Photo by Ernst Vikne
Welcome to the Change Challenge for January - Homemade and Green Cleaning! I hope that you are ready to get started with cleaning your homes in more natural, safe, frugal and yet still effective ways!
I challenge you to make the change to homemade and green cleaning this month!
To begin with, there are a few different levels of homemade and green cleaning, so if you are ready to accept this challenge, first figure out which step you are on. Take baby steps and start out with just one or two and once you get the hang of those, you can move onto other areas.
- Baby Step #1 - Vinegar and Baking Soda - If you still have all commercial chemical cleaners in your home, this is the place to begin.
- Baby Step #2 - Multipurpose Cleaners - Start making some different homemade multipurpose cleaners.
- Baby Step #3 - Other areas of cleaning around your home
Baby Step #1 - Vinegar and Baking Soda
It doesn't get any cheaper or easier than this!
First, get yourself some white vinegar and some baking soda, as well as an empty spray bottle. (I bought a pack of spray bottles at Sam's, can't remember how much they were, but definitely cheaper than buying an individual bottle at Target or Meijer). And the next time you use up your parmesan cheese, save the container and wash it out.
Now mix vinegar and water in the spray bottle 50/50. You can add essential oils to help it smell better if you want, but I don't bother. Then fill up your parmesan cheese container with baking soda. You could add essentials oils to the baking soda too, but it makes it a little bit clumpy. You're all set to start cleaning!
Sprinkle the baking soda on any hard surface that you want to scrub - the toilet bowl, sink, bathtub, counter tops, cook tops, etc. Use a rag, microfiber cloth, or one of those green scouring pads and scrub away (or your toilet bowl brush if you're cleaning the toilet, no need to use a rag on that! Yuck!) - no paper towels please! You may need to get a second rag wet to wipe away the residue on the counter top or cook top, but in the bathroom you can just rinse it away.
Or start spraying your vinegar and water anywhere that needs to be wiped down - sink, bathtub, mirror, counters, tables, floors, etc. (don't use vinegar on porous surfaces like granite). And again use a rag or microfiber cloth.
It really is that easy!
Baby Step #2 - Multipurpose Cleaners
Start making some different homemade multipurpose cleaners. Make sure you label your bottles well, so you know which one your using. You may find that you like different cleaners for different uses.
Here's a multipurpose cleaner that I posted previously.
And a new one that I have been using alot and loving recently: Water, Castile Soap, and Tea Tree Oil.
Fill a water bottle with warm water and add a few squirts of castille soap and a few drops of Tea Tree Oil. You don't need much of either, they are concentrated and a little goes a long way. Use for all types of multipurpose cleaning. I use Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild castile soap for this, which is unscented. I'm not sure how a scented castile soap would mix with the scent of the Tea Tree Oil. If you try a scented castile soap with this and it smells good, let us know! You can find both Dr. Bronner's castile soap and Tea Tree Oil at Target (the TTO is by the vitamins)!
Baby Step #3 - Other areas of cleaning around your home
Try making one of these homemade cleaners:
Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Homemade Spray Starch
Homemade Disinfecting Wipes
Take a baby step toward homemade and green cleaning in one of these areas this week! And check back here over the rest of the month for more tips, tricks and how-to's for frugally green cleaning!
Have you made the switch to using homemade and green cleaners around your home? Do you have a favorite homemade cleaner recipe to share with the rest of us? Any encouraging words for those just starting out with green cleaning?
This post is linked to:
Tackle it Tuesdays at 5 Minutes for Mom
Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom
I use bicarbonate (baking soda) for scrubbing the sinks, the bathtub, the tiles, the enamelled pots and pans. If it's not too smelly, I reuse the bicarb that I take out of the fridge when I replace it, for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteI buy white vingar and baking soda at Sam's club because we use it for everything! I use baking soda as a face scrub, wash my hair it and rinse with real lemon (I have developed chemical allergies to regular shampoo since I've had children!AAHH). AND best of all I found a receipe using baking soda to make an all natural deoderant that works better than anything I've tried. Let me know if you want a receipe! Thanks for the great posts - telling all my friends about your blog!
ReplyDeleteI use tea tree oil and lavendar oil in my homemade cleaners for two reasons. Tea tree oil and lavendar are naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal (great for mildew in bathrooms)so it adds a little more cleaning power. And I don't like the smell of vinegar so it helps hide that smell and leaves it with a nice fresh scent.
ReplyDelete@Elizabeth - I would love to hear the homemade deodorant recipe. I have one that I'm planning to try, but would love to hear yours!
ReplyDelete@livinginparadise - My hubby hates the smell of vinegar too! I feel like TTO has a pretty strong distinct smell, does it clash with the strong smell of the vinegar? Maybe I'll have to try that.
I have been looking into switching over to green cleaners. Thank you for this very informative post!
ReplyDelete@Sara - Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! I'm glad you enjoyed the post! I hope to see more of you!
ReplyDeleteI use water, vinegar and TTO to clean up around the house and I actually like the smell. It kind of smells like a pine-scented cleaner, and my husband who HATES vinegar doesn't say anything about it.
ReplyDelete