Monday, September 21, 2009

Cleaning Solution

I got a great recipe from my pastor's wife Rachel. No, this post is not about to solve the recurring "what's for dinner?" question, but it's pretty helpful all the same.

When we got Jonathan, I started thinking about all the chemicals I cleaned the house with. Especially the bathroom. And I realized that I wasn't comfortable using any of my usual cleaners around him. So I started looking for cleaning solutions that didn't scare me. Rachel volunteered her cleaning recipe, and I fell in love. Well, maybe not in love, but I sure do like it. I pretty much use it for everything (except dusting and glass) now. Bathrooms, kitchen, floors, even scrubbing the grime off my kitchen cabinets is less of a drag. I still keep toilet bowl cleaner, windex, scrubbing bubbles, for occasional use, but this has become my primary cleaner of choice.

I know several people have asked for the recipe, and I can't keep up with who I've passed it out to, so I'm posting it below. Amounts and proportions are kind of estimates, so be warned:

3 cups hot water
1 oz vinegar
2 tsp Borax
3-4 drops Tea Tree essential oil (this has anitbacterial properties)
3-4 drops essential oil (this is optional, it just makes it smell prettier)

Mix it all together in a spray bottle, and you're in business! The essential oils can be a bit pricey in comparison to the other ingredients, but they last close to forever, since you use so little at a time. A couple shopping tips: I could only find the essential oils at the CS HEB, and my spray bottle is from the garden department at Walmart.

Anyway, I hope that gets the recipe out to everyone who still wanted it. Now I have this itch to go clean something...