Another batch of helpful hints!

Lately, I've been making all of my own cleaning products to help in the cost of maintaining my household. With the cost of gasoline and electricity increasing, something has to give! I don't have cable or a car payment. I buy mostly used clothes and home goods. I try to be as frugal as possible, but also as HEALTHY as possible. I don't think that adding a bunch of harsh chemicals into my cleaning routine has been beneficial, so here goes my new experiment!

Here is a list of cleaners that I've collected from various places around the internet:

Window Cleaner

1 c. water

2 T. vinegar

2 T. rubbing alcohol

1 1/2 t. cornstarch

 Mix all ingredients in a small spray bottle and shake to combine. Easy!

All Purpose Cleaner

Use the peels of a dozen or so oranges to fill a quart size jar, and fill it with white vinegar. Let it sit for two weeks, then it is ready to cut with 1 part water to 1 part vinegar in a spray bottle for a great-smelling all purpose spray!

Martha Stewart's Tub Scrub

Here's a nontoxic but effective way to clean your tub: Add one teaspoon of liquid soap and several drops of an antibacterial essential oil (such as tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, or peppermint) to one cup of baking soda. Add just enough water to form a paste, and use it with a sponge or brush to scour bathtub surfaces.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent aisle

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking aisle

1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent aisle

2 bars of Zote laundry soap

2 small containers of Oxy Clean (3.5 lbs total)

(this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better)

Start out by grating your Zote soap just like cheese. You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater, what ever you have.

**Don't worry the Zote will dissolve in your washer even if you only use cold water like me.** Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag. This part makes your whole house smell great. Once everything is mixed store soap however you like. I chose a jar that I keep above my washing machine, I also got a little scoop to keep inside. Wasn't that easy? Sure was! Enjoy your soap.

Bathroom Spray

So it's pretty simple. Heat up some vinegar (I used a cup of vinegar and nuked it for 2 minutes). Then pour it in your spray bottle, add an equal amount of blue Dawn (the website comments were pretty specific about getting the blue kind), shake gently, and voila! 

Again, that's a one to one ratio of white vinegar to blue Dawn. I measured out a cup of each originally, but only used about half of my bottle. So next time I'll just do a half cup of each. The whole point is that the white vinegar is heated up, and while I haven't used it with it being room temperature and don't know if it'd work just as well, I'd rather just make it fresh each time. Especially if it's going to give me super clean results. Spray it on and let it sit for 2 hours or overnight. :)