make it monday: homemade natural cleaners

Good morning!

I cannot believe Hunter’s birthday party is less than 1 week away.  I am such a procrastinator… other than cleaning up the house a bit and yard work, I have not gotten to too much prepping.  In the decor department I’ve almost finished the banner. I still have so much more I want to make!  Good thing I work well under pressure.  Maybe that’s why I haven’t decided on what kind of cupcakes to make yet?  I think I just need to not have time left to flip flop between decisions and it’ll come to me.  Oh the tough life decisions. 😉

How was your weekend?  We have been a tired family here the past couple of days.  Jacob was working on getting over being sick (which he got from Hunter), Hunter was tired and had a couple early morning wake ups, and I just felt tired right along with them. Hence the lack of preparation.  Oh well, what can you do?  I the midst of all that, I did get a little bit of cleaning in.

From around the time I got pregnant I began trying to clean with more natural products.  Vinegar is always a good all purpose cleaner, but Jacob absolutely hates the smell and vetoes the idea whenever I use it.   I had to come up with something else.  So I did.

Originally I made up this concoction as a cleaner for our hardwood floors.  I ended up liking it so much I use it all over the house.

Homemade Natural All Purpose Cleaner

• 20 oz water
• 1.5 TBSP Dr. Bronner’s pure castile soap
• 1 TBSP rubbing alcohol

Combine ingredients in a spray bottle.  Shake to combine then spray and wipe down with a rag.

I use this cleaner for:

Floors (hardwood, tile and linoleum)
Silks
Counters
Toilets
Walls
Baseboards
Tabletops
Toys
Pretty much any hard surface

It smells amazing from the castile soap.  I use the peppermint variety.

The all purpose cleaner is great for surface cleaning, but what about deep stains?  I have to admit, when it comes to cleaning my tub and shower, I never do it as often as I should.  I’m never a preventative cleaner there, I’m a reactive one.  Before I started using my next cleaner, I would have to use tons of that powder comet cleaner and scrub like crazy to make it cleaner.  Now I have a natural cleaner that doesn’t smell like bleach, works amazingly and actually makes me want to clean my shower more often!

Homemade Natural Tub Scrub

• 2 TBSP Castile soap
• 2 TBSP baking soda

Combine and stir together in a small bowl.  It should thicken up like icing.  To use, spoon a little onto your scrubber, and apply to the damp area.  Scrub for a few seconds, let it sit for 1-2 minutes and then rinse off.

The first time I used this tub scrub I was amazed.  It made my shower and tub the cleanest it had been in a loooonnngggg time with less elbow grease.  Plus it’s minty fresh smelling.  Much better than breathing in chemical fumes while cleaning.

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Do you have any natural cleaning tips and tricks?  Do you clean your shower/tub often?  Are you a procrastinator like me?  

Hope your Monday is starting out well!

Heather