Although most of us would much rather go to Walmart and just buy generic cleaning products, there are other alternative ways to save our money such as making our own cleaning supplies. Not only does it save money in our wallets, it makes good environmental sense as well. Homemade cleaning agents are much safer and healthier for everyone because it does not contain some of the harsh chemicals that are found in many store bought cleaners. It’s a lot easier than what you may think, as long as you have the desire to get clean and green.
WHAT SUPPLIES YOU’LL NEED:
You need very few supplies to make homemade cleaning products. Most of the items you need will most likely be around the house already.
- A few plain old spray bottles. You can purchase some, or clean out your old ones (the ones that had icky cleaners in them) and reuse them.
- Box of baking soda.
- Table salt.
- Bottle of white distilled vinegar.
- Good old plain tap water.
- Olive oil.
- Natural soap
- Fresh lemons.
- Organic essential oil of tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus, lemongrass and rosemary. You don’t need all of them, but having at least a couple on hand is helpful.
- Some eco-friendly sponges or cloths. Or simply buy a pack of washcloths, use old cloth diapers, make cloths out of ripped clothes, and so on.
EASY, GREEN CLEANING SUPPLY RECIPES:
Window wash: Many people who are die-hard into green cleaning love vinegar and water as a window wash. Simply mix 3 tablespoons vinegar with 2 cups of water (or for a bigger job – 1/2 cup vinegar to 1 gallon water) and spray right on your windows. Vinegar works great on glass but I also hunted down an alternative one in case you don’t like the smell. You can also use straight fresh lemon juice or club soda to get your windows and other glass items sparkling clean. Spritz your glass with club soda and scrub with recycled newspaper. If you use straight lemon juice, use a lint-free cloth to scrub with.
All-purpose disinfectant: Mix 2 cups water, a few drops of natural soap, and 15 drops each of tea tree and lavender organic essential oil. You can spray this on all kinds of home surfaces – changing tables, cutting boards, toilets, sinks, walls, and more. Just don’t use this on glass, as it will streak. This basic cleaner is so safe and gentle you could literally spray it on anyone, and they’d be fine.
Scrubbing toilets: Drizzle your toilet bowl with vinegar, lemon juice, or spray on some of your all-purpose disinfectant. Sprinkle with baking soda. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Scrub with toilet brush. This mix will also clean sinks perfectly.
Fast non-toxic oven cleaning: You don’t want to use conventional oven cleaners – any product that requires open windows and gloves to use, is not ok to use around yourself. The best tip is to not wait to clean your oven when it gets dirty. An old stain is harder to clean. To clean oven stains naturally, sprinkle table salt liberally on the hot spill before your oven cools down. Allow the oven to cool. Grab a damp cloth and rub off the spill.
-Sarah Hasnain
I like this blog post a lot. It's new, it's witty, it's certainly fresh and interesting. I like how there are multiple items that you can make with the specific ingredients that have been laid out for us. Overall it is solid. However, I don't really think that going to all of the trouble that the recipes sound would be worth it, in all honesty, for a college kid. Toilet bowl cleaner at walmart is worth the time I would save when making it, for example, and probably would end up costing about the same as buying the ingredients. But at home home, as in, at my birthplace home with my parents, I think it is definitely feasible, because all parents homes have those ingredients in them. But overall I love the idea. I would have never thought to write this, or even look up how to do it, or even if you could make things like this.
ReplyDelete-Mark O