Homemade Household Cleaners

How to Make a Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit

By Annie B. Bond

Most modern synthetic cleaning products are based on age-old formulas using natural ingredients that were passed down through the generations because the chemistry was right. Going back to the original naturally derived ingredients is a way to make cleaning products that work, don’t pollute and save you money. Most are found in your kitchen cupboards. Mix and match with well-chosen and environmentally friendly green cleaning products found in health food stores, and you can easily and simply transform your home into a non-toxic and healthy haven.

Non-toxic cleaning can give you a deep feeling of gratification in knowing that your family’s health is protected, and that your home is a place for your bodies to rest and recuperate rather than promote harm.

Making your own nontoxic cleaning kit will take you no time at all with these simple, straightforward directions, and with this kit you will be supplied with enough cleaning product for months of cleaning.

As an added bonus, ounce for ounce homemade cleaning formulas cost about one-tenth the price of their commercial counterpart—and that includes costly, but worthwhile essential oils, and concentrated, all-purpose detergents for homemade recipes.

SUPPLIES
Baking soda
Washing soda
White distilled vinegar
A good liquid soap or detergent
Tea tree oil
6 clean spray bottles
2 glass jars

Read more about these 5 basic cleaning ingredients, and a vinegar update.

CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER
Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge, and wash the surface. This is the perfect recipe for cleaning the bathtub because it rinses easily and doesn’t leave grit.

Note: Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin to the mixture and store in a sealed glass jar, to keep the product moist. Otherwise just make as much as you need at a time.

WINDOW CLEANER
1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand. The soap in this recipe is important. It cuts the wax residue from the commercial brands you might have used in the past.

OVEN CLEANER
1 cup or more baking soda
Water
A squirt or two of liquid detergent

Sprinkle water generously over the bottom of the oven, then cover the grime with enough baking soda that the surface is totally white. Sprinkle some more water over the top. Let the mixture set overnight. You can easily wipe up the grease the next morning because the grime will have loosened. When you have cleaned up the worst of the mess, dab a bit of liquid detergent or soap on a sponge, and wash the remaining residue from the oven. If this recipe doesn’t work for you it is probably because you didn’t use enough baking soda and/or water.

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
A dab of liquid soap
2 cups hot tap water

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until the washing soda has dissolved. Apply and wipe off with a sponge or rag.

FURNITURE POLISH
1/2 teaspoon oil, such as olive (or jojoba, a liquid wax)
1/4 cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Mix the ingredients in a glass jar. Dab a soft rag into the solution and wipe onto wood surfaces. Cover the glass jar and store indefinitely.

VINEGAR DEODORIZER
Keep a clean spray bottle filled with straight 5 percent vinegar in your kitchen near your cutting board and in your bathroom and use them for cleaning. I often spray the vinegar on our cutting board before going to bed at night, and don’t even rinse but let it set overnight. The smell of vinegar dissipates within a few hours. Straight vinegar is also great for cleaning the toilet rim. Just spray it on and wipe off.

MOLD KILLERS

Tea Tree Treasure
Nothing natural works for mold and mildew as well as this spray. I’ve used it successfully on a moldy ceiling from a leaking roof, on a musty bureau, a musty rug, and a moldy shower curtain. Tea tree oil is expensive, but a little goes a very long way. Note that the smell of tea tree oil is very strong, but it will dissipate in a few days.

2 teaspoons tea tree oil
2 cups water

Combine in a spray bottle, shake to blend, and spray on problem areas. Do not rinse. Makes two cups.

Vinegar Spray
Straight vinegar reportedly kills 82 percent of mold. Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the moldy area, and let set without rinsing if you can put up with the smell. It will dissipate in a few hours.

(Source:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-
non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html)

*I learned about this from Preparedness Matters blog. Thanks for sharing!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

A dear friend of mine found these instructions in a newspaper. Thanks for sharing Marjorie!

"Making your own laundry detergent is so easy and cost-effective that it's a wonder we ever started buying the brand name stuff at all. The recipes for liquid and powder laundry detergents are simple, natural and cost as little as 2 cents per load!

All you need are three basic ingredients:
1. SOAP (bar, powdered, or liquid)
2. BORAX
3. WASHING SODA
all of which you can buy at your local grocery or health food store.

For soap, I recommend going au naturel with either Boraxo powdered hand soap or Castile soap, which comes in liquid and bar form.

The next ingredient, borax, is a mineral compound that works as a multi-purpose cleaner and bleach, so it's a green solution to keeping your whites bright.

Washing soda, which is similar to baking soda but more alkaline, cuts grease and neutralizes odors.

Here are two basic recipes for liquid and powdered laundry detergents. If you miss the floral fragrance of commercial brands, you can use naturally scented bar soap--or vamp it up even more by adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the liquid detergent recipe--lavender is always divine.

Please note that even though the ingredients are from natural sources, they can irritate the skin, so it's a good idea to wear gloves while mixing."

