Making Herbal Gifts series - Cleaning and Greening

Last year I made a lot of Lavender, Rosemary and Rose Petal vinegars and some homemade Lavender furniture polish. You wouldn’t think that any of those items would be suitable to give as presents but I had a friend who wanted to become greener around the home so suddenly these items and a few others seemed like a perfect match.  (If you like in the Chicagoland area, I will be giving a program on this topic in the Spring at the Wauconda Public Library.)

I saved this gift idea to the last so that you could make them more for yourself than as a gift, unless you have a friend like mine...

I have described how to make and use vinegars before, so check out these posts for more details on how to make vinegar you can use for cleaning:

http://backyardpatch.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-tues-day-making-herbal-vinegar.html

There have also been a couple other opportunities to do blog posts on cleaning with herbs.  Here are a couple others if you are interested:

http://backyardpatch.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-cleaning-with-herbs-joyous.html

http://backyardpatch.blogspot.com/2011/06/cleaning-with-herbal-essential-oils.html

Cleaning for the Holidays Recipes

Here are a few other recipes you can try around your home or make up for the neat nick in your acquaintance (that would be my hubby!)

Bathroom Scrub

This is a two-part cleaner you keep in a shaker and a spray bottle and used together to clean and deodorize you bathroom and kitchen.

Materials:

  Baking soda

  Thyme vinegar (or plain white if you don’t have herbal vinegar)

  Essential oil of something disinfectant (thyme, sage, clary sage, tea tree)

Directions:

Add the essential oil by drops to the baking soda and place in a shaker container.  Place the vinegar in a spray bottle.

Directions for use: Spray the tub/shower walls and floor with the vinegar.  Shake on the fragranced baking soda.  Spray again with vinegar.  Everything will fizz, clean and deodorize.  Wipe the mixture around to clean stubborn spots and then rinse.

Soft Scrub

I love this because a tooth brush and this blend and you can get the faucets shining brightly. and it is great on shower tile and soap scum.  I use it to spot clean the floor tile between washings.

1 cup of baking soda, borax or washing soda

1 cup of castile soap

Mix together and put in a plastic lidded container.  Dip a sponge or cloth in and use as a soft scrub for your tub, tile and toilet.

Window Cleaner

Make a great all-purpose window cleaner so you can see those pretty lights.

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent

2 cups of water in a spray bottle

Combine all items together in a spray bottle. Shake to blend. Spritz the window and wipe with a clean lint-free cloth.

Check back in March for more details on the program in Wauconda scheduled for April 4th.