Blessings From Home

Frugal Friday

Today, I wanted to share some things about what I've learned about homemade household cleaners.

1. They're CHEAP!

2. They're easy to make, and much better for the environment.

3. They're CHEAP!

4. The supplies to make them are readily available.

5. And did I mention, they're CHEAP!

The list of supplies needed is actually quite short and you can generally make any cleaner you might need from these few supplies. For anything from window cleaner to antibacterial wash to just a general cleaner. Some of the basic supplies I keep on hand are...

White distilled vinegar

apple cider vinegar

ammonia

baking soda

rubbing alcohol

borax

Those are the main ones that I keep on hand. I also like to keep different essential oils to make my cleaner smell good. Now for the recipes, the best place on the web I have found is at  Crystals Family Homestead. Crystal has always got a wealth of information to share and I'm so thankful for her website. A few other recipes I've found along the way are...

For polishing wood floors and wooden furniture...

Mix 1 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Keep it in a sealed container.

You can find that and more cleaning recipes over at Candy's blog-Keeping the Home. She has also got a lot of great info for keeping the home and other information.

I am so in awe of how much money I have saved just by taking the few extra minutes it takes to prepare these cleaners myself. I can honestly say that between making my own laundry products and also my own cleaning supplies, I have probably saved around somewhere between 100 and 200 dollars in a year's time. To me that is amazing!  I hope you enjoyed reading today's Frugal Friday. Next week, I'll share a few tips I've found on saving in the kitchen, starting with menu planning. Have a great day!

Blessings,

Sara

Great Post!

{ 11:47, Friday, August 10, 2007 } { Posted by naturalmama }

Hi Sara- I am a fellow fan of homemade laundry soap and household cleaners... I've been doing it almost a year and can't believe I didn't start sooner!! Glad to "meet" another frugal mama!

~Kristy
www.homemakerscottage.com

Yeah...Saving Money!

{ 05:15, Saturday, August 11, 2007 } { Posted by mommyneedscoffee }

I also make my own all purpose cleaner (thanks, as well to Crystal).

Now with this furniture polish...do you just sorta pour it out on a rag and clean the furniture?

Can't wait to see what you have next Friday!! This is great!


~~~On the wood polish, I keep it in a sealed tupperware type of container, and when I go to use it, I give it a good shake, and then lightly dip my rag into it and wipe my wood furnture down. A little goes a long way though. Usually after I wipe it with the polish, I wipe it down with a dry rag so that I don't leave any residue. Thanks for the sweet comment! I know a lot of people already know and do some of these things, but who knows I may be sharing something new to someone, ya know.

Blessings,
Sara

Edited by Sara on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 11:00