We can all fall into the trap of commercialisation and be made to feel that we have to buy certain products or our house will fail us and be unclean but that is not the case.
When my children were young I made a lot of homemade cleaners and they were all successful, I could still make them now but with only two of us here, its just as easy to buy it.
I do still make some of the things listed below and they will always be in the back of my mind if I ever need them, so check them out as there are some good ones here.
Homemade Laundry Liquid
Do not use this on any whites, as the washing soda brings out a natural grease in clothing and discolours it
First make sure you have empty containers to put it in, I use empty 2 litre milk containers as I make up 30 litres at a time and so use 3 x 10 litre buckets to mix it up in.
Dissolve 1 cup of Lux flakes and 1 cup of washing soda (both available at supermarket for about $8-9) in a bucket of boiling water.
Then divide the mixture in that bucket so that all 3 buckets have equal amounts of mixture.
Top each bucket up to a full level with cold water and pour the final mixture into your containers.
I use about one cup of mixture per full load of washing, gets the washing nice and clean.
I have been using this mixture for over 2 years and it is so easy and cheap to make.
By the way 30 litres of liquid laundry wash will last approximately 3-4 months
To make up a smaller quantity
Here is a simple 2 litre version of the recipe ,
About half fill a two litre container with very hot water. Add (funnel, can be made of paper) 1 level dessertspoon (10ml) lux flakes, and 2 level tbsp (30 ml total) of washing soda.
Turn up and down to mix, fill with hot water, and turn a few more times as it cools.
When cool, turn again couple of times.
Use 1 cup per load of washing.
Use: Fine in cold water but make sure it dissolves completely, run cold water into EMPTY machine, and when there are couple inches water in the bottom, add 1cup of mix and swish about with hand or wooden spoon or whatever. Once a bit more water in the machine, fire in clothes and continue.
Works as well as commercial powder, costs virtually nothing, and non irritating and non polluting detergents.
Babies nappies
Go back to old school ways and collect all your friends old cloth nappies and dye them flash colours if you want to be really trendy or keep them plain, ok you have to wash them , but they are much better for your babies bottom, and also there is no added cost except for washing and drying them but who cares make some cheap laundry powder, recipe above.
Baby Wipes
Cut up an old soft towel into squares and sew around the edges so they don't fray and make these babies so that only baby can use them as wipes
Nappy rash
All these flash cream and lotions are good but an old fashioned baby cure for nappy rash is cornflour, just sprinkle on after each nappy change.
Toothpaste
Mint Toothpaste - Ingredients: 6 teaspoons baking soda 1/3 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons glycerin (chemist) 15 drops peppermint or wintergreen extract
Directions: Mix thoroughly. Should be a tooth paste consistency. Store in a container. You'll be surprised with how fresh your mouth feels
Lemon Mouth Wash
Ingredients: 3/4 cup vodka 20 drops lemon essential oil 1 1/4 cup distilled water 30 drops bergamot essential oil
Directions: Combine the vodka with the essential oils in a bottle, shake well then allow to sit for 1 week. Shake once a day.
When ready to use it , dilute the mix with 3 parts water/ 1 part mixture.
Use it as a gargle or mouth rinse. Do Not Drink
Stainless Steel Cleaner
Baking soda and Vinegar mixed together is a great stainless steel cleaner it froths a bit to start with and then looks like commercial jiff at the end, but it makes your shower tray look beautiful.
Oven Cleaner
3 TBSP Baking Soda, 1 TBSP Vinegar, 1 Cup Water.
Mix together and wipe over a cold oven.
Heat oven to 200c and leave to cool.
Wash with soapy water.
Using up soap ends
Microwave all the ends until soft and remould in muffin/patty tins you can even colour with food colourings if you want to leave to set and you have solved the problem of all the ends on the shower floor
Just add them to a kiwifruit bag and tie with string to the wash house tap and that way they use the soap without leaving the soap lying around the tub and overflowing the washing machine
Liquid Soap
I have made this recipe countless times and still do, I have found it depends on the bar of soap you use, as to how much liquid it will make [trial and error]
Protex soap~ Grate-pour over 2 litres hot water, stir till dissolved and dispense into containers
Johnsons baby soap..needs 2.5-3 litres water
Fabric Softener
All you need is: 250 gm Lux soap powder 1 cup (250 ml) methylated spirits 125 gm eucalyptus oil
METHOD: Mix all ingredients and keep in screw top jar. Using one tablespoon in a basin of warm water, soak the garment. No rinsing is needed, just drip-dry.
