The best way to ensure that your cleaning routine is hassle-free is to make yourself an all-purpose cleaner. This will allow you to save a lot of time, money and get your entire house clean in no time.
Why make your own?
Because it’s not hard at all to do it and you reduce the contact with chemicals for you, your family and the environment as well.
How to make your own all-purpose cleaner?
Here’s one recipe:
You need a tablespoon of borax, half of a tablespoon of washing soda, one tablespoon of castile soap, 4 drops of lemon essential oil, 4 drops of lavender essential pil and 10 drops of orange essential oil to make it smell good.
Put the washing soda, borax and liquid castile soap in a glass spray bottle, add 2 cups of warm water (it is best to use distilled but you can also boiled regular tap water), cover and shake it.
You can use this as bathroom cleaner, floor scrub, kitchen cleaner and disinfectant for plastic toys.
If you have time to clean the house daily from front to end, then you can use a simpler version of this all-purpose cleaner, which is: 1 cup of water, 2 teaspoons of castile soap and 20 drops of essential oil of your choice. Shake everything in a glass spray bottle and make