Starting DIY recipes for Green Cleaning

Sometimes you will want more control over the your cleaning chemicals. Due to my wife’s allergies, we found that it is better to create our own cleaning ingredients to remove allergens and save money on cleaning tools. Here are just a few cleaning recipes to start your DIY green living journey. For this entry I wanted to focus on healthy cleaning recipes for home cleaning.
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MULTIPURPOSE SPRAY

*do not use on anything sensitive to acid.
i.e. marble, granite etc

• Equal parts water and white vinegar
• Add essential oils to preferred strength
• We use about 15 drops wild orange and 10 drops peppermint in a conventional spray bottle. Gently shake to combine.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT POWDER

We based this recipe off of This recipe by Rebecca. When we had our child, My wife tried substituting with the Dr. Bronner’s baby bar soap; however she found the soap to be too gentle; it did not get out newborn spit up stains (the smell). We went back to using the recipe with the Fels-Naptha bar and it did not bother our baby at all.

What you’ll need:

• A 1/2 gallon – 1 gallon container with tight fitting lid. If using essential oils, choose glass.
• A large cheese grater, preferably with non-skid bottom
• A stout mixing spoon

Ingredients for Safer Laundry Detergent:

All that is required are three ingredients (in equal amounts):

• Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (you can make your own out of baking soda as well if you want!)
• 20 Mule Team Borax (brightens colors and gets whites dazzling). Adding borax boosts detergent and it helps to “soften” hard water so there are no traces of rust.
• Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar (stronger for work clothes). You can also buy high quality soap granules from Earthborn Elements.
• (optional) essential oils (consider lemon, orange, or mandarin for an uplifting, clean scent) or (lavender for relaxing and calming).

I love this recipe because a little goes a long way.

SHOWER CLEANING PROCESS

This one is simple.

• I use dawn soap,
• baking soda
• water
• kitchen sponge (designated for bathroom cleaning).

Splash a line of soap on the tub floor and sprinkle baking soda. Get the sponge wet and scrub away. For the shower walls I put dawn soap and baking soda on the sponge and scrub the walls. Then I rinse the sponge thoroughly and scrub the soap/ baking soda off. I use a cup to fill with water to rinse the rest away.

This process is so cheap, very effective and I have found my tub stays cleaner longer.

Are there DIY recipes that you would like to share for home cleaning or a recipe you would like to see? Let us know below and it may show up in a future blog entry.