DIY Naturally Scented All-Purpose Citrus Vinegar Cleaners I've been on a quest to rid our home of toxic chemicals for both health and environmental reasons. Did you know? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air can be 10 times to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air. One of the culprits is common household cleaners emitting toxic fumes. UGH! After my recent post about using fruit, herbs, and spices for making natural home fragrances, it occurred to me that I could use some of those same scent combinations for making natural cleaners with vinegar. These scented cleaners don't completely eliminate the vinegar scent when first sprayed. THESE MAKE COOL, INEXPENSIVE GIFTS. HOW TO MAKE NATURAL CLEANERSwith vinegar, citrus, herbs, and spices Assemble these ingredients: view on Amazon: essential oils, bulk pricing on cinnamon sticks, whole cloves Assemble these supplies: Jars or other sealable containers. view on Amazon:half gallon mason jars, quart mason jars, spray bottles,jar funnel, mason jar lid strainer, wire mesh strainer 1.
10 Amazing Cleaning Tips It is time for me to get some Spring Cleaning done around here! I am sharing today 10 Cleaning Tips and Tricks that will change your life. These are amazing ways to clean your home with things that you may have around. Pure awesomeness! Let me show you… Clean Your Air Conditioner Unit yourself. Save money and increase your system’s efficiency. Step by step directions over at The Family Handyman. Grout Cleaner I hate dirty grout. This cleaning solution is made with just four ingredients: water, baking soda, ammonia (or lemon juice) and vinegar . Get the recipe over at A mum’n the oven. Tub Scrub Here’s a nontoxic way to clean your tub. Get the recipe over at marthastewart.com Use a simple bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide to clean windows, mirrors, toilet, and bathtub. Get all of the details at Desiring Virtue. All-Natural Homemade Floor Cleaner over at Nature’s Nurture. Hello awesomeness! How to keep your Tupperware Stain and odor free. Who knew that newspapers and lemon could do the trick! Besos Desiree
Natural Insect Pest Control: Safe, Non-Toxic Methods & Solutions Wasps Eartheasy has a separate page about natural wasp control. See Natural Wasp Control Moths Cedar chips in a cheesecloth square, or cedar oil in an absorbant cloth will repel moths. The cedar should be 'aromatic cedar', also referred to as juniper in some areas. Homemade moth-repelling sachets can also be made using any of the following: bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, eucalyptus leaves, lavender, pepper corns or wormwood. Dried lemon peels are also a natural moth deterrent - simply toss into clothes chest, or tie in cheesecloth and hang in the closet. Natural attractant pheromones have been developed for controlling moths, and are now available as clothes moth traps and pantry moth traps. Earwigs Diatomaceous earth is a safe and effective way to control earwigs in the home. To trap earwigs, spray a newspaper lightly with water, roll it up loosely and secure with a string or rubber band. Nontoxic silverfish traps are also commercially available.
Make Your Own Reusable Peppermint Kitchen Wipes In case you haven’t noticed, I really LOVE making my own homemade cleaning products. ;-) It’s just so comforting to know EXACTLY what is in the products I’m spreading around my home, and I get a thrill knowing how much time and money I’m saving as well! The Environmental Protection Agency cites artificial fragrances in cleaning products as an indoor irritant and pollutant. A single fragrance can include as many as 600 petrochemicals—all within the word “fragrance” on the label. The more I learn about, and experiment with, natural cleaning products (such as baking soda, castile soap, vinegar, etc.) the more I am convinced there really is no need to buy any of the expensive brand names that line the shelves of the cleaning aisle at your grocery store. The good old fashioned stuff our grandmothers and great grandmothers used is EFFECTIVE! Pairing these natural cleaners with essential oils only enhances their cleaning value and leaves behind a pleasant, natural scent.
