Today is part two of three in my green cleaning series. Click here to check out part one: kitchens and bathrooms. I added a recipe for a drain cleaner to that section today, because I totally forgot to put in there when I first wrote that post! Don't forget to click over and check it out:)
Furniture and Laundry
Furniture Polish: use on wood furniture, wood cabinets, and some leather (do a test patch first).
- 2 parts olive oil
- 1 part white vinegar
- lemon essential oil (optional)
I save old t-shirts, cut them up into large squares and use them as dust cloths. They work great! I just make the polish, pour it in a small bottle, shake it up, then pour it into one of the cloths.
Laundry Soap: powder laundry detergent.
- 1/2 cup washing soda
- 1/2 cup borax
- 1 cup grated organic soap
I've blogged this recipe before, but it was a while back so I thought it might be worth posting again! For the organic soap, I use Shea Moisture's Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Shea Butter Soap with Songyi Mushroom. You can get it at Target and it smells heavenly! You can substitute baking soda for washing soda, but first spread it out on a baking sheet and cook it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Fabric Softener: Simply replace whatever you're currently using with 1/2 cup vinegar per load! You can put it in a Downy Ball or in the part of your washing machine where you'd put normal fabric softener. I'm a fabric softener junkie, and I like plain vinegar better than anything else I've tried. It makes your clothes soooo soft, and they don't come out smelling like vinegar, I promise;)
hi marygrace,
ReplyDeleteexcellent post. i love that you make your own laundry detergent. a friend and i did too once. it was fun but i have switched over to dr. bronners out of laziness, i guess.
and can you say enough good things about vinegar? i just read somewhere that it kills 98% of all household germs. including toliets.
don't you hate the smell of commercial cleaning products?
have a happy labor day weekend. do something patriotic.
~janet
ahhhh, I do love these kinds of posts, but I just can't bring myself to use vinegar! It really doesn't smell like vinegar? I like flower-y fabric softeners, I'm a junkie myself =) Does it just not smell like anything? Maybe I'll dig up the courage to try it since you promised!
ReplyDeletejanet - yes, now that I've gotten used to the smells of my own cleaning products I can't stand the chemically smell of commercial ones! they make me feel like I can't breathe!
ReplyDeleteariel - I had the exact same reservations as you, I imagined myself and my hubs walking around and people plugging their noses because we smelled like dyed Easter eggs, haha:) but as soon as the vinegar dries, the smell goes away, and you're left with the smell of whatever detergent you used. You could always do a test-run on some towels and sheets first, that's what I did!