Last summer, a friend on Facebook mentioned her homemade laundry detergent in a status update, and it intrigued me so much I asked her about it.  I’ve always hated the smells of traditional detergents, and they didn’t even seem to clean that well.  Our bath and kitchen towels always carried that lovely faint mildewy odor, no matter how hot the water or how much the detergent.  She sent me the recipe, and with a few modifications, I’ve been using that homemade laundry detergent ever since.

Then this summer, another friend on Facebook mentioned that she made a lot of her own cleaning formulas.  Well, again, intrigued.  She emailed me some recipes, I tried them, and as weird as it sounds, my whole attitude towards cleaning has changed.  I can choose my own fragrance, there are no harsh chemicals, and no headaches!  I used to get dizzy and sick feeling when cleaning the tub and showers.  No more.

Anyway, I thought I would share those recipes here.  Most of them came from one or another of Annie Berthold-Bond’s books.  She has a few, including Home Enlightenment (FYI, new-agey stuff abounds in this book; if you’re not into that, take what you want and ignore what you don’t), Clean & Green, and Better Basics for the Home.  With the exception of the last one, I found all of her books at the library.  I’ve been using each of the recipes I’m posting for a few weeks now, so I know they work great.  Hope you like them!

Note:  anywhere a recipe calls for liquid vegetable-oil soap, I use liquid Dr. Bronner’s. I like the lavender, but there are also lots of other scents, and an unscented version too.

Laundry detergent

• 2 bars of Dr. Bronner’s soap*
• 1 C. super washing soda (Arm & Hammer makes this and is found on the laundry aisle of most stores)
• 1 C. Borax (also on the laundry aisle)

Grate the bar soap as finely as possible.  I grate it in my food processor, then use the blade to further grind it.  Then combine with the washing soda and Borax and keep in a covered container.  Use 2 TBSP per load.  I have a front-loader and it works fine there.  I always use warm water, so you may want to test in small quantities if you normally wash in cold water, to make sure it dissolves properly.  Also, the scent of the soap doesn’t transfer to the clothes.  They just smell clean.

* Preferably lavender or the citrus-orange Dr. Bronner’s.  I tried almond, but my husband’s work t-shirts started to smell sour (eew) after I made the switch, so I think the natural antibac properties of the lavender and possibly the citrus help here)

General all-purpose fantastic cleaner

• 1 teaspoon borax
• 1/2 teaspoon washing soda
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vegetable-oil-based liquid soap
• 2 cups very hot tap water

Combine the borax, washing soda, vinegar and liquid soap in a spray bottle. Add very hot tap water, shaking the bottle gently until the minerals have dissolved. Spray onto the area to be cleaned and wipe off with a sponge, rag or cellulose sponge cloth.

This cleaner really is fantastic!  I’ve been using it in the kitchen and the bathrooms and it cleans everything great.  Spotty faucets?  Yucky countertops?  Messy appliances?  It gets them all clean and smells good doing it.

All-purpose floor cleaner

• 1/8 cup vegetable-oil-based liquid soap
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• bucket of hot water

Put soap and vinegar in the bottom of a bucket. Fill the bucket with warm water, swishing the ingredients around a bit to activate the soap. Wash the floor as you normally would.

This worked so great on the vinyl floors we still have.  I used a scrub brush one night to go around the edges of the kitchen and scrub up the places where the vinyl texture stays a little dirty, then mopped the rest, and it left a super clean floor with no residue.

Vinegar Window Cleaner

• ½ cup white distilled vinegar
• 2 cups of water

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle, shake to blend. Spray on, then remove with a squeegee, paper towel, or newspaper.

I use paper towels, but will probably start using cut-up t-shirts or some other kind of washable, reusable rags for my windows pretty soon.  This works great, and leaves no streaks or spots.

Basic Soft Scrubber

• ½ cup of baking soda
• Enough liquid soap or detergent to make a frosting-like consistency
• 5 to 10 drops of fragrant essential oil, such as 5 drops each of rose and lavender (optional)

Place the baking soda in a bowl; slowly pour in the liquid soap, stirring all the while, until the consistency reached that of frosting. Add a few drops of essential oil (if using). Scoop the creamy mixture onto a sponge, wash the surface, and rinse.

This also works GREAT!  And you’ll no longer feel lightheaded and nauseated while scrubbing your tub or shower.  AJ hangs around the bathroom door while I’m cleaning, breathing deeply and saying “mmmmmmm!” I haven’t added any EOs to mine, because I use the lavender Dr. Bronner’s in it.  I just mix it up one batch at a time when I need it, because I think it would dry out if I tried to store it.

I’ve been experimenting with wood furniture polishes/dusting recipes too, and will share any that seem to work well.  With all of these formulas that needed a spray bottle, I washed old cleaner spray bottles very, very well and used those.  We also decided last summer to drastically reduce our plastic use and consumption, so I’m trying not to buy any new plastic if possible.  Since these are for cleaning and not eating, I think repurposing old spray bottles is just fine.

More to come!