Make Your Own Cleaning Products

I love a clean house!  Who doesn't?  The problem is making the time to get it that way.  Since time is precious, I want cleaning methods that are going to be as painless as possible and worth my time.  I also want products that don't make me gag when I use them and are safe around my kiddos.  Thanks to Pinterest (have you realized how much information and great ideas I get from that website??) I have come across some great make them yourself cleaning products.  So great in fact, that we will never buy another harsh chemical cleaner again.  Like, never.  People, this is huge!  I'd rather stop and take the time to make my own cleaners than quickly pick one off the shelf at the grocery.  The best thing about it, the main ingredient is something you have in your pantry already, Vinegar!  I know, I know, vinegar has a funky smell all it's own, but most of the cleaning recipes call for an essential oil of one smell or another which totally masks the vinegary smell.  Win win if you ask me!  And yes, you totally asked me!  I heard you.

** I have tried all the cleaning methods mentioned below and they have worked for us.

Shower Magic
Believe it or not, this recipe came from Food.com.  You mix 12oz of heated vinegar with 12oz of the blue original Dawn dish soap in a spray bottle.  Gently swish it around and start spraying.  We have a glass door in our shower, but you'd think it was a frosted glass the way it looks.  I sprayed this concoction on the door and inside the shower.  I let it set about 15 minutes and started scrubbing.  The icky stuff inside the shower came off the first round.  Since our door was kind of grossly covered in soap scum, it took a few rounds of cleaning to get it completely see through.  And let me tell you my friends, it is see through.  This stuff cut through what I thought with never come off because even the strongest chemical cleaners we tried couldn't get all the way through it.  It is now on my weekly cleaning list so that the door stays clean.  No more scummy build up for my shower!!  I even recommended it to my pregnant sister.  Definitely don't want her breathing in any nasty chemical cleaners while she's baking my nephew!!!

All Purpose Cleaner
EcoCrazy Mom has a whole post dedicated to homemade cleaning products.  It's genius!  You know what else is genius??  The magical powers vinegar possesses!  Seriously, who knew all the things this stuff could do aside from dying Easter eggs?  I sure didn't!  This is super easy.  1 part water to 1 part vinegar.  Add 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil(s) and you're good to go.  I had lavender essential oil from a Christmas project I did so that's what I mixed in.  You can't smell the vinegar at all so it worked like a charm!  I use it when cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms.  I even used it today to wipe the doors down.  I intend to make her furniture polish/cleaner too!

Microwave Cleaner
This is the easiest of them all.  The Nest is where I got this recipe.  Microwave 2 cups of water with 1tsp of vanilla in microwave safe cup for 5 minutes.  Take rag and wipe down inside of microwave.  That's it.  Worked like a charm and you didn't have to use any elbow grease at all.  It really just wiped right off with no effort!  No excuse now not to have a clean microwave!

Pan Cleaner
Jillee's recipe calls for a paste made of peroxide and baking soda.  I tried it once and didn't leave it on to get the desired effect.  Today, I tried baking soad and vinegar to clean out a pan stained by tea.  After a bit of scrubbing, pan looks great!!  Cleaned all the tea stains right off.  I might try this on our muffin pans and baking sheet to see if it works just as good.

Vomit Cleaner
I actually haven't used this for it's intended purpose.  I have used it to clean poop out of the carpet on more than one occasion.  Unfortunately one of my boys found it fun to play with is diaper during naptime if it was dirty.  This stuff saved my carpet and my stomach!!  In a bucket mix 2 cups of warm water with 1TBSP of salt.  Once salt is dissolved, 1/2 cup of white vinegar, 1 TBSP of clear dish or laundry detergent (I used laundry detergent b/c our dish soap wasn't clear at the time) and 2 TBSP of rubbing alcohol.  Once it's all mixed, set aside.  First spray the spot with water and blot.  Then use a rag or sponge and saturate it in the cleaner then blot the spot with it.  I did this several times.  Blot with a clean towel and then rinse, blot and let dry.  You might even consider adding a few drops of essential oil to it for a pleasant smell.

 It makes me happy to know I can have a chemical free cleaning experience.  Now if I could just get my fairy godmother to get me someone to do the actual cleaning, that'd be awesome!!