Spring Cleaning!

So, the laundry soap has been working out so well that I decided to expand my homemade household supplies to dish soap, kitchen surface cleaner, and all-purpose household cleaner for glass and other surfaces. I found super easy recipes, and I already had most of the ingredients. And for an added bonus, we made a party out of it! My friend, Kari came over to whip up some cleaning supplies with me this weekend.

First, Powdered Dishwashing Detergent. Let's be honest, our dishwasher is not wonderful. I practically have to hand wash everything before it goes in, so the dishwasher is just an extra measure for sanitation. I've been fighting with both liquid and powder detergent, and neither work great. There is always some gross residue left on the door or on the dishes. Yuck! If something is left on my clean dish after a run through the cycle, I'd rather it be something natural like baking soda or vinegar than some cleaning chemical.

Supplies: measuring spoons, air-tight container

Here is the recipe: Combine 1 part Washing Soda and 1 part Baking Soda (I used 4 cups of each) in a bowl to thoroughly mix together. Transfer to air-tight storage container. Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load. For an added boost, fill rinse indicator with white vinegar.

Next, Kitchen Surface Cleaner. So all of these Lysol-type cleaners that kill 99.9% of bacteria are unnecessary. Certain bacteria should be killed off; however, not all bacteria is bad. In the words of my friend, Lauren, "Support Bacteria. It's the only culture most people have. I am not infantile, you stinky butt poophead." So I'm ok with suppressing my OCD nature to scrub, scrub, scrub and embracing good bacteria! yay!

Supplies: small funnel, spray bottle

Here is the recipe: Funnel 1 part white distilled vinegar, 1 part warm water, 2-3 drops tea tree oil into a clean, empty squirt bottle. Gently swirl to combine. Vinegar and tea tree oil are mild disinfectants. Do not use on finished wood because the vinegar can strip the stain.

Finally, All-Purpose House Cleaner. This is for everything else.

Supplies: small funnel, spray bottle, stove (to heat water)

Here is the recipe: Funnel 2 Tablespoons Borax, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 cups very hot water into a squirt bottle. Shake or swirl until borax has dissolved.

I bought the supplies for all of the cleaners at the Dollar Tree, so I spent $4 on 2 spray bottles, a set of funnels, and one air tight container that I will use over and over again.

Now for the math nerd in me, the financial rationalization of cooking up these concoctions =)

Powdered Dishwashing Detergent

The homemade detergent comes out to about 8 cents per load. While store bought detergent costs about 46 cents per load (depending on brand and amount used). I cook a lot, so we end up running the dishwasher 4 times a week on average (that also means unloading it four times- gross).

Annual Cost of Homemade Detergent = $16.64

Annual Cost of Store Bought Detergent = $95.68

Annual Savings = $79.04

Kitchen Surface Cleaner & All-Purpose House Cleaner

We don't go through these quite as fast as dish and laundry detergent, but I'd say we purchase a bottle of each 5 times each year. Each bottle usually costs around $4.50. You probably have all of the ingredients except the tea tree oil. The oil is the most expensive ($4/ounce), but you only use a couple drops per batch.

Annual Cost of Homemade Cleaner = $5.95 (assume one bottle of oil, which is the majority of the cost)

Annual Cost of Store Bought Cleaner = $45

Annual Savings = $39.05

If you make and use all 4 cleaning solutions (laundry, dishwasher, kitchen, house) for one year, you will save almost $200! So, come on, this just makes sense! It makes financial, environmental, and social sense! A lot of you told me that you liked the laundry detergent recipe, so I hope you'll try out these also!