We’re always experimenting with our products. The ingredients we’ve found to work best are baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, distilled water and herbal essential oils. Here are a few of our favorite recipes:
FOR ALL-PURPOSE AND GLASS CLEANERS:
- 1 cup distilled water
- 1 cup vinegar
- A few drops of lavender or tea tree oil
or
- 2 cups distilled water
- A few drops of castile soap
- A few drops of eucalyptus oil
Vinegar is a safe, cheap and effective cleaning ingredient, but let’s face it: vinegar stinks. However, if vinegar smells a little unpleasant, we’d definitely prefer it to the bio-weapon-reminiscent stench of most industrial cleaning products. A few drops of tea tree, peppermint or lavender oil can help to mask the smell, but either way, the odor dissipates within a few hours of cleaning, so we don’t mind it. There are also plenty of alternatives that you can make at home or buy in stores.
Be careful: vinegar can break down tile grout over time. I use a baking soda and water paste with a scrub brush. A 2:1 ratio of water and hydrogen peroxide will kill shower mold as well.
I only use distilled water in my recipes. Tap water is full of all sorts of corrosive minerals and pollutants that can damage your fixtures and stain surfaces.
FOR ALL OF OUR SCOURING NEEDS, we just use baking soda. It only takes a little bit – too much just cakes up my sponges. For extra cleaning power, we spray the area with vinegar first. The chemical reaction (remember the science fair volcano?) does a lot of the work before we even begin scrubbing.
FURNITURE POLISH
- 2 parts olive oil
- 1 part lemon juice
Whisk ingredients together to emulsify. This also makes a tasty salad topping with a little salt and pepper.
The products we create are available for purchase, but we encourage you to experiment in your own kitchen to find solutions that work for you. Countless recipes are available on the internet. Safety is our number one priority, no matter whose products we use.
Tags: Austin, Denton, DFW, DIY, eco-friendly, green cleaning, healthy, housekeeping
