Super Easy and Effective homemade Surface Cleaner & Disinfectant

All-Purpose Cleaner
4 tsp. borax
2 Tsp. washing soda
4 Tbl. lemon juice or Vinegar

In a spray bottle, combine the ingredients with 4 cups of hot water and shake.

This is great for all of your hard surfaces! It cleans, shines and disinfects!

http://www.sideroad.com/Budgeting/homemade-cleaners.html

Homemade Disinfectant Wipes

I love the disinfectant wipes you can buy (Clorox Wipes, Lysol Wipes), but they are expensive and not environmentally friendly! So, when I am making my own baby wipes and house cleaners, I take the time to make my own disinfectant wipes. Now, they do not use bleach or anything chemical, I simply use a mixture of vinegar, water and essential oils, including tea tree oil which is said to have disinfecting properties. I figure I am paying 1/16 or less of the price of one of those tubes of Clorox wipes. They are great for quick wipes, just as you would use the store-bought wipes. Here's what to do...

You will need:

• An empty wipes holder (the tube kind with the flip top), washed out well with soapy water
• A roll of Bounty paper towels
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• Tea tree essential oil
• Lemon essential oil

Cut paper towel roll in 1/2 (width-wise) with a sharp, non-serrated knife. Carefully remove the cardboard from the middle using your fingers to break it away from the paper towels. Remove the outer 1/2 of the roll by using your fingers to break apart one of the paper towels at a perforation and carefully sliding the two parts apart. Now you have two rolls. Save the outer one and you can use it as napkins or on your paper towel holder.

Pour water and vinegar in the holder and add 10 drops of tea tree oil and 6 drops of lemon oil. Mix well.

Put the inner portion of paper towels in the holder. You may have to work it in. Make sure you can get ahold of the inner-most paper towel, the one you broke the cardboard away from. This will be the piece that you can thread through the top.

Let the paper towel soak up the mixture and then carefully feed the inner sheet through the top. They will continually feed through this way and will break off at the perforations.

What a great money saving tip brought to you by: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf91570073.tip.html

Liquid Dishwashing Soap

1. First, make sure your bottles and cups\spoons are clean and dry and prepare a surface where you can mix everything together. Decide HOW much of the soap you want to make, because that will effect how many bottles you'll want! I'll be describing the recipe here in ratios so that you can make as little or as much as you want.

2. Step 2

   In a ratio of 1:1, add liquid castile soap to warm water (equal parts). In other words, if you want 2 cups of total liquid, you would add 1 cup warm water to 1 cup of castile soap. n other words, EQUAL parts liquid castile soap and warm water. Stir or shake very well.

3. Step 3

   Then you'll add 1:4 ratio of white vinegar to your castile soap\water mix. That means if you have 2 cups total of castile soap\water, you would add 1\2 cup of vinegar. If you have 1 cup of castile soap\water mix, you'd add 1/4 cup and so on. In other words, you'd add 25% or 1/4 the amount of vinegar as there is castile soap\water. Shake well.

4. Step 4

   Then you want to add just a little bit of lemon juice. For every cup of the total mixture made, add 1 tsp of lemon juice. This will help cup grease!

5. Step 5

   If you desire, add 1 drop essential oil to every cup of total finished liquid. You don't want to add TOO much because it will flavor your dishes! Use something that's good for cleaning power and high quality enough to be food grade. Try orange, lemon, rosemary or tea tree. Shake well.

6. Step 6

   Label the bottle, making sure to put "SHAKE WELL BEFORE USE" on the directions. You'll only need to use 1TB for light loads or 2TB for heavy. You can put half that amount in the pre cycle dispenser if you wish.

7. Step 7

   It's a VERY good idea to add vinegar to your dishwasher when using this mixture. Since it's NOT actually a detergent, but a liquid natural soap, it can leave residue. Dump 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the bottom of your dishwasher every time you do a load, or 1/4 for small loads. This will help so that there won't be residue on your dishes, or film, will boost cleaning power, will help to degunk your dishwasher AND you won't have to use a rinse aid!

You can find this recipe and more at http://www.ehow.com/how_4591491_make-natural-liquid-dishwasher-detergent.html

Homemade Laundry Detergent

My youngest daughter has severe eczema, due to this we have had to make some changes in our laundry process. We began to look into perfume free, dye free, preservative free detergents, these are usually much more expensive then traditional brands. And having 4 women in our home, we go through a LOT of laundry. I needed to find a solution, and fast! I reached out to some friends, and we came up with a solution, to make my OWN laundry detergent. This will ensure that it is free of dyes, perfumes, and preservatives and I can save lots of money. First of all, I have to thank my friends Angie & Kira for getting me started in making my own detergent! This recipe is a derivative of the one they have been using for a long time!

The recipe is simple and affordable.

Ingredients:
2 gallon bucket
1/2 C Borax Powder
1/2 C Washing Soda (not Baking Soda)
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap or 1 whole bar of another kind
2 tbl of Liquid glycerin (optional)

Use food processor to shred soap or a box grater if a food processor isn't available. Put aside.

Heat 6 cups of water on the stove. Slowly add soap shreds to heated water, do not let it boil, it wont be pretty! Once dissolved Add 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat, add Liquid Glycerin if desired, this will result in a creamier consistency.

Pour 4 cups hot water into bucket and add soap mixture. Stir well. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups water and stir well, wait 30 minutes and stir again.

Let it sit about 20-24 hrs and it will set up. At this point you can either stir and use, or you can use a hand blender and make it into a creamier texture. Use about 1/2 cup per load.

This is great as a pre-treater as well! Happy Washing!

Just a Quick Hello!

Hello Everyone! My name is Jill, I'm 28, have a family of 5 including a wonderful husband and 3 beautiful children! We are a one income family so budgets are very important. I'm always on the look out for easy and fun ways to save money and make things healthier for my family. I look forward to getting to know each of you better as time goes on as you will get some sneak peaks into my life as well!