Green Living: Make Your Own {Green} Dishwasher Powder

I'm usually skeptical of "green" dishwashing powders or tablets sold in the supermarket, as they seem very expensive, less effective and only marginally better than their commercial counterparts when it comes to their ingredients list. And my only other foray into making dishwashing liquid was very, very stinky. And messy.

Recently I came across a recipe on Re-Nest (and cannot for the life of me find it, but I will!) that called for just two (and an optional third and/or fourth) ingredients. Brilliant!

You need: 

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda (or bicarb soda, but I used washing soda)
a few drops of essential oil* (teatree oil is perfect as it's naturally antibacterial)
white vinegar*


(*optional)

Just mix the borax and washing soda together in a jar or container. Take 1-2 tablespoons and put in your detergent dispenser in the dishwasher.

Put some vinegar in the rinse dispenser, as well as a couple of drops of your essential oil.

I've tried this a couple of times and have been generally really pleased with the results. It costs next to nothing to make, leaves the dishes nice and clean, plus it smells so so so much better than those faux citrusy dishwasher tablets.

Confession: I didn't have any vinegar so I haven't tried the rinse thing yet. So I just put a couple of drops of oil in with the dry ingredients. It all seemed to work fine, but the oil did cause some of the powder to set hard like concrete and I had to dig it out with a fork (!!)

Green Living: How to Clean Your Shower without Chemicals

Week in, week out, this annoying, thankless task needs to be done. When I was pregnant with Isla I became super-sensitive to commercial bathroom cleaners and their horrible, toxic smell so I had to find a natural alternative. It's taken me a couple of years to perfect it, but I wouldn't consider any other option these days.

You'll need:


borax
white vinegar in a spray bottle
damp cloth
microfibre cloth or old, soft rag

1. Spray your shower walls and floor (or all tiled surfaces) with undiluted white vinegar.

2. Sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of borax over your damp cloth and use this to scrub your tiles and grout, concentrating on any dirty/soap-scummy/mildewy spots. Leave the vinegar and borax while you clean the rest of the shower.

3. Give the shower a quick spray to rinse off the vinegar and borax, being sure to concentrate on the floor to rinse out any excess. Also give the glass surfaces a quick spray with water.

4. Spray the glass surfaces with your undiluted vinegar and wipe over with a clean damp cloth, concentrating on any shampoo or soap scum around the bottom.

5. Wipe over the whole shower with your microfibre cloth to dry and remove drips and streaks.

Fun? No. Green? Most def.

Green Cleaning Toolkit: The Whole Shebang

I've gone through the major elements in a good green cleaning toolkit over the past few weeks:

• bicarb soda
• castile soap
• white vinegar
• borax

and figured I'd add the remainder to this post, because they're not used as often as the four major ones above.

Washing Soda

Find it in the laundry aisle at the supermarket.

Laundry: Use it in your homemade laundry detergent.
Laundry Brightener: When washing with castile soap, I add a couple of tablespoons of washing soda for all loads except darks. It helps brighten and soften the clothes and I think they smell fresher.

Salt

Regular, household salt.

Laundry: Add 1/3 cup to your dark laundry loads to preserve the black in your garments.

General Cleaning: Combined with castile soap, water or lemon juice, salt makes a really effective soft scrub for sinks, basins and benchtops that need a good, deep clean. (I generally tend to use bicarb and vinegar for this though, but it's a good alternative.)

Various Essential Oils

Make sure to purchase essential oils, rather than scented oils, as the latter can be almost as harmful to your health as the chemical cleaners you're trying to avoid. It's also worth checking that you don't have an adverse reaction to any particular oil before using it all over the house. Additionally, pregnant ladies need to be cautious around essential oils as some can stimulate labour.

Laundry: Add 10 drops to your rinse cycle for beautiful smelling clothes. Plus some oils, like tea-tree and lavender, have antibacterial qualities, making them great to wash things like fabric nappies.
General Cleaning: Add a few drops to your homemade cleaners for a nice change.
General Cleaning: Add 20 drops to a spray bottle and use as a room freshener.
Dusting: A damp microfibre cloth sprinkled with a few drops of lavender oil makes the whole room smell lovely. Lame, but true.

Equipment

Cloths

Washable Chux cloths: Generally once they're done in the kitchen, I wash them and add them to the cleaning cupboard. They're reusable and do a good job of tackling most tasks.

Microfibre Cloths: $3 for a pack of four at the Reject Shop. Get some. I use a damp cloth to do all my dusting, plus they clean glass and make rinsing and wiping out basins, vanities, baths and showers super easy. They are brilliant. Plus you just throw them in the wash and use them time and time again.

Spray Bottles

Spend a little bit extra and get the good spray bottles from Bunnings or somewhere similar. The cheapies are fine for mild cleaners, but I found that when I put vinegar in them, the spray mechanism would stop working after a week or two. I bought some Oates ones about a year ago and haven't had any issues since.

There really isn't much involved in getting your green cleaning toolkit together, and it becomes second nature really very quickly.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or things you use in your green cleaning. I'd love to get some more ideas!

Green Cleaning: Make Your Own {Green} Laundry Detergent

Bubbles via NotTooCool on Flickr

One of my sisters gave me a bottle of her homemade laundry detergent a couple of months back and I was super impressed with how well it worked. I've been meaning to share her recipe ever since (hope you don't mind, Pangus!)

It's really easy and these quantities will make you 8 litres of liquid, so feel free to halve everything if you're not in need of so much. Although it does keep well over time.

You'll need:

1 cup Lux soap flakes
1/2 cup Lectric wsahing soda
1/2 cup borax
water
a large bucket
4 x 2-litre bottles or 5-6 empty vinegar bottles (try 2L milk bottles - as long as they're well cleaned)

1.  Using an old saucepan heat 4 cups of water with the Lux and stir until completely melted.
2.  Add washing soda and borax to mix and stir until dissolved.
3.  Add 4 cups of hot water to large bucket.
4.  Add the Lux, water, washing soda and borax mix to large bucket and stir. 
5.  Top the mix up with cold water till you reach 8L.
6.  Distribute mix amongst your storage bottles leaving enough room at top so you can shake your liquid. (The mix will settle and go claggy so make sure you give it a good shake before you use it.)

Tips: 

• For a front-loader, use around 3/4 cup per wash. A top loader may use a bit more. 

• In the fabric softener dispenser I always put 1/2 cup vinegar as a rinse agent/softener, and you can also add up to 10 drops of essential oil, to gently fragrance your wash.

• Still pretreat stains in the usual way (I use this natural stain remover)

Green Cleaning Toolkit: Bicarb Soda

The last of the big players in my Green-Cleaning Toolkit is bicarb soda (you can see the other Toolkit posts here.) I've already posted about some of the quirkier and non-cleaning related uses for bicarb, as well as the bicarb and lemon wedge miracle but thought I should list the many ways I use it to clean, as it is super effective.

Laundry Uses:

Softener/Deodoriser - Add a tablespoon-ish of bicarb to your wash for cleaner, fresher clothes. It also reduces the scratchiness you can sometimes get in linen.

Stain Remover - I use a commercial (natural) stain remover, but bicarb can be used as a stain remover too. Mix it with some water to form a paste and then apply to stains, leaving for at least five minutes, overnight for stubborn stains. Then wash as normal and hang to dry in the sun.

Cleaning Uses:

Heavy-Duty Scrub - Sprinkle surface with bicarb, then spray surface liberally with straight vinegar. You can leave the solution to take action for a few minutes, then, using a damp cloth scrub away. Rinse using a clean cloth and wipe over to dry. Great for stovetops and ovens.

Light Cleaner - Sprinkle some bicarb onto a damp cloth and use it to clean benchtops, tables, stovetop, chopping boards, microwave, vanity units, tiles etc.

Oven Cleaner - Make a paste with bicarb and water and apply liberally to a cool oven. Turn the oven on to warm for 30 minutes then use a damp cloth to wipe out the paste. Wipe clean. (For stubborn grease, apply the paste to a warm oven and then leave it overnight.)

Other Uses:

Carpet Deodoriser - Sprinkle onto carpet, leave for a few hours and then vacuum as usual. Great for car carpets in particular.

Spill Clean-up - For liquid spills on the carpet, sprinkle the liquid liberally with bicarb, allow to soak up the spill, then vacuum.

Car Windscreen Cleaner - Remove stubborn bug splats by sprinkling with bicarb, wiping over with a damp cloth and wiping clean with a clean, dry cloth.

It's completely non-toxic, easy to find (grab the 1kg box from the supermarket - until I find where to buy it in bulk, that's the cheapest option) and really versatile. Paired with castile soap, vinegar and borax, you can clean pretty much anything in and around the house.

3 Quickie Green Cleaning Tips

Print by The Gently Unfurling Sneak on Georgie Love

I have two bathrooms to clean before the kidlets wake up, so it'll be a quick one today. Although hopefully still helpful!

1. Put down the bottle of Mr Sheen!! To do all your household dusting, just buy a microfibre cloth and dampen it with a little water. Or, as I sometimes do, a few drops of tea-tree oil. (Just steer clear of your TV screens if you use the oil option.)

