Clean - Home Edition

I know you’re all on pins and needles waiting for this.  The stars of my last post were baking soda and coconut oil with a bit of castile soap and apple cider vinegar.  Introducing today’s star:  Vinegar!!

I’m sure you all have noticed the Pinterest articles and Facebook posts about the amazing things that can be done with vinegar.  If you haven’t tried them, though, you’re in luck.  Because I’ve tried them and have landed on what I think are the most effective, cheap, non-toxic cleaners for your home.  I’ll also include a couple of things I just think it’s worth buying.  If you’re a housewife like me who needs things done efficiently, effectively and for as cheap as possible, you might find this post helpful.   Or it may just further convince you I really am a dirty hippie J

First things first, whenever I peel an orange, lemon, grapefruit, or lime, I throw it in a Ziploc bag in the freezer.  Then, when I have time, I put the peels in a jar and fill it up with plain white vinegar.  Left to sit for a few weeks, this makes a citrusy smelling vinegar that has extra cleaning power.  I definitely prefer it to plain vinegar smell as I’m cleaning and I love reusing things that would normally be thrown away.  I put this vinegar into spray bottles in each of my bathrooms.  I also cut up old t-shirts as rags and keep them in the bathroom.  The goal is to daily spray and wipe down the sinks and toilets.  Reality is, this happens a couple times a week.  Vinegar really works to cut through the grime.  I also use it on the mirrors.  As long as I use a microfiber cloth, there are no streaks.  No more Windex in my house!

When the showers are looking a bit grimy I spray them down with a mixture of 1 t. Dawn dish soap and 1 cup white vinegar.  This stuff is amazing!  I spray it on, leave for about 10 minutes and then just wipe it off with a cloth and rinse.  All the scum comes right off!  I used to use a daily shower spray and have experimented with a more diluted Dawn/Vinegar  every day solution, but honestly it’s just easier for me to clean it every couple of weeks. 

For the toilets, I spray them with the straight citrus vinegar and take a scrub brush to them.  This seems to do the trick well.    And for the floors, vinegar and hot water.  Vinegar is amazing, I’m telling you!  It disinfects, prevents mildew, dissolves dirt and grime, it simply cleans.  And if you’re worried about the smell, don’t!  It dissipates as soon as it dries so it will only smell for a little bit. 

For the kitchen, I make an all-purpose cleaner.  The basic recipe is:  ½ t. castile soap, 1 t. borax, ½ cup citrus vinegar and fill the rest of the spray bottle up with water.  This recipe just provides extra cleaning power for surfaces our food is on J  I use it on the counters, table, booster seat, appliances and sink.  I also try to spray the sink with straight vinegar every night and wipe it down just to make it shiny.  The floors get mopped with vinegar and hot water. 

I want you to know I have really tried to make my own dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent.  I’ve tried many different recipes, powdered, liquid, simple, very difficult.  None of them have worked well enough for me or been worth the time, effort, and weird ingredients.  So, I buy them.  I’m happy with the cheap Arm ‘n Hammer laundry detergent I can get in bulk size at Sam’s and I love the Members Mark liquid dishwasher detergent from Sam’s.  I use about half what the label calls for of both of these and still have good results.  I know, I know, they are toxic, but a girl can only do so much, right?  I choose not to worry or stress about it.  I put vinegar in the Jet Dry spot of the dishwasher which works wonderfully.  I also use vinegar as my fabric softener and love the results.  I just throw a couple dryer balls in the dryer with the clothes to prevent static cling.

That’s about it.  Vinegar is stupid cheap in huge bottles at Sams J  You can clean your entire house for cheap, cheap, cheap!  The hard part is actually getting motivated to clean.  This is why we’ve employed a family cleaning day on Sunday afternoons.  My husband acts as the drill sergeant handing out assignments and ensuring they’re done correctly and we all run around like crazy getting it all done.  It takes less than an hour and has been so helpful for me.  The rest of the family may not agree, but I love it!  

Thanks for bearing with me as I share all this.  I know these posts are long, but I promise it’s easier than it sounds!  You probably haven’t noticed, but I happen to be a bit word-y J