Homemade Cleaners

Since I'm feeling crummy today and have no motivation to clean, I thought that I would at least post about cleaning. That makes my lack of productivity less bad, right? Right?

Anyhow..we avoid commercial cleaning products for two reasons. First of all, because we want to avoid the toxic chemicals that are in those commercial cleansers. Secondly, it's cheaper to simply make your own. So, here are my homemade cleanser recipes:

Wood Cleanser
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar

Place in spray bottle and label, "Furniture Polish." I use this on all of our wood furniture, including the nice antique stuff. Sometimes I spray it directly on the wood and other times I spray on a rag and then apply to the wood. I also use this on my kitchen's wood floor after I've mopped. It gives a nice shine to the wood.

Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. white vinegar

Place in spray bottle and label, "Glass Cleaner." I use this on all mirrors, windows, computer and tv screens.

Toilet cleaning
For the toilet, I simply sprinkle some baking soda in the bowl and scrub with a toilet brush. Then flush. Then I clean the exterior of the toilet using undiluted white vinegar in a spray bottle.

Tub/Sink Cleaning
I sprinkle some baking soda in the sink/tub and scrub with a scrub brush. The countertops around the sinks can be cleaned with the undiluted vinegar.

Mopping
I simply fill my kitchen sink with super-hot water and then pour some white vinegar in. I'm not even sure of the measurement...about three "glugs" from the gallon jug of vinegar. It doesn't have to be exact.

I like keeping things simple and this type of cleaning doesn't require any special purchases on my part. I can simply use what's on hand in my home. Also, I don't have to worry about the kids helping me clean and being exposed to toxins. I know that many may worry about germs and such in our home since we don't use commercial disinfectants or bleach, but our family has been blessed with good health. We are very rarely ever sick, so this type of cleaning can't be doing too bad of a job!

If you try any of these recipes, let me know what you think. Also, if you have a good homemade, non-toxic cleaning technique that you love, please share it with me.

My Mental Block

Can you see the mess in the pictures? It's awful. There's a layer of dust on the curtains. There's even a string of dust on the right side of the curtain that connects to the wall. The dust on the ceiling vents needs cleaned off too. I sneeze and my whole face itches anytime I go into the bathroom where that curtain hangs. Uhh..I itch just looking at the pictures. However, I just cannot make myself clean it.

I don't know if anyone else suffers from this same inability. I know that I need to go through this house, one room at a time, and do a deep cleaning..dusting door facings and windowsills, washing windows, cleaning webs and dust off the ceilings, etc. However, I am mentally incapable of doing any type of deep cleaning until the little stuff is all done. For instance, at our old house before we moved...I couldn't dust the kids' rooms until all their toys were put away. If there were things scattered across the floor, my mind couldn't get past that to focus on the deep cleaning issues. It's the same thing at this new house only magnified times ten! Not only do I have kids' toys on the floor, but I still have half-emptied boxes to go through and a laundry room to organize.

Anyhow, I don't know when I'll actually get around to this deep cleaning stuff, but my thought process today was that, if I confessed here, then maybe I'd be motivated to GET IT DONE! I keep telling myself that I have to get it done before spring because I plan on being extremely busy outside with the garden, orchard, and chickens when things warm up. If you feel led, pray for my productivity...and my sanity!