Cleaning Recipes

Cleaning Recipes

Ok my Green cleaning alchemists... Get your measuring bowls, bottles and ingredients ready...

I've made a handy dandy downloadable printable - business card size - So you can either print it on paper or print it out on card stock, snip, cut and stick in a business card holder... Easy peasy reference cards

Homemade Cleaner Recipe cards

But now for the recipes... 

We'll start with my dailys :

All Purpose Disinfectant Spray

4 Tbsp. Vinegar

2 Tsp    Borax

10-20 Drops EO's

1/4 Tsp Dawn

Hot water 

Combine Vinegar, Borax & Dawn in a bottle.  Add hot water until almost full, swish to dissolve Borax, add EO's.  Shake Before Use

Window Cleaner

1/2 C Vinegar

1 Tbsp Rubbing Alcohol (Optional)

2 C. Water

Mix up ingredients into a spray bottle, Shake and Use

Wood Cleaner

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 C Vinegar

1 3/4 C Water

Essential Oil (10-20 drops)

Add olive oil, vinegar & water to bottle - Shake before use 

Ok but Off to do the family thing... I'll be back shortly bwa ha ha ha and Happy Cleaning... 

Ingredients & Cost comparisons

So down to the nitty gritty - 

The cost comparison - My cleaners would be replaced every 4-6 weeks.  Yes I clean A L O T.  So that's a lot of money and a lot of chemicals getting used daily... 

Soooo In my researching - I have found the ingredients list - If you have these things on hand you can just about make any cleaner you can think of... Although the Ingredients usually last 2-3 months even with the amount I CLEAN... For Essention Oils (EO's) - There are a few great ones to have on hand and I'll get to that in a little bit - but first the breakdowns and then - the Recipes!!!!!

Store Bought Cleaners	Cost	Oz.		Ingredients	Cost	Oz	Cost/Oz
Mr. Clean - Antibacterial	2.97	40		Dawn Dish Soap - Blue	2.97	48	.06
Windex - Original	2.87	32		Borax	3.38	76	.04
Soft Scrub w Bleach	3.87	36		Baking Soda	2.24	64	.04
Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner - Lime & Rust	3.81	24		Arm & Hammer Washing Soda	3.24	55	.06
Swifter - Antibacterial	5.22	42.2		Vinegar	1.50	128	.01
Pledge - Dust & Allergen	3.97	9.7		Rubbing Alcohol	1.48	32	.05
Febreeze Fabric - Allergen	4.97	27		Hydrogen Peroxide	.88	32	.03
Febreeze - Air	3.97	9.7		Olive Oil	6.38	17	.38
Total:	31.65			Castile Soap - any scent	16.19	32	.51
				Tea Tree EO (Drops not oz)	7.97	2	.01
				Lavender EO (Drops not oz)	7.27	1	.02
				Total:	53.50

So what I did was made a spreadsheet with the measurments of all the cleaner recipes, and broke it down so you can see what it really costs to make a bottle of cleaner... Mr Clean - .32 - Windex .09, wood cleaner .47 yes dahhhhlings that's PER bottle.  See for yourself ~~~~> Homemade cleaner cost Breakdown 

If you look over there... I have made a page for the Cleaner recipes I use on a daily/weekly basis and will add the new ones I try out over time... Hey this is an ever evolving process - but here we go - Alchemists get your measuring bowls ready...

Mfg's, product safety and MSDS's...

Good morning lovilies...

I've noticed on a lot of the "green" sites, blogs and pages I've just happened to come across - They are crazy into warning about the dangers of store bought cleaners.  They are going to cause cancer, they are horrible for the environment... Using the store bought cleaners will bring down the wrath of the gods and goddesses. Yeah not so much.   These claims against the cleaners, can quite possibly be true - but it's not their job to crucify the MFG's of these products.  It's our job as a consumer to research and made decision for our families based on our needs.  

In all my research of the cleaners I have used before, most of the manufactures of the store bought cleaners have to have product safety information somewhere.  You just have to dig and find it.  Hello Google lol.  

Like the makers of Mr Clean Antibacterial (Btw my all time standby for kitchen/bath cleaning before i went chemical free) - PG - have a site dedicated to their product safety.  On this site you will find the ingredients to their cleaners, the MSDS of all their products as well as the ingredients that go in them.  

For those who have no idea what MSDS is:

A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that contains information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with the chemical product. It is an essential starting point for the development of a complete health and safety program.

These sheets are an OSHA required document and NEED to be posted somewhere.  In any industry that requires use of chemicals - it's the law.  They cannot be fudged.  So if you are ever curious as to what goes into your cleaners - take a look.  I know boring research - but there are times that knowing what you're bringing into your families lives is important. 

But that is not what I'm about.  I get it - going to the store grabbing which ever cleaner you need is a heck of a lot less work and more convenient than playing kitchen Alchemist lol... But for me and Mine - it's not an option. 

So today will be a busy blog day - I slacked the last couple of days - Next up - Cost, ingredient and recipes!!!! 

The Why's.... Why we decided to go chemical free.

I'm a freak you see.  I have a need for clean, not your ok the house has to be straightened kind of clean either.  It's more like a deep cleaning once a week, ALL rooms, no exceptions. If it's not clean I can't relax. (I have a spreadsheet on the cleaning of each room, what gets done and the order it gets done in.) I've been labeled an OCD neurotic with anxiety disorder.  This is not a fun label, it's not a fun thing to be or at times be around. It's a flaw in my DNA, a deeply seated issue down in the deep dark recesses of my psyche.  But I'm working on it - and getting better a littttttttle bit at a time.  

But I digress, I made the decision to go mostly chemical free in my cleaning about a year ago.  See my Kiddo, also known as Bubba, Pookey, Snotface, or Poophead depending on the day, has asthma & allergies to everything...  He's allergic to all chemicals, dyes, soaps, including alllllll hygiene stuff as well... He has severe eczema, he gets breakouts of Dyshidrotic eczema on his hands and feet.  He gets the patches all over his body, his face, his neck and not small patches, we're talking full surface coverage.  Being he's a strapping and good looking man in his 20's this is not good. It is very limiting when it comes to him working and makes him feel off and awkward in the social department.  He is very flippant and nonchalant about it but I'm his mama, I know it really bothers him. 

We went to the Dr's - they said eliminate chemical cleaners, use all natural soaps and shampoos etc (Aveeno). They've prescribed the steroid creams, the allergy meds.  Said only bathing 2-3 times a week and lather up with Eucerin (Which btw he said makes it feel worse).  We've tried almost every OTC cream claiming it's an eczema cure - the things work for a little while and then poof nothing.  

He was my inspiration initially for all this obsessed research and changing things out... My main reason for going green/homeopathic... But there are other benefits as well, it's safer for my family and our fur babies... It's wayyyyyyyyy cheaper (more on that later). And less waste less of a footprint.