Jax and I are staying at a friend's farm in Kentucky for two weeks to help her while she's on pregnancy bed rest.
It is so beautiful and peaceful here. And I'm learning a lot.
During my pregnancy with Jax, I made efforts to get toxic things out of my body and home, one step at a time. There's a lot of things I still want to eliminate, but it takes time to find affordable, effective replacements.
Household cleansers were a big one on the list. They are expensive, hurt my throat and lungs, and are so dangerous if ingested. And I had a feeling more natural solutions didn't need to have the price tag of Method or other brands.
I purchased a book called Super Natural Home. They suggested using a spray bottle of vinegar and a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide to clean most things around the house. You can't mix them together. Instead, spray one on the surface, wipe down, then spray the next one, then wipe clean. Tests have shown this process kills more than 99% of household germs, and is more effective than traditional chemical disinfectants. And, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide are super cheap.
We've been using those products since.
One day I came home and my lungs felt like burning. Benjamin admitted he had used the old chemical cleansers to clean the bathroom, even though he had been using vinegar for months. It shocked me how noticeable the difference was, after a few months of going without the strong chemicals.
But I was still stuck on one thing. I hate the smell of vinegar. I am a high-olfactory person (super sensitive to smells). And I dread cleaning my house, having to bear the smell of vinegar.
My friend Kristin has the solution. She mixes vinegar and water, half and half, in a small spray bottle. Then she adds about a tablespoon of dish soap (preferably a natural one, or you can skip this step), and about a tablespoon of orange oil. Don't bother measuring; just pour a bit in. The orange oil removes the vinegar smell and gives your cleanser a delicious fresh citrus scent!
I have been using this cleanser around her house since I've been here. If it was possible to fall in love with a cleanser, I have done so. It has also made me eager to clean, so I can enjoy the delicious fresh smell of oranges!
I have used it in the bathroom and the kitchen, on counters, floors, mirrors, toilet, greasy kitchen residue, inside the refrigerator, and more. The only thing I wouldn't use it on would be something you wouldn't use water on, like wood furniture.
The orange oil has only two ingredients: orange peel extract and emulsifiers.
Kristin also uses the mixture as a bug repellent and bug killer. I have sprayed it on ants, flies, and spiders, and it either kills them within minutes, or it slows them down immediately, making it easy to kill them and clean them up with paper towel or toilet paper. She had me put straight orange oil on a cotton ball and wipe it in the back corners of the kitchen counter to deter little black ants from coming inside. It worked.
With this homemade cleanser, you have a disinfectant, degreaser, bug repellent, and air freshener all in one! And it is made from dirt-cheap, earth-friendly ingredients!
I can't wait to get home and clean my house!
Update: I've been asked to do the math on the cost of this stuff. I'm not the best at math but here's what I got.
Water: one cup, not priced
For the sake of this post we're assuming water is free. You can add your local cost of water if you wish.
Vinegar: one cup, $0.3125
($5 for one gallon on Amazon; 16 cups in a gallon)
Nature's Wisdom Orange Oil Concentrate: 1 Tbsp, $0.453 or 1 tsp $.151
($29 for one quart on Amazon; 64 Tbsp in a quart)
If you don't plan to use this for killing bugs, you could reduce the Orange Oil to 1 tsp (about one cap full)
To mix a solution with one cup water, one cup vinegar, one Tbsp orange oil, one Tbsp soap, costs $0.8255. A 24oz bottle would cost $1.21. If you only used one tsp orange oil, that would reduce the cost of a 24 oz bottle to $0.79.
I did not include the cost of a reusable spray bottle. I found a cute one I liked on Amazon for $5.
As a comparison, on Amazon, Lysol antibacterial kitchen cleanser is $3.19 for 22 oz. Clorox Clean Up with Bleach is $7.75 for 32 oz (perhaps this is cheaper in stores? I don't remember cleansers costing that much).
Another note from a friend: use baking soda for things that require scrubbing!
