I’m trying to do a few things. To save money, to help the environment and make my home as chemical free as possible. There are many excellent organic products that I could use to address the chemical free part, but some are very expensive and not exactly what I want. So, I’m trying to make some products at home and am finding it is way easier than I thought, especially once you have the few basic
products that you need that you may not normally have at home. These have all been tried and tested- even I could do them- so easy (most of them). Some needed a few items I’d never heard of to get me set up, but now I have a little stockpile of things I need. Most are quick and you will see I love my essential oils so there are lots of nice smells. Remember, some of these may not last as long so I make them up one bottle at a time. We also must be realistic; chemicals have been especially designed to do a job- so there are some cases where the results are not quite as good. But I have come to accept that as the price I am willing to pay to be chemical free. There are a few that I still don’t have right and I’ll mention those below- so if you have something working in that space, I’d love to share.
If you want to know more about my top 25 Personal products, check out that post.
So, here are my top 10 home products!
1. Laundry Liquid
2. Stain Removers
3. Insect Repellent
4. Dishwasher powder and liquid
5. Shower and Bath
6. Scourers
7. Glass Cleaner
8. General Cleaner
9. Floor Cleaner
10. Spider and Ants
1 Laundry Liquid
Conventional laundry detergent is loaded with chemicals like sulfates, fragrances and phenols.
Laundry Powder
1. 1 bar Pure Castile Bar or coconut oil soap)
2. 1 cup washing soda
3. 1 cup borax
Grate the bar of soap or chop it in a food processor until finely ground.
Mix together the grated soap, washing soda, and borax.
Store in a sealed container.
To use: add 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup of soap per load of laundry.
Liquid Laundry Detergent
.
· 1 cup baking soda
· 1/3 cup sea salt
· 2 1/2 cups warm water
· 1 cup liquid Castille soap- some people suggest a mix with Dr Bonners Sal Suds, works well for stains.
· enough water to 4.5 litres
· Essential oils
2 Stain Removal
How to Treat Different Types of Stains
· Ink or Paint Stains: Soak in rubbing alcohol for 30 minutes or (ink only) spray with hair spray and wash out.
· Tea or Coffee Stains: Immediately pour boiling water over the stain until it is gone, or if it is already set, scrub with a paste of borax and water and wash immediately.
· Grass Stains: Scrub with liquid dish soap or treat with a 50/50 hydrogen peroxide (3%) and water mix
· Mud Stains: Let dry and brush off what you can, then scrub with a borax/water paste and wash immediately
· Tomato-Based Stains: Treat with white vinegar directly on the stain and wash immediately.
· Dingy Whites or Underarm Deodorant Stains: Soak the stain directly in a mix of 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water for 30 minutes and then add 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide to the wash water. For really tough yellow stains, make a paste of 3% hydrogen peroxide and baking soda and rub into the stain. Leave on for 5 minutes before laundering.
· Other Food Stains: Treat with a mix of 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water and soak.
· Grease and Oil Stains: Sprinkle the stain with dry baking soda to remove any loose oil or grease and brush off. Then, soak in undiluted white vinegar for 15 minutes, rinse and scrub with liquid dish soap before washing
· Vomit, Urine, Poop, Blood, Egg, Gelatin, Glue, or Other Protein-Based Stains: DO NOT WASH IN WARM WATER!!!!! This will set in the smell. Soak in cool water and then wash with an added mixture of 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 cup baking soda in the washing machine.
Stain Spray
· 1 3/4 cups water
· 1/4 cup Dr. Bronners Sal suds (not Castille soap)
3 Insect Repellent
For your Body:
This is a great oil to put in Lotion bars that you can rub over your skin.
· 1 cup coconut oil
· ¼ cup rosemary leaves (fresh or dried)
· 2 TBSP thyme (dried or fresh)
· 1 tsp whole cloves
· ½ tsp cinnamon
· ¼ cup dried catnip
· 1 TBSP mint leaf (optional, but adds great scent)
· ½ cup sheabutter (or cocoa butter or mango butter)
· 10 TBSP beeswax pastilles
· 1 tsp Vitamin E oil (optional, preservative)
· 10 drops Insect Shield essential oil blend (optional, or 10 drops each lavender and/or lemon)
I use my crock pot for this one, but you can use a double saucepan. Fill a crock pot about half full with water, put the coconut oil and herbs in a glass mason jar with a tight lid, cover and keep on lowest setting for several days to make an even stronger infused oil.
Strain the dried herbs out of the oil using a small mesh strainer. The oil will probably be reduced by almost half and you should have about ½ cup of the infused oil.
