Homemade Cleaners...

I asked what you do to save money yesterday and several people asked about homemade cleaners. I try very hard to not use commercial cleaners as many of them are toxic to ourselves and the environment, not to mention super expensive. My best friends for cleaning are (if you couldn't guess by the picture)...

White Vinegar and Baking Soda!!

I use white vinegar and baking soda for almost all of my cleaning around the house. You can go here for a great website with uses for vinegar for cleaning. You can also go here for a website about cleaning with baking soda.

I personally have a spray bottle filled with 100% vinegar for cleaning of really messy stuff and a spray bottle of half vinegar and half water for everyday cleaning. I usually add a couple of drops off essential oils to counteract the vinegar smell. I love citrus scented ones for their smell, but usually use tea tree oil as it is a disinfectant that has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Pure essential oils (not the ones used for home fragrance) are pricey but a little bit goes a really long way.

I also use baking soda, usually mixed into a paste with water for harder to clean areas that need a scrub or to run down the garbage disposal to get rid of any stinky smells.

It is amazing how many different "specialized" products I used to buy and how now I pretty much use vinegar and baking soda to clean almost everything. It is also a nice benefit to know that if by some chance my kiddos get a hold of my cleaning supplies, there is no need to be worried!

I am venturing into making my own laundry detergent this month - I'll keep you posted on how that turns out!

Do you have any great recipes for homemade cleaners? If so, feel free to share them with us.