I, for one, am really excited about Memorial Day weekend this year. For once, me and Sexy will both be in town at the same time, and we won’t be traveling. We also have redone the backyard a bit, and I’m determined to grill and go back there more than just when company’s coming. One of the things I’ve learned about summer BBQs and parties, the more you make yourself, the more money you’ll save. Here’s some of the things I look forward to doing/making this summer.

• Green/Frugal BBQ – check out this post I did last year about how to save money and stay green for your BBQ.

 

• Homemade Lemonade and Iced Tea – What’s summer without lemonade and iced tea? Ever since I figured out how to make them on my own, I’ve stopped buying the store bought stuff, especially those godawful cans of iced tea mix. It’s too simple and too cheap to do myself!

Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Easy Iced Tea Recipe

• DIY Chips and Dip – What’s a BBQ without

I adapted this recipe from Crunchy Betty and I love it! It cleans everything in my bathroom and in other parts of he house as well, and is so cheap to make.

DIY Bathroom Scrub Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. baking soda
• 1/4 c. washing soda
• 1/4 c. liquid castile soap
• 1 capful of hydrogen peroxide
• 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 25 drops lemon balm*
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil*
• 1/4 c. Water

Directions:

Pour all dry ingredients into a wide-mouth glass jar. (I find that a salsa jar usually works best for this). Next add

I am really scared of the ingredients in things like Liquid Plumbr and Liquid Snake and some of those hardware store chemicals out there. Almost all of them contain sodium hydroxide (a.k.a.-lye) which is highly toxic if it comes in contact with your skin, hair, eyes or breathing passages. Not to mention what it does to the environment once it’s out of the house, it basically kills all kinds of wildlife in its path and alters the ph balance of rivers and streams.. Some of the chemicals always come back up into the sink or tub and inevitably make it’s way on to our skin or into the air of the bathroom. Not.taking.that.chance.

For everyday sink, tub and shower clogs we do the following at the House of Brown:

I will never forget the day before my wedding. On the list of things to do, was to stop by the jewelers and get my engagement ring cleaned so that it would be sparkling for my big day. Much to my horror, the jeweler was on vacation and it was really too late to go anywhere else. My cousin suggested that I clean the ring in Alka-Seltzer and water, which I did and it worked! So here’s what I did.

Alka Seltzer Jewelry Cleaner

• 1 packet (2 tablets) of regular Alka Seltzer (not flavored, and not alka Seltzer Cold Plus)
  
• 1 glass
• 6oz. water

Directions:

Pour water in glass, and drop the tablets into it. Drop jewelry in the same time as the tablets are fizzing. Leave the jewelry in the solution for 5-10 minutes after the tablets have completely dissolved.

Remove jewelry and

I watched my brothers do this once at my mom’s house, and was fascinated. (We’re all geeks so it doesn’t take much). As an example, I’m using a piece of sterling silver flatware from my grandmother’s collection. This works for Jewelry as well as silverware however.

Materials:
1 aluminum pie plate, pan or aluminum foil (this is important!)
1-2 tbsps of baking soda
2 cups of hot water (not quite boiling)

Windex (the blue kind) includes two toxic ingredients. Ethylene glycol and isopropanol. I found out that Ethylene glycol is highly poisonous, and has a syrupy sweet taste (a problem if you have children who like to put their mouths on everything). Isopropanol is a type of alcohol that is less harmful when used properly, but highly flammable and is used in certain explosives. Johnson and Johnson must have also realized this, because they came out with Windex Natures’ Source recently, and it doesn’t include either ingredient. (Congrats to J&J for cleaning up the product!)

There are a plethora of glass-cleaner recipes on the web, and I tried a few and came up with this one. I use this all the time around the house, with either a microfiber towel, newspaper or brown paper. My mirrors shine, and it cuts right through soap scum on out shower door. I also use it on chrome and the car windows. And the cost? Pennies.

