Housekeeping Tips: Make your own green household products

October 26, 9:49 AMHaight-Ashbury Budget Living ExaminerCarol Hilker

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Homemade cleaning products Photo www.moneysavingmom.com

Housekeeping tips are part of quickly and effectively keeping house.  San Francisco is one of the biggest contributors to green living from houses to housekeeping.  This green revolution is also quickly catching on around the nation from Chicago to San Antonio and Dallas.  So how can you make the switch to green housekeeping?

These housekeeping tips are essential for anyone wanting to expand their lifestyle to include green cleaning.  Instead of buying expensive organic cleaning products, make them at home.  

Ingredients for homemade green house cleaning recipes are soap (either dish soap or liquid castile soap--found in health food stores), olive oil, club soda, glycerin (look in pharmacies or health food stores for vegetable glycerin), and sometimes borax (a powder laundry aid found in the laundry aisle of your local store).  A quick investment of the ingredients can yield endless do-it-yourself clean, green homemade housekeeping products.

Another housekeeping tip and "essential" are essential oils.  These are worth the $5-10 they run.  They are also useful in baths, cleaners, and for at-home pedicures. There are a variety;  Tea tree oil has antiseptic properties, scents like lemon, eucalyptus and lavender add a lovely, clean scent and disguise the smell of the vinegar. To add oils to any cleaner recipe; the general rule is about 10 drops for a 16 ounce bottle, but feel free to experiment and mix scents. These are available at health food stores (Trade Joe's, Whole Foods, etc) and some natural/health sections of local grocery stores, if you are lucky.

Google homemade household cleaner recipes and check out a local libraries to see if they have any books on the subject.  Also try searching,  ‘homemade cleaners’ or ‘nontoxic cleaner recipes'.  Store your products on old spray bottles (that have been washed out!).  Other wise, grab some cheap spray bottles at Walmart, Target or a Beauty Supply store.   The best thing about the spray bottles is that it is easy to just put all the ingredients in the bottle, shake it and then it's mixed, no mess involved.

Homemade Housekeeping Recipes for Your Dirt:

Club Clean Glass Cleaner--This is one of the easiest recipes around! To make glass cleaner, simply pour club soda into a spray bottle and put the lid back on. Yes, it is that easy! Good on windows, TVs, computers, the washer and dryer tops, etc. Use a papertowel or micro-cloth.  Great green housecleaner.
Go Spot Go! Laundry Stain Remover--Put ¼ cup liquid dish detergent into a spray bottle. Add in ¼ cup vegetable glycerin and 1½ cups water and shake well before each use. 
Diaper Pail Deodorizer--Just put some baking soda into a container, add about 3 drops of an essential oil, and stir with a fork or shake. Sprinkle this into the diaper pail while changeing the baby (especially after a really messy diaper) to keep the smell from taking over.  A great housekeeping tip.
Bathroom Cleaner --Fill a 16 oz. squirt bottle almost full with water and THEN add 3 tablespoons of liquid soap (to prevent to bottle from sudsing up as you fill).  With hard water, consider using purified water (minerals inhibit the cleaning action of soap).  Add 20-30 drops or more of tea tree oil for antiseptic power.  Shake to mix.  Recomended liquid soap is unscented or eucalyptus-scented liquid soap for this recipe.  Liquid soap is found in health food stores.
Kitchen Cleaner --Mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 teaspoon borax (powder available by laundry detergent).   Fill the rest of the bottle with very hot water.  Shake until the borax is dissolved (so that the borax won't clog the sprayer).  Add 1/4 cup of liquid soap (found in health food stores) or 1/8 cup of liquid dish detergent LAST (so that it does not foam up during the addition of water, so that it does not mix directly with the vinegar).  To scent, add 10 to 15 drops of an essential oil.
Furniture Polish--Put 2 teaspons olive oil into a 16 oz. spray bottle. Add 20 drops or more of pure essential lemon oil. Add 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar. Fill the bottle with purified water. Shake well before each use (in order to combine the oil, water and vinegar).

Here is a  link to a build your own Swiffer Duster Refills...that might be worth a shot making...if you have a Swiffer.

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