Homemade Vanilla Extract I love the scent of vanilla in anything from candles to soap and the flavor of vanilla in baked goods and desserts is second to none. If a recipe calls for one teaspoon vanilla extract, I use at least two; but likely more and use a slow, heavy hand when pouring. All that pouring makes my food taste amazing but my wallet doesn’t like it. Homemade vanilla extract saves money and even if it didn’t, when it comes to taste and flavor, there is just no comparison. The only thing special that’s required when making vanilla extract is patience. To make vanilla extract you need vanilla beans. When selecting beans, they should be soft, pliable, tender, and flexible. Next, you need alcohol (at least 35% by volume) in order to extract the vanilla from the vanilla beans, thus the name, vanilla extract. Bourbon, rum, or brandy may be used instead of vodka. You need a glass jar that seals in which to make extract. I figured as long as this was a two-month project, I may as well extract in bulk. Notes
Green & Thrifty Cleaning Products | 10 Homemade Cleaner Recipes Hopefully all this de-cluttering is getting you all excited for the deep, deep cleaning that is going to happen soon! I don’t know how it is for you, but with every box of stuff I get rid of I feel like another little load has been lifted off my shoulders. We are still going to take some time in the next week for more weeding and purging, but in the meantime I thought it would be a good idea to also start gathering some of the necessary tools you’ll need to get your space spic & span. I have always had a bad habit of thinking that more cleaning supplies would result in a cleaner house. The thing is, until he said that, I actually thought they might. As hard as it was to finally accept the sad reality that there are no magic mops, I am happy to report that we are now down to one broom, one dustpan, and one mop in our broom closet, and that is just exactly enough. Here is my magic list of 10 essential green & thrifty cleaning products: {P.S. And here is how to use them! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
13 Natural Ways To Keep Mosquitoes Away Want to be notified each time we publish a new blog post? Then make sure you like Natural Living Ideas on Facebook here where we share not only our blog posts, but the best natural living ideas from around the web. I’m sure everyone reading this right now has experienced the redness, the swelling and the uncontrollable itching that comes with a mosquito bite. Many people turn to store bought insect repellents to keep mosquitoes away, but these insect repellents often contain a toxic pesticide that is dangerous to human health. Heavy exposure to DEET has been linked to memory loss, headache, weakness, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, tremors and shortness of breath in humans and is particularly toxic to children. Needless to say, this is a pesticide we do NOT want to be using – especially when there are so many more effective ways to keep mosquitoes away using natural remedies and ingredients. Homemade Citronella Candles Find out how to make these citronella candles here at GardenTherapy.ca
Homemade Liquid Dish Soap A lot of people seemed to be having problems with the original recipe I posted that I found on another blog. So I did some tweaking and the new results are much much better!! Plus it’s organic and antibacterial! Can’t get much better than that! Homemade Liquid Dish Soap Ingredients: 1/2 cup grated soap (I used Dr. Directions: Grate bar of soap. Side note: I used the citrus kind for the smell and because citrus helps cut grease! Thats it!!! This recipe will not create lots of bubbles! Are you as excited about this recipe as I am???? I party here…
How to Make Homemade Peppermint Extract Part of the reason that I decided to grow mint this year was so that I could try making my own peppermint extract. Jesse and I are pretty much obsessed with mint (especially mint plus chocolate) so we go through a lot of mint extract. Even though I buy my extracts through Azure Standard, they’re not exactly cheap, so making my own seemed like a great way to save some money. I finally got down to it last weekend. The extract has only been sitting for a few days so far so I can’t tell you how it came out, but I wanted to share the method now in case anyone else has an abundance of mint just begging to be used for something. How to Make Peppermint Extract I did a quick Google search and found a multitude of recipes, all of which followed the same basic outline. Harvest a bunch of mint leaves from your mint plant. Harvested mint leaves Remove mint leaves from stalks (if applicable) and pack leaves into a measuring cup to determine how much mint you have. Mint leaves ready to be rinsed
Creatively Domestic: Homemade OxyClean What a great inexpensive laundry fix! This came from The Grocery Cart Challenge and I was so excited to give it a try. I feel like I go through gallons of Shout at a time, so I needed to step up my spot removal a notch. When you have a child, you never quite know what you'll be praying comes out in the wash. Let's stop that conversation there! *Updated 9/28/11* I've been using this concoction for over two years and I've had ALOT of questions about this Homemade Oxyclean, so I thought I'd show everyone exactly how I use it. Here is my plastic dishpan that I have stashed in my laundry room and a batch of the Oxyclean mixed up and ready to go. As for baking soda vs. washing soda: I use baking soda and have found it to work really well. Here is one of my son's jumpers that I want to get some weird funk out of. This is how I left the clothing sit for an afternoon, (hello gray yoga pants with chocolate ice cream on them...tee hee... Homemade OxyClean recipe from The Grocery Cart Challenge
The Burlap Bag - High Quality Handmade Goods Shop - Austin Texas December 20, 2011 by Lauren (Check out our new ONLINE SHOP for The Burlap Bag!!) We have two cats. They get stanky. What you need: A container (we used these) Baking sodaEssential oil Foil (or a lid you want to ruin and poke holes in) This gets really complicated so pay attention…. 1. Oh. Well, add a lid if you want. Seriously the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Done. Follow us for instagram for updates! (p.s. we’ve had a lot of people email us asking where to get those jars! Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Making Glow Jars | The Gold Jellybean Yesterday Sydney and I had a major art and craft day, and also experimented with making glow jars. They have been floating around Pinterest for awhile now and look like so much fun! However, there is one tutorial that frustrates me. The image is clearly Photoshopped, and I think it’s very misleading. You will need a glass jar, glow sticks (I picked some up from the dollar store), rubber gloves to protect your hands, scissors, I recommend protective eyewear, and a piece of tulle (optional). If you are using the tulle, cut a piece slightly larger than the jar, and place inside. Now, put on those rubber gloves. Next, stir and shake the cut glow stick around inside your jar. Once you have the desired amount of glow material in your jar, replace the lid and shake it up. Here are all three jars we made. Now turn off the lights and watch them glow! And here is the jar with the white tulle. All in all it was a fun project.
26 Tips and Tricks To Simplify Life I have been collecting all kinds of clever tips to make life just a little bit more simple. Here are some of my favs! 1. Cord organization tips. I am SO doing this. {link} 2. 10. 19. Simple Lemon water. Want to be eco-friendly but not have to mess with cloth diapers? More From New Nostalgia: