Saturday, April 27, 2013

Homemade cleaners

I've posted about homemade cleaners before, but thought I'd give a rundown of what I'm using now:

Laundry Detergent
You can get more recipes and info here:
http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

Fabric Softener
I add about half a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Dishwasher rinse
I always add white vinegar to the dishwasher's rinse compartment. One person suggested putting a bowl of half a cup in the lower rack and says that works better. Haven't tried that yet, but so far it's working okay the way I've been doing it.

All-purpose cleaner and shower spray
I mostly just spray white vinegar onto countertops straight. It works well for daily wipe-ups.

All-purpose cleaning scrub
Make a paste of baking soda and some water for a basic cleaning scrub. I find that this mix works okay for most things like countertops and the bathroom, but it doesn't work on my toaster oven, which has some baked on gunk on the inside of its door. So I made the paste with some cooking oil and scrubbed the door with a toothbrush and now it looks as good as new! It's funny to think you can use oil to clean up oily spots, but it works! I just saw another recipe where the person uses baking soda and peroxide to make a paste and supposedly, it works wonders! I'm going to try that recipe next. My big oven needs some serious work!

Carpet stain remover
I didn't think this would work at first, and it does require some elbow grease. Basically, wet the carpet stain with a little water and work the baking soda into the stain with a toothbrush. Really scrub it in and then add vinegar. Continue to scrub and repeat a few times until the stain comes out. I used this on some stains in our bedroom that was there before we moved it. Those stains didn't come out even after we used the carpet washer thingy on it, so I'm very happy this worked!

Dust Cloths
Soak some rags in a solution of half vinegar and half water with a several drops of olive oil and lemon oil. I keep a container of this stuff with rags soaking in it and pull out rags to dust dusty surfaces when needed.

Non-Bleach Stain Remover
Soak the stain-ridden clothing in a mix of water, washing soda and peroxide. I never measure. I just fill the washer with water, throw the stuff in and sprinkle in the washing soda and peroxide depending on how much needs to be washed and how soiled the stuff is. The truth is, some stains will never come out, but in my experience, this technique works really well.

Towel refresher
I use the prewash cycle to wash the towels with a sprinkling of borax and hot water. Then I let it drain and do a regular wash on the hottest setting with a cup of vinegar. I do a second rinse with some more vinegar. Usually after this, the towels come out very soft and as absorbent as I remember they used to be.

Drain declogger
Pour up to a half or a full cup of baking soda into the drain. I use a tiny bit of water to get some of the baking soda further down and I also try to work it in with my fingers. Then I pour vinegar into it and close the drain before it can bubble out. My favorite part is watching the bubbles and listening to them foaming. When the sounds die down, I pour more in vinegar and close it again. Once most of the baking soda has bubbled away, I pour a cup or two of boiling water down the drain. If the drain is still a little clogged, I repeat the process.

Destaining the sink
We have an enamel sink that was stained before we moved it. Although this didn't take out the stains entirely, it did brighten things up a bit. I made a paste of borax and lemon juice and scrubbed it into the sink with a toothbrush. After working it in for a few minutes, I rinsed the paste away and repeated the process once more. At this point, if the stain didn't come out, I doubt it ever will.

... and that's it! That's all I got so far. Going forward, I'd like to try making my own dishwasher detergent.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

For Soap Scum: 1/2 dishwashing liquid, 1/2 vinegar. i put the mix into those dishwands that have the scrubbing sponge at the end and just scrub away the soap scum on the glass shower doors.

Nuray

Jen. said...

Awesome! Thanks!