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
I use Miracle 2 soap on EVERYTHING - bathroom, dishes, kitchen, laundry detergent. The only thing I don't use it on is the dishwasher. I'm totally going to start using vinegar more and mixing it with the soap. But if you're looking for a good non-toxic laundry detergent than it's great. A gallon isn't cheap, but you can do a load of laundry with only a tablespoon of soap so it lasts a long time :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Miracle-II-Regular-Soap-Gallon/dp/B0018NGHJQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395764109&sr=8-3&keywords=miracle+ii+soap