Greening Your Cleaning

How much do you spend on cleaning products over a year? Do you know what's in those bottles? Why not try some tried and true natural (and cost effective!) methods to spruce up your space?

Cleaning Product Basics:

White Vinegar - I use this stuff like crazy. It's especially useful to neutralize any pet urine smells. It actually has about a bazillion uses - enough for an entire post!

• All Purpose Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner - Mix vinegar and water 1:1 in a spray bottle. Great, mild, all purpose cleaner for sinks, stoves, floors, walls - almost anything! I've even put this in my rug scrubber to deep clean and deodorize pet spots.

• Clean soap scum from your tub by pouring a generous amount of white vinegar into HOT running water as it fills the tub. Allow it to soak on any "soap ring." The dirt should wipe right off after soaking for a few minutes. 

• Vinegar at full strength will help to dissolve hard water deposits on fixtures and clean and deodorize a stinky toilet.

• Use some in your laundry to help break down detergent and rinse cleaner. It gives a fabric softener effect without the chemical side effects.

Baking Soda - stain removing, odor absorbing, bathroom scrubbing - baking soda does everything that vinegar doesn't.

• Baking Soda can be sprinkled onto a sponge or surface to help remove heavy soils from counters, sinks, toilets, and tubs. 

• Make a paste of baking soda and water to pretreat stains.

• Toss a tablespoon in with your laundry to help remove stains (this is a MUST for cloth diapers!).

Lemons - Great scented and sanitizing too

• Mix olive oil with lemon juice 2:1 for a nourishing furniture polish. Straight olive oil rubbed into "glass rings" (the sooner the better) will help to hide them.

• Toss your lemon rinds down your garbage disposal to disinfect and deodorize even the smelliest drains..

• Use a lemon cut in half with some salt to clean spots from copper.

So there you have it. With just a few products that you probably already have in your pantry and fridge, you can clean your house top to bottom!

Who We Are and What We Do.

Sarah E: "For me it started in February. I had just had a life changing doctors appointment - not only was I pregnant, we were expecting twins. Having had Jordan 2 years earlier, I knew how pricey raising a baby could be, let alone two. Things were already tight, so I knew I would have to do things differently this time. So began my adventure into all things reusable, homemade, and, well, all around less expensive. I figured if my grandmother could raise 9 kids on a budget, I could do this on a much smaller scale."

Sarah A: "Both of my parents instilled in me at a young age respect for things made from scratch. My dad showed me through cooking and my mom through her baking and sewing skills. My mom especially instilled a sense of needing to be thrifty like with her couponing before couponing became popular. I guess in a way my contributions to this blog can be seen as a tribute to my parents and the lessons they taught me about what is important in life, FAMILY, even through their seperation and divorce. This way of living frugally and making things from scratch will allow me to spend more time with my family."