DIY All-Purpose Cleaner

I found the best homemade all-purpose cleaner recipe. 

It’s cheap, and it’s safe. 

One day I walked into the living room and found to my horror that my 3 year old had acquired a can of multi-purpose cleaner and sprayed half the bottle all over the coffee table and floor. I was so grateful she had not decided to taste any of it, but the overpowering chemical smell was nauseating.

That was when I decided to switch to homemade—safer—cleaning products.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the commercial all-purpose cleaners again.

Main Ingredients: 

White Distilled Vinegar

Water

Optional Ingredients:

Dawn Dish Liquid

Essential Oil or Lemon Juice 

Putting it Together:

1. Choose a clean spray bottle. (I bought mine at Wal-Mart for $1.)
2. Fill the spray bottle with the vinegar and water in a 1:1 ratio. (50% water, 50% vinegar)
3. Optional: For added oomph I also add one squirt of Dawn dish-washing liquid. It cuts grease better in the kitchen.
4. Replace the top of the spray bottle.
5. Gently turn the bottle upside down a few times to mix the solution evenly.
6. Clearly label the contents of the bottle.

The Scent:

Some people don’t like the scent of vinegar. I understand. However, here are a few tips:

•  The vinegar scent disappears when it dries, and it takes other odors with it—leaving your home smelling clean. (Great for refrigerators and trashcans!)
• If you prefer to cover up the vinegar scent a little—or simply want a more fragrant scent—you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
• I add 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon juice to mine because I like the fresh lemon scent.
• You can also stick lemon peels in a jar of vinegar and let them steep for 1-2 weeks before using the vinegar. The lemon scent will be infused in the vinegar. (I haven't been patient enough to try this.) 

Uses:

This DIY all-purpose cleaner is great in the kitchen and bathroom—the whole house. Vinegar kills mold and mildew, gets rid of hard water stains, and works miracles on pans with burnt-on food. I use it on glass, plastic, stainless, and wood. I use it on my counters and my floors—anything that needs to be cleaned. I even use it on pots and pans.

For me, the best part is that I don’t have to worry about my kids getting into the all-purpose cleaner. Now I can hand my 4 year old a spray bottle and let her help me clean! 

Disclaimer: I am not a chemist. Always exercise caution when mixing any household products. Also check the care guidelines for your household surfaces before cleaning. The acidity of the vinegar may damage some surfaces.

DIY Foaming Dish Soap

I love foaming dish soap, but I hate the price tag.

However, I have found a way to make DIY foaming dish soap. That's right. Homemade and less-expensive. It's easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!

I’ll never buy the foaming stuff in the store again—unless I need another foaming pump bottle to refill with my homemade version!

My bottle of commercial foaming dish soap says I should only fill it with that same brand of soap and that no other soap will work. Well, that’s just silly! What they mean is, “Please spend all your money on our product." I think not.

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

• 1 foam pump dispenser—buy foaming dish soap and re-use the foaming pump bottle!
• Your favorite dish soap. (I prefer Dawn.)
• Water.

Three things. That's it. Did I mention this was easy?

Putting it Together:

1. Unscrew the top from your foaming soap pump bottle.
2. Fill the pump bottle 1/3 of the way with your favorite dish liquid. 
• (I use about ½ cup in mine, but other soaps require less because they are more concentrated or ‘thicker’. The amount will vary based on the size of your bottle, the thickness of your dish liquid, and your preference. Experiment until you find the amount you like.)
3. Slowly fill the bottle up to the fill line with warm water. Be careful not to fill it so fast that you create bubbles inside the bottle. 
• (You can fill with water first and then soap, but I have found that the residue of soap in the bottle will still create bubbles if you fill it with water too quickly.)
4. Replace the pump/top.
5. Gently turn the bottle upside down a few times to mix the soap evenly with the water.
6. Enjoy your DIY foaming dish soap at a fraction of the cost of the commercial stuff!

This is so inexpensive, and the same method can be used with shampoo and hand soap. All you need is the foaming dispenser. Experiment with the ratio to find your preferred consistency.

