Homemade Cleaning Products

I like making my own cleaning products. I have also done a lot of looking into other natural cleaners. Some of these recipes I have tried and use. Other I have as of yet not tried.

Dishwasher Detergent:
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
1/4 cup Citric Acid (or 2 pkg lemon unsweetened Kool-Aid)
Mix all ingredients well. Place 1 tbsp in both detergent spots. For added anti microbial benifits you can add a few drops of tea tree oil to each compartment. (I also use vinegar as a rinse agent)

All-Purpose Cleaner
1 tsp vegetable oil based Laundry Detergent
1 tsp Borax
2 tbsp White Vinegar
1 qt Hot Water

Herbal Cleaning Solution
Steep 1 cup of herbs in 3 cups of boiled water overnight; in morning, strain out the herbs & add to 1 gallon of hot water. Also add 1 cup cider vinegar & 2 tbsp liquid soap.
Recommened herbs: agrimony, angelica, bay, cinnamon, cloves (1/2), coriander seed, lavender, pennyroyal, peppermint, rosemary, & thyme.

Glass Cleaner
(my favorite formula)
1/4 cup plain vinegar
2 cups water
1/2 tsp liquid soap
Mix well in spray bottle
Formula#2
Add 1/4 cup white vinegar to a 16 oz spray bottle & fill the rest of the bottle with warm water.
Formula#3
Combine 1 cup rubbing (70% isopropal) alcohol, 1 cup water, & 1 tbsp white vinegar in a 12 oz spray bottle.

Wall Cleaner
Dissolve 1/2 cup borax in 1 gallon warm water. Stir in 1/2 tbsp ammonia.
Instead of ammonia I used 2 cups lavender herbal water. From what I saw it worked pretty good.

Wood Clean & Polish Solution
Mix 1/2 tsp olive oil & 1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray onto a microfiber or flannel cloth & use cloth to clean & polish wood.
I found using 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 lemon juice & a few drops lavender essential oil made it smell okay.

Tub & Tile Cleaner
Formula #1- Mix 1 2/3 cups baking soda, 1/2 cup dishwashing liquid, & 1/2 cup water. Then add 2 tbsp white vinegar. Apply, scrub, & rinse.
Formula #2- Combine 1/4 cup borax & 1/4 cup baking soda. Add 1 1/2 cups hot water & stir until mixed. Apply, scrub, & rinse.

Nontoxic Bug Spray
Mix 3 tbsp liquid peppermint Castille soap with 16 oz water in spray bottle. Spray directly on ants, spiders, & cockroaches to kill them.

Soft Scrub
Mix baking soda and dish soap into a paste consistency. Make as needed. Does not store well.

Natural Disinfectant Cleaner
15 drops Grapefuit Seed Extract
2 cups Warm Water
Pour solution into spray bottle. Double the amount of grapefruit seed extract to create a super-strength cleaner for extreme jobs.

*Grapefruit seed extract prevents the spread of E. coli, straphylococcus, streptococcus, & many others.

Other Disinfectant
Spray a mist of hydrogen peroxide (3%) onto the surface and then spray a mist of vinegar. Allow to sit for a few minutes then wipe with a paper towel or cloth.

Cleaning Tips
-After spraying on a cleaning product wait a few minutes to allow the product to do its job.
-To disinfect sponges: Place damp sponges in the microwave & "cook" them on high for 1 min. Do NOT microwave Dry sponges! They can catch fire.
-To ease cleaning your microwave place 1 cup vinegar in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 5 min. Then you can easily clean the inside. This also helps deodorize as well.
-For burnt on food in the bottom of pots, sprinkle with baking soda, then add hot water. Let soak overnight.

I have future plans to make my own laundry detergent and herbal rinse. Since I'm not exactly sure on the recipe I will share later.

Stress

To some in my life it won't come as a surprise that I severely suffer from the effects of Stress. What amazes me is that de-stressing, relaxing, and letting things go are learn skills that many never learn. So far I have fallen into that category. The phrase "Don't worry about things you can't change" is something I can't seem to get through my head. It has taken me about 16 years to realize that my body just can't handle this anymore. Doctors can't seem to find a reason for my chronic headaches, muscle pain, troubles sleeping, physical and mental exhaustion, and etc. Psychatrists can't figure out why anti-depressants and mood stabilizers don't work or even make things worse. Seems the answer might be as simple as stress. I don't handle it well. Most around me can attest to that. Now the question is what do I do about this.

