Recipes

In light of my last post, I wanted to share a few new recipes. I've tried several of these (the All-Purpose cleaner is great) already. Just sharing the wealth.

VINEGAR RINSE
8 oz. white vinegar
8 oz. water
10 drops of an essential oil (optional)

Here is a great site with TONS of uses for vinegar (alone and in combination with other ingredients).

AIR FRESHENER
8 oz. water
25 drops essential oil of your choice

ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
1 T dish soap (plain Dawn is great)
20 oz distilled water

EARTH SHAKER
(This works great in an empty grated parmesan cheese container)
Baking soda
15 drops of essential oil per cup, if you'd like.

Yes, you read that correctly. Just baking soda.

EARTH SCRUB or PASTE
2 c baking soda
1/2 c liquid soap (Castile works nicely and so does plain old Dawn)
2 T distilled water IF you're storing it in a container with lid
OR
1/2 c distilled water IF you're using a squirt bottle
2 T white vinegar, added last

The last two recipes are from Karen Logan's book, Clean House Clean Planet. It's very informative and has tons of recipes. If you're in the local area, the Blasco Library has two copies.

I'm a Convert

I am a huge supporter of anything that claims (and actually is) to be more environmentally friendly. I've always been into the idea of reusing and re-purposing things but since becoming a mommy, I feel even more driven.

I've shared in an earlier post about a few of the things that we do around here to help our planet and our pocketbooks. I'd love to hear what you do so please feel free to share/comment!

Our impending move has made me think about the changes that I want to make in our home. Since I'm the lucky (lucky?) one that does most of the cleaning, I think I should get to decide what to clean with, right? I am committed to making the switch with ALL of our chemical cleaning products. I just don't want those things in our home, on our counters and floors and lingering on all of our fabrics. Call us the Green's because I'm going all the way. LOL

Quite some time ago, I happened upon Crunchy Clean detergents. You can save the "happening upon" and just click here. ; )
I can't say enough about this detergent. Really. I can't. My first order was for the diaper detergent. I was in a diaper detergent rut and I was willing to try just about anything. Crunchy Clean saved the day (and the diapers) for sure! After falling in love with the diaper detergent, I was sure the regular detergent would be a winner too.

I love that these detergents are prepared by a SAHM in her cozy little kitchen. I love that she gets to stay home with her beautiful children while running a successful business AND help the planet. I *love* supporting businesses like that!

Now, as much as I love Crunchy Clean, I have to say I'm about two seconds away from being a make-your-own detergent convert. (Although I'll definitely stick with C.C. for the diapers.)

A friend of mine once made her own liquid detergent. I was turned off by the idea after hearing about the process. I wasn't into gathering empty jugs and containers, grating endless bars of soap, melting them down and then lugging all of the filled buckets and bottles (to an undetermined location) to store them. I just couldn't bite on that whole deal. Sorry, Miriah. ; )

At a recent MOPS meeting we made green cleaners. There were things like all-purpose cleaners and scrubs to make and take. Then there was the dreaded laundry detergent station. I figured I'd give it a try since most of the work was already done for me. I figured, why not?

Let me tell you. I'm hooked. I'm going to gather the ingredients and have enough on hand in case I can't find what I need after we move. I'm sold. It smells wonderful, it cleans great and it's sooooo cheap!!

There's no gathering of empty buckets and jugs or the ruining of your favorite stock pot. The powdered version of homemade detergent really is simple. Here's what you need:

*A container of your choice. You can use an old Cool Whip bowl for a small batch, a large ice cream bucket or even a gallon size Ziploc bag.
I happen to already have two glass jars that I use for detergents. One is for diaper detergent
and the other for "regular". They have air tight lids and looks really cute on a shelf in your
laundry room too. Really though, anything that is air tight will work great.

*A grater. I found that my Pampered Chef Rotary Grater works great. I'm also fortunate to have two of these so I can dedicate one completely to the world of soap grating. It sure pays to be a consultant, huh?

*Measuring cup (1 cup size)

*2 bars of Fels Naptha soap

*A box of Washing Soda

*A box of 20 Mule Team Borax

(I included links in case you can't familiar with these items. This way, you'll know what they look like when you go hunting for them. You can usually find all three of these things in the laundry aisle of your local grocery store.)

For a small batch: Large batch in ( )
Grate 2 bars Fels Naptha (6 bars)
1 c Borax (3 c)
1 c Washing Soda (3 c)
Mix together and store in container

Use 1 T for a small load, 2 for a medium and 3 for a very large or very dirty load.

I encourage you to give this a try. Really, what have you got to lose? At the very least, if you don't like the detergent, you'll have some great multi-purpose cleaning products on your hands. It won't go to waste either way.

Now go find something to wash. : D