I have had quite a few e-mails from some lovely followers asking about what other cleaning products I can make from the ingredients listed on my first post, Homemade cleaning Products.
Here are some more of my favorites.
If you have children or pets I'm sure you will use this one just as much as I do.
Carpet Deodoriser
Ingredients
1 cup Baking Soda
4/5 drops of Essential oil ( I use Orange )
Grab yourself a zip lock bag. Drop in your essential oil and then your baking soda. Give it a good shake so that you don't see the oil smears on the base. Sprinkle the baking soda over freshly vacuumed carpet. Leave the baking soda on the carpet for a few hours then vacuum it up. I like to store my carpet deodoriser in a jar. I drilled some holes into the jar and now I can sprinkle it on the carpet a little easier and store it like that.
Carpet Stain Remover
Ingredients
Equal parts vinegar and water
Combine the vinegar and water and spray on the stain. Let it sit for roughly 10 minutes then clean it up with some warm soapy water.
Hard Carpet Stains
Ingredients
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup borax
1/4 cup vinegar
Combine the ingredients into a paste and rub into the stain. Let it sit for a few hours and then vacuum it up. Sometimes you need to then give it a clean with some soapy water and then blotch dry.
I have had a fair few e-mails asking how to get marks of the walls. With a toddler I use this one often, and can say that it does a fantastic job at getting crayon off the walls.
Wall Scrub
Ingredients
Baking Soda
Water
Grab a damp sponge and dip in some baking soda. Scrub the mark on the wall and then wipe over with another damp sponge. It works wonders!
Toilet Cleaner
Ingredients
1/4 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
Combine the baking soda and vinegar. Vinegar and baking soda can make quite a bit of mess when combined so it is best to do that in the sink. Spray onto the toilet bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. Then scrub and rinse.
Bath Tub Cleaner
Ingredients
Vinegar
Baking Soda
Wipe down with vinegar and then scrub with baking soda. After that just rinse it off and you will have a sparkly clean bath tub.
I hope that answers some of your questions and you find that they work just as well for you as they do for me. If you have anymore questions about the cleaning products or if you have a cleaning problem I can help you with please don't hesitate to drop a comment or an email.
Once again, happy cleaning.
Tiffany.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Homemade Cleaning Products
One of my favorite things to do is look around the house and find ways to cut cost and 'greenify' my house (yes I have no life). Well a few months ago I got out all my cleaning product ready to nuke my house of germs and this was what I saw on my kitchen bench...
Right there I had another one of my epiphany's. I couldn't believe the amount of chemicals that I had and the cost that they all added up to, easy close to $30. And most of them I needed to buy fortnightly.
There had to be away that I could cut down the amount of chemicals I was pumping into my house and the amount on cash that was flowing out. I jumped on google to 'google it' and there it was, my answer.
I could make my own cleaning products for less money and best of all I knew exactly what was in them.
So now this is all I use to clean my house...
They cost me roughly $45 to buy. Yes I know that the initial cost is more expensive then buying commercial cleaning products, but most of them are fairly cheap. The most expensive items are the essential oils but bear in mind that you only use a few drops at a time. So that little bottle will last you quite some time. The item I buy the most frequently is the pure soap. A pack of four will usually last me a month and it only sets me back $2 a pack.
Have I won you over yet? If not wait till you see how easy it is to make and how well they work.
This one is by far my favourite, the Laundry Powder.
Ingredients
4 cups of grated pure soap (or to save time you could use Lux Flakes)
2 cups of washing soda
1 cup of borax
It is as easy as just combining all the ingredients and pouring it into a container. I prefer to take my stab mixer to my grated soap. You can use it just in the little curls but the perfectionist in me likes it a little finer. Also, when you are using the borax it is always best to play it safe and wear some rubber gloves. Add one tablespoon to every wash and you will be surprised at how well it works, I sure was.
This one is a very close second on my list of favourites.