2. Open your doors and windows for ten minutes. It may seem insignificant, but creating cross-ventilation can help rid your home of toxic emissions from our lounges, carpets, cleaning products, paint, etc. Plus, having stale air in your house causes intensely frizzy hair. (Or something.)

3. Potplants are amazing indoor air filters. Check out this post for a list of the top five indoor plants.

And in other news, Sparky managed to score our new across-the-road neighbours' chook shed last weekend, so it will soon be free-range, (very) local eggs in our house! Yay!

Green Cleaning Toolkit: Castile Soap

This week's Green Cleaning Toolkit edition is C for Castile Soap. (You can see other Toolkit posts here.)

I have previously written about my love for castile soap, and I admit to you now that I have a fondness for the slightly confusing and over-the-top spiritual rantings on Dr Bronner's soap bottles. Aside from that though, I really do use castile soap every single day and thought I should probably revisit the ways I use it now that I'm doing the Toolkit series.

Castile soap is traditionally a pure soap made using olive oil. It is entirely vegetable based (no animal products, such as tallow) and much gentler on the skin than many modern soaps. This is mainly due to the fact that castile soap retains its natural levels of glycerin, whereas commercial soapmakers remove the glycerin in order to sell it separately.

Basically, it is super mild, very effective in cleansing and highly moisturising. It. Is. Awesome.

What Can I Use it For?

Well, according to the delightful ramblings on the label of the Dr Bronners Lavender Castile Soap that I use, it has 18 or more uses, including:

- Shampoo
- Body Soap
- Toothpaste (euch.)
- Laundry
- Floor cleaning
- General household cleaning
- Dishwashing
- Nappy wash

I can tell you that I have used it as shampoo (no good for me at all - it was Stringy Town all over), hand soap, body wash, laundry, nappy wash and general cleaning. And apart from the shampoo debacle, it's been awesome. So read on if you'd like to see how you can use it.

Laundry Uses:

Washing Detergent - I use a front-loader, and add around 1/3 cup of the soap to the detergent dispenser for all my washing. I then add a handful of bi-carb soda to the same dispenser and about the same amount of white vinegar to the rinse dispenser. Works a treat every time. Plus, our clothes smell incredible. I actively sniff my clothes. Often. In public sometimes.


Cleaning Uses:

Dishwashing Detergent - Just squirt some soap into your hot water as normal. It may not suds up as much though, but don't be tempted to use extra, as it will just make everything slippery. No good when washing priceless family heirlooms.

General Cleaning Ingredient - Add maybe a teaspoonful to your green cleaning recipes, particularly if you have a scented soap. It boosts the efficiency of your cleaning and smells d-to-the-vine.

Benchtop Cleaner (Scented) - A little (very little) squirt onto a damp cloth, combined with a sprinkle of bi-carb soda is a great benchtop cleaner.
   
Bathroom Uses: 
 
Hand Soap - Dr Bronner's Lavender Soap can't be beaten. The lavendery goodness is super relaxing before bed and a beautiful scent during the day. For hand soap I use just a normal hand soap squirty dispensery thingy and dilute the soap with water at roughly 1:1. This basically stops it from clogging up the squirty thingy.

Body Wash - I use a cute travel-sized squirt bottle (for shampoos and the like) and dilute the soap with some water at roughly one part water to two parts soap. The soap is really concentrated so this just stops me from using too much and becoming a lather monster.

Shampoo - As a shampoo, for me, Dr Bronners sucked. But I did have long, blonde highlighted hair at the time, so probably not ideal. I even tried Dr Bronners Shikakai Conditioning Rinse to help with the tangly, not-quite-clean feeling, but that was just weird. And it didn't work. And it was full of brown lumps that looked a lot like poo. So back to Burt's Bees for me.

And as for toothpaste... No.

So there you have a little rundown of why castile soap is indeed awesome, and why I rave about it. Aside from the fact that it's organic and harmless to my family and our health, it's also really quite economical as it's super concentrated and you can use it everywhere. Which I do. Except on my teeth.

Green Cleaning Toolkit: Vinegar

image by Mattia Valerio

The next installment in my Green Cleaning Toolkit is: V for vinegar. (You can see previous posts here.)

I have already posted about some of the top uses for vinegar around the house, but as it is the one ingredient I use multiple times every single day, I think it definitely requires its own Toolkit post.

I buy my white vinegar in 4L bottles from the supermarket for about $1.50. This usually lasts me between one and two weeks, so it's pretty good value. I'm on the lookout for somewhere I can buy it in bulk, to save on packaging, but so far I can only find it by the huuuge drumload.

