Green Cleaning Ideas.

I was going to write this post days ago.. but after my last post, there was an issue trying to get into my blog.. I was so worried I would have to leave it abandoned, as Google were not to helpful in assisting getting back in here.. however here I am so it was meant to be..
Now, as some of you may or may not know, I like to make my own soaps, cleansers and breads including sourdough.. heck I bought my sourdough starter "dough baby" 3000km across the country in the back of the car, so much is it part of our family.. today though I want to tell you how excited I was to get back to the homemade cleaners. I had to stop for a wee while, mainly due to the health issue.. Last week I had a wee concoction making day.. The recipes are not mine, they have been gathered from other wise woman, who no doubt, got them off another wise woman, and so the knowledge is shared.
Rhonda over at Down To Earth was the inspiration for me ever starting making my own soap powder.. now I love the dry powder, but I always wanted to try liquid. I like the ease of it, no need to try to dissolve it, just pop it in the machine.. and I have a front loader and it works well. So I set about making some liquid laundry powder.
I won't post the recipe, you can find it here at Rhonda's there is more information on this page than just the recipe, so go have a go it is great and it makes about 9 to 10 liters for less than $3.00 HOMEMADE LAUNDRY LIQUID

This was mine all nicely bottled and bucketed. I put a little to much Eucalyptus oil in mine, but it leaves the washing smelling great.

Now, this one above is dry soap powder. I always have plenty of soap ends to grate up for this recipe.
Here is the recipe.
4 cups grated laundry or homemade soap or store bought soap flakes, 2 cups borax, 2 cups washing soda.
Now you can use it like this, but I prefer mine much finer, so I toss it into the kitchen whizz and mix it to a fine powder.. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and store in a plastic container with a lid.  Use 2 to 3 tablespoons per wash. You will have to experiment a bit, it really depends on your water type (hard or soft)
Once in it's storage container, add about 2 teaspoons of Eucalyptus or Lavender essential oil, this is optional, but I like the smell. The other thing.. it doesn't make bubbles! Soap manufacturers tell you it needs bubbles... and add icky glop to it, to make it froth. Bubbles dont clean, they just give your head some kind of bubble happy.. soooo noooooooooo it doesn't need bubbles, this one was hard for me to get used too.. but trust me on this * smiles*
Narelle over at Just Like My Gran Made has concocted one of the greatest citrus cleaners about. Please go check it out if you love those citrus spray cleaners... I cant be without one and does this stuff work, you can bet your bottom dollar it does.
Now do you use.. Clorox Gumption, Jif, Ajax, or any of those other cream cleansers?? Yes I used to, I swapped to baking soda and vinegar, but last week over on the DOWN TO EARTH FORUM I found a recipe for one of those great cream cleansers. It need a bit of modifying. So here is the recipe:
1 cup baking soda, 2 tablespoons dish liquid, 1 tablespoon glycerin, 1 teaspoon Eucalyptus oil (see a theme here) or Lavender if you like, stir and mush till it is crumbly, then add very slowly while stirring enough water to make a smooth paste. I store mine in a wide mouth El Paso salsa jar. When I need to use, I swirl the cloth about in the jar, then clean sink, bath hand basin.. comes up so clean.. The picci below shows what it looks like.

If you don't already use green cleaners, I do urge you to try, they are as cheap as chips to make and green cleaning like our great grandmothers did, is a far better way I think. No harsh chemicals, not contact dermatitis on our hands from chemicals and far better on the environment.