Sunday, January 31, 2016

DIY Cleaning Products 101

Over the last few months of unemployment, we've attempted to live as inexpensively as possible. When we ran out of cleaning products we had purchased, I started to research DIY cleaning products, and I thought I'd share the ones I've tried and like.

The main ingredients are VERY inexpensive: baking soda, dish detergent, baking soda, and a few essential oils.

DIY Orange Degreaser
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp. dish detergent
20 drops orange oil

Mix together. Place mixture in spray bottle. Spray on area that needs de-greased. Let sit for a minute or two. Use a sponge or cloth to wipe off. Little, if any, scrubbing is needed! I used this on the inside glass of my oven and on some spots on the inside of my oven that wouldn't come off, even after running the "cleaning" cycle of the oven. They came off!

DIY Oven Rack Cleaner
Place racks in tub. Spray or sprinkle with vinegar. Sprinkle liberally with baking soda. Let sit for 10 minutes. Fill tub with hot water to cover racks. Let sit for another 10 minutes. Now simply wipe the racks down to get all the gross grimy stuff off. No need to scrub!

Shower & Tub Cleaner
Use the Oven Rack Cleaner method above. It really works!

DIY Warm-Mist Humidifier Cleaner
When running the humidifier, add 4 or 5 drops of "breathe" mixture of essential oils. When the water is gone, simply shake out the sediments or use the spray nozzle at your kitchen sink. No scrubbing necessary! Plus, you get the benefit of kind of a vapor-rub effect from the humidifier!