To spray in the air
Ingredients
· 30 drops geranium
· 30 drops citronella
· 20 drops lemon eucalyptus
· 20 drops lavender
· 10 drops Rosemary
· 1 TBSP vodka (or rubbing alcohol)
· ½ cup witch hazel
· 1 tsp vegetable glycerine
· ½ cup water (or vinegar)
In a glass spray bottle, combine the essential oils.
Add the vodka or rubbing alcohol and shake well to combine.
Pour in the witch hazel and shake again to combine.
Add the vegetable glycerin
Add the water and shake again.
Shake before each use as the oils and water will naturally separate over time.
straining out the herbs.
Vinegar Tick and Insect Repellent Recipe
· 1 litre bottle of apple cider vinegar
· 2 TBSP each of dried sage, Rosemary, lavender, thyme and mint
· Large glass jar with airtight lid
Put the vinegar and dried herbs into large glass jar.
Shake well each day for 2-3 weeks.
Strain the herbs out and store in spray bottles in fridge.
To use on skin, dilute to half with water in a spray bottle and use as needed.
This mixture is very strong and has antiviral and antibacterial properties.
From the Garden
Plant insect-repelling herbs in your yard. lavender, thyme, mint, basil and citronella
Rub lavender flowers or lavender oil on your skin, especially on hot parts of body (neck, underarms, behind ears, etc.) to repel insects.
Rub fresh or dried leaves of anything in the mint family all over skin to repel insects (peppermint, spearmint, catnip, pennyroyal, etc. or citronella, lemongrass, etc.).
4 Dishwasher Powder
I should mention that this recipe does include Borax. This is a chemical but safe on the scale of chemicals- your call.
· 2 parts borax
· 2 parts washing soda
· 1 part cirtic acid
· 1 part salt
· essential oils for scent (completely optional)
Combine all ingredients and store in an air tight container.
Use 1 tablespoon per load as needed.
For an extra boost, add a few drops of dishwashing liquid (only a few!!!) to the powder before closing the soap container in the dishwasher.
You can also add white vinegar as the rinse agent
Washing Up liquid
· 2/3 cup Sal Suds
· 1 and 1/3 cup distilled water
· 40 drops lemon or grapefruit essential oil
· 1 TBSP washing soda
· 1 TBSP table salt
· 3 TBSP hot water
In a small pot heat the water and salt until dissolved. Stand to the side.
Add the washing soda and distilled water to the pot and heat just until dissolved.
Add the Sal Suds, washing soda and water, and essential oils to a dish soap dispenser
Add 1 tablespoons of the salt water to the soap and stir. It will turn cloudy and thicken.
Add another tablespoon of salt water mixture if you want it thicker. It may thicken over time.
5 Shower and Bath Cleaners
When vinegar and soap are mixed together the soap isn’t soapy any more .
· Glass spray bottle
· 1 and 1/2 cups white vinegar
· 1/2 cup dish soap OR 2 Tablespoons Sal Suds
· 20 drops essential oils
Combine all of the ingredients in the bottle, pouring in the vinegar last.
6 Scouring Powder
· 1 cup baking soda
· ½ cup salt (not iodized)
· ½ cup washing soda
· 5 drops lemon essential oil- for scent.
If the mess is really bad lightly wet surface with water or undiluted white vinegar.
7 Glass Cleaner
· 2 cups water (distilled or filtered is best so it doesn’t leave residue)
· 2 TBSP vinegar
· 10 drops essential oils- lemon- peppermint or eucalyptus- you can soak lemon peel in the mix as well
· Optional – a few drops of liquid Castille soap if the windows are very dirty
8 General purpose cleaner
I like this general cleaner which I use in the bathroom and kitchen. You’ll see that it has no vinegar like some of the other natural cleaners. Vinegar isn’t so great with grease or as a disinfectant.
· 1 tsp borax
· 1/2 tsp washing soda (not the same as baking Soda)
· 2 cups warm water (distilled is better)
· 1 tsp liquid Castille soap
· Essential oils– I use 4 drops lemon, 4 drops lavender, and 10 drops orange
· Glass spray bottle for storage
9 Floor Cleaner
I have timber and tiles and over the years have tried it all! This one is really simple:
Warm Water:
½ bucket of warm water and ¼ cup white vinegar- the water does need to be warm to clean any oil residue. Damp mop.
10 Spider and Ants
Peppermint is the magic ingredient here. You can add a few drops to a spray bottle with water.
If you have more ideas, let me know and I'll add them to the list.
Good luck
Annie
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