I would much rather make my own formulas for cleaning around the house than buy those nasty chemicals at the store. But not every recipe for homemade cleaning products is going to make the Annie and Everything cut. I refuse to do complicated. Any recipe that I'm even going to consider trying must be easy to make and have only a few ingredients. That's the type of recipe I've listed here.
And another thing: those ingredients can't include essential oils. I mean, I'm as much a fan of essential oils as the next gal, but let's be real here — they are expensive, and I can't always keep them on hand. If I do, it's gonna be peppermint, or maybe lemon — not 5-10 different ones that I have to then add to a single recipe, which is what seems to be the trend these days. So most of these recipes don't have any essential oils — and the two that do, have only one kind. Just my little efforts towards keeping things simple, y'all. :-)
For the record, I haven't used any of these. I've just rounded them up for us all to try, given the aforementioned requirements. Let me know what you think.
Homemade Hardwood Floor Cleaner Recipe — Tipnut has several options to clean your hardwood floors. Just pick whichever one you have the ingredients for. One of these has peppermint essential oil — but there are plenty more to choose from.
Homemade Jewelry Cleaner — Spirals and Spatulas has a quick and easy way to keep your rings sparkly.
Pet Odor Be Gone — Considering I just paid $300 to have my carpets cleaned, I'm thinking I need to whip up a batch of this stuff.
Homemade Bleach — I had no idea you could replicate bleach!! Nourishing Joy's recipe does include some lemon essential oil, but I think that in this case it might be worth it. This article is very informative about the chemistry of the ingredients.
Natural Homemade Drain Cleaner — With four daughters and their hair, I have plenty of experience with clogged drains! I'm sure I'll have opportunity to try this formula very soon.
Free Cleaning Printables — For those of you who like the pretty labels on your homemade cleaning formulas! These ones at The Handmade Home are really cute, I must admit. :-)
Homemade Oven Cleaner — So then there was the day that my husband turned on the self-clean cycle without taking out the racks first… smelled up the house and the racks now look terrible… wish we'd known about this instead… sigh.
Getting Rid of Boy Bathroom Stink — A much needed discourse about an issue that few dare to tackle, with a recipe that will accomplish the de-stinkification — by my friend Sarah, who has four boys. So she ought to know, y'all.
DIY Screen Cleaner for Electronics — My usual method is a wet paper towel, but she makes a good point about that in the article… um, yea.
Homemade Veggie Wash Spray and Veggie Soak — I haven't gotten into the habit of washing my veggies, yet, although I know I should. Maybe I'll start now that I have these recipes.
DIY Swiffer WetJet Refills — I haven't bought a wetjet just because I don't want to be beholden to buying a bunch of refills… A Hooahs Housewife just might have solved that dilemma for me!
DIY Dryer Sheets — It doesn't get much easier than this! The comments on this article from Budget Savvy Diva add some nifty suggestions, too.
Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner — Passion for Savings has a two-ingredient recipe that is made more effective with a simple trick. You'll have to read to see what it is! :-)
Track of the Week: With all this talk of cleaning, it has to be Happy Working Song, from the movie Enchanted, sung by Amy Adams. “So friends, even though you're vermin, we're a happy working song!” :-)
Have a great weekend!!
Ann has written Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Manual for Research and Planning, Save Your Sanity While Homeschooling High School: Practical Principles for a Firm Foundation, and recently Taming the Transcript: The Essential Guide to Creating Your Teen's Homeschool Transcript from Scratch (without overwhelm). She also founded the popular Facebook groups It's Not that Hard to Homeschool High School and It's Not Hard to Homeschool K-8, and in addition she voices the It's Not That Hard to Homeschool High School Podcast.
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