This mix is recommended for reviving woollens too
Deodorizing a septic tank
Septic tanks Don't buy the expensive additives if you're starting to get a few smells which show the tank's system isn't working properly. Milk/cream that's gone off (leave it in a sunny windowsill for a few days) is excellent flushed down the loo to revitalise the tank. And if more's needed, try a couple of handfuls of compost flushed down
To make a hard soap
No nasty chemicals and really gentle on all skin types.
To make these soaps I use 4 cups of lux flakes - place in a bowl and rub with your hands until all broken up and very fine, add approx 1/2 cup of milk powder and enough hot water to combine (about 3 tablespoons). The wetter the mix the longer it takes to dry, but if you don't have enough water the soap will crumble.
Its at this stage you can add extras like - dried flowers, cocoa powder, ground almonds, perfumes, essences, flavours or essential oils. The list is endless.
I then line a mould with glad wrap (or you could just make round soap balls in your hands). Press the soap mix firmly into the mould.
Place soap in the freezer for approx 10 minutes.
Remove and turn the mould upside down to remove soap.
Place in a warm place i.e. hot water cupboard for about a week to dry.
You will know if its ready if the centre is firm to touch.
These make great gifts and you can add so many things to the ingredients and what's more this soap will float in the bath tub.
Insect Spray or Repellent
Equal quantities of baby oil & dettol are a insect repellent, pour into a spray bottle and off you go no need to buy that expensive dimp any more.
Garden Spray
Garlic and lemon spray:
Peel and cut up 5 cloves of garlic and put into a bowl or jar with 2 tablespoons cooking oil (any kind) and leave overnight, in another bowl cut up 3 lemons roughly cover with 3 cups boiling water and leave overnight
The next day strain the two mixes and combine them and put into a spray bottle.
Then spray the plants and the dirt as well after one week you should have no live snails, quite a few dead snails and no bites out of my plants...so give it a go and see how you get on!...good luck
Laundry Stain Removers
To save money on expensive stain removers,
A cup of salt or sugar added to the wash removes oily or buttery stains from clothes or tablecloths. It is best if you can sprinkle some of it straight on the stains. Even old stains which have been washed several times already come out! Give it a try, it is a very cheap and effective remedy this works well for me
Dissolving B/O from clothing
I soak them for a few hours in cold water with white vinegar added (about a cup). This works a treat. I had previously tried hot washes, cold washes, warm washes, extra water (not having machine on auto water level), and also putting different smellies in as fragrance.
Such an easy fix, and within the budget too
Foaming Vanilla Honey Bath Mix
Mix 1 cup of Almond oil, 1/2 cup of honey, 1/2 cup liquid soap and 1 Tablespoon of vanilla essence together.
Put in a nice container and add to running water while bathing
Air Freshener
Boil up about 10 cloves in 1 cup of water then strained it into a spray bottle with a extra cold water...a few squirts here and there and the room smells great..no sneezing either
Shampoo Homemade
Say goodbye to all those expense hairdresser shampoos. It’s great for dandruff too.
Dissolve a tablespoon of bicarb soda in a cup of warm water. If you've got children, it might be better doing this in a squirt bottle.
Wet hair thoroughly and apply the mixture to the hair, massaging it in well.
To rinse, just run water through your hair, or you could use a splash of vinegar.
The vinegar smell will go when your hair is dry.
You'll be amazed at how good your hair feels.
It will be clean and healthy.
This is an excellent shampoo for long and frizzy hair or short hair.
Fizzing Bath Salts
1 cup of Epsom salt, 1 cup of fine sea salt, 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda, 3/4 cup citric acid, 1/2 cup cornflour, mix all together and add your dried flowers/herbs and fragrances, essential oils etc.
Package and enjoy.
Carpet Deodoriser
Use half baking soda & half talc powder as it not only deodorises it smells nice as well, then after 1 hour I just vacuum away.
Window Cleaner
Mix 4 tbsp cornflour (yes, cornflour) to a paste with a little water.
Put in spray bottle and 1/2 fill with warm water.
Spray onto windows and wipe with a cloth and then dry with a soft cloth e.g., I use an old face cloth.
Windows really shine and gleam when done and no smears, its so simple!
