Oust the Chemicals!

Mission: Frugal chemical free cleaning
Still using those chemical cleaners? It is time to oust them out of your house! According to the American Association of Poison Control some of the most common poisons for children are sitting under your sink - cleaning products! But these chemical cleaning products are not just posing risks to our children, they pose risks to adults and animals as well. Some cleaning agents can cause severe skin burns and permanent eye damage when these dangerous chemicals come into contact with your skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Chemical cleaners can trigger headaches and allergies and all in the name of having a "clean house"

So is it possible to get green and clean? YOU BETCHA! And what's even better - it is CHEAPER!
So here is a rundown of the products I use:

Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide makes a great disinfectant, and stain pretreater.
For pretreatment of stains I use at full strength.
To use as a disinfectant I use a 50/50 solution of water and peroxide.
Here is the deal with peroxide though it is light sensitive, therefore if it is not in a light block bottle it is useless. I went to the dollar store, purchased a 32 ounce bottle of peroxide, and a 32 ounce spray bottle. The sprayers fit perfectly on the hydrogen peroxide bottle enabling me to keep the peroxide in the original bottle. I poured half the peroxide into an empty 16 ounce peroxide bottle and filled the remaining 32 ounce bottle with water - VIOLA! Instant disinfectant! I use this to wipe down all my counter surfaces in the kitchen and all surfaces in the bathroom.

Vinegar
Vinegar is probably the most versatile cleaner there is. It works great on mirrors, windows, fabric softener, after shower spray to ward off mildew, a natural goo be gone, stain pretreater, seriously the list can go on and on with vinegar.
I purchased a 32 ounce spray bottle and keep a mixture of 30% vinegar to 70% water and use it for my mirrors and windows.
Use another spray bottle with vinegar at full strength for shower walls. The vinegar smell will dissipate as it dries.
1/2 cup of full strength vinegar added during the rinse cycle of the wash to soften fabrics, brighten brights, and decrease lint. (and your clothes will not smell like vinegar)
Apply full strength directly to stains, rub in and wash. Apply full strength to stubborn sticker residue let sit 10 minutes then remove.
To unclog a drain pour a 1/2 cup baking soda in drain and follow with 1/2 cup vinegar, when the mixtures stops bubbling follow with luke warm water. (some garbage disposals do not react well to this kind of cleaning, check with manufactures directions)


Baking Soda
Baking soda is a great natural scrub. Re-purpose an empty parmesan cheese container as a baking soda dispenser. Use anywhere a little extra cleaning power is needed.


Natural Laundry Soap
Here is a recipe for a liquid laundry soap that is SUPER CHEAP and works SUPER GOOD!
You will need:
Fels Naptha or Castille Soap
Washing Soda (not baking soda)
Borax
All three items should be in the laundry detergent aisle at the store.
Homemade Laundry Soap
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder

Grate the soap and place in a sauce pan, add 6 cups water and heat until soap is melted, add washing soda and borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add 4 cups hot water to a separate container (large enough to hold 2 gallons) Add soap mixture and stir, to that add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. I divide my batch into 2 -1 gallon containers (juice containers work well and make for easy pouring as well as reused empty laundry soap containers) Let soap sit for 24 hours, it will gel - use 1/2 cup per load. This will be enough for 64 loads of laundry. You can add 1 cup for heavily soiled loads.
Total cost per load? Just over 1 penny!! Ya how is that for SUPER CHEAP!!??

Homemade Disinfectant Wipes 
gather up some squares of cloth (baby wash cloths, cut up t-shirts, any cloth would work)
An empty container with a lid (reuse an empty baby wipe container or something similar)
place cloths in the container, mix together 1 cup of water, a squirt of liquid castille soap, a few drops of tea tree oil, and a little vinegar pour over wipes.

Reusable Swiffer Sweeper Pads
The refills for the swiffer can get quite pricey over time, not to mention they just add to the waste pile. Replace your refills with prefolded cloth diapers! Trim the edges to fit your swiffer and then sew the edges so they do not fray (a zig zag stitch works). Throw in the wash as needed!

Floor Cleaner
2 Tbsp. Liquid Castille soap
1 Gallon warm water