Cleaning is a passion of mine...

Ummm, okay, maybe not a "passion" but I am a bit OCD about it. I just like stuff to be clean. That's all. But over the last "little while" (yep, I'm southern) I've been more concerned about what I was cleaning WITH!

These days it seems every label you read says its energy-efficient, good for the environment, or one of my favorites "all natural"! Between you and me-they put that there because they know that's the "IN" thing these days and you will therefore buy it. Have you ever read the requirements of a product to put that on their label? It's a joke, but one that's not funny at all. It's very deceptive and misleading to consumers. And just what ARE all those things on the label we can't even pronounce anyway? How do you really know what you're putting on your body or into the air that you and your babies are breathing?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to pick up a product and look at the label and it have only a handful of ingredients? And they were things you knew were safe for you AND your environment? Doesn't that sound nice? Well guess what?

It's possible! And you get to pick your packaging too! That's right! And pick your own scent, according to what smell YOU like! I know, I know, you're thinking I've gone off my rocker, right? Nope. Hear me out...

Baking soda.
White vinegar.
Essential oils.
WATER.
Castile soap(I use Dr Bronners)

Do you realize what all you can do with these wonderful things? Well, here are just a few things I USED to use when I cleaned... ready?

Hair- whatever shampoo I was in the mood for, conditioner, hair gel or mousse. For the kids I used a kids tear-free head-to-toe wash and because Punkin's hair is long and Muffy's hair is tight curls I used a detangler also. The Dude uses Head and Shoulders, plus hair gel.

Body- I used to use Neutrogena Body Wash, Dude uses Irish Spring ORIGINAL (everything else leaves him oily) and the kids used the same tear-free head-to-toe stuff.

Toilets-Comet for the bowl, Clorox Wipes for wiping down the whole toilet.

Tubs- either Comet or a "spray and walk away", "come back later and wipe off" kinda thing like Tilex or the scrubbing bubbles... you know what I'm talking about.

Mirrors and windows- Windex of course!

Carpets- a long time ago I used to use carpet fresh all the time because I loved how it would smell up the entire house! Now I have a hubby and a daughter who have allergies and Punkin's allergies are both respiratory and eczema. I have to be very careful using products on her because she can flare and be covered in hives and scratch until she bleeds. Sound fun? Nope. And as miserable as it is to watch her going through it I know she is 100x as miserable.

Counter tops- I had off-white counter tops that seemed to stain very easily so bleach had to be in the product. Windex sometimes. Sometimes just a multi-purpose cleaner.

WOW. That's a lot of stuff, isn't it? Why do we need all that stuff? Especially when we can use the alternatives I mentioned and get the same results but with a lot less fumes and money spent!

So what do I use now? Well.... going back through the same list:

Hair- I cut out a LOT of washings... I was always one of these people that had to wash my hair before I went anywhere. A lot of that had to do with the fact that I "HAD" to put my hair up when it was wet. If I didn't, it was really fuzzy. NOW... I wash once a week. Sometimes twice, lately though it's been LESS than once a week. What do I use? I wash with baking soda and water. WHAT? Yep. And I rinse with apple cider vinegar and water. I usually alternate the baking soda wash with a Dr Bronners wash diluted heavily in water. How is my hair? It's awesome! And when I go out I just use a spray bottle of water with Essential oil of Lemongrass in it to feel fresh. I was thinking of adding some peppermint or rosemary essential oil for a bit of a tingle. That's stimulating and refreshing. :o)

Body- Dr Bronners, heavily diluted in water. :o) Love it!

Toilets- baking soda to use as a scouring agent (if you need it) and for maintaining use equal parts water and vinegar and spray in the bowl.

Tubs- white vinegar and water.

Mirrors- Equal parts white vinegar and water.

Carpets- Nothing. yep. When we bought our house we had to rip up all the carpet and when we did we saw what was left underneath the pad. Guess what it was... dirt, of course, and carpet fresh. Yep. Your vacuum doesn't get it all... even if it's a Dyson or Oreck.

Counter tops- Guess... yep. white vinegar and water.

Are we seeing a trend here? You can use this stuff on everything! There are other recipes for home made cleaners out there and I use them from time to time as well. There is a multi-purpose cleaner that I like... I'm not positive of the ratios of the ingredients but I will find out... the ingredients are water, borax (that's interesting stuff right there!), Dr Bronners soap, and Essential oils of choice. I think that's all.

HERE is a good website for some home made cleaning recipes... I will have my own list up soon enough for a quick and easy reference.

Another HUGE thing that I make my own of is..... tada!!!! Laundry soap. For those of you who don't know us personally, we are a family of 7. We have 3 boys and 2 girls. Every one of those 5 like to get nasty outside and this stuff cleans it all.

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

For those of you who are not familiar with Fels Naptha soap, it is a time-tested stain remover and pre-treater working especially well on oil-based stains. Know what else it's good for?


Poison ivy resin can remain on your clothes for over 1 year. Washing with Fels-Naptha® will eliminate the dangerous resin from your clothing. Thoroughly wash all of your exposed clothing including hats, gloves, coats and pants in shaved or grated Fels-Naptha® (about 1/16th of the bar). This will effectively remove the poison ivy resin and prevent further outbreak.

No wonder millions of people for over 100 years have been saying, "Nothing can take the place of my Fels-Naptha®!

WOW. And guess what we have around here a-plenty? Yep. Poison Ivy.

So, like I said, I will be sharing recipes for home made cleaning products and organizing them all with Labels so they are easy to locate here on the blog.

I'd love to hear from you... Leave me a comment and share a recipe you've tried and loved or any other tip or trick for cleaning that you've learned.

Also, how about some comments with post ideas?