Homemade Cleansers
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There are many reasons to switch from commercial cleansers to homemade
ones, and here are just a few:
Commercial cleansers contain a lot of hazardous, harmful chemicals,
which not only damage the environment when we use them, but also damage
your health when you handle them or breathe their fumes.
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Commercial cleansers are expensive. Homemade cleansers, on the other
hand, can be made for pennies, using water (distilled or plain from the
tap) plus things like baking soda, borax, vinegar, and liquid soap.
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When you make homemade cleansers, you know what you put into them,
and you have the added bonus of being able to make fragrance-free cleansers
if you want.
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If you are looking for homemade facial cleansers, or other homemade
beauty preparations, visit Natural Beauty.
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You will need to have on hand the following ingredients:
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Baking soda
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Borax
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Liquid soap – this can be any liquid soap, but I prefer to use vegetable-oil-based
soap. A good brand is Dr. Bronner's soap, available at many health food
stores. It's biodegradable, which means when you wash your dishes with
it, you can then pour the water on your plants without damaging them. It's
also very concentrated and lasts a very long time.
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White vinegar
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Washing soda – this is a very good grease cutter; you can find it in
the laundry products aisle at the supermarket.
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Pine essential oil (optional) – This can be a little hard to find,
and can be substituted for tea tree oil, available at health food stores.
Tea tree oil has bacteriological properties, meaning it kills bacteria.
You can also use peppermint oil. Just 2 drops per gallon of any of these
oils will do nicely. Note: Some people are allergic to pine oil and peppermint
oil. If you are allergic, use these with caution or avoid them entirely.
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Spray bottles – these are to put your cleansers in. I get clear ones
at the gardening supply store, and attach labels to them.
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Food coloring (optional) – This is to color code your cleansers. I
color my window cleaner blue, and my all purpose cleaner pink, for example.
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And now for some recipes:
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Fantabulous, a multipurpose cleaner
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1 tsp. borax,
½ tsp. washing soda,
2 tbs. vinegar or lemon juice,
½ tsp. liquid soap,
2 cups very hot water,
spray bottle,
food coloring (optional).
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Combine all the ingredients in a Pyrex measuring cup (or directly in
the spray bottle). Add the hot water and gently shake the spray bottle
until all the ingredients are dissolved and mixed. Spray onto the area
you want to clean, and wipe off with a sponge or cleaning rag. Leave on
longer to treat dirtier areas.
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Disinfectant scouring powder
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1 cup baking soda,
1/4 cup borax.
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Blend ingredients in a blender. Use as any scouring powder (baking
soda doesn't scratch).
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WindowPerfect, a window cleaner
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½ tsp liquid soap,
3 tbs vinegar,
2 cups water, spray bottle.
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Combine the ingredients and put them in the spray bottle. Use like
any window cleaner. Tip:Use newspaper to dry your windows. It's cheaper
than paper towels and it leaves windows shiny and streak free. Or, if you
can master the Art of the Squeegee, that's even cheaper.
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Tile Cleaner
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1 cup washing soda
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Using a sponge or rag, rub washing soda onto the tiles, and rinse well.
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Fiberglass Cleaner
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1 cup borax,
vinegar to moisten.
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Place borax in a bowl or container, add vinegar to moisten. Using a
rag or sponge, rub borax mixture into the fiberglass, until clean. Rinse
well.
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"Salty" Spill Cleaner
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Salt is an amazing thing. And it's not just for seasoning anymore,
it makes one stupendous cleanser. It's perfect for cleaning those messy
oven spills and for removing burned on food from pots and pans (do NOT
use it on Teflon or similar materials, it can scratch!).
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Salt can also be used to deodorize drains and garbage disposals, just
by pouring half a cup into the unit and following with boiling water.
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If you have those nice but grime-loving copper bottom pans, you can
clean them really well by making a paste of salt and white vinegar, then
rubbing this paste into the copper with a fine steel-wool pad. This is
one very fast way to obtain nice and shiny copper, for pennies.
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Homemade Scouring Powder
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1 cup baking soda
1 cup borax
1 cup regular salt
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Combine the three ingredients and keep them in a tightly closed container.
Use as you would any commercial scouring powder.
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Ketchup Copper Cleaner
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Goes well on hot dogs and french fries, and also cleans copper! How's
that for convenient? Just rub some ketchup on the copper pan or utensil,
then sprinkle with salt. Let the mixture rest on the copper for a few hours,
then wash in hot soapy water. The cleaner here is the acid found in the
ketchup: it will dissolve the stains on the copper, while the salt helps
rub the grime away.
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Stain Removers
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Frugal people don't like to throw away clothes just because they are
stained. We also buy a lot of second-hand clothes, and those sometimes
end up in the second-hand store because they are stained. Before you give
up, or give in and buy a commercial stain remover, try these recipes:
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Homemade Pretreating Stain Remover
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1/2 cup ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 Tbs liquid soap
2 qts water
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Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle. Spray the liquid onto the stain
and let it sit for a few minutes. Launder as usual. Be sure to shake the
bottle before you use it [singing tunes from "The Color of Money" is optional].
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Ninja Warrior Stain Remover
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I got this recipe from my friendly second-hand store owner. It does
use commercial products, but it's practically 100% guaranteed to remove
most stains, and what's more, you can reuse this concotion several times.
Just keep it in a covered container and reheat when you need it.
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Five gallons of very hot water
1 cup powdered Cascade or generic equivalent
1 cup Clorox II or generic equivalent
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Soak several stained articles overnight [I separate by color], then
launder as usual. This recipe will remove about 90% of stains. Avoid using
this recipe for delicate fabrics or for items that will bleed. Anything
else is fair game, and this will really, really work wonders on food stains!
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Laundry Detergents
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Thank you, Mel Baxter, for these recipes!
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Basic Laundry Detergent
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1 cup soap flakes
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
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Soft Water Laundry Detergent
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1 cup soap flakes
1/4 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
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Hard Water Laundry Detergent
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1 cup soap flakes
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
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Liquid Laundry Detergent
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1 cup of any of the above mixes
2 Tbs glycerin
2 cups warm water
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For all the detergent recipes, mix all ingredients and store. To use,
measure 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the mix and add to the laundry. Launder as
usual. Each of these recipes yields approx. 12 oz. Note: You can buy glycerine
at many health food stores.
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These recipes are courtesy of a great gal who has a nice web site at
http://www.angelfire.com/biz3/frugalstreet/
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She was kind enough to share these recipes with us and has more recipes
for homemade toiletries as well frugal tips check out her page!!
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