Saturday, March 26, 2011

Favorite Frugal, Natural Cleaners

A few years ago, after the birth of our first son, I remember asking my mom questions about what my grandma (and my mom's grandma) used to clean with. What products did she use? Surely, back then, Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner, Pledge, Clorox wipes, and a host of other products did not exist. What the generations that preceded us used were arguably frugal and efficient. So what were they?

My mom said: vinegar and baking soda.

They worked great then; they still work great today.

I was interested in going back to basic cleaners not only because they save money, but also because with little boys who get into mischief, I didn't want anything around that could poison them. Vinegar and baking soda won't taste great, but they won't hurt my kids either.

Since then, I've continued to look into more natural cleaners. I found a great list online of formulas you can make on your own using common household items, like vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide.  Here's the list I found:
http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

Here's some of my favorite formulas:
  • I mop the floor with about 1 c. of white vinegar to about a gallon of hot water. Sometimes I add a few drops of an essential oil.
  • Furniture polish=olive oil, some lemon juice
  • Scour sinks and our porcelain tub with baking soda
  • 1 c. of vinegar and 1/4 c. baking soda to clean the toilet
  • Make your own magic eraser
  • Clean the shower (and remove scale deposits) with a hydrogen peroxide/water solution (about 3:1) in an spray bottle
  • Laundry detergent
Do you make your own cleaning formulas? What are some of your favorites?

1 comment:

  1. We use vinegar and baking soda as all-purpose cleaners. We use rubbing alcohol to disinfect when we're sick.

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