Homemade cleaners

As I was looking for something in my cabinets over my washer and dryer, I saw the items that I use to make cleaners.  That's a huge savings in my house.  Commercial cleaners can be so expensive and tend to be uni-taskers as Alton Brown would say.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a huge Alton Brown fan...LOL.

Anyway, homemade cleaners.  I originally started making them after reading a book from the library about saving money in the home.  Now I love using them because there is not that chemicaly smell and they really are good cleaners.  They are good for the environment and cheap.  Um, I mean frugal!  LOL

First and foremost, plain, white vinegar is a great disinfectant.  I also accidentally found that it works on lots of fresh stains too.  I removed grape KoolAid out of a blue couch with it.  I also got blood out of a beige carpet.  With nothing but plain, white vinegar.

I make a homemade window cleaner that is just 1 cup of alcohol, 2 Tablespoons of non-sudsing ammonia and 2 cups of water.  I do add a few drops of blue food coloring, not only to differentiate between the cleaners but we're used to associating window cleaner with being blue.  I put this in a cheap dollar store spray bottle and it's great.

My friend, Secrena, shared this carpet cleaner recipe with me, I use it in my Kirby carpet cleaner.  In the resevoir, I mix 1/3 cup Tide, 1/3 cup bleach and 1/3 cup of Downey.  This stuff is amazing!  It does not alter the color of your carpet with the bleach in it but it does seriously help to remove the grunge in the carpets.

Another good one from Secrena is homemade Febreeze.  It is also just in a spray bottle, it's    just 2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda, 1/8 cup of your favorite fabric softener and fill the bottle with water.  I fill it with warm water so that the baking soda dissolves.  I use this stuff everywhere.  I spray the carpets, couches, curtains, pretty much anything that is fabric I will use this to freshen it.  It is seriously amazing.  

Speaking of baking soda, it's a great non-abrasive cleaner.  You can not only scrub the tubs and such with it but mixed with vinegar, it does part of the work for you.  I will run vinegar through my coffee pot to clean it.  I'll sprinkle baking soda in each side of the drain in the kitchen sink and some in the toilet just off the kitchen.  Once the vinegar has gone through the coffee pot, I'll pour part of it down each side of the sink (maybe a cup per side) and then put the rest in the toilet.  Vinegar and baking soda fizz and in the drain, when using the hot vinegar from the coffee pot, it will help to remove any grease in the drain and it will freshen it too.  In the toilet, the fizzing will help to loosen anything on the sides of the toilet and when you scrub with the toilet brush, it doesn't scratch the porcelain.  

These are just a few to get you started.  They really are easy to use and cheap!