They say the air in your house is more poluted than the air outside. Thats because of all the cleaning supplies, hair sprays, air fresheners etc. After I had my son, I decided I didnt want him around all those crazy chemicals. So Ive been making my own, and its a whole lot cheaper than buying the "green" cleaning supplies they have out now. The three cheapest ingredients you probably already have:
Baking Soda - cleans, deodorizes, scours (think comet or ajax)
White Vinegar - cleans pretty much everything from kitchen counters to floors
Isopropyl (rubbing) Alcohol - disinfectant everything and anything
Get some spray bottles from the dollar store or reuse one you already have (wash it out first).
In one spray bottle put alcohol (one part alcohol to five parts water). Disinfects everything. Really good for bathrooms, doorknobs, telephones. Ive even used it for the floors.
In another spray bottle put one part vinegar to four parts water. This will clean floors, appliances, counters. Pretty much anything.
As an all purpose cleaner mix half cup vinegar and a one-forth cup baking soda into half gallon of water. Cleans chrome fixtures, water stains, showers, toilet bowl.
Use baking soda alone to scour stovetops, fridge, sinks.
Adjust the formulas or experiment with them yourself because you cant do much damage with these cleaning supplies. Test in a small area first if you're unsure. Anything you use alcohol and vinegar on will smell like alcohol and vinegar but only for a short time. The smell will go away, and I dont think its nearly as bad as some of the stuff I was using before. I guarantee your grandma cleaned with these!
you can put some essential oils in with the vinegar to soften the smell, too. don't forget the last ingredient, my mom's favorite thing! ELBOW GREASE! also, you can cut up an old t-shirt and make reusable cleaning cloths rather than using paper towels.
ReplyDeletei have tons of recipes for stuff like this, including some homemade "butt wash" for the babies if you are using cloth wipes rather than disposable wipes. let me know if you ever want it.
thank you for this post, I've just started looking up home made cleaning recipes, not only is it greener, but it saves green too, which is a big bonus for us stay at home mommas! great post!
ReplyDeletehttp://vavoomvintage.blogspot.com/
Brittany it does save so much! I cant tell you the last time I bought a "normal" cleaning product. Ive bought white vinegar but that lasts forever and its usually less than $3 for a gallon. Oh! And you can also use white vinegar as fabric softener. When I stopped using Downy and started using vinegar for our clothes, my husband never noticed a difference.
ReplyDeletebellisimama exactly! i use old socks, cut up shirts, wash cloths that have seen better days, cut up towels etc. I still buy paper towels because with two kids messes are unpredictable but I dont buy them very often anymore. You can post your butt wash recipe! Im sure lots of mamas would appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteI am obsessed with white vinegar and water to clean everything. It does a better job on windows and mirrors than anything else I have ever tried. Plus I always feel like when I use chemicals the kids are breathing it into their lungs. My mom has suggested dry white wine but there is absolutly no way I am wasting my happy hour.
ReplyDeleteBeth, I know! Plus its crazy cheap and a gallon lasts forever when you are diluting it with water. Alcohol and water does a good job too. I mop my floors with it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteDear Nifty Thrifty Mama ,
ReplyDeleteI’ve been following your blog and would love to feature you in one of our articles about thrifty bloggers. I’ve been looking for bloggers who write about frugal living and practical skills—generally speaking, ways to thrive—and I’m very interested in the topics about which you write.
I’m part of a group that has recently created the website, Thrift Culture Now. For years, we’ve been researching to find the best ways for households to cut their monthly bills, reduce consumer consumption, and truly thrive. We started to publish this research in the form of ‘Thrifty Tips’ a few months ago. On our site (www.ThriftCultureNow.com), Monday to Friday, we give our readers a new idea for how they can cut their gas, cleaning, food, water, electricity, and health care bills. This is a free service, and those who sign-up can receive the new tip in their email in-box each day.
We feel that practical skills play a crucial role when anyone tries to lower their expenses. Unfortunately, much of today’s population has no knowledge of the types of skills that people possessed just 50 years ago. Even a basic understanding of cooking from scratch, growing a backyard vegetable garden, or doing small household repairs, can save people thousands of dollars a year—and these are just a few of the hundreds of different practical skills that exist. We hope to put people back in touch with self-sustainability, even in the smallest way.
We are, therefore, launching a new section of our website entitled, Thrifty Bloggers, where we’ll feature individuals who write about thrifty living and practical skills. We want to give people information that they can actually learn from, and we think that your knowledge and experience could really be of benefit to readers.
If you’re willing, we would love to interview you briefly and talk to you about your blog and what you write about. We would feature this interview, with a link (either text or banner) to your blog, in our Thrifty Bloggers section.
We invite you to peruse our site (www.ThriftCultureNow.com) and please let us know if you’re interested in being a part of this exciting and mutually beneficial endeavour. If you would like to read the article about our first Thrifty Blogger, Kate (Living the Frugal Life), please follow this link http://www.thriftculturenow.com/thriftyblogger/312-why-kate-is-living-the-frugal-life. And, if you feel that it’s suitable, we would really appreciate it if we could place one of our buttons on your site.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Best regards,
Travis Grier (on behalf of Thrift Culture Now)
editors@thriftculturenow.com