Cleaning Uses:

General Purpose Cleaner - Dilute 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water and keep it in a spray bottle. You can use this and a damp cloth to clean just about everything. I use it to clean the bathroom vanity, the bath, the tiles (unless they need a heavy clean), the kitchen benchtops, the cupboard doors, the sink (unless it needs a scrub, then I use lemon and bi-carb).

High-Strength Cleaner - Keep straight white vinegar in another spray bottle and use it as a cleaner on stubborn marks like the bath ring or soap scum on tiles. Just spray thoroughly, leave for 15 minutes, wipe over the dirt with a damp cloth, rinse and dry. This is also really good to clean that greasy, dusty layer you get in the kitchen sometimes - particularly on the rangehood or the oven door.

Disinfectant/Cleaner - Spray all over your toilet with vinegar when you spray the bowl (remember the borax and vinegar toilet cleaner?) and leave it till you clean the bowl. This acts both as a disinfectant and cleaner for the loo. You can also spray your wooden and plastic chopping boards with straight vinegar, leaving it for a few minutes, then rinse and dry. This disinfects and gets rid of oniony smells.

Floor Cleaner - When we had our oiled floors laid during the reno, the floor guy told us to clean the floors using a bucket of warm water, half a cup of methylated spirits and half a cup of vinegar. That works a treat with the oil finish, but before the reno when we had floors sealed with polyurethane, I used a squirt of Morning Fresh liquid and a cup or so of vinegar in the bucket and that was really effective too. I think the vinegar cuts down on any soapy build-up and makes the floor lovely and shiny.

Laundry Uses:

Softener/Freshener - I add about a quarter of a cup of vinegar to every wash I do, with the exception of the fabric nappies (the vinegar can effect their absorbency), and it softens and freshens the laundry so much. I can tell if I don't use it, particularly with the linen as it feels all scratchy and rough. And despite the smell of vinegar when you first put it in the washing machine, you really can't smell it much once it's been washed, and not at all once the laundry is dry. Apparently, adding some vinegar to the wash can help alleviate eczema in those who have skin reaction to laundry powder too. I used to wash Isla's clothes in Lux flakes and vinegar before I discovered castile soap.

Other Uses:

Toy Cleaner - Spray the kids toys and board books with the 1:4 vinegar dilution and wipe over with a clean cloth. It lifts off stickiness and is a mild disinfectant too.

It really is just as easy as making one or two changes every couple of weeks, and before you even realise it, you'll be cleaning greener and simpler. I can't promise it will be any more fun though. Sorry.

Green Product Review: Natural Instincts Stain Remover

Not the most riveting of topics, I know, but I have been longing to find a good, non-toxic stain remover for. ever. Up until last week, the stain remover was the one blip on my green laundry radar and it really bugged me. Plus it stunk. And any homemade remedies (like vinegar, baking soda, washing soda and lemon juice) were never quite up to scratch. And, in all honesty, were a lot more work. And I'm all about the easy.

My sister found some of the Natural Instinct range at a chemist and called me about the Pre-Wash Stain Remover. Yes, I most definitely wanted to try some! And here's what I've found:

Pros:

• It's non-toxic and has no discernible scent at all = winning!
• If you follow the instructions (leaving a minimum of 5 minutes before washing) then it works just as well as regular stain remover on new stains
• It even takes out some of the yellowing of old underarm or collar stains

Cons:

• It's $7 for 500ml. I've not checked but I think it's more expensive than the regular sprays from the supermarket
• You do need to be slighly more organised to make sure you leave the spray on for minimum of five minutes. I usually spray my first load of washing the night before so it's ready to go. (Yes, I am a bit ridiculous.)
• It's not quite as good at removing super tough or older stains, unless you apply it a number of times and wash it a number of times.

Verdict: 

I'll definitely be buying this from now on. The fact that it's non-toxic alone is reason enough for me, plus, it works.

 

Green Cleaning Toolkit: Borax

I know I've mentioned bits and pieces about various ingredients I use in my green cleaning toolkit (here, here and here) but I thought I could put together a post on each of the main ingredients I use week-in, week-out. Hopefully this will make it easy if anyone is keen on getting into green cleaning but not entirely sure where to begin.

First up is Borax.

Strictly speaking, borax is a toxic substance, even though it's naturally occuring. So don't go feeding it to your pets or kids, and if using it to clean, it's recommended that you wear rubber gloves to stop any potential skin irritation. I've never had any issues with it, and it sure as hell is better than the highly toxic commercial cleaners you often find at the supermarket.

