Homemade Spray Cleaners and Powder Laundry Soap

 Quick and Easy AND Cheap

I used to use vinegar and water for my general spray cleaning needs, which works pretty good.  But we have 4 children...and I needed a little more power.  My sister told me about her homemade spray cleaner and this website http://gnowfglins.com/2011/05/25/free-video-homemade-all-purpose-cleaner/. (There's a lot of very interesting info on her site if you wanna check it out.) I have been making it for a while now.  Its really been working well for us.  My current version is not all natural, but it could be with more effort. Here is the recipe (of course, you can tweak it):

Homemade Spray Cleaner: (measurements are approximate)

*3T rubbing alcohol
*Vinegar-just pour some in (optional: not in the original recipe)
*30 drops/1 teaspoon essential oils (lemon, tea tree, pine needle, ylang ylang, or a mixture pleasing to your snout).  Don't feel like you have to go buy essential oils for this, its not critical to the effectiveness of the cleaner.
*A little grapefruit seed extract is know to kill germs, but has no smell (optional: not in original recipe)
*3T liquid soap (I've been using store bought dish soap SO I only use 1T, but castille liquid soap would be healthier and you may need more like 3T.)
*Water

Pour the first 4 ingredients into a tall spray bottle.  Fill the bottle over half full with water.  Add the liquid soap and shake it up a little.  Last, add the more water to the top.  I do it like this to avoid massive amounts of suds in the bottle that would happen if I added the soap in before pouring in any water.  But it doesn't really have any rules.   Shake before each use, essential oils want to float.

I like to make a gallon refill amount to make life go more smoothly.  Shake gallon container before refilling the spray bottle.

Window cleaner

This is not a secret by any means, but since I'm on the subject of cleaners, I thought I'd add a couple more.  For windows and mirrors (and whatever else I think needs it) I use half rubbing alcohol and half water.  No expensive Windex full of chemicals.

Pot scrubber cleaner

Again, not going to blow your mind- although it did mine when I first tried it.  When I scrub my scrambled egg pan and other stainless steel pots, I sprinkle on some baking soda, squirt a dab of dish soap and easily scrub off the mess!  Love it.  I fill empty shaker bottles with baking soda and keep one in the kitchen, and one in each bathroom to clean out the sinks.

Powder Laundry Soap

I posted before about homemade liquid laundry soap, but I guess I forgot to post about the powdered version.  I need some for laundry today, so why not post it?  It is quicker to make than liquid, and doesn't take up as much space, but I am thinking the liquid laundry soap lasts for more loads.  What do you think?

Here goes:

Ingredients:
*1 Bar of soap (any kind you wish except soap with lotion added-or so I hear.  I use my homemade soap.  This time, I gave eucalyptus a try.  It's supposed to keep spiders and ticks away. Fels Naptha is all the buzz for homemade laundry soap makers, I don't prefer it, though.  Go with your preferences.)
*1 Cup Washing Soda
*1 Cup Borax

Grate the soap.  Use a fine grater if possible.  But non-fine is fine, too.

Mix in the washing soda and borax.  Tell your children, contrary to their beliefs, you are not mixing grated cheese and sugar- borax is dangerous to ingest and soap is just plain nasty.

Extra step (which I find worthwhile)- blend the mixture in a food processor.  This tiny thing was already out so I used it, but using a big one would get the job down in a blink.  Wow!  It made the soap much finer, which made the ingredients blend better.

Extra Step (which I have never tried, so I don't know if its worth it)- add few drops of essential oils for scent.  My hypothesis is that the smell wouldn't last or be strong enough to notice, so why waste the pricey essential oils?  Anybody tried it?

Now, pour it into your container and label it. Keep it our of reach of small children since it has Borax in it.

2 Tablespoons per load should do it.  There won't be suds, but don't be deceived, suds aren't really what cleans things, they just make us feel better because we're used to them.  I hear this can be used in HE washers, too.  Easy. Done.

Feel free to share any cleaner recipes!  I love to learn new things.