Eucalyptus Oil All Purpose Cleaner
Ingredients
15 drops of Eucalyptus oil
1/2 cup of vinegar
water
Once again as simple as combining the ingredients. Drop in 15 drops of the oil, pour in the vinegar and then top up with water. Give it a shake and away you go. So simple! I love the smell of Eucalyptus as well it just smells so clean.
This one is a little more fiddly but well worth it.
Dish washing liquid
Ingredients
1/4 cup of grated soap
2 cups hot water
1/4 glycerine
15 drops of orange oil
Mix the soap with the hot water and then stir until the soap is completely dissolved. Put aside till it has cooled to just above room temperate. Add the glycerine and the oil. When the mixture cools it will come to a nearly jelly consistency. Grab a fork and break it all up then pour it into a squeeze or pump bottle. Then tackle those messy dishes.
The one thing I get asked the most when I tell people that I use homemade cleaning products is 'What do you use to get off the baked food in your oven?' Well its simple and easy. And best of all it works!!
Ingredients
1/2 baking soda
1/2 salt
water
Mix the baking soda and salt together with just enough water to make a paste. Smear that paste over the oven. I found it works best when it is kept a little moist. So I always have a little spray bottle of water on hand to give it a squirt every hour or so. Keep the mixture on for about 5 hours then wipe it off with a damp cloth. All those baked on nasty's will come right off.
So there you have it.
Eucalyptus all purpose spray and laundry powder
That is some of my homemade cleaning products. I have loads more ways to keep your house clean with these ingredients but only have a limited amount of time. I will have to make a part 2 to this post. Try them and I am sure you will be just as surprised as I was with the results.
Happy cleaning.
Tiffany.
Right there I had another one of my epiphany's. I couldn't believe the amount of chemicals that I had and the cost that they all added up to, easy close to $30. And most of them I needed to buy fortnightly.
There had to be away that I could cut down the amount of chemicals I was pumping into my house and the amount on cash that was flowing out. I jumped on google to 'google it' and there it was, my answer.
I could make my own cleaning products for less money and best of all I knew exactly what was in them.
So now this is all I use to clean my house...
They cost me roughly $45 to buy. Yes I know that the initial cost is more expensive then buying commercial cleaning products, but most of them are fairly cheap. The most expensive items are the essential oils but bear in mind that you only use a few drops at a time. So that little bottle will last you quite some time. The item I buy the most frequently is the pure soap. A pack of four will usually last me a month and it only sets me back $2 a pack.
Have I won you over yet? If not wait till you see how easy it is to make and how well they work.
This one is by far my favourite, the Laundry Powder.
Ingredients
4 cups of grated pure soap (or to save time you could use Lux Flakes)
2 cups of washing soda
1 cup of borax
It is as easy as just combining all the ingredients and pouring it into a container. I prefer to take my stab mixer to my grated soap. You can use it just in the little curls but the perfectionist in me likes it a little finer. Also, when you are using the borax it is always best to play it safe and wear some rubber gloves. Add one tablespoon to every wash and you will be surprised at how well it works, I sure was.
This one is a very close second on my list of favourites.
Eucalyptus Oil All Purpose Cleaner
Ingredients
15 drops of Eucalyptus oil
1/2 cup of vinegar
water
Once again as simple as combining the ingredients. Drop in 15 drops of the oil, pour in the vinegar and then top up with water. Give it a shake and away you go. So simple! I love the smell of Eucalyptus as well it just smells so clean.
This one is a little more fiddly but well worth it.
Dish washing liquid
Ingredients
1/4 cup of grated soap
2 cups hot water
1/4 glycerine
15 drops of orange oil
Mix the soap with the hot water and then stir until the soap is completely dissolved. Put aside till it has cooled to just above room temperate. Add the glycerine and the oil. When the mixture cools it will come to a nearly jelly consistency. Grab a fork and break it all up then pour it into a squeeze or pump bottle. Then tackle those messy dishes.
The one thing I get asked the most when I tell people that I use homemade cleaning products is 'What do you use to get off the baked food in your oven?' Well its simple and easy. And best of all it works!!