Cleaning Uses:

Toilet Cleaner - I sprinkle the wet toilet bowl with a handful of borax, then saturate the borax with a good spray of straight white vinegar. I also spray the whole toilet with straight vinegar at the same time, to clean and disinfect. Leave it to sit for 15 minutes or more. Wipe over the toilet with a damp cloth and then dry with an old teatowel and then, using a toilet brush or a cloth, scrub the bowl and flush. Easy!

Tile Scrub/Shower Cleaner - I do this once every few weeks and it seems to get rid of any mould in the shower and stop a lot of it from growing back. Just mix roughly equal parts of borax and straight white vinegar in a tub. You're looking for a watery paste type consistency. Then using a damp cloth just spread the mixture over the tiles in your shower (walls and floor, concentrating a little more on the grout) and leave. 15 minutes plus is fine, and over night would do no harm. Then wipe down/scrub with a damp cloth, rinse and wipe over with a clean, dry cloth.

Disinfectant - A couple of tablespoons of borax in some warm water is a great disinfectant for bins etc. Just wipe over with the mixture and then rinse with clean water.

Laundry Uses:

Laundry Booster - You can add a sprinkle of borax to every wash and it will help whiten your whites and remove soap build-up and odour build-up in your clothes. I personally don't use it in every wash, but have found it does help soften blankets and linen.

Other Uses:

Ant/Cockroach Control - Borax can help to get rid of ants and cockroaches. To get rid of cockroaches try sprinkling the areas most likely frequented by the little buggers (be careful if you have kids or pets though). The borax attaches to their feet as they crawl over it and will eventually be ingested. For ants you can mix some borax with honey or sugar syrup and put it in some upturned jar lids. The ants will be attracted to the sweetness and then take the borax back to the nest with them.

I'm sure there's more tips out there, but they're the ways I've used borax. It's probably the least friendly of the ingredients I use, so it was nice to get that one out of the way!

Maybe next time you go shopping, pick up a tub of borax (it's super cheap, in the laundry/cleaning aisle at the supermarket) and add it to your green cleaning toolkit. Dare ya!

Awesome Uses for Bicarb Soda

I know I've mentioned the lemon + bicarb miracle combination before, but there are about a bajillion other uses for bicarb in your house, kitchen, laundry and bathroom. Some of these are pretty cool:

• Make your own self-raising flour if you're ever caught without, by adding one teaspoon of cream of tartar and half a teaspoon bicarb soda to one cup of plain flour
• Effective as a fire extinguisher (particularly grease and electrical fires)
• Make a paste of bicarb and water and apply to ant and mosquito bites, as well as beestings - it should take the itch out. (Duly noted here because I am super allergic to ants and bees).
• Have a cool bath with a cup of bicarb to take the burn out of sunburn
• Brush your teeth with a paste of bicarb and water - it's antibacterial and makes your teeth shiny
• Wash your fruit and veges in a sink filled with water and 1/4 cup bicarb - this removes traces of insecticides that remain on the skin
• Sprinkle bicarb on your pets between washes if they're getting a little stinky. Just sprinkle, massage and brush it out
• Leave a little container of bicarb in the fridge to get rid of that mysterious fridge stink we sometimes get (hello, old watermelon!)

These are all in addition to the usual suspects, such as making a paste with water and cleaning pretty much any surface in the house, or sprinkling it in the nappy bucket, or adding it to your washing to freshen and soften your clothes.

Maybe I'm a dorky dork, but I found that kind of interesting!

Green Cleaning: Lemon + Baking Soda = Sparkly McGee!

Lemons are nature's zesty cleaning power-bombs and this green cleaning recipe uses that to its fullest advantage.

All you need is one dirty sink (or any metal surface in your kitchen, or porcelain, enamel or fibreglass in your bathroom), half a lemon, some bicarb soda and about five minutes.

Before. Ugh.

Sprinkle the lemon half with some bicarb, and also sprinkle the sink with a little of the powder too - this works best if the sink is pretty dry before cleaning. Use the flesh side of the lemon to scrub the sink. It takes a couple of minutes for the sherberty fizz to take all the grime away, but it absolutely works and smells citrus fresh too!

If you have some tougher grime or stains then use the skin side as a scrubbing brush. I was surprised by how well this actually works, but the skin really does pick up the stains.

After. The plug hole needs a vinegar soak to bring out the stains but its totally clean. Honest!

I actually used the skin and some extra bicarb to scrub some rust spots on the knife I used and they came out straight away. Lovely!

Ol' Rusty Before.

'Ol Rusty no more.

Super easy and super useful. I like this recipe because it gives me a way of using up the shrivelly lemon halves I sometimes collect in the fruit bowl. Plus it smells so good!

As for the rest of the week, we're busy preparing for Isy's second birthday on the weekend. It's a bubble party so should be awesome!