LIQUID LAUNDRY DETERGENT
2 cups finely grated natural or artisan bar soap OR 1 cup liquid Castile soap (Kirk's Original Coco Castile soap suggested) OR 2 cups powdered hand soap (Boraxo suggested)
2 cups borax (20 Mule Team Borax Natural Laundry Booster suggested)
2 cups washing soda (Arm and Hammer suggested)
Mix soap, borax and washing soda in a pan with 1 qt. water.
Heat to just shy of boiling, stirring, until water thickens and suds form. Pour into a clean 5-gallon bucket. Pour another 2-1/2 gallons of boiling water into bucket: stir well. Let sit 24 hours. You can leave it in the bucket and cover it, but I like to store mine in vintage 1/2 gallon milk bottles.
Use 1/4 cup per regular load. If the mixture separates over time, either stir or gently tilt back and forth in its container to remix. MAKES 2-1/2 GALLONS
(Note: Grating the soap may seem tediuous, but you can do it in a food processor with a grater attachment, and it makes a ton of detergent--more than a month's supply.)

POWDERED LAUNDRY DETERGENT
2 cups powdered hand soap (Boraxo suggested)
1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer suggested)
1 cup borax (20 Mule Team Borax Natural Laundry Booster suggested)
Mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight plastic container.
Use 1/4 cup per load of laundry. MAKES 4 CUPS

(Source: Mary Jane Butters)

NOTE: You can go to this link for more information regarding the above-mentioned newspaper article.


Marjorie did some shopping and found the following items at these places:

• 20 Mule Team Borax - (2.98/Walmart Superstore, 3.97/Reams, not found at Harmons)
  

• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - (2.69/Harmons, 2.79/Reams, not found at Walmart)

• Boraxo Powdered Hand Soap (12 oz. - this measures 2 cups) (1.99/Reams, not found at Walmart)

(Source: Marjorie A.)

Dutch Oven - Fry Bread

Put 1/2 inch or more of cooking oil in your dutch oven. Remove a shovel full of coals from the fire and place your dutch oven on the coals. When it gets just hot enough to splatter when you put a drop of water in it, it's just right to start cooking. Take your favorite scone recipe and cook it to perfection.

VARIATIONS: Use frozen bread dough. Use over-risen biscuits and roll in sugar to make a dessert.
COOKING HINTS: You have to keep fooling with the fire because it's difficult to maintain. Use a long willow for turning.

(Source: "A Taste of the Old West or Dutch Oven Cooking Made Easy and Sourdough Hints" by Ken Benson)

Dutch Oven - Pot Roast

Brown roast in a hot dutch oven with cooking oil, making sure to brown all the surfaces. Add 1 cup water and cook on a medium bed of coals. Add coals on top for about an hour. Add taters, onions, carrots, and some more water and cook another hour.

VARIATIONS: Use mushrooms, peppers or whatever.
COOKING TIPS: Watch the fire, it burns easily. It takes a lot of salt. The bigger the roast the longer it takes.

(Source: "A Taste of the Old West or Dutch Oven Cooking Made Easy and Sourdough Hints" by Ken Benson)

Dutch Oven - Upside Down Cake

3/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
several slices of pineapple
1 cup sugar
some marchino cherries
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the 1/4 cup margarine and add brown sugar. Put the pineapple slices on the bottom. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl mix sugar and 1/2 cup margarine. Add eggs and stir. Add flour and remaining ingredients and milk and mix well. Pour the batter over the fruit and brown sugar. Cook on a low medium fire with coals on top for 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness. when it's done, remove from heat and turn over onto a big plate. It is good served with ice cream, whipped cream, etc.

VARIATIONS: Use peaches, fruit cocktail or your favorite white cake mix.
COOKING HINTS: It burns very easily, so take your time. Make sure you are careful not to tip it over or you will have a ncie cobbler.

(Source: "A Taste of the Old West or Dutch Oven Cooking Made Easy and Sourdough Hints" by Ken Benson)

Dutch Oven - Chicken

Dip pieces of chicken in your favorite batter or flour. Brown well in the dutch oven. Cover with your lid, put coals on top and cook over medium heat. You may want to rotate the pieces during the process. It takes about 40 minutes.

(Source: "A Taste of the Old West or Dutch Oven Cooking Made Easy and Sourdough Hints" by Ken Benson)

Dutch Oven - Omelets

3 eggs
1 tablespoon evaporated milk
Salt and Pepper
4 teaspoons bacon grease

Put the bacon grease in the dutch oven and melt. Whip up everything else in a separate bowl and pour into your dutch oven. Use low heat with coals on top. Watch closely. Cook through to perfection.

VARIATIONS: Add cheese, browned mushrooms, green pepper or whatever.
COOKING HINTS: It takes very little heat to cook this. Watch it closely. It's important to find the magic moment when it is done just right.

(Source: "A Taste of the Old West or Dutch Oven Cooking Made Easy and Sourdough Hints" by Ken Benson)

Dutch Oven - Stew

2 lb. beef cubes rolled in flour
6 medium potatoes
4 large carrots
1 medium chopped onion
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
Brown beef in hot oil
Put in the onions, carrots, etc. Cover with water and salt. Cook until meat is tender. Simmer for about an hour. Whomp up some dumplings with biscuit mix. Put dumplings on top and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are brown.

(Source: "A Taste of the Old West or Dutch Oven Cooking Made Easy and Sourdough Hints" by Ken Benson)