Using baking Soda as a cleaner
1) Use a Little dry baking soda on a damp cloth to clean sinks, benches, walls, tiles, etc.. in the kitchen and bathroom.
2) Rub a thick paste of equal quantities of baking soda and vinegar into bath stains to remove them.
3) To clean and deodorise your fridge, wipe it out with a solution of baking soda in warm water.
4) Mix equal amounts of baking soda, flour and vinegar to a paste. Coat stained surfaces of teapots and crockery, leave overnight and rinse off with boiling water.
5) Brighten up brass ware by soaking in a cupful of warm water containing a tablespoon of baking soda.
6) Deodorise rubbish bins, litter boxes, carpets, etc.. with dry baking soda.
7) Blackened grout between tiles can be cleaned with a paste of baking soda and water applied with a soft toothbrush.
8) For chapped hands, dissolve one teaspoon baking soda in one cup of warm water. Bathe hands and dry gently.
9) Have a refreshing bath by adding a few teaspoons of baking soda to the water.
10) Relieve minor skin irritations - eg.. insect bites, stings and sunburn, by applying a paste of 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, to the affected area.
11) Alleviate indigestion or heartburn by using 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in a glass of water or fruit juice.
Spray and Wipe
For bench tops (spray bottle) water 1 tsp baking soda few drops dish washing liquid (sunlight) few drops tea tree or lav oil (for wooden benches also add few drops olive oil) Shake
Toilet Cleaner
1/2 c baking soda chuck in bowl add white vinegar then give good scrub, spray seat sides etc with tea tree and water (in spray bottle) Tea tree and Lavender are antibacterial
Economical Deodorant
Buy a stone/crystal from the health shop. Initially it costs a lot more but it lasts a very very long time.
I have been using these for a while and only on the hottest and muggiest days do I notice any 'odour' about me, and then it's not too bad.
They do shatter when dropped and are then unusable so please be careful.
All natural as well.
Make up remover
Baby oil is the cheapest form of makeup remover
Giving your washing machine a good clean out every once in awhile
Homemade Shaving Cream
Stretching your cotton wool balls
Did you know that if you buy a bag of cotton wool balls and split them into 3 and place on an oven tray and put in a warm oven they actually expand so you get 3 times the amount, makes that expense of buying cotton balls more realistic
Dish washing liquid
You can put a piece of sunlight soap in a single tea serving dangler thingy and dangle this device in your dish washing water and it works the same as detergent but lasts for ages, it be the same as grating the soap and then making up the liquid.
Dishwasher powder
Dishwasher powder is quite expensive so I only half fill the dispenser and add 1 tsp of washing soda per load. Dishes come out gleaming.
I'm sure you will find something here to help you fill your cupboards to the brim with homemade cleaners, give them a try for next to nothing your house will be sparkling.
Here is a Kindle book on Cleaning Naturally, including Stain Removal, you will need to be an Amazon member to retreave it though.
http://amzn.to/18oa9Lj
Laundry Stain Removers
To save money on expensive stain removers,
A cup of salt or sugar added to the wash removes oily or buttery stains from clothes or tablecloths. It is best if you can sprinkle some of it straight on the stains. Even old stains which have been washed several times already come out! Give it a try, it is a very cheap and effective remedy this works well for me
Dissolving B/O from clothing
I soak them for a few hours in cold water with white vinegar added (about a cup). This works a treat. I had previously tried hot washes, cold washes, warm washes, extra water (not having machine on auto water level), and also putting different smellies in as fragrance.
Such an easy fix, and within the budget too
Foaming Vanilla Honey Bath Mix
Mix 1 cup of Almond oil, 1/2 cup of honey, 1/2 cup liquid soap and 1 Tablespoon of vanilla essence together.
Put in a nice container and add to running water while bathing
Air Freshener
Boil up about 10 cloves in 1 cup of water then strained it into a spray bottle with a extra cold water...a few squirts here and there and the room smells great..no sneezing either
Shampoo Homemade
Say goodbye to all those expense hairdresser shampoos. It’s great for dandruff too.
Dissolve a tablespoon of bicarb soda in a cup of warm water. If you've got children, it might be better doing this in a squirt bottle.
Wet hair thoroughly and apply the mixture to the hair, massaging it in well.
To rinse, just run water through your hair, or you could use a splash of vinegar.
The vinegar smell will go when your hair is dry.
You'll be amazed at how good your hair feels.
It will be clean and healthy.
