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Tip 3: Make your own cleaners

April 3, 2009 Homemade Cleaners, Homemaking, Stretching a dollar One comment

Tip 3: Make your own cleaners

Currently I make my own dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent, all purpose cleaner, toilet cleaner and glass cleaner. Here is a post that I’ve done in the past that has all the recipes.

I find that making your own cleaners is MUCH more cost effective, plus I know what chemicals I’m allowing to enter my home. I don’t have to worry about the harsh toxins/fumes that come from many retail cleaners.

All you really need is:

Borax
Baking Soda (Arm & Hammer Washing Soda is preferred but not as easy to find)
Oxi Clean (this isn’t necessary, but is recommended)
Fels Naptha Soap (Substitute Ivory if you can’t find this item)
Vinegar (it’s recommended to use essential oils to mask the vinegar scent if you don’t like it)
Cascade (not necessary, but really helps to clean the dishes)

That’s it! Not too difficult and it will save you TONS of money!!! When I buy all these things I typically have enough laundry detergent to last for 3 months (and I do 3-5 loads a week), and enough dishwashing detergent to last 2 1/2 – 3 months (I do a load daily).

Liquid Laundry Detergent vs. Powdered Laundry Detergent:
I often hear people say they don’t like powdered laundry detergent and I’m not sure why this is. When you buy liquid laundry detergent you are usually purchasing a container that’s over half water! I feel that my powdered laundry detergent goes a long way for so little. When you make your own detergent you can easily turn it into a liquid detergent by adding boiling water…and a LOT of it! So essentially what you are doing is watering down your detergent. Not only that but it’s more work! Also it takes up much more space! You will probably want to mix a large batch which will need about a 5 gallon bucket, it’s also quite heavy to move so you would need to transport your boiling water to the bucket in the laundry room.

Homemade liquid detergent doesn’t have the same consistency as store bought detergent. After you add the boiling water to the powdered blend and mix well the mixture will congeal. It’s not quite a liquid and not quite a solid. It’s a gooey watery detergent that has the consistency of runny pudding. As it sits the water will begin to separate from the soap leaving the thicker mixture to settle at the bottom. This means that there will be stirring of the detergent before each use. So for all the work involved I just don’t see the benefit.

If you have any concerns about the powdered detergent just give it a minute or two to dissolve in the washing machine before you add your clothes. No problems there! You may see some soap bits on your clothes and this would be due to the shredding of the soap bar. The finer the pieces of shredded soap in the mixture, the better. I use a simple cheese grater from the dollar store and it works great for me! No need to go out and by a food processor just for shredding soap!

For a breakdown on cost check out this post by Lynnae. One load costs about 6 cents!!!

So that’s it! Leave me a comment and share with me your experiences with homemade cleaners!!!

Natural Cleaners

April 5, 2008 Homemade Cleaners 2 comments

Natural Cleaners

Jaime said…
“Where are those comments about the natural cleaners? I have heard of these but have yet to use them. Let me know!!!!!!”

I wanted to answer your questions. There are many sites out there that help you create your own natural (toxic-free) cleaners but here is what I’m currently using:

For cleaning surfaces and tiles (non-wood surfaces)
Mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 1 cup of water, and put into a spray bottle. Label that bottle “all purpose cleaner”.

For polishing wood surfaces and furniture
Mix 1 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Keep in a sealed container, labeled “furniture polish”.

For cleaning the toilets
Fill a spray bottle with undiluted white vinegar, and label it “toilet bowl cleaner”.

For cleaning sinks and tubs
Use baking soda as a scouring powder. For hard to clean sinks and tubs, add a little bit of water to some baking soda, to form a paste. Paint the paste onto the area you need to clean, and let sit for a half hour, then scrub it off, and re-scour with dry baking soda.

For cleaning mirrors, TV/computer screens, and glass
Mix together 1 cup of rubbing alcohol, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Pour into a spray bottle, and label it “glass cleaner”.

For scrubbing hard floors
Fill mop bucket with steaming hot water, and add some liquid bleach. Read the dilution instructions on your bottle of bleach, to find out how much bleach to put into the bucket. (When you mop, open a few windows, to limit bleach fumes.)

For spot-cleaning carpets
Pour some undiluted rubbing alcohol on the spot, and rub with a wash cloth.

Dishwasher Detergent
INGREDIENTS

- 1 cup borax

- 1 cup baking soda

- 1 cup Cascade (optional, but cleans the dishes SO much better for adding so little)

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. In a small container, mix together the borax and baking soda and Cascade.

That’s it!

I keep a table spoon inside the container with my mixture, and when I run my dishwasher (which is twice a day) I put in 3 tablespoons of the homemade detergent.

Once every week or two I fill the rinse aid receptacle with vinegar.

How to Make Powdered Laundry Detergent
INGREDIENTS

- 1 bar of Ivory soap (Fels-Naptha is preferred)

- 1 1/2 cups baking soda (Washing Soda is preferred)

- 1/2 cup borax

- 1/2 – 1 cup oxy clean (optional)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Shred the bar of soap. If you use Ivory, you’ll find that it likely shreds easier than cheese, and only takes a minute to shred the whole bar. I suggest you use a very large plastic container. I got mine from Wal-Mart.

2. Pour in the baking soda, and mix.

3. Pour in the borax, and mix.

4. Pour in the oxy clean, and mix. (this step is optional. you can use 1/2 cup but 1 cup may give your detergent a better boost!)

5. All done. You’ll probably need to shake your detergent before each use to mix it up. Also, keep a measuring spoon with your container, and use this to measure and pour the detergent into your laundry loads. I tend to use 3 tablespoons for most loads. For extra soiled loads, I’ll use 4 tablespoons.

Using just the above, you now have all the cleaning solutions you need, to clean your whole house.

I obtained all these instructions from http://www.keepingthehome.com/. She has some really wonderful and useful tools I plan on trying to use at home. I have all my cleaners and detergents already made up (courtesy of my dear friend Shelley, she made all of these for me for my upcoming birthday!) and I will start using the on Monday. I can’t wait!!! Shelley says they work beautifully, if you can get past the vinegar smell!

Happy Cleaning!