Homemade Cleaning Supply Re-Visit

I posted this picture on the Cooke's Frontier Facebook page yesterday and from the number of messages, questions and email I got about it, I thought it might be time to re-visit the Homemade Cleaning Supply topic.

What people most often want to know is 1) What supplies do you recommend? and 2) Are they really going to save me money? I'll answer both of those questions, and probably more!

What supplies do I recommend? That is going to depend on what it is you want to clean. Are you just looking to make cleaning products, or do you want to branch out to make laundry soaps, liquid soaps and dishwashing detergent? Think about what your goals are and go from there. Here are the things that I have in my house right now, and at all times, so that I am able to make whatever I need at a moments notice:

1. Vinegar
2. Baking Soda
3. Washing Soda
4. Borax
5. Epsom Salts
6. Alcohol 
7. Peroxide
8. Citric Acid 
9. Blue Dawn (or generic Dawn) Dish Soap
10. Fels Naptha Soap

With this list of supplies, I can make window cleaner, all purpose spray, wood cleaner, floor wash, appliance cleaner, tub cleaner, mold/mildew remover, grout cleaner, laundry soap, dishwashing detergent, soft scrub, drain cleaner and much, much more. For less than $25.00 you can have all of the ingredients at your fingertips to make the products to clean for probably close to a year that would cost you many times more to buy.

That leads us into out next question- Does it save you money? Yes. If you can wrap your mind around the concept that we don't need to clean every inch of our homes with bleach, toxic chemicals and harmful substances. So many people want to disinfect everything and they don't think homemade cleaners will do it. It will! Vinegar is a powerful disinfectant and is all natural. Not only will it not cause damage to your lungs, it won't burn your skin or ruin your clothes. There are a lot of really great websites out there that have tons of homemade cleaner recipes on them, or you could search Pinterest as well. Take a look around and try a few, I think you will find that they clean just as well, and for a LOT cheaper than store bought cleaners.

Homemade cleaners are simple, easy to make and use very basic ingredients. They are better for the environment, better for you and your family and they are effective.

If you really get into making homemade cleaners, you can dive into adding essential oils to them as well. Essential oils (depending on the type) can have disinfectant, healing, cleaning or other beneficial powers. The power of Mother Nature is amazing and she has provided us with some pretty simple ways to stay clean and healthy.

Try out a recipe or two- what do you really have to lose?