There was interest expressed in what kind of home made cleaners I used and so I thought that I would share a couple of my favorites. They are nothing fancy, but I find that they work well, are cost effective, better for us and the environment, and are easy to make.
All-Purpose Cleaner
1/2 Water
1/2 Vinegar
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1o drops Tea Tree Oil
10 drops Lavendar
Mix in a 1 liter spray bottle. Give a little shake before using. I use this for everything, floors, bathroom, toilet, disinfecting door handles, etc. I just use it full strength when wiping down and add some to the bucket when washing floors. Both lavendar and tea tree are disinfectants. I have heard that vinegar can eat tile so when I had tile floors, I didn’t use this. I just added a little lemon or some tea tree oil to the floor water.
Drain cleaner
1 c. Vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda or washing soda (more abrasive than washing soda)
1 large pot boiling water
Pour the baking soda down the drain first, then the vinegar, quickly following with the boiling water. Once it has was down, run some hot water for a few minutes. I do this probably ever couple of months maybe a little less and keeps my drains all clear!
Lavendar Coconut/Beeswax Salve
I had a pure beeswax candle end that I wasn’t sure what to do with and as I had run out of lotion, and thanks to this great blog, healthhomehappy, I decided to try a concoction.
about 2 inches of a round beeswax candle, 2 c. coconut oil, 5 ish drops of lavendar. Melt the wax and coconut oil on a low heat.
Melting Beeswax and Coconut
It must be low so as not to damage the important properties of the coconut. Once melted, add the lavendar drops (or whatever essential oil you like) and stir. Pour into containers and cool. I have been using it and loving it on my hands that are feeling the effects of the cold, dry weather and wet felting wool, on Cecily’s (mild) diaper rash, and I know it will come in handy for scratches and such. It is firm, yet smooths nicely onto the skin.
Finished Product
I use just plain coconut oil on my face and neck after my lavender, oatmeal scrub every morning, but while I love that it just disappears into my skin on my face, I wasn’t finding it enough for my hands. I made it with just a wispy lavender scent which I really enjoy.
Which brings me to the give-away…to celebrate the month of LOVE! I made an extra thing of salve that I want to share.
Give-away
So leave a comment….about…I don’t know, maybe your favorite natural(doesn’t need to be homemade) product or a cleaner that you use or a scent that you love. Anything really! I will draw a name some time in the next couple of days.
Sounds LOVELY.One of my favorite natural cleaner additions has been citrus essential oil. I’ve been adding sweet orange and pink grapefruit to my kitchen cleaners and it’s sooo yummy and fresh! It really encourages me to wipe down the counters cuz I know it’ll leave everything smelling bright 🙂
Fun! I like using a leftover lemon rind to scrub my kitchen sink…mostly because I love the smell. So fresh.
the salve sounds amazing! i recently made a scrub/facial cleanser that can double as a mask if you want to leave it on longer. a combination of ground almonds, kelp, a smidge of coconut oil & a little coconut milk. i have dry skin, especially in winter…..it gently exfoliates and leaves a little moisture behind.
I Love essential oils. Especially anything with Lavender.I like using a body scrub (because I get those red bumps on my arms and legs) made of Sea salt, compressed olive oil, and lavender essential oil. That one is homemade but Cory and I also love Tuscan farms gardener’s hand lotion. That reminds me, I have to order some more….
What proportions do you use for the scrub Lisa?
Thanks for sharing these recipes. The all purpose cleaner sounds like it would smell nice. Is there any chance you have a good laundry detergent recipe?
I don’t have a detergent recipe…at this point I have always been happy with unscented Nature Clean powder (Superstore is the cheapest) for both clothes and diapers (esp. diapers). I don’t really like scents in my clothes but occasionally I will drop a cloth in that has a couple of drops of lavender essential oil.
i love using plain old vinegar and baking soda… cheap, effective, non-toxic. my mom has cleaned everything with those for as long as i can remember. i add in some essential oils when i have them, but they’re not “essential” (haha).
I use the drain cleaner, but I add a 1/2 cup of salt to it. We have really stubborn drains and I found with the salt it works even more effectively! I use a similar cleaner too, but I need to mix up some more, so I’m going to try yours. I use baking soda (in a parmesan cheese sprinkler) to clean the bathroom tub and sinks. And tea tree oil in vinegar/water mix to treat mold in the bathroom. It’s like magic! 🙂
The salve sounds amazing, by the way! I started using olive oil to clean my face and coconut oil on my lips right before bed. I am really enjoying find new simpler ways of living!
Thanks for the great ideas! I can totally see how lots of felting can leave your hands pretty dry. I may have to try making this if I don’t win. 😉
I can’t wait to try some of these. I think if we lived closer we would be good friends. You are amazing! Thank you for sharing such wonderful things on your blog and being so open and honest. You are inspiring.
This is great! I’ve bought three kinds of face cream in the past couple weeks and I’m allergic to all of them. It never occured to me to use cocconut oil, which I have from when Leola was born and needed home birth supplies. I’ll try it (assuming it hasn’t expired!). Thanks for the tip!
The tile thing depends on the type of tile and the type of finish used on the tile. To find out, you could just put a drop of vinegar in an unobtrusive place (like behind a toilet or pedestal sink), leave for a while, then come back and wipe it. If the finish looks murkier or loses some shine or otherwise just different from surrounding tile, avoid vinegar.
Might try your All-Purpose Cleaner once mine runs out. This week I mixed 1Tbsp of dish soap with about 1/3C vinegar and filled the spray bottle the rest of the way with water. Works great!
Wow, am I ever overwhelmed by all that you do.I am not in a place where I feel like I have the energy/time to even cook three healthy meals a day let alone make myself some face cream.
I love you though, and I love this inspiring blog.
For microwave cleaning, I generally put some vinegar, lemon juice or half a lemon (an orange actually does work as a substitute and it smells great) and some water in a microwave safe container and microwave for 5 minutes or so…sometimes a lot more. Ok, now that I’ve typed this out, I realise that I don’t remember the recipe anymore. The steam from the concoction makes everything super easy to wipe off. I can’t find the exact recipe, but fool around with it. I usually use the water to clean with once it’s cooled a bit and then I wipe down my counters and such with it. I guess it helps that I really love the smell of lemon. Depending on if you use a fresh lemon or not you’ll have to watch out for the little pulpe parts (this is avoided by using lemon juice). Mmm…makes me want to go clean my microwave;-)
[…] I throw them in with a load of towels. I start with the mirror, give everything a quick spray of my all-purpose cleaner and wipe down everything, ending with a quick swish of the toilet with the toilet brush and a wipe […]