Basic Ecological & Economical Homemade Household Cleaners

Basic Household Cleaners
These are Natural Cleaners that are better for the environment, your family, and your wallet!

All you need to clean your home including laundry,dishes, kids and pets!

These are recepies for my homemade cleaners. I love these cleaners and have personally had no problems using them at all. There are few basic ingredients used throughout all the cleaners. Below is a list of where you can buy these products if you are having trouble finding them. I researched these all over the web and tweeked them for my liking. I'd put the links up for where I found the original posts but it would be inaccurate (not to mention that it was a while agoand I honestly don't remember where I found them all!). I took several different ideas and combined them or reduced them to come up with the simplest possible recepies that would work for my needs. I was tired of having tons and tons of cleaners that all did the same job, just didn't work on all my surfaces so I had to buy more and more crap. Same with laundry, I needed one detergent that worked for diapers, one for sensitive skin (we are allergic to alot) and would still clean my mud loving 3 & 2 year old's duds plus my hubby's grimy work clothes with who knows what black muck ground in. I hate the smell of chemicals, I can taste the bleach in  most dishwasher detergents, most household cleaning sprays drive my allergies insane, and honestly its all too stinking expensive for my budget.

So for less than what I used to pay for 1 large jug of Tide I can now clean my whole house, my kids and pets, do my dishes and my laundry!

What You Will Need and Where to Buy:

Liquid Castile Soap: Dr. Bonner's is sold at Target near the Burt's Bees stuff in the Beauty Section. I paid less than $10 for my bottle and I got the one with Tea Tree Oil in it.
Washing Soda: Made by Arm & Hammer Called Super Washing Soda. I found it at Shop n Save for $2.30 a box. Some Wal- Marts have it and some Ace Hardware Stores, you can order it on-line as well. Ace has it on-line for under $4 per box and has free shipping site to store if you are unable to find it anywhere else.
Borax: most stores with a laundry section have this, Wal-Mart & Target both do for about $3.65 a box (price varies by store).
Low Sudsing Ammonia: Dollar General is where Ifound mine for $1 a bottle. I imagine that stores like walmart may have it too!
Distilled White Vinegar: again Dollar General I think less than $2.00 for a huge bottle. this will be in any grocery store though
Hydrogen Peroxide: in the first aid section of most stores, buy a big bottle but search for the lowest price! I got a big bottle for 75 cents at Dollar General.
Salt: some people use kosher salt, i used generic plain old table salt for 33 cents at the discount grocery store. one of the big containers with a pour spout.
Baking Soda: grocery, dollar and big stores like wal mart all have this just search for the best price. I buy small boxes for 50 cents because i can get them close to home as opposed to driving for a better price on the big bag. Unless I am at the bigger store anyhow.
Lemonade Packets: These are the kool-aid packets with out sugar in them.Any grocery store should have them. I wait till they are on a huge sale and buy a ton, like 20 for a dollar, you can use a generic one its the citric acid in them that you need. You could use actual citric acid but I didn't have any way to buy that near home and for all I needed it for, lemonade works just fine. This is to cut down on the spots and the film dishwasher detergents leave on dishes.
Containers: you could buy new ones or in the interest or reusing and saving money you can clean your old spray bottles and detergent jugs or otehr appropriate sized containers you have around home.
News Paper: pretty self explainatory lol
To clean the containers: make sure that all of the old product has been thouroughly rinsed with hot water. Then rinse well with peroxide and allow to air dry before reusing.

Cleaner Recepies:

Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener: Good for all laundry, can use to treat stains and soak clothing, diapers ect. I even wash our shoes in this. We have very sensitive skin and this does not bother us at all and I think it cleans better than Tide did.

Dishwasher Detergent and Rinse Agent: No problems in my dishwasher with glass, plastic, ceramic or metal. Doesn't leave a film and it even cleaned chili and spagetti sauce off of white and clear plastic!

All Purpose Cleaner: Cleans every type of surface we have from wood and ceramic to marble and countertops. Works great on stoves and all other kitchen appliances. Terriffic on kids toys, inside cars, on leather, even spot cleaning couches and my bathroom! The only thing I don't use it on is windows and glass or T.V/ computer screens.

Scrubbing Cleaner: Whatever the all purpose spray doesn't clean this does. I use this one my tub, in my kitchen sink when its super dirty, in my toilet, on the cooked on spots on my stove top, oven and microwave.

Food Prep Surface Disenfectant / Fruit and Veggies Wash Spray: Disenfects counters, glass, plastic and wood cutting boards etc. You can also use this to clean your fruits and vegetables. It is safe to spray an apple or salad geens and then eat. It kills bacteria like E Coli, samonella, and other food bourne bacteria.

Window and Glass Cleaner: works great I use it on all my windows, mirrors, my stained glass lamp shades and nick nacks, even my car windows.

Liquid Castile Soap Uses: This is such a wonderful product with so many uses throughout the home and for my family and pets. I love this stuff and I wish I had found out about it a decade ago!

Homemade Cat Litter: my kitty loves this and as long as you scoop it daily and change it weekly I have had no problems with it!

Good luck with all of these if you have any suggestions please feel free to post them! If you found somewhere else to buy one of these items or if you found a super good deal please post it and let us know what area you live in too! Not all products are available in all stores in all areas sadly.