Hope you're having a good week! X

Green Cleaning Tip: Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Pom pom progress!

In between garage sale preparation, trips to the doctors, crumb duty (seriously! where do they all come from??!) laundry, ironing and cooking it's been craft mayhem here. The weather's been a bit sucky so Isy and I are getting messy. It's fun. And I'm pretty sure Isla likes it too.


GREEN CLEANING TIP:

Love me some fresh-smelling eucalyptus oil, I really do. It's also a pretty handy addition to your green cleaning stash as it's a super-duper oil. It's antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and good for your immune system. It can be mixed with water in a spray bottle (try around 20 drops to one cup of water) and applied to any areas that need disinfecting, such as table tops, door knobs, bathrooms etc. It gives such a beautiful, fresh scent too. Bonus!

You can buy it at most supermarkets (just make sure it's pure eucalyptus oil) or health food stores.

Handy tip: Lavender oil has very similar disinfecting qualities, so you could try the above spray using essential lavender oil instead.

Meanwhile, it's back to sorting through books and CDs here. The countdown to G Day is on!

Top Five Indoor Plants

Image from HomeLife

Well, the heatwave hasn't yet broken (40C+ here again today - eugh) so I have packed up the kidlets and spent the past two days at my parents' air-conditioned house. We're all feeling much better and the kids have managed to have a decent sleep each day, so I'm certainly feeling much happier!

My mum is keen on indoor plants, and has a few beautiful peace lilies throughout the house. Looking at them reminded me of a really interesting article I read a while ago on indoor plants and how they have a dramatic purifying effect on our indoor air. Studies have shown that the air we breathe indoors is actually more heavily polluted than the air we breathe outside and that indoor plants help filter the air of these toxins, which are released from our furniture, cabinetry, carpet, paints, cleaning products (not mine anymore though!) and even cosmetics.

I'm a bit of a gardening nerd myself and can't wait to get my green thumbs dirty once the renovations are finished, but in the meantime, perhaps some beautiful indoor plants could help ease my need-to-plant-something angst?

These are the top five indoor plants most effective at filtering the air we breathe inside:

Dracaena (There are over 50 varieties of dracaena and all have excellent air-cleaning properties)
Peace/Madonna lilies (Spathyphyllum)
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Weeping Fig/Ficus (Ficus benjamina)
Bamboo/Reed Palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)


If you're a gardening beginner, or new to the specific needs of potted indoor plants, here are some quick tips to get you started:

• Leave your new plants in their plastic pots and simply place in a decorative pot once you're home. This means you're able to change out your plants and pots without having to re-pot every time.
• Spend some time being kind to your new plants, watering and feeding them well for the first few months. Slowly ease back on the TLC, allowing the plant to "harden off" and acclimatise to its new environment.
• To clean the leaves of your plants (something you should do monthly to allow the plant to photosynthesise effectively) simply wipe over the leaves with a solution of one part water to one part milk. This cleans the leaves of any dust that may accumulate, leaves them shiny and glossy, and also keeps the leaves free of dust for longer.
• A granule-based slow release fertiliser should be applied to your plants every six months, in spring and autumn. (I'm an AFL fan and find it easiest to remember this by applying the fertisiler at the beginning of the season and then finals time. Lame but handy.)
• In summer the plants will probably need watering 2-3 times a week, while in winter this will dial back to once every 2-3 weeks.

I'm keen to get some green action over the next few weeks (the middle of a heatwave is not the best time to buy and plant plants, so I may hold off for a little bit) and once I do I'll share some photos of the new additions. I love me some maiden hair ferns and some bamboo palms, but we'll see what we end up with.

Off to jump in the kids' paddle pool now!

Top Ten Vinegar Uses - Cleaning

Vinegar Street by Mykal Shaw

Vinegar (white distilled vinegar - available by the bottle at the supermarket) is pretty cool. I use it in all my green cleaning recipes and clean my bathroom most weeks with nothing more than vinegar, water and elbow grease.

There's about 50,000 recipes that use vinegar, but it can be used on its own for so many different things. Try one of these next time the need arises:

1. Clean the microwave by mixing 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Bring it to a rolling boil inside the microwave and let it sit for a few minutes. The steam will soften any baked-on food and the vinegar gets rid of smells. Wipe clean with a damp cloth.

2. For stained/smelly plastic food containers, wipe them with a cloth dampened with white distilled vinegar.

3. Discourage ants by spraying straight vinegar outside doorways and windows.

4. To remove a sticky label or price tag, cover with a cloth soaked in vinegar. Leave overnight and the label should easily come away.

