Make Your Own Household Cleaners

A great way to help save the environment and your wallet is to make your own household cleaners. Here are some great recipes to get you started:

Recipe for cleaning stainless steel appliances:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/cleaningtipsandrecipes/qt/Stainless_Steel.htm

Recipe for dishwasher detergent:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/cleaningtipsandrecipes/qt/Dish_Detergent.htm

Recipe for Dishwasher Rinse, note that this method is also good for cleaning out your dishwasher and extending the life of the appliance, which in turn saves you money:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/qt/Rinse_Agent.htm

Recipe for oven cleaner:
http://housekeeping.about.com/od/kitchen/qt/bksd_oven.htm
Did you know that you can also use a combination of baking soda, boiling water and vinegar to unclog drains? And that you can use baking soda as a natural water absorbent on carpet?

This site is absolutely amazing and full of ideas with everything from homemade mold killer to carpet cleaner:
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

The recipe on http://www.eartheasy.com/ of 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda is a cheap and natural all purpose cleaner. At about $2 for a box of baking soda and a bottle of vinegar you could make several batches, at the least 6 times the amount you would get from one store bought bottle of all purpose cleaner which typically runs in the $4 range. Or check out these websites for several other uses for vinegar (http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/homemaking/vinegar.html) and baking soda (http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/lib2/60soda.htm).

Comments

Getting fit at work

I was rocking it at the gym on the daily before I got hit with Hand foot and mouth, now I'm still kinda hurting and also low on time. Trying to find exercises I can do here at work. One of the things I have been doing is every time I go to the restroom (which is single stall so there's no chance of anyone walking in on me while I'm doing something embarrassing) is breaking out some toning and strengthening moves. I don't do reps, but simply do as many as I can or hold as long as I can until I start to shake, feel that prana as they say in yoga. Some things I have done is; -Wall pushes (push on the wall as hard as you can with your whole body) -Plank -Crunches (if the room is big enough and the floor is clean enough obviously) -lunges -squats -Push ups -Side Planks -small punches from side to side (I plant my feet and form fists and twist side to side from my midsection to feel this move in my abs) At my desk: -Plant hands beside my body and lif...

Compost!

Sitting behind this desk day after day makes me really envy the farmer. The farmer gets out there every day to work on their garden and tend to the animals. It’s physically exhausting work, but I imagine just so rewarding. I’m sure after a few days of manual labor like that and I would be grateful for my quiet little desk job, but it’s nice to dream. Although just because I am not a farmer doesn’t mean I can’t incorporate some of their rituals into my life and create my own little money saving farm! My First step is a compost pile. I have researched and gotten the ins and outs from a woman who has been composting for most of her life. If you are worried about it attracting animals place it away from your house, although the general consensus is that it doesn’t seem to attract any more than normal. Setup: Look for a spot that is easy for you to get to, is not in the way, and will get sun and rain. If you have a kitchen window, putting it just outside is perfect because then you can jus...

The Garden

So far, so good with the new garden. With this weather I have had to water them daily. The only issue I have seen so far is that something is eating my lettuce. Once my ducks are bigger they will act as my natural pesticide, but for now I need an alernative. So I found this recipe on www.paystolivegreen.com : Oil Mixture 1 cup cooking oil ( i.e. canola or vegetable ) 1 tablespoon liquid dishwashing soap Use 2 ½ teaspoons of this mixture in 1 cup of water I planted several items that I researched ahead of time, but ended up not worrying so much about the specifics. I read something online that was great advice, it said to plant a few items and see how it goes. Replant the items that grew well next time and switch out the things that didn't go so well with something else. Expect that something won't grow as well as the others and it really alleviates a lot of the stress out of gardening.

Domestic Savvy

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