Back in action....and cleaning

It has been far too long since I have been on my blog.  However, you don't need to fear...I'm still as frugal as ever.  So to start things off, I'm going to tell you about making your own cleaning products.  Most of the items you probably currently have in your home; but if not, you probably can purchase them at your local market.

For the past 2 years I have been trying to cut back on the amount of cleaning products I use.  For one, a disinfectant is a disinfectant so I don't need a different one to use in my bathroom and the kitchen.  Most of the cleaning products we buy are primarily water as well, so I started this venture with buying just a concentrated disinfectant.  I chose Lysol lemon scent disinfectant cleaner.  Now, I should tell you it says not to use in a spray bottle, but from all my research I don't understand why.  And the ingredients are exactly the same as the non-concentrated form, with the exception of water.  I use a 1/4 cup of it and put it in my spray bottle topped off with water.  

The second, and probably most important reason I wanted to find other ways to clean was because of the perfumes in cleaners on the market.  About two years ago I was moving out of my apartment and had to do a big overhaul cleaning in the kitchen.  I ended up having a horrible reaction to an oven cleaner and went to the hospital.  After that I realized that if I reacted that way to the chemicals and perfumes in the air, there must be an alternative.  

So my next venture after starting to use concentrated cleaners, I wanted to go with a more natural approach. Also something with no perfumes added.  Someone had told me that you should wash your produce with vinegar water (4:1 water:vinegar).  It made sense to me; it's natural, minimal fragrance, cheap and I already have it.   Vinegar is a weak form of acetic acid that forms through the fermentation of sugars or starches. It is edible, harmless on our skin and body (so I won't be sent to the ER if I use it). After I did some research I've found that there are ridiculous amounts of uses for it beyond cooking and cleaning.

The other thing I use vinegar for is making glass cleaner.  I tried just using straight vinegar at first but it left a ton of streaks.  After some research I found a much better recipe.  Streak free, no perfumes and only cost's pennies!

In a bowl mix:

2 cups of hot tap water (helps everything dissolve better)

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch

Mix well and transfer to a spray bottle.

I bought my spray bottles out of the dollar bin at Target.  You could reuse your old containers as well. All together this recipe costs less that $0.50 per bottle.  That's about 1/4 of the price than the store brand and 1/2 the price of the dollar store.  And the best part it won't give you hives :) (unless you have a corn allergies).

referenced:

http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/vinegar and http://www.crunchybetty.com/battle-of-the-homemade-glass-cleaners