Home Made Cleaners

You can save a lot of money and reduce the amount of bad chemicals your family is exposed to by making your own cleaning solutions at home. It's really easy and many say that they work as well or better than commercial cleaners. With the following simple recipes, you will have virtually everything you need to keep your home spic and span.

Non-Wood Surfaces & Tile
Mix equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. This bottle is your all-purpose cleaner.

Toilets
Use straight white vinegar.

Sinks & Tubs
Make a paste from baking soda and a little water. Use this as a scouring powder and scrub it on with a cloth. For hard stains, let the paste sit on the surface for a half hour, scrub it off, then scour again with straight baking soda.

Wood
Mix 1 part lemon juice to 2 parts olive oil. (If using in a spray bottle and not a squirt bottle, I suggest using bottled lemon juice rather than fresh squeezed, as the pulp will clog the spray bottle's straw.) This is your furniture polish.

Glass
Mix 1 cup rubbing alcohol with 1 cup water, add 1 tablespoon white vinegar. This is your glass cleaner.

Hard Floors
Dilute bleach to 10% with steaming hot water. (Open windows while mopping to reduce fumes.) Alternatively, you can purchase a gallon of Mr. Clean or similar and dilute it according to package directions for cleaning floors.

Spot Cleaning Carpet
Use a cloth to massage some rubbing alcohol into the stain.

Gold
Gold jewelry can be cleaned with toothpaste. For deeper cleaning and more shine, mix 2 cups water, half a teaspoon household ammonia, half a teaspoon mild dish liquid in a sealable container. If you can find a little plastic basket to lower into the solution that can lift your jewelry out like the store bought cleaners, that is good. Soak the jewelry briefly, brush lightly with a soft bristled toothbrush, especially underneath the stone and in crevices, rinse with cool water, dry with a soft cloth, and polish gently with a chamois cloth. You cannot use this cleaner with low quality jewelry, pearls, opals or other soft stones.