WHY DO THIS?
If your home comes with kids, pets or an eco-friendly attitude, the chemicals that come with store-bought cleaning products may make you a little nervous. Good news: by DIYing your household cleaning products, you can break free from those chemical bonds, save money and keep your house squeaky clean! Here are three super-simple, eco-friendly recipes to get you started.
Estimated Time: 30 MINUTES
Complexity: EASY
HOW TO:
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Dish Soap. This is a particularly useful cleaner to make if you have kids – the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of six is liquid dish soap! All you need is some castile soap (this is any soap made entirely from vegetable oil), mint tea and a few other simple ingredients. For detailed instructions, read: Make Your Own Non-Toxic Dish Soap.
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Oven cleaner. Wet all surfaces of your oven with a sponge or cloth. Then mix ¾ cup baking soda, ¼ cup salt and ¼ cup water together so they form a paste. Spread throughout the interior of your oven, but avoid vent openings. Let the paste sit overnight, scrape off in the morning and remove all remnants with a wet sponge or cloth.
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Laundry detergent. This one is nice and simple. Use a cheese grater to grate a bar of laundry soap into a bowl. Add some borax and baking soda, and mix together. Use one tablespoon of the mixture for each load of laundry, and keep the rest in an easy-to-access jar.