5. Clean grout by letting full-strength vinegar sit on it for a few minutes and scrubbing with an old toothbrush.

6. Kill germs around the bathroom with a spray of full-strength vinegar. Rinse and wipe clean with a damp cloth.

7. Remove wallpaper by using a paint roller to wet the surface very thoroughly with a solution of one part vinegar to one part hot water. Or spray on until saturated.

8. Clean hardened paint brushes by simmering them in a saucepan of vinegar. Soak first for an hour or so before bringing it to a simmer. Drain and rinse clean.

9. Clean vinyl baby books or board books by wiping with vinegar. Wipe clean with a damp cloth.

10. Clean scissors that have become sticky (eg. after cutting tape) with a cloth dipped in undiluted vinegar.


There's obviously many more uses in the laundry, garden and medicine cabinet, and I'll get around to those another time. But truly, vinegar, castile soap, borax and baking soda make up the vast, vast majority of all my cleaning solutions. Sparkly McGee!

Toothpaste - The Wonder Paste!

'Toothpaste' from Audrey421

My good friend Alison from My Red Scooter just emailed me to ask where I get my castile soap (Soap Kitchen - they're awesome!) and mentioned a top green cleaning tip that I thought I'd pass on.

To remove texta (or pencil perhaps?) from hard surfaces like kitchen cupboards, tables, benches etc, just use a dab of toothpaste and a tissue, keep rubbing the mark until it comes out. Presto*!

I know that toothpaste has additional cleaning uses, so I'll do some reading and put together some more uses. I don't think you can find a much greener cleaning solution than something we all happily put in our mouths on a daily basis, so this is definitely worth putting in the green cleaning armory.

*I haven't tried it yet, but seeing as Isy has just scribbled all over her bedside table with black pencil, I now have the perfect reason to try it and will let you know how I go.

Castile Soap is Awesome.

So I've already mentioned the fact that I use castile soap alot to clean around the house, but I thought I'd add a bit more information on what I use it for and how I use it. It really is pretty cool stuff and I've successfully turned two of my sisters and my mum into castile converts over the past couple of months.

What Is It?
Castile soap is traditionally a pure soap made using olive oil. It is entirely vegetable based (not animal products, such as tallow) and much gentler on the skin than more modern soaps. This is mainly due to the fact that castile soap retains its natural levels of glycerin, whereas commercial soapmakers remove the glycerin in order to sell it separately.

Basically, it is super mild, very effective in cleansing and highly moisturising. It. Is. Awesome.

What Can I Use it For?
Well, according to the delightful ramblings on the label of the Dr Bronners Castile Soap that I use, it has 18 or more uses, including:

- Shampoo
- Body Soap
- Toothpaste (euch.)
- Laundry
- Floor cleaning
- General household cleaning
- Dishwashing
- Nappy wash

I can tell you that I have used it as shampoo (no good for me at all - it was Stringy Town all over), hand soap, body wash, laundry, nappy wash and general cleaning. And apart from the shampoo debacle, it's been awesome. So read on if you'd like to see how you can use it.

So, How Can I Use It?
As I've mentioned in a previous post, castile soap is one of the main ingredients in a lot of green cleaning recipes, so it's well worth having for that reason alone. For some other uses around the house though:

LAUNDRY
I use a front-loader, and add around 1/3 cup of the soap to the detergent dispenser for all my washing. I then add a handful of bi-carb soda to the same dispenser and about the same amount of white vinegar to the rinse dispenser. Works a treat every time. Plus, our clothes smell incredible. I actively sniff my clothes. Often. In public sometimes.

BATHROOM
As a body wash and hand soap, Dr Bronner's Lavender Soap can't be beaten. The lavendery goodness is super relaxing before bed and a beautiful scent during the day.

For hand soap I use just a normal hand soap squirty dispensery thingy and dilute the soap with water at roughly 1:1. This basically stops it from clogging up the squirty thingy.

For body wash I use a cute travel-sized squirt bottle (for shampoos and the like) and dilute the soap with some water at roughly one part water to two parts soap. The soap is really concentrated so this just stops me from using too much and becoming a lather monster.

As a shampoo, for me, Dr Bronners sucked. But I do have long, blonde highlighted hair, so probably not ideal. I even tried Dr Bronners Shikakai Conditioning Rins e to help with the tangly, not-quite-clean feeling, but that was just weird. And it didn't work. And it was full of brown lumps that looked a lot like poop. So back to Burt's Bees for me.

And as for toothpaste... No.

GENERAL CLEANING
As a dishwashing detergent, just squirt some soap into your hot water as normal. It may not suds up as much though, but don't be tempted to use extra, as it will just make everything slippery. No good when washing priceless family heirlooms.

Add it to your green cleaning recipes.

A little (very little) squirt onto a damp cloth, combined with a sprinkle of bi-carb soda is a great benchtop cleaner.


So there you have a little rundown of why castile soap is indeed awesome, and why I rave about it. Aside from the fact that it's organic and harmless to my family and our health, it's also really quite economical as it's super concentrated and you can use it everywhere. Which I do. Except on my teeth.

Green Cleaning - Getting Started

Green Bubbles from brhefele

I've recently become pretty enamoured with the whole green-cleaning movement, and have thrown myself headlong into learning all there is about cleaning sans chemicals.

It's been really interesting, and aside from an unfortunate smelling homemade laundry powder (which I will use up, begrudgingly) I've been stoked with the results.

I'm keen to share a few of my favourite recipes today, and can keep adding them if folks are interested.

Getting Started

 
Before you start, there are a few items and products that are pretty important to have at home, otherwise you'll feel like it's a huge chore to go out and buy them as you come across the need. The key things you'll need to begin:

• A collection of spray/spritz/squirt bottles (I bought half a dozen from the Reject Shop for $2 each and that's been plenty for me. I have some recipes made up all the time while others are just a one-off use).
• Old tea-towels or cloth nappies for wiping down surfaces
• Various sponges, Chux wipes etc
• Empty jars or takeaway containers to store made-up formulas

• Baking soda (known as bi-carb soda here in Australia)
• A good quality, genuine castile soap. You can either get a hard bar and grate it up where needed or a liquid version. I use Dr Bronners Liquid Castile in Lavender (naturally) and Orange Citrus. Castile soap is supremely gentle on your skin but still quite concentrated and a really effective cleaner. I'll put together a post on how much I love the stuff shortly.
• Borax - a natural mineral found in powdered form in your laundry aisle
• Washing soda - also in your laundry aisle
• Vinegar (white vinegar is fine, or cleaning vinegar)
• Tea tree oil

To get through a typical cleaning week, these are the formula I need, and for a less frequent clean (the oven for example) I just make the relevant formula up when I need it:

         All purpose spray cleaner
         Tea tree oil spray (Water and 10 drops tea tree oil)
         Vinegar/Water Spray (1:4)
         Straight Vinegar

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER

I use this recipe to clean kitchen and bathroom benchtops and cupboards, the outside of the microwave, fridge and oven and the wall tiles when they only need a light clean. It's fairly mild, but I find that because I wipe down the kitchen bench after use that there's never a huge scungy later of grease to remove. If you're after something to remove that, then vinegar and water (one part vinegar to three parts water) in a spray bottle will help, or the Kitchen Scouring Paste (2 tbsp vinegar, 3 tbsp baking soda combined).

     1/2 tsp washing soda
     1 tsp borax
     1/2 tsp castile soap
     2 tbsp vinegar
     2 cups hot water

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well until solid bits have dissolved. Spray surfaces and wipe clean with a damp cloth or sponge.

TOILET CLEANER - easy as!

     1/2cup borax
     Vinegar

Sprinkle inside toilet bowl liberally with borax and spray with straight vinegar until thoroughly wet. Leave on for 30 minutes. Use a scrubbing brush as normal and flush.

I usually then clean the toilet suite with the All Purpose Spray Cleaner. Comes up a treat, every time.

There are recipes for more stubborn stains, but I can't recommend them as I've never had to try. If I do I'll be sure to tell you about it.

OTHER TIPS:

To clean mirrors, windows and shower screens I use the vinegar/water spray. Spray the glass and wipe well with newspaper. Sparkly McGee!

I also use the same vinegar/water spray on tiles in the bathroom and kitchen if they need a good clean. Spray, leave, rinse and wipe dry.

Straight vinegar sprayed into the bath or shower and left for 10 minutes is the best way to get rid of soap build-up or a bath ring. Just spray, leave for 10, wipe/scrub with a sponge, rinse and wipe down.

Tea tree oil spray is used on high rotation in our house. It's an awesome bactericide, smells lovely and is gentle enough to use on almost everything. I use it for:

• A super excellent nappy spray. (I spray Isy's used nappies and pop them in a dry bucket until washing time)
• Spray down bathroom tiles after cleaning, leave for 10 minutes, then wipe dry. This stops mould/mildew build-up. Keeps the tiles cleaner too.
• Spray on washed shower curtains to stop mould/mildew.
• Fabulous deoderiser

I also use green cleaners in the laundry, the rest of the kitchen and around the house, but I'll save them for another post (or seven.)

Brooke, the cleaning nerd.
xx