Tuesday, April 23, 2013

My Favorite Homemade Cleaning Products [Link Roundup]

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Howdy strangers!
I'm back!

As I mentioned on our Facebook page, we've decided to list our house for sale.
More details on that later, I'm sure.

but for now, suffice it to say that "Meg's Projects" have been limited to cleaning and keeping the house straight.
Which includes my workspace! ahh!!!

Serious DIY neglect going on over here,
but I have managed to finish up some long-term projects
which I'll be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, it's all about keeping my house clean for prospective buyers.
Which also means I've been able to test out a TON of homemade cleaning products.
Some of them I've found online, and I'll include the links for you all.
Some of them are just tips I've learned along the way which I thought I would share.

Most of these require only a few common ingredients:
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Hydrogen Peroxide


Microwave and Slow Cooker Cleaner

Cut a lemon in half and squeeze a little juice into a large microwave safe bowl (or slow cooker).
Add the lemon halves and a few cups of water.

For Microwave, just zap it for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Everything should wipe effortlessly outathere.


For slow cooker, turn on high for a good bit (I just left it for a couple hours which was probably longer than necessary). This is great especially you have an older slow cooker which doesn't have a removable bowl.


Frontloader Washer Cleaner

Between the two adults, one cloth diaper-wearing child, and two big old dogs in this house, we I do a lot of laundry. I have a high efficiency front loader which I really like, but they do get funky after awhile (especially that front gasket which keeps the water in, and sometimes trapped). Even your laundry can start to smell funky. boo! hiss!

Source

I found this great post on maintenance and a cleaning solution using baking soda and vinegar.
I didn't use bleach on mine, although that is recommended if you have a lot of mold build up... ick. I hate even typing that.


Bathroom Cleaner

A lot of shower and tub cleaner can be pretty caustic... not a fan.
So here is the miracle recipe to avoid bleach and other fumey products...

Are you ready? 2 parts baking soda, 1 part hydrogen peroxide.

Yeah, I know. Complicated.

Is my tub new, you ask? No! just really REALLY clean. :)
Make a paste and cover any stained part of your tub, sink, whathaveyou. Let dry for about 30 minutes.
Scrub (honestly,  I barely had to even scrub mine), rinse, done.

This got my tub cleaner than soft scrub. Cleaner than bleach. Cleaner than anything!
No joke. Looks like new.


Grout Cleaner

Our kitchen and bathrooms are all tiled with ridiculously wide grout lines. The kitchen is also the path for people and dogs from the back yard, so my grout gets pretty gross.

I found this recipe, and gave it a whirl. And yes, it worked better than the expensive fancy special grout cleaner that I got from the home improvement store, using only baking soda, vinegar, water, and lemon juice.

Source

*you can also use ammonia, but that makes me sick even when I use all the necessary precautions.


So there you have it. Those are some of my favorites so far.

I'll let you know if I find any more gems.

There are more on my Pinterest board "natural cleaning" (please note that I haven't tried all of them out)
Anyone out there have a fav? Please share!


2 comments:

  1. I really do love homemade cleaners. Although I have to admit, I've been a bit of a lysol nut as of late.

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  2. Thank you for sharing these wonderful cleaning products and methods despite you being busy with moving houses. Keeping your house clean will definitely make it more appealing to house seekers, so it's a good thing that you're doing just that. I can't wait to hear news about how you're going to keep your new home as tidy as this. Good job!
    Bo @ HJS Supply Company

    ReplyDelete

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