I've been working on eliminating chemical cleaning products from our household. Why? Well for a couple of reasons. All of the
research I've been doing while I write for Thirsties has really helped grow my appreciation for the less-expensive, earth-friendly alternatives that I already keep on hand. Now that I've expanded my knowledge about anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-microbial products such as Tea Tree Oil, grapefruit seed extract and colloidal silver, not to mention my staples of white vinegar and baking soda, I've got just about every base covered from cleaning the kitchen, to wiping down the leather couch and getting rid of the ring around the tub. I've just given myself a challenge: not to buy a single commercial household cleaning product between now and 2013. The mad-scientist in me likes the idea of mixing my own "potions," adding a drop of this and a dab of that and experimenting with my own concoctions. I've already started buying both baking soda and vinegar in bulk. My very favorite thing about natural cleaning products is that their ingredients can be used for so many other things around the house--from cooking to cleaning and treating cuts and scrapes. As I was searching for a recipe for homemade dish-soap, one of the few things I've yet to figure out on my own, I came across a really great website called frugallysustainable.com. The frugally sustainable homeowner herself (Andrea) says "100% of her cleaning needs are met with the following products:" Borax Baking Soda Super Washing Soda White Vinegar Castille Soap **essential oils Here is Andrea's recipe for liquid dish-soap, or rather, her daughter's. One thing that I just recently realized is that I love my dishwasher. I mean, I love my dishwasher so much that I just wrote a whole blog about it. Can I possibly make my own dishwasher detergent? Because otherwise I'll be making an exception to my Green Goal and I haven't even started yet! Give me a minute. Ok, I'm back and guess what?? I found a recipe on myhealthygreenfamily.com. I have to make a big trip to the grocery store but this is going to be fun. Now I just need a some beakers and white lab coat and I'll be ready to get to work on my first batch of cleaning products and detergents. I'll let you know how it goes.
You are right here, i too have a passion to try different household ingredients for cleaning purpose. at first it started just as a replacement of floor cleaner, but after that i have tried hard to get every commercial cleaning product out of my home and i have succeeded in it to an extent. Call me overprotective or anything but after seeing too much confusion in using borax i decided to avoid it, especially in the cleaners like dishwasher. Although i am not certain if it is safe or not, but i just avoid it. Well, that’s another thing, i was here to share a recipe for dishwasher detergent (Borax free) that i found quite impressive:
1/4 c. citric acid
1 cup washing soda
1/4 c. coarse salt
Distilled white vinegar (in the rinse aid compartment)
10-15 drops of citrus essential oil (You can use whatever you like)
Mix the first three ingredients well, then add essential oil in it and finally the distilled white vinegar.
I hope you will find it useful.
Elizabeth,
Thanks so much for this great read. I too have made the move to making some of my own cleaning products, one product at a time. I have four kids of my own; one pf them with significant allergies. I love using vinegar for the floors and lemons with baking soda on my counter tops. I haven’t had much success with laundry detergent and can’t seem to get the stains out very well. If you have any ideas, would love to hear! I am going to check out the link above that you enjoyed so much.
Research is showing that families today are wanting green products not only in cleaning supplies but in the furniture their babies will be exposed to as well. From cribs, mattresses, bedding,even flooring; parents want products with that meet the safety standards today! So glad there are organizations in place to do this for us!
Thanks again!
Leanna
I think I will join you in this goal. We have been slowly replacing our old cleaners with cheaper, green alternatives. We even stopped buying paper towels, and bought reuseable zwipes wipes which work great!
We have currently done the same thing! slowly switching out our laundry detergent & cleaning products for the more homemade eco-friendly version. It’s been going great so far and we too have use frugallysustainable.com as one of our go to sites. The other one being thehealthybeehive.com which is another goody!
Good luck in your Green Endeavors!
Oooo let me know if you figure out dishwasher detergent/soap!! That’s one that we can’t live without either and I would love to know/learn how to make it…as long as it doesn’t require a chemistry degree! ;-)
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