Meditation is thought to have many healing properties and is said to be helpful in relaxing and reducing stress. But it seems there are about as many thoughts on meditation and ways to meditate as there are people. Which is not the most helpful thought when it comes to figuring out what to do. Like I said before this is a learned skill, one which is completely foreign to me. Seems there are 4 basic elements to meditation: focusing your attention, relaxed breathing, quiet location, and a comfortable position.

There are other methods to help manage stress. Some of these are physical activity, relaxation techniques, yoga, and tai chi. But most methods seem to have one downside... can't be done with 3 kids running around. Seems I am going to have to figure out how to have the kids watched along with trying to attempt to approach reducing my stress.

More searching brought me some things that seem a little more possible to do daily and with kids. Ways to reduce the effects of daily stress: simplify your life, manage your time wisely, be prepared, let go, adjust your attitude, relax, take a break, exercise regularly, eat smart, laugh, and change the pace. It'll be a challenge actually accomplishing this. Accepting that worrying about things only makes me feel horrible and doesn't help the situation is hard. Nick and I have already started on the simplifying our life and changing our pace. Of course adjusting my attitude, relaxing, and letting go are going to take work to get figured out how to do that.

Massage is a great method for reducing the effects of stress. Seems simple and straightforward enough. I also found a recipe for making my own. 8 drops essential oil and 6 tsp carrier oil mixed well. Warm before use. Carrier oil is extra virgin or cold pressed vegatable and nut oils. They help create a buffer so that you aren't just putting essential oil on your skin which can cause irritation. Some commonly used carrier oils are sweet almond, grapeseed, hazelnut, safflower, and olive.

My plan as of right now is to continue my decluttering and exercise regularly. I also planning on attempting to meditate and start learning how to sit back and relax. I guess I'll see how this all works. My new mantra needs to be Don't Worry about things you Can't Control. Maybe it'll work after several repitions!

Lavender

I started looking into herbs mostly because I suffer from headaches ranging from mild to severe and even migraines. Most pain killers brought me little to no relief. In going to the doctor about them they suggested medicine and did tests and scans and found no real reason for them. So I turned my thoughts elsewhere for help. First on the list of suggestions was Lavender.

I tried the suggestion of a few drops lavender essential oil in cool water soaked into a wash cloth then rung out and placed on the forehead. It worked nicely. My migraine wasn't fully gone but it was brought down to a reasonable level. Frankly 1 percocet would have had the same effect... So this lavender stuff must be pretty good!

So I started looking more into medicinal herbs and more into lavender in particular. I found that not only is it good at headaches and relaxing you (most people know that) it is also good as a bug repellant. Many insects will even stay away from a garden with lavender in it. Lavender rubbed on your skin protects you from mosquitos (which is great for those of us who hate the smell of bug spray and hate mosquitos). I also found that lavender oil rubbed into the scalp is good for killing lice and their eggs. One crazy thing I found out was that lavendar oil rubbed into the scalp can also help thinning hair.

Lavender is said to be a really good disinfectant. It has antiseptic and getmicidal properties. And one book recommended it to clean and treat wounds. It said that not only can it kill streptococcus bacillus but also typhoid & diptheria. I have been thinking I might add some lavender oil to my dishwashing and counter cleaning!
Burning lavender candles is one way to help eliminate stress and help to relax you. Also using lavender essential oil in bath water is a very nice way to relax and relief stress.

Some resourses site it has being helpful with nerves and can be used as a sedative.
Herbal waters can be added to laundry to bring scent and aromotherapy to your clothes and linens. Herbal waters can also be used when cleaning to disinfect and freshen the air as well.

Reciepes:
Lavender Herbal Water
1 cup lavender
2 cups boiling water
Place boiling water over lavender, steep, strain. Keep refrigerated if not used within 2 days.

Lavender oil
Handful of bruised flowers in a clean glass bottle containing 4 cups olive oil placed in the sun for a few days & then strain. If not strong enough repeat with
more flowers.

Lavender Bath Salt
Mix together:
2 cups baking soda
1/2 cup powdered lavender
1/2 cup sea salt
3 drops lavender essential oil
Mix & store in an airtight container for one week before using. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per bath (in a cheesecloth bag)