DIY: Surface Cleaner

Making your own surface cleaner is just about the easiest way to introduce more natural products in your home. It's simple and very cost effective, two of my favorite things. I'm sure many of you might already be making your own little cleaning mixtures out there, but for those who aren't I promise it's so much easier than you think!

Fill an empty spray bottle 2/3 full with water, 1/3 distilled white vinegar. Add 10 drops (or really as many as you want) of any essential oil. Want your place to smell like an orange? lavendar? eucalyptus? Whatever floats your particular boat, do it. (I'm not a big fan of the vinegary-clean smell, so I typically hit the essential oil pretty hard and make sure to use a strong scent to mask the vinegar. Personally, I rock it seasonally. I love coming home to a house that smells like peppermint in the Winter or lavendar in the Spring.)

But yeah, it's that simple.

To compliment your awesome new diy cleaner if you're feeling adventurous and high on the simplicity of it all (or possibly the essential oils) you can also trade out your paper towels for rags. Three years ago I couldn't have imagined getting by without paper towels, but now I don't remember why I ever bought them in the first place. Again simple and cost effective (very, very cost effective) so you can't beat that.

Happy cleaning!

Tara

DIY: Laundry Soap

I have never been an obsessive cleaner, but after having a little one (who puts just about everything in his mouth) keeping a safe, clean living space became much more important. I have made homemade cleaners for a while now, but during my pregnancy I finally fully committed to ridding the house of all those yucky (ammonia, benzene, bleach, etc... containing) household products. In doing so I've saved money, all that excessive packaging, and feel 100% confident that what I'm covering my surfaces and clothes in is safe and natural.

After months of trying and tweaking different housekeeping recipes I thought I would share with you some of my favorites. Laundry detergent is crazy expensive and often laden with harmful chemicals so it was first on my list of green cleaning projects. I have tried a handful of different recipes (some with vinegar or liquid castile soap), but about a year ago I finally hit the laundry soap jackpot.

I seriously couldn't be happier with this little recipe! Even with all of Ez's clothes, diapers, burp cloths, blankets, and cloth toys it still usually takes me weeks to go through a batch. As we are a cloth diapering family it is especially important that we use something that will really clean, deodorize, and remove stains and this mixture does the job. It takes me less than five minutes to mix up a batch (and once you know the ratio you don't need to really measure it out), lasts a good amount of time, and smells lovely.

  
Homemade Laundry Soap

1/2 cup Borax (anti-fungal/ stain fighter)
1/2 cup Washing Soda (stain fighter/ deodorizer)
1/2 cup Grated Bar Castile Soap (gentle, biodegradable cleanser)
1/4 cup Baking Soda (deodorizer)

Mix all ingredients together in whatever container best works for you. At our place we use a large lidded glass jar to store and a thrifted wooden spoon to dispense. If you'd like that traditional sweet scent to your clothes simply add a few drops of any essential oil to the mix (lavender and orange work well). It's really that easy.

Happy laundering!

Namaste.

Tara