Today’s green living tip: make your own cleaning supplies. This one may seem radical – well, I used to think it was radical – or that the only people who made their own cleaning supplies were radical or perhaps hippies. Now, I’m one of those people and loving it!
Over the last 30-years or so we’ve been conditioned to believe that you have to buy harsh chemicals to get everything in your house operating room clean. It’s just not the case. In fact, there have been numerous studies showing the opposite to be true. Having everything hyper-clean is killing the germs but also preventing our bodies from the evolutionary benefits of being exposed to everyday pathogens. Yikes! (Here’s when we started rethinking our cleaning supplies.)
Making your own cleaning supplies – or buying ones that are actually healthy for our bodies and for the environment – is not difficult and cuts down on so much waste. Imagine never buying a spray bottle of cleaner again!
Start small by replacing your counter top clean up spray with white vinegar mixed with water – 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water. It cleans and also works on glass, mirrors, and shiny surfaces. (Here’s our shiny and clean cleaner routine.)
The other cleaning product I use is Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds – and I just bought a one gallon jug of it – which should last us well over a year! I use 1-teaspoon in a quart of water (same vinegar bottle as above) for general cleaning. It’s also what we use as our laundry detergent. It’s easy on the environment and our bodies, without harsh chemicals. (Here’s our all purpose cleaning routine using Sal Suds.)
Changing cleaning supplies slowly and one item at a time – baby steps – will make it stick. Vinegar, baking soda, and some products made by a few companies that are green and good. No one is monitoring when a company claims that it’s ‘green’ or ‘natural’ so check with Environmental Working Group to be sure. Join me in skipping the cleaning and laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store! Save the environment, save your health, and save money. It’s a win all-around!
Have you been tricked into thinking you had to buy all of your cleaning supplies, too?
Go Gingham Earth Month:
To celebrate April as “Earth Month,” I’m sharing a tip every day this month. Find all the tips by clicking the image below.
You’ll find simple and easy ideas to implement at your home – and they’ll save money as well!
Go Gingham 
I just think about what people used to clean their homes before the companies who make those chemical cleaners came into existence. Moving toward greener methods.
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I know it, Karen! If we all look around at what we buy (because we think we need to), many of those items are more recent inventions. They’re expensive, too. You’re smart to think about how things used to be done…greener ways and methods are the old ways. Thanks, Karen 🙂
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I use your baking soda trick all the time and make my own hand soap with your recipe (plus one extra bar of the hard soap b/c I like more bubbles) It’s easy and cheap. And that reminds me, I never added baking soda to my shopping list when I finished the box the other day. Better go do that now!
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Yay for you, Erin!! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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