Ingredients
1/2 baking soda
1/2 salt
water
Mix the baking soda and salt together with just enough water to make a paste. Smear that paste over the oven. I found it works best when it is kept a little moist. So I always have a little spray bottle of water on hand to give it a squirt every hour or so. Keep the mixture on for about 5 hours then wipe it off with a damp cloth. All those baked on nasty's will come right off.
So there you have it.
That is some of my homemade cleaning products. I have loads more ways to keep your house clean with these ingredients but only have a limited amount of time. I will have to make a part 2 to this post. Try them and I am sure you will be just as surprised as I was with the results.
Happy cleaning.
Tiffany.
Friday, April 20, 2012
First steps to self sufficiency
This week we welcomed two new family members.
Nope its not twins...We got Chickens!
Thomas on the left Percy on the right
For awhile now I have been talking away in my poor husband's ear about trying to become self sufficient. I have been going on and on about how easy it is to take the first steps, but other then growing peaches I have been a lot more talk then walk. So when my 2 year old fell in love with his Grannie's chickens I had my own little epiphany. If we got chickens we would get our own eggs and possibly meat, if I didn't get to attached, and they would also be eating our scraps. So simple!
So after a bit of money, help getting the coop home from my pop and a little temporary handy man work from hubby, here you have it...
Our first step to self sufficiency.
Next step, a few vegetable patches. Then I will be posting a nice recipe ( I'm thinking a quiche?) with ingredients that are all from my very own backyard.
Tiffany.
Nope its not twins...We got Chickens!
For awhile now I have been talking away in my poor husband's ear about trying to become self sufficient. I have been going on and on about how easy it is to take the first steps, but other then growing peaches I have been a lot more talk then walk. So when my 2 year old fell in love with his Grannie's chickens I had my own little epiphany. If we got chickens we would get our own eggs and possibly meat, if I didn't get to attached, and they would also be eating our scraps. So simple!
So after a bit of money, help getting the coop home from my pop and a little temporary handy man work from hubby, here you have it...
Our first step to self sufficiency.
Next step, a few vegetable patches. Then I will be posting a nice recipe ( I'm thinking a quiche?) with ingredients that are all from my very own backyard.
Tiffany.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Welcome to my blog.
I will start with the formalities and introduce myself. My name is Tiffany, I am a 23 year old mother to two of the most handsome little boys in the world and a wife to an amazing (and pretty good looking) husband.
I am very lucky to be a stay at home mum to my boys, but I'm finding out first hand how hard it to can be to raise a family on a single income.
I have spent a lot of my spare time trying to find ways to cut down our expenses and have learnt some simple skills, such as budgeting and making kids clothes, that I look forward to sharing with all of you. It's so much fun to learn and such a good feeling when you can see the rewards for your efforts in the bank. Unfortunately there are some of us Gen Ys who are used to buying ready-made, instant lives and so the discovery that perhaps we can't have it all now has made me return to some of the skills of yesterday, only to find it brings a contentment and fulfillment that all the ready-made and instant never did.
There's so much more that I want to learn and I will be sharing this Simply Beautiful journey with you. I look forward to meeting you so please do 'drop in' and introduce yourself.
Tiffany
I will start with the formalities and introduce myself. My name is Tiffany, I am a 23 year old mother to two of the most handsome little boys in the world and a wife to an amazing (and pretty good looking) husband.
I am very lucky to be a stay at home mum to my boys, but I'm finding out first hand how hard it to can be to raise a family on a single income.
I have spent a lot of my spare time trying to find ways to cut down our expenses and have learnt some simple skills, such as budgeting and making kids clothes, that I look forward to sharing with all of you. It's so much fun to learn and such a good feeling when you can see the rewards for your efforts in the bank. Unfortunately there are some of us Gen Ys who are used to buying ready-made, instant lives and so the discovery that perhaps we can't have it all now has made me return to some of the skills of yesterday, only to find it brings a contentment and fulfillment that all the ready-made and instant never did.
There's so much more that I want to learn and I will be sharing this Simply Beautiful journey with you. I look forward to meeting you so please do 'drop in' and introduce yourself.
Tiffany
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