Homemade Cleaners

Yesterday I spent some time restocking my homemade cleaning supplies. I love not having to buy them! All you need are things you have in  your house:

1)Water

2)White vinegar

3)Dish soap

4)Bleach

And,if you are like me....

5)Essential oils for scent and for disinfecting.

( I do have more oils than these...this is a photo of my newer scents!)

 I make glass cleaner from vinegar,water,and a bit of dish soap. I use equal parts water and vinegar (depending on how much I need to fill my bottle),1/2 teaspoon dish soap,and I use as many drops of a whatever essential oil I am in the mood for. I put in 10 drops,shake the bottle,spray it in the air,and if I like the scent,I am done. If not,I add more drops,etc. This time around I used Fir Needle scent. Shake before each use!

A great disinfectant is water,vinegar,and tree oil. Again,equal parts water and vinegar,then approx 20 drops tea tree oil. Give it shake before  you use it!

If you don't have essential oils,don't worry,equal parts water and bleach work very well,especially in places like bathrooms!

I also had to replace our air freshener. Last time I used Lemongrass,this time I (again) used Fir Needle. Simply fill a spray bottle with water ( I used a 4 oz one)and put essential oil drops in. Since the bottle was not a big one,I used 5 drops to start,shook the bottle,and sprayed it in the air to see what the scent would be like. I think I used 6 or 7 drops. It was just the right amount of pine scent. Again,shake before each use,because the oils will find their way to the top of the water.

Today I made a new recipe I found for dish soap. This has been one of the banes of my life-trying to find a recipe that works. I don't mind lack of bubbles,but it has to cut grease and not leave my dishes filmy. I  have not found a solution to this problem,so I am hoping that this will work. I 'll keep you posted!

Put Some Zest In Your Fridge!

One of the jobs around the house that I am less than enamored with is cleaning out the fridge. If I cleaned it out every week like I always intend on doing,it would be a quick job,but,as always,I have marvelous plans in my head that never seem to come to fruition. Sometimes things get lost in the back of the fridge that once resembled something edible,but now look like some sort of fuzzy mold experiment,or there are leftovers in containers that we swore we would eat,but we don't even remember eating as a meal anymore because it's been so long. I personally love the free form art that the Crystal Light makes when some how it gets splashed onto the shelf .  How it gets there is a  mystery I have yet to solve.

The job needed a bit of...shall we say,jazzing up...or maybe I needed something to jazz me up!

I pulled out all the food and drink,threw out what was past expiration (thankfully there was very little),and wiped down the inside with hot water,a sponge,and dish soap (I use either Planet or Seventh Generation,which ever is less expensive that week). I dry off the inside of the fridge with a towel,and I usually take out the bins to hand wash them in the sink so I can clean under the bins where drips and dribbles seems to collect.It looked brand new,but I wasn't done yet.

I took a small spray bottle,filled it with water,and took out my essential oils. I wanted a nice citrus scent. I had lemon,grapefruit,lime,and lemon grass. I opted for lemongrass.

I put a few drops of lemongrass in the bottle,shook it up,and sprayed it in the air make sure it was the strength I wanted. I then sprayed in all over the inside of the fridge and let it sit for a few seconds,then wiped it off.

The fridge smelled great and it was a great pick me up too! It makes a nice air freshener as well.

Happiness In A Mailbox

Apparently the Plague has hit our home. Zach got sick in the nurses office yesterday,and even though his stomach is not upset today,he looks very pale and is wiped out,so we kept him home. I have been fighting a cold-I started with a mild scratchy throat a couple days ago,and was so wiped out that I slept all afternoon. Yesterday I felt a bit better,though my throat was still scratchy,and last night my body began to ache and I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 AM. Today I hurt all over,my throat is still scratchy,my stomach is a bit unsettled and my head feels stuffy. Lovely.

Today is opening day of rifle season for deer here in NH,and for 2 or 3 days,one can hunt either sex,then it's bucks only.Rick was going to go out this AM but decided to stay home and get the sonitubes placed into the ground.He will go out later this afternoon for a while.

I love when I have ordered something and am anxious to receive it. It's almost like a mini Christmas morning. I had to refill some of my essential oils,Stress Relief and Lavender,so I placed an order with Eden's Garden,and also ordered some new scents. This time around I did try the French Lavender as opposed to the plain Lavender. When I opened up the mailbox,there was the package,just waiting for me to rip into it:

I don't have the wherewithal today to try anything with these today. I am still waiting for my lye to come in so I can make more soap.I do need to make more linen spray and air freshener as well.

Do you use essential oils,and if you do,what do you use them for?