Carpets
We are a house full of puppies. If you can walk 10 feet without tripping over a canine you are lucky. If you can drink your morning cup of coffee without gagging on a strand of black dog hair your day is about to be a good one!
You can imagine our carpet gets a good amount of wear and tear. I was tired of spending $20 on carpet solution for those pesky spots, which lasts no time at all. What cheap, all natural alternative do I have? Vinegar. Yummy.
One part water to one part white vinegar. Put solution into a spray bottle, spray the stain and scrub.
Is this idea a little too Crunchy for you? Want to Toast this idea? Throw this solution into your Spot Bot and walk away (if you do decide to do this, go heavier on the water. Also, your house WILL smell a tad vinegary until it dries)! VOILA!
All-Purpose Cleaner
Rowynn likes to be close to me at all times. It's cute, but sometimes I need to get some cleaning done. This obviously makes me nervous because I don't want her inhaling noxious fumes from the cleaning supplies. I looked into some natural methods of cleaning and came across this tried and true recipe for an all purpose cleaner. I tried it in my kitchen and I have got to say I am pretty impressed. PLUS the ingredients are super super cheap and are common household items you probably already have lying around anyways!
In a spray bottle, mix:
1/4 Cup Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Vinegar
1/2 Gallon of water
You definitely don't get the strong odor you get with Lysol (which is a good thing)and it seemed to cut through the mess on my counters really well! Score! This is definitely a keeper!
*Cleaned my bathrooms as well. I am extremely impressed thus far. The "All Purpose" is no lie! I even cleaned the bathroom mirrors with the solution! It may take a few extra strokes to make the mirror streak free, but the results are far better than store bought glass cleaner.
*After further use of the all purpose cleaner I have found that if you don't wipe completely, you do get a build up of the baking soda. Also, I sprayed my counters, but the splashes of the solution on my coffee maker left residue splashes. So just note this. The cleaner still definitely works!
Laundry Detergent
We have a High Efficiency, Front Loader washer, and if you are familiar with them at all you are well aware of the price of detergent. We do a lot of laundry. I am forever folding hubby's billion t-shirts. I wanted to find a great alternative to $18 Tide HE detergent and came across this simple clean recipe (and HE friendly)
1/2 Cup Borax (can be found in grocery stores where detergents are located)
1/2 Cup Washing soda (can be found in grocery store where detergents are located)
1 Cup shaved Ivory soap (or Fels Naptha soap).
Use 1 or 2 tablespoons depending on size of load.
*To make this detergent Cloth Diaper safe, substitute OxiClean for the Ivory Soap
I did my first load of laundry this evening using homeade detergent. I washed the sheets and loved the understated yet clean scent. Another keeper! We are on a budget friendly roll!
*wanted to add that my sheets have never been this soft. The recipe must have stripped the residue build up on the sheets or something.
~Brittney
No comments:
Post a Comment