Natural cleaning

 

  I made some of my own all purpose cleaner.  I have been wanting to do this for a long time and finally got around to it!  I don't know why it took me so long, it is SO easy.  I used vinegar because I always have a lot of vinegar on hand, but you can also do a castile soap version.  You might want to do castile soap if you have marble counters because that is the one place you cannot use vinegar.  I've also heard that you never mix castile soap and vinegar.  Anyway, here is what I did:

1 cup water

1 cup white vinegar

~50 drops of essential oil

 

  The peppermint and lavender essential oil smells really come through and mask the smell of vinegar.  If you felt like the vinegar was still strong, you just add more essential oil.  The cool thing about essential oils too is that they also add to the cleaning power as they are naturally antibacterial and antifungal.  I've read lavendar is an exception to that and it is only used for the smell, but I know lemon has a lot of extra properties.

 

  I also love these because they are non-toxic, which for me means that I can let the kids go to town cleaning.  They actually like to do it when they can spray.  I can get some cleaning done while they help because I don't have to watch them like a hawk.  I don't even have to freak out if they accidentally hold the bottle the wrong way and squirt their face.  Yep, that happened.

 

  It also happens to be really cheap.  Well, there is the upfront cost of the essential oil and new spray bottles, but after that it is super cheap.  I'm all about trying to save money and have less trips to the store for soap!  Next on my agenda is to make an all purpose cleaner with castile soap and dishwasher detergent with castile soap.

 

Have a great weekend!