Welcome to Marmee's Pantry

Welcome to Marmee's Pantry

Saturday, February 13, 2010

10 Ingredients in Homemade Cleaners

Sarah Aguirre, @ About.com / gleaned from Grandma Rosie @ Homesteadblogger.com

BAKING SODA: Works as a mild abrasive, helping to gently scrub things that need to be scrubbed, but not scratched. Baking soda also works well to remove smelly odors, making it a prime candidate for a bathroom & kitchen cleaner. Baking soda also works to removes stains & can be used to help soften laundry.

BORAX: is a laundry booster that can be used in a few different ways around the house. Borax is actually a natural mineral, but can be an irritant on skin & shouldn't be ingested. Borax can be used as a stain remover & a substitute for bleach. Borax can also be used to repel insects, although care should be used around pets & small children.
CASTILE SOAP: is an oil based soap that can be used to clean almost anything in your home. Diluted liquid castile soap can be used as an all-purpose cleaner. Liquid castile soap is an excellent degreaser.

CORN STARCH: can be used as a starching solution for clothing. Cornstarch also absorbs oils & greases, making it a great help in the laundry room or for stains on countertops.

ESSENTIAL OILS: Essential oils help add a pleasing scent to homemade cleaning solutions. Be careful when using essential oils. A little goes a long way. There are people w/high sensitivities to essential oil fragrances.

LEMON & LEMON JUICE: can be great for scrubbing copper bottom pots. The juice works to clean & shine the pans. Lemon juice is a natural bleach, especially when combined w/the sun. Lemon juice is a natural degreaser which comes in handy w/dishes.

SALT: is an abrasive solution for scrubbing. Use salt to get rid of rust & mildew. Salt also works to help polish copper & silver.

TOOTH PASTE: works as a very mild abrasive, similar to soft scrubbing gel solutions. Toothpaste can be used to clean silver. It can also be used to remove stains on white clothing, tennis shoes & in many other places where a light scrubbing is needed.

VINEGAR: can be used as a fabric softener in the rinse cycle of your washing machine. Vinegar makes a great all-purpose cleaner. Mopping w/vinegar is an inexpensive way to keep your floors clean. Vinegar is a great stain remover. Vinegar carefully combined w/baking soda, makes a great foaming toilet cleaner.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE: can be used as a disinfectant. It also is one of the most effective blood stain removers.

NOTE: ***With all of these ingredients, BE CAREFUL about mixing cleaners together. Use new clean bottles. Follow storage guidelines for cleaners. Rinse thoroughly & always follow instructions.

Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><

7 comments:

  1. YAY!! YOU ARE BACK!! I'm so glad. I enjoy seeing you on facebook, but missed your blogs. And by the way...Love the new look! Happy Valentine's Day, Kim!

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  2. This is a great source of information! I use salt when I am cleaning my pots or pans when we make eggs and they stick.. salt is a great soft abrasive ;)I thought of that when I saw you had it listed. Thank you for your blog. I have been incorporating them into my routines and Bill is starting to notice that the cups are not coming up with the grime of the store bought soap on the tops :) yea!

    thanks for being a real blessing to all who have the honor to read your blog ;)

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  3. I have been making my own laundry soap for about a year now. It has been a great saver for our family as much as we wash. But lately I have not been able to find the Arm&Hammer Washing Soda. What store do you buy yours at? Maybe it will help me track it down in our city. Also do you have to use is? Can I just make with the Borax and other ingredients?

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  4. Great ideas.

    Zinnada<><

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  5. Thanks, Ladie! I'm so glad that the bug in our PC was able to be fixed w/o having to take it away.

    Erin ~ I'm in Ohio & I get my Washing Soda from Kroger, Wal Mart or Meijer. As for subsituting Washing soda...I know some ppl use regular baking soda, but sometimes it washes out bright colors. If at all possible, try to find either Washing Soda or maybe even Zote soap in your laundry isle.

    Blessings, Kim<><

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  6. Oh, I love your picture of homemade laundry soap fixins. We use all the cleaners in your post with one addition...rubbing alcohol. It does wonders for shining up glass and tiles and taking off sticky stuff.

    Blessings!
    Gail

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  7. Hey, salt worked GREAT to clean my ceramic cooktop yesterday - Yasar was mildly amazed. Thanks! :)

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