All Natural Cleaning

I don't know why cleaning with all natural cleaning products didn't occur to me before a year ago! I am sure my husband is asking the same question! When I was pregnant he was responsible for doing all the heavy cleaning (tubs, toilets, etc.) so I wasn't exposed to the nasty chemicals and fumes.

So, my first step was to get rid of the Scrubbing Bubbles, Lysol, and Clorox. I replaced them with an all purpose, all natural cleaner I have been buying at Meijer. It works great, no complaints on that, but it is expensive! And I seem to go through it faster than the old stuff.

Living a healthier lifestyle shouldn't break the bank! At least that is my philosophy. So, I have been looking for inexpensive ways to get my house, clothes, and dishes clean without the chemicals.

Right now I am using Ecos Laundry Detergent from Costco. It is about $11 and it lasts me about 2 months. I plan to try making my own laundry detergent once the container I have open is gone. If you have a good homemade laundry detergent recipe you would like to share, please do! I have been adding 1 cup of baking soda to my whites. That has really worked well. Over the last couple of weeks I have not been pre-treating any of my girls' clothes, just throwing them in the wash with the extra baking soda, and it has been doing the job just as well as if I had spent all that time scrubbing them!

I just bought all of the ingredients to make my first batch of homemade dishwasher detergent (the same ingredients I will need for my laundry detergent). The recipe I am using is as follows:

1 cup Borox
1 cup Washing Soda
White Distilled Vinegar

Mix the Borox and the Washing Soda in a resealable container. Use 2 tbs. in each load. Use vinegar in place of your store bought rinse aid.

I will let you know next week how it goes. If it works, we'll be saving a fortune! I run our dishwasher at least twice a day.

So, for general household cleaning I tried baking soda and water. The enormous bag of baking soda I bought at Costco had all these suggestions on what you can use baking soda for. General cleaning was the top of their list. They recommended tubs, countertops, floors, etc. I would not recommend this at all! It works great as a laundry booster but not as a general cleaner. It left streaks or spots on everything! This was even after rinsing. It made my tile slippery and it didn't work on the tubs at all, even with a lot of scrubbing. I then tried vinegar and water. This is the cleaning product most of our grandparents probably used to get their homes spotless. Vinegar is cheap and the smell evaporates once it dries (except on your hands, wear gloves if you don't want to smell like a pickle the rest of the day). I filled a big bowl with warm water and poured a few glups of vinegar in it (maybe 1 1/2-2 cups)I washed my floors, windows, counters, tubs, everything with it. It worked great! It even took hard water deposits off the faucet and water dispenser on my refrigerator. I am in the process of making a citrus based all purpose cleaner (it has to ferment in my fridge for 3 months). I have high hopes for this cleaner and will let everyone know how it works once it is done. It would definitely smell better than the vinegar, but until then the vinegar and water works, its cheap, it disinfects, and it's all natural!

I would love to hear any other suggestions people have for all natural cleaning products you can make at home.

Why I'm Inspired

I don't even know where to begin!

I feel like over the last 5+ years I have experienced this enlightenment. Not that we didn't LIVE healthy before,at least to most American's standards, but I think "healthy", in my mind, has been redefined. Healthy used to mean we didn't eat fast food. Which probably would be a healthy first step for the majority of Americans. Healthy, to me, now means knowing (being able to pronounce) everything that my family is consuming. This means not just the finished product but the entire ingredient list! We buy locally produced (grown, raised, and manufactured) food as often as possible. This means it is fresher! We buy very little processed food. This means a little more work, because I don't buy frozen or boxed meals, but in the end it tastes way better and is much healthier! We use all-natural cleaning products. I don't want my children around toxic fumes or residue from chemicals that are supposed to be "cleaning" my house. We use cloth diapers...for sooooo many reasons. The list could go on and on.

Bottom line. It seems like a good idea to know what is going in your body. As a Christian I believe my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. I want to keep it clean, healthy, and maintained on the inside and out.

Five years ago when we switched to only drinking organic milk. We had friends and family that thought we were just being yuppys! They were offended that we would have a problem with the milk that they drank. We are no longer the minority! More and more of our friends and family are choosing healthier options. I can still be a conservative, Republican and eat organic, buy local, and cloth diaper!

This blog is for all my friends who have asked me, "how do you do it?" We took small steps to get where we are at. We are still learning and making healthier changes to our lifestyle. But I am passionate about life and the way we are living it. I love to share the information we have learned and the reasons why we have chosen to do things the way we do. Feel free to take bits and pieces. You have to make decisions that are going to be best for your family.

God Bless!
Christy