Personally, I feel like the less cleaners there are in the house, the better. It's less to keep up with. I'll admit though, I do miss my blue toilet bowl cleaner. It smelled so good. That stuff was toxic though, I'm sure! Living out here in the woods really put things into perspective for me. Our septic is in the backyard, which runs down the hill to the woods, which is on the way to the creek....and on and on.
When I started using this stuff to clean my house I'll admit I was surprised at how well it works. My biggest lesson was to never underestimate the power of a wet rag. Simple, I know. But often the simplest things elude me!
My short list of things to have for homemade cleaners include:
Borax
Vinegar
Washing Soda
Baking Soda
Lemon Juice (when I have it)
Castille soap
General Purpose Cleaner-
Mix a 1/4 cup of Borax, 2 cups water and 1/2 cup lemon juice into an old 2 liter coke bottle then fill it the rest of the way with half vinegar and half water. Then transfer that to a reusable spray bottle. It has a light vinegar odor and a soft yellow color, very nice. Another even simpler idea is to use washing soda and warm water, but be careful what you use washing soda on, it is strong stuff (so is Borax, actually)!
Soap for washing hands and dishes at the sink-
Diluted castille soap works well and I heard from Granny Smith that putting a bit of soap at the bottom of your dispenser then filling it with water works well too.
Homemade laundry detergent (safe for septics)-
Check out my post here for a tutorial on how to make this awesome stuff!
Toilet Bowl Cleaner-
Mix a 1/4c. baking soda and 1c.vinegar-let sit then scrub. I've also seen this recipe but haven't personally used it-2parts borax/1 part lemon juice, let sit then scrub.
Scouring powder for kitchen and bath-
Wipe with vinegar first then scrub with baking soda
Window Cleaner-
Use a mixture of vinegar and water with a little soap to clean windows. A cotton cloth or crumpled newspaper works well to scrub and wipe clean.
There are more recipes for households cleaners at EarthEasy. Oh, I'm looking for a good recipe on homemade dishwasher detergent (liquid or whatever is safe for septics) so if you find one let me know!


4 comments:
Great ideas. I have some commercial cleaners that I am going to use up and then start making my own. Your ideas will come in handy. Have you tried adding essential oils to any of your all purpose stuff? I was wondering if it works.
These are fabulous ideas. It is amazing how easy it is to make your own if you are so inclined.
I haven't tried essential oils, but I want to. I've heard that Tea Tree Oil is antibacterial and antifungal.
One tb of borax and one tb of baking soda! Put vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser, and you are good to go! Good luck!
bj
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