Thursday, May 13, 2010

A Batch of Clean

Our move has gone really well thus far. I have used this move as an opportunity to make some changes in our home. We have eliminated toxic cleaning chemicals from our home. Yesterday I jumped at the chance to whip up a few cleaners. Here are the recipes and a few photos of the process. It was super easy AND, better yet, the cleansers work just as well (maybe better) as the popular brands in the stores.





Here is what you'll need to make these three recipes:
Baking Soda
Distilled Water
Liquid Soap (Sal Suds, Dr. Bronners, etc. I used Biokleen because that's what I had on hand)
White Vinegar
Essential oils if you'd like. I used Tea Tree for its anti-fungal properties and Lemon for its fresh scent)
A bowl for mixing (that's my Pampered Chef batter bowl pictured)
Something to mix with
Measuring cups and spoons
A metal spoon to measure your essential oils (they'll damage plastic ones)









Mixing the soap and baking soda together. It's pretty clumpy and pasty to begin with.














When you add the water, it will thin out quickly. You'll get little bubbles and a nice, frothy mixture.












After you add the vinegar...you guessed it-it'll start to foam. It doesn't foam like a crazy science experiment so no worries. Just add and mix together.
Add the essential oils if you are going to.












Here's what you'll get: A toilet bowl cleaner, a furniture polish and a "soft scrub" cleaner.




















Here are the recipes:

"Bowled Over" Toilet Bowl Cleaner
From Karen Logan's book Clean House Clean Planet. I changed the name though. I didn't dig "Hollywood Bowl". ;)

1/2 C Liquid Soap
2 C Baking Soda
Mix to get lumps out
Dilute with
1/4 C Distilled Water
Add
2 T White Vinegar
1/2 t. Tea Tree Essential Oil (50 drops)

Pour into 22 oz. squirt bottle (I used an old Dawn dish soap bottle.)


"Dust to Dust" Furniture Polish
Also from Clean House Clean Planet
2 t Olive Oil (the lighter the better)
20 drops Lemon Essential Oil
1/4 C White Vinegar
13 oz. Distilled Water

Pour into a 16 oz. spray bottle (I bought mine at Walmart and Dollar General for a buck a piece.)


"Earth Paste" Scrub
From... You guessed it. ;)

1 2/3 C Baking Soda
1/2 C Liquid Soap
Mix
2 T Distilled Water
Mix
2 T White Vinegar

Put in a jar or container with a tight fitting lid. A squeeze bottle could work too but that could get ugly. An open-topped container seems to make the most sense to me.

Enjoy!