking soda, but it is made by Arm & Hammer and found in the laundry aisle)1 cup Borax (also in the laundry aisle, and while not non-toxic, it is much less-toxic than your other options)10 drops lemon essential oil
Mix with a fork or butter knife and store in an old glass jar or Tupperware. Place ½ Tablespoon in the smaller detergent cup and 1 Tablespoon in the larger detergent cup in your dishwasher.
*I did not add the lemon essential oil & it seemed to work just as well.

All of these recipes are from http://www.supercinski.net/superclean/ and she also has other recipes on there, that I did not list.

Happy Cleaning!!!