I was reading about the natural anti-bacterial benefits of lemon juice the other day, when I realized that many DIY cleaning products seemed to include the citrus in their ingredients. Apparently, lemon is a natural disinfectant and the citric acid found in lemons naturally, is used in many cleaning products already. This discovery also happened to be the same day that I ran out of my DIY Bathroom Scrub.

I got an idea.

I mixed up lemon juice, baking soda and water into a paste and tried using it as a scrub for various cleaning projects around the house.

The result? AMAZING.

Here’s what I did.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was too cute not to try. It was posted my great blog called Itty Bitty Impact. Basically, it’s just baking soda and essential oils, but you can have so much fun with it and it can be made in less than 5 minutes! So here goes:

DIY Quick and Easy Natural Air Freshener

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.