This is an excellent shampoo for long and frizzy hair or short hair.
Fizzing Bath Salts
1 cup of Epsom salt, 1 cup of fine sea salt, 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda, 3/4 cup citric acid, 1/2 cup cornflour, mix all together and add your dried flowers/herbs and fragrances, essential oils etc.
Package and enjoy.
Carpet Deodoriser
Use half baking soda & half talc powder as it not only deodorises it smells nice as well, then after 1 hour I just vacuum away.
Window Cleaner
Mix 4 tbsp cornflour (yes, cornflour) to a paste with a little water.
Put in spray bottle and 1/2 fill with warm water.
Spray onto windows and wipe with a cloth and then dry with a soft cloth e.g., I use an old face cloth.
Windows really shine and gleam when done and no smears, its so simple!
Using baking Soda as a cleaner
1) Use a Little dry baking soda on a damp cloth to clean sinks, benches, walls, tiles, etc.. in the kitchen and bathroom.
2) Rub a thick paste of equal quantities of baking soda and vinegar into bath stains to remove them.
3) To clean and deodorise your fridge, wipe it out with a solution of baking soda in warm water.
4) Mix equal amounts of baking soda, flour and vinegar to a paste. Coat stained surfaces of teapots and crockery, leave overnight and rinse off with boiling water.
5) Brighten up brass ware by soaking in a cupful of warm water containing a tablespoon of baking soda.
6) Deodorise rubbish bins, litter boxes, carpets, etc.. with dry baking soda.
7) Blackened grout between tiles can be cleaned with a paste of baking soda and water applied with a soft toothbrush.
8) For chapped hands, dissolve one teaspoon baking soda in one cup of warm water. Bathe hands and dry gently.
9) Have a refreshing bath by adding a few teaspoons of baking soda to the water.
10) Relieve minor skin irritations - eg.. insect bites, stings and sunburn, by applying a paste of 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, to the affected area.
11) Alleviate indigestion or heartburn by using 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in a glass of water or fruit juice.
Spray and Wipe
For bench tops (spray bottle) water 1 tsp baking soda few drops dish washing liquid (sunlight) few drops tea tree or lav oil (for wooden benches also add few drops olive oil) Shake
Toilet Cleaner
1/2 c baking soda chuck in bowl add white vinegar then give good scrub, spray seat sides etc with tea tree and water (in spray bottle) Tea tree and Lavender are antibacterial
Economical Deodorant
Buy a stone/crystal from the health shop. Initially it costs a lot more but it lasts a very very long time.
I have been using these for a while and only on the hottest and muggiest days do I notice any 'odour' about me, and then it's not too bad.
They do shatter when dropped and are then unusable so please be careful.
All natural as well.
Make up remover
Baby oil is the cheapest form of makeup remover
Giving your washing machine a good clean out every once in awhile
If you want to give your washing machine a really
good clean out, put a packet of Epsom Salts into a bucket full of warm water
[to dissolve them], tip it into your washing machine, then set your machine on
a normal cycle.[without clothes!] Let the whole cycle run through and you will
be amazed at how clean your machine will be after it.
Homemade Shaving Cream
Place 1 cup Lux Soap flakes in a large heatproof basin.
Add 1/2
cup boiling water and beat till the Lux flakes have dissolved.
Add 1 dessert spoon of olive or almond oil, and if you want, a few drops of your
favourite essential oil, lavender is good as it is soothing and gentle on your
skin.
Beat well until very thick and creamy - about 5 minutes or so.
Keep
in screw top jars and use as needed.
Stretching your cotton wool balls
Did you know that if you buy a bag of cotton wool balls and split them into 3 and place on an oven tray and put in a warm oven they actually expand so you get 3 times the amount, makes that expense of buying cotton balls more realistic
Dish washing liquid
You can put a piece of sunlight soap in a single tea serving dangler thingy and dangle this device in your dish washing water and it works the same as detergent but lasts for ages, it be the same as grating the soap and then making up the liquid.
Dishwasher powder
Dishwasher powder is quite expensive so I only half fill the dispenser and add 1 tsp of washing soda per load. Dishes come out gleaming.
I'm sure you will find something here to help you fill your cupboards to the brim with homemade cleaners, give them a try for next to nothing your house will be sparkling.
Here is a Kindle book on Cleaning Naturally, including Stain Removal, you will need to be an Amazon member to retreave it though.
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