Recipe for my Homemade Cleaner

Healthy living is one of the major concerns today for everyone and especially for families with little children. All the chemical stuff like additives, pesticides, fertilizers that we consume without even knowing it! It's literally  everywhere: in food, clothes, water, air, paint, cleaning supplies, cosmetic, furniture... Even if you try really hard it's very difficult to avoid it but one can try to change the habits step by step. There is so much useful information today that can be found on the Internet, recipes for homemade everything... That's what I did after being fed up with commercial cleaners. There was always something wrong with them: smell to strong, irritates skin or eyes or nose, to much bleach in it, don't work at all... After a bit of searching I came up with this formula that I love. So I wanted to share today with you the recipe for my homemade all purpose cleaner and another one for "heavy duty" cleaner . It's inexpensive and inoffensive (and it rhymes, lol) and it's made from the ingredients you probably already have at home.

I use the recycled spray bottle for mixing the ingredients directly in it. You need only 4 ingredients:

• Water - 2  cups
• White vinegar - 1/4 cup
• Rubbing alcohol - 1/4 cup
• Dish soap - a dollop

Start by pouring 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol (from 70 to 90%, everything goes) in a clean spray bottle. You can buy a new spray bottle and make your label for it if you are a neat freak. Squeeze in a dollop of dish soap (1 tsp max) and fill the bottle slowly with water until full. Put the spray nozzle on it and close it firmly. Don't shake it yet, turn it slowly (like a lava lamp) to mix all the ingredients, you don't want to make bubbles. That is the basic recipe. You can add other ingredients to it, like eucalyptus or any other essential oil you like, lemon juice,etc. For the dish soap, I prefer to use Palmolive Original.

I love to use this cleaner in my kitchen for every surface, you can even clean glass with it - spotless! I also love to clean my fridge with it in and out, it leaves such a nice smell of cleanliness and it's not at all overpowering like some commercial cleaners. You can use it to clean the bathroom also, but for the bathtub and for the shower I have a recipe for my "heavy duty" cleaner. Very easy to prepare but you have to prepare it each time when you want to clean - or so I do, I imagine that the power of the ingredients combined is at its highest right after mixing. You will need similar ingredients, without water :

• White vinegar - 1 part
• Baking soda - 1 part
• Dish soap - a dollop or two

In a little plastic, metal or glass bowl or even any recycled container, add 1/4 cup of baking soda, add a dollop or two of the dish soap. Add 1/4 cup of white vine vinegar and let it build a foam for 30 seconds or so.    Mix with a sponge and apply immediately on the bathtub or in the shower then rub lightly with a sponge the entire surface to clean. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, wash it of and dry the surface with a clean cloth if you wish. If you have mold stains you can add several drops of the Tea tree oil in the mixture, that should help if regularly applied. That's it - nothing complicated, you really should try it.

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Recipe for my Homemade Cleaner