Cleaning Your Kitchen and Bathroom

To make many of your own cleaning products you need simple ingredients, Hot water and these three items:

• Vinegar
• Castile Soap
• Washing Soda

These items, which you can generally get at the grocery store.  Washing soda is like baking soda and can be found in the laundry aisle at most WalMart Stores, look on the very top or very bottom shelves by the Fels Naptha soap.

Vinegar: It will cut grease, eat away lime, and destroy odors.  Because of  its neutralizing properties white vinegar is good for washing windows, sanitizing kitchen counters, and shining bathroom fixtures.  To improve the disinfecting qualities you can make an herbal vinegar with sage, thyme, mint or lemon balm.

Vegetable Oil Soap (Castile) Soap: This natural soap is great for floors and all-purpose cleaning when combined with vinegar or warm water. To wash floors (not wood) add 2 teaspoons of castile soap to 3 gallons of water, but you must rinse well with water afterwards.

Washing Soda: this is an old-fashioned laundry booster that cuts through tough grease on grills, broiler pans, and ovens.  It is strongly alkaline so it is also perfect to tackling dirty linoleum floors. It's strong enough to strip paint and wax so you need to wear gloves when using it and use sparingly, only 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per 32 ounces of hot water to tackle tough grease.

All-purpose Cleaner
Make this general cleaner and add 1/2 tsp of  castile soap to 2 cups of the cleaner to make something you can use to clean almost anything.

2 cups hot water
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp. washing soda
15 drops tea tree essential oil
15 drop lavender essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a reusable spray bottle and shake well.

To Use: spray on surfaces, especially cutting boards, counter tops and toilets.  Wipe with a dry cloth.

For more cleaning recipes just search our blog under the keyword: green cleaning

Spring Green Cleaning 2017

A few years ago I started being serious about removing chemicals from our cleaning materials.  Chas had some asthma symptoms and we always knew he was allergic to preservatives so I began to realize that the chemicals in the cleaning products probably contributed to indoor air pollution.  I started with the easiest things like the dishwasher detergent, and laundry detergent, then moved  to floor and window cleaning, now I have moved to specialty cleaning in the bathroom and kitchen.

I wanted an all purpose cleaner that we could spray on the counters.  My husband cleans up every little spill while cooking and i wipe down the island regularly so we keep the spray bottle on the counter for quick use.

I love the spray bottles that come with our commercial shower solution (I make a shower solution but my hubby goes through it faster than I can make more, so he buys it at the grocery when I am not looking.) The bottles have a built in tube so you can get every last drop from the bottom so I wash out the bottles and save them to use for kitchen and bathroom cleaner.

All-purpose Essential Cleaner
This simple solution will smell good, clean and disinfect.
     1/4 cup vinegar
     1/2 tsp washing soda
     15 drops of eucalyptus essential oil *
     15 drops of lemon balm essential oil *

Place all of these in a spray bottle then add enough warm water to fill the bottle and shake well.  You now have an all-purpose cleaner. You can substitute tea tree essential oil and/or lavender essential oil to replace one or both of the other oils.


To scour the sink you may need something a bit stronger, so make an abrasive cleaner with grapefruit  that smells good and inhibits microorganisms.  To give it more punch you can also add bergamot and lemon oil too.

Do not use this on a fiberglass tub or sink.

Abrasive Grapefruit and Lemon Scrub

1 cup fine grade pumice
1/2 cup clay powder
2 Tablespoons grapefruit essential oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water

Mix all ingredients together and stir.  Store in a labeled airtight container.

To Use: Apply gently with a damp sponge or cloth and scrub.

Creamy non-Abrasive Scrub
Use this on any fiberglass surfaces and anyplace else you do want scratches but need some serious cleaning.

1/4 cup borax
castile soap
1/2 teaspoon lemon grass essential oil

In a small bowl, combine borax and just enough castile to create a thick paste.  Add essential oil and bend well.

To Use: Scoop a small amount of cleaner onto a damp sponge.  Scrub surface and rinse well.