3 Recipes for Homemade Safe Cleaning Products

 

3 Recipes For Homemade Safe Cleaning Products For  the Home

Indoor air pollution is rapidly being implicated in a number of ailments that can affect us, our children and our pets.  The typical household cleaning chemicals can have ingredients that can cause a reaction in our bodies and even become hormone stimulators. Some can cause headaches, rashes, nausea, asthma and even cancer.  They tend to be expensive and toxic.

I read an article a few weeks ago that can solve these problems by using our own formulas with common ingredients we already have at home.  I now use these in my own home with great results.

1.      ALL PURPOSE CLEANER  Fill a 1 quart spray bottle with water and add a good squirt of Ivory dishwashing liquid.  Shake it up.  To disinfect a bathroom or kitchen, add ¼ cup of rubbing alcohol.  This is safe to use on sinks, showers, tile, marble and Corian countertops.  If you do add the rubbing alcohol, it is FLAMMABLE.  I labeled the bottle FLAMMABLE, in case someone decides to light a candle nearby.

2.   WINDOW CLEANER.  Make your own inexpensively.

1/3 Cup white vinegar

1 spoonful dishwashing detergent

Add to 1 quart of distilled water.

Or you can just add ¼ Cup of rubbing alcohol to 1 quart of distilled water.

3.  BATHROOM CLEANER.  Sanitize your bathroom, including your toilet bowl.

Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar.  Pour one capful into the bowl, then spray all sides with the vinegar.  Sprinkle baking soda in.  Wait 15 minutes, then scrub with a brush covered in baking soda.  To disinfect completely, wipe all surfaces with rubbing alcohol.

4.  BED PILLOWS.  Do you ever wake up with a stuffy nose?   Could be your pillows could use some sanitizing.  Put a pillow into a heavy plastic bag, vacuum all the air out with your vacuum cleaner hose.  This will suffocate any mites or other microscopic critters that live there.   When all the air is sucked out, hold the bag shut.   Then spray a mixture of Lemon Grass essential oil 1 part to 9 parts water and spray it into the bag.   As you slowly release the air back in, the oil mixture spreads into the pores of the pillow and kills whatever is left behind.    Lemon Grass oil can be purchased at your local health food store.  It is a natural disinfectant.   After you vacuum, you can spray it on your carpets to sanitize them and make your home smell fresh.

So, we can save money, make superior cleaning products and use the Lemon Grass Oil to sanitize what we thought couldn’t be sanitized in a non toxic fashion.  Many thanks to Dr Monus for the Lemon Grass oil tip and Mary Findley, veteran Oregon cleaning expert  for the “recipes”.