P.S. This stuff is ah-mazing when traveling. Foaming dish soap requires very little water for washing, so it works well in hotels and public sinks when you need to wash bottles, sippy cups, or even your kids on the go!

How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent­­­­

 

I love making homemade laundry detergent. I will never go back to the brand name stuff. Not only is it cheaper, but it keeps my HE washing machine and laundry fresher. No matter how many different products I tried, or how often I cleaned my machine, the musty smell would return. My clothes also quickly turned musty if I left them in there too long—especially the whites! I simply couldn’t get the smell out of them. Until now!
 
The best part is that I only use 2 tablespoons per load!
 
There are many recipes for DIY laundry detergent on the web. I tried a few different ones and finally settled on my favorite from How Does She. If you want to try it out, but you don’t want to make a ton of it at first, there is a Trial Size Version by Jillee that is similar.

 

The Benefits:

· My HE washing machine smells fresher.
· It’s much cheaper than store bought laundry detergent.
· I can control the amount of ingredients in the recipe.
· My clothes are clean and fresh.

 

The Main Ingredients:  (Find all of them in the detergent aisle.)

· 1 (4 lb. 12 oz.) Box of Borax

· 1 (3 lb. 7 oz.) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
· 2 (14.1 oz.) Bars of Zote Soap or 3 (5.5 oz.)Bars of Fels Naptha Soap
· 1 (4 lb.) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (If it’s not with laundry supplies, check the baking or pool supply aisles.
 

Optional Ingredients:  (Also find these in the laundry aisle.)

· 1-2 (55 oz.) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener or the equivalent of your favorite brand such as Downy Unstoppables. (This ‘optional’ ingredient is essential for me. I love adding scent to my soap, but if you have sensitive skin or a sensitive sniffer, feel free to skip it.)
 
· 1 (3 lb.) Container of oxygen bleach (like OxyClean) (I plan to leave this out in the future and add it separately from the homemade detergent so I can control how much or how little I want depending on the load.)
 

Putting it Together:

1. Grate the bars of soap.
      *Cut them in chunks and microwave them for a few minutes until they are big and fluffy.
      *Let them cool.
      *Put them in the food processor to break them into fine crumbles.
      --or crumble them by hand.
      -- **or skip the microwave and grate them with a cheese grater on the fine grate side. 
        (NOT my favorite method, but it builds muscles!)

2. Do this in a well-ventilated area—preferably outside—away from pets and children. Borax is harmful if ingested. I recommend wearing gloves and a mask or bandanna over your nose and mouth. It makes a powdery cloud as you mix. 
 
3. Combine the ingredients in a 4-5 gallon bucket. Don’t pour it all in at once! Pour about 1/4-1/3 of each ingredient at a time and mix with a large mixing spoon, screwdriver, or your glove-wearing hands. Then repeat the process until you have mixed it all. (Trust me. Dumping it all in at once and trying to mix it is NOT fun.)
 
4. Transfer some of the detergent to a smaller container for easy dispensing. If you used the Purex Crystals, that empty bottle is perfect for dispensing the soap, and the cap has measuring lines. For lightly soiled clothes, I fill it up to the first line. For dirtier or heavier loads, I fill it to the second line or higher. Experiment to see what works for you.
 

Front-Loading Washing Machines

Yes, you can use this in your HE washing machine!

· This homemade detergent is low-sudsing. Many laundry detergents have added ingredients to create suds. The HE versions are lower-sudsing than the regular versions. This one has no sudsing agent, so it is fine for HE machines. 
 
· I pour it in the tub and not the dispensing compartment on top. Many people use the dispensing compartment without complaint, but OxyClean recommends putting its product in the tub. Since I use OxyClean in my recipe, I put it directly in the tub. I operate on the “better safe than sorry” principle here. I’m not an expert on washing machines, and I don’t want to tear mine up. Putting it in the tub is easy and cleans my clothes just fine anyway.
 
Disclaimer: I’m not a chemist. I’m not a washing machine expert. I don’t even play one on TV. Please exercise caution when mixing any household chemicals. This represents the knowledge I have gained from my personal research. Please conduct your own research and make the decisions you feel most comfortable with.