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: Rosemary Water Hairspray

{unrelated except that our rosemary is in the background}

Here's something interesting I came across recently. You can make a hairspray alternative using rosemary and water.

I'm really keen to try this out, as even though I barely use hairspray, I am mindful of the fact that it is really toxic and could be inhaled by the kids on occasion.

I'll let you know how it goes, but this is what you need:

a handful of (dried) rosemary sprigs
a French press
boiling water

1. Put the rosemary in the French press and fill with boiling water.

2. Allow to steep and cool for a couple of hours

3. Transfer to a spritz bottle and use in place of hairspray as needed.

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!

Handy Hints: Beauty Ingredients to Avoid

This weekend's homework: Find something delicious and eat it. Lots of it.

Sorry for the lateness of today's post - some days just get crazy before you know it!

I was perusing the interwebs the other day and came upon this really handy downloadable guide of beauty ingredients to avoid. It's US-centric, so some ingredients may go by different names here, but it is a super handy little reference to keep if you're on the hunt for some greener/more natural beauty products.

via Going Home to Roost.

And in other news, it's Friday! We've got a few fun things lined up for the weekend, and for once the list doesn't include painting! We may do some second-hand furniture hunting tomorrow and hopefully eat an enormous ice cream somewhere along the way. Fabbo!

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!

Natural Body Products: Coconut Oil

Hehe. From here.

I'm a relatively new convert to using coconut oil as a body product (or at all, really) as I used to associate it with that nasty coconut-scented tanning oil that people use to bake themselves in the sun. In reality, it's nothing like that and I'm super glad I stumbled across the recommendation online.

Pure, extra virgin coconut oil is generally produced in the South Pacific where the coconuts are harvested and the oil extracted within one hour of the nut being open - super fresh! It's a funny substance in that it is actually a milky-coloured solid oil when the room temp is 26C or under and becomes softer and clearer as the temp rises. In summer when it's around 30C+, it's a clear oil.

I use it as a body moisturiser, but it can be used in a heap of different ways. (None of which I've actually tried yet, but I like multi-use products. It keeps things simple!)

Use it as:
 
• Cooking oil (much like peanut or vege oil)
• Raw and fresh bread spread
• Skin moisturiser
• Massage Oil
• Baby Oil
• Hair Oil (massage into your hair at night and shampoo it out in the morning)
• Base ingredient for organic cosmetics

• Head lice and hair nit control (see here for directions)
• Tooth Paste (weird maybe, but there's a recipe here)



It's super economical and smells tasty too! (Not too coconutty though - that would be weird and tropical). I've found some interesting recipes that use the oil, so I'll try some out and get back to you.

Hope you're having a fabulous Monday!

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.

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