Furniture cleaners that are made for wood may contain petroleum distillates and other chemicals that may irritate your skin, eyes, and respiratory tract (that is your throat, lungs and windpipe). If ingested, furniture polish can aggravate asthma,  and may cause nausea and vomiting. So after some web searching, I cobbled together this recipe which works well on our SEALED wood after dry dusting. Oh and the best part? It’s CHEAP!

Furniture Dusting Spray for Wood Furniture
Ingredients:

1/4 cup apricot kernel oil
1/4 Lemon Oil (NOT essential oil, this the kind that they sell in the hardware store as furniture polish)
3 tablespoons of liquid Castile soap
1 cup distilled water
15 drops lemongrass essential oil
10 drops clary sage essential oil (cedar essential oil smells great too!)

Directions:

Pour all of the above into a spray bottle and shake. Spray onto a microfiber or other soft cloth and then wipe onto furniture.

Here’s a few quick, cheap recipes that I use in our house. These are better for the environment as well as your health than aerosol sprays and they can be made in smaller quantities to take with you on trips! (I’m a little weird about how hotel rooms smell, and don’t get me started about those sheets! LOL).

Orange Bathroom Spray

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unflavored vodka (or other high proof liquor)*
• 20 drops sweet orange essential oil
• 10 drops lemon essential oil
• 3 cups water
• spray bottle

Directions:
Put the liquor and oils in the spray bottle first and shake vigorously to mix. Then fill the rest of the bottle with water and shake again. This one is great for the bathroom. This one really does work well on stinky odors. Shake well before each use.

Here’s a recipe that I found on tipnut for a cleaner that I use to clean my granite countertops in the kitchen. It works great, and disinfects well!

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp pure castille soap (peppermint, etc.)
3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil
20 drops lemongrass essential oil

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a 32-ounce plastic spray bottle.

Check out the original link below
http://tipnut.com/granite-marble-cleaner/

Store bought fabric softeners are designed to reduce static in synthetic fabrics. They serve no purpose with natural fabrics. Fabric softeners work by leaving a residue on the fabric which never completely washes out. It can cause allergic reactions through skin contact and inhalation. Fabric softeners may also contain carcinogenic coal-tar dyes, ammonia and very strong scents. When fabric softeners are exposed to hot water, heat from dryers or ironing, vapors may be emitted which can be deeply inhaled, increasing their impact.- Guide to Less Toxic Products

When I stopped using fabric softener, this strange rash I used to get on my leg went away, and Sexy’s nighttime nosebleeds subsided. I tell anyone with excema or asthma to stop using store brand fabric softener immediately, since it’s known to aggravate both ailments. It’s incredibly easy to make your own fabric softener, and much healthier too! Here’s few versions that I’ve tried.

Basic DIY Fabric Softener

• add 1/2 cup of white vinegar at the START of the rinse cycle when washing clothes

Lavender Fresh Fabric Softener

1. add 20 drops of lavender essential oil to 1 gallon of white vinegar
2. add 1/2 cup at the START of the rinse cycle when washing clothes

Lemony Fabric Softener* (this one makes your clothes really soft)

• 6 cups of white vinegar
• 1 cup of baking soda
• 1 cup water
• 15 drops of lemongrass essential oil (optional)
• bottle or container with screw top to hold mixture

1. Get a large pot or mixing bowl and pour the vinegar and water in.
2. Next add the baking soda a little at a time, (because it’s going to bubble up like a 5th grade paper-maché volcano).
3. When all of the baking soda is added to the vinegar and has settled, stir it a bit so that the majority of the baking soda dissolves.
4. Then pour the vinegar into the container and add the essential oil
5. Shake before use
6. Add 1/2 cup at the START of the rinse cycle when washing clothes

DO NOT use Apple cider Vinegar in any of the above recipes, it will stain your clothes! (save it for your hair, I’ll explain in another post)

Note: The clothes will smell really lemony when they come out of the washer, but after they dry, either in the dryer or on the line, the scent fades a bit.

*This recipe is from The Naturally Clean Home, by Karyn Siegel-Maier