DIY Cleaner Bonanza!

Welcome to the DIY cleaner bonanza where all your DIY cleaning dreams come true!

The following is an assortment of DIY cleaner recipes that I either found online or have gathered over the last few years. I’ll add comments under the ones I’ve tried before- others would be for more experimental use. I think the toughest areas for DIY cleaners to be on par with store-bought options are dishwashing and laundry. I think it’s still beneficial to make your own, but I think you may need a bit more trial and error and patience. If you make something that doesn’t quite cut it, don’t throw it out- try mixing equal parts home-made with store-bought. You’ll still save money and you may be able to perfect your recipe over time. Also- many of the ingredients are the same across recipes- this means that you may have more cost up front; but, luckily, you will be able to use the same ingredients to make many household cleaners. Over time you can save a LOT of money! And you get to feel empowered by doing it yourself! One last note- you really can’t go wrong with mixing together simple solutions such as baking soda and vinegar for cleaning most things, so don’t worry if you don’t have all the listed ingredients.

All purpose cleaning spray #1:

Makes 32 oz.

2 C water

½ C distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon castile soap

¾ C hydrogen peroxide

20 drops tea tree oil

20 drops lavender or lemongrass essential oil

*I really like this recipe and have made it numerous times. I don’t worry about getting the proportions exactly right or if I’m missing one of the ingredients. You can always leave out the hydrogen peroxide and you would still have an effective cleaner.

All purpose cleaning spray #2:

½ C baking soda

1 C vinegar per gallon water

optional- dash of castile soap

drop or two of essential oils such as lavendar

*I like this one because its so simple and you’re likely to have all the ingredients already!

Laundry Detergent (http://diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/):

1 bar of shaved bar soap

1 C borax

1 C of washing soda

*Caveat: I haven’t tried this one yet. I have, however, been adding borax and baking soda to my laundry loads and then just using a little bit of detergent. Natural detergents can be really expensive so I’m trying to get the most mileage out of them. Relatedly, I read in the newspaper that most people add too much detergent to their laundry and they end up with clothes that still have detergent in them even once the cycle is over. If you have a front-load washer, you can see if you’re clothes are still soapy by running them through the wash without soap. If you see suds, you’re using too much detergent. I’m sure you could also do this with a regular machine by opening the lid mid-way through the cycle to take a peek.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner #1 (http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/homemade-natural-toilet-cleaner.html):

2 T baking soda

1 T olive oil

1 teaspoon of lemon or other scent

Toilet Bowl Cleaner #2 (http://www.marthastewart.com/goodthings/diy-toilet-bowl-cleaner):

Let ½ C vinegar sit in toilet for a few minutes (or ½ hr for hard water), brush and flush

Add ½ C borax to remove stains, let sit overnight if needed

Toilet Bowl Cleaner #3 (http://www.bukisa.com/articles/158363_how-to-make-toilet-bowl-cleaner):

2 C water

2 C white vinegar

1 C hydrogen peroxide (sold at Walgreens in first aid aisle)

2 ½ C baking soda

optional: 20-30 drops naturally antiseptic oil such as lemon, lavender, orange or grapefruit

Mix everything together besides the baking soda. When ready to use, add ½ to ¾ C of the solution first and let sit for a few minutes. Use toilet brush to scrub, the add ½ C of baking soda (be sure to sprinkle on parts not covered by water).

*I haven’t tried any of the toilet bowl cleaners yet but I’m weirdly excited to try them.

Dishwasher detergent (http://diynatural.com/simple-effective-jabs-homemade-dishwasher-detergent-rinse-agent/):

½ C borax

½ C washing soda

¼ C citric acid (can be bought online or at a specialty beer store. If unavailable can use 10-15 unsweetened lemon Kool-aid packs instead but don’t use any other flavor)

¼ C kosher salt

mix together. When ready to use add white vinegar to rinse compartment. Add 1 T of the detergent mix per load

*I tried a similar recipe (minus the salt, I believe) and had to mix with regular detergent to get the job done. Hopefully the salt is the key ingredient!

Shower cleaner:

I just tried this today after getting a tip from my friend: sprinkle borax on the floor of your shower and scrub with a sponge or brush. Most effective when dry or it’ll just dissolve. This works wonders for getting rid of soap scum. I would recommend wearing gloves, though; borax is less toxic than other cleaners, but it can still irritate your skin and eyes.

See this webpage for many more DIY cleaning recipes (including natural air freshener!): http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

*They include information on the cleaning properties of many natural ingredients.

*The air freshener ideas are great (did you know that commercial air fresheners coat your nasal passages to reduce sense of smell??). I find the idea of simmering water with cinnamon and other spices on the stove particularly appealing, especially this time of year! My friend was actually just telling me about this great natural present she received: spices such as cinnamon and cloves combined with an orange in a jar with instructions to heat in water for a great home fragance! What a great DIY gift idea!

Happy cleaning!

Soap Sachets

Last night my friend gave me a deliciously fragrant soap sachet made by the Zum soap company. If you’re not familiar with Zum, they make wonderful natural soap from goat’s milk. They use pure essential oils and offer a variety of amazing scents. I couldn’t stop smelling it and wanted to buy more. Unfortunately they were sold out at Whole Foods, but the nice sales lady showed me how to make my own. It was really easy and fun and made an equally delicious-smelling sachet. These are nice because you can make a small size and decorate as you want. They would also make great gifts.

I just bought three Zum bars, picking Cinnamon, Lavender-Mint and Eucalyptus as my scents. Then, per the sales lady’s instructions, bought these cloth tea bags to use as the sachet pouch.

Using a carrot-peeler, I peeled little curls off the soaps, mixing the different kinds together.

Then you just fill the bags with the peels and you’re done!

To add some flair, you can sew on buttons or add a ribbon.

Soap!

I wanted to do a post about soap because I've been wondering lately what the difference is between an old-fashioned basic bar of soap and antibacterial soaps or gels. This is especially relevant since we're entering cold/flu season and everyone seems to be increasingly germaphobiac. I kind of toe the line on this issue: I don't consider myself to be particularly afraid of germs and usually try to avoid hand sanitizer because I believe that being exposed to some germs is beneficial for immunity. Plus, I've always thought that soap and water do the trick just fine. However, there are definitely times when I'm grateful for hand sanitizer because it is convenient and at least gives me the feeling that my hands are cleaner (think outhouse usage).

I did a little light (ok very light) research on the topic and here is the gist of what I found. Soap works by doing two things: decreasing the water's surface tension and binding to bacteria, dirt, and oil. Parts of water are water-loving and others are water-phobic. The water-phobic parts (the fatty acids) can bind to other water-phobic agents such as molecules of dirt or bacteria. Then they become encapsulated in a water molecule and so are washed off. So soap does eliminate bacteria from the skin; it just helps by washing it off versus killing it off as with anti-bacterial agents.

Some points to consider are that most antibacterial agents need to be left on the skin's surface for two minutes in order to actually kill of the bacteria. Some bacteria are beneficial- such as those that eat our sweat! It's possible that over time, bacteria could develop into more resistant strains as a result of antibacterial use. Both the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration have said that antibacterial agents are not superior to regular soap and that there may even be harmful effects to using antibacterial products. In fact, one website I perused mentioned that most common diseases are viral and so not prevented by antibacterial agents anyway.

You may be wondering what the difference is to bacteria whether they are washed off or eliminated using antibacterial agents in terms of resistant strains of bacteria developing. I think the idea is that antibacterial agents such as triclosan could accumulate in the environment through the water supply and enter the soil. As they are more prevalent, strains of bacteria that are resistant will have a survival advantage. I wonder if it also matters that bacteria that are washed off could still live on and thus maybe preclude the development of more resistant bacteria.

I think there are situations in which alcohol-based antibacterial agents would be beneficial such as in hospitals or in situations where washing with soap and water isn't possible. But I think that I will try to limit my antibacterial use. I prefer to wash my hands with plain ole bar soap and water. I find that it's not as drying to my hands and I like that it doesn't require any packaging. And when using natural soap without fragrances or added antibacterial agents, you don't have to worry about adding these ingredients into the water supply. Another point is that I seem to remember when antibacterial hand gels came on the market back in grade school. This was the era of going to Bath and Body Works every weekend to buy scented lotion and body wash. It seemed to me that over night antibacterial hand gels were everywhere. However, I'm guessing we were all just fine before that- I don't know about you, but I usually get a few colds per year regardless of whether I use hand sanitizer or not. Sometimes there's nothing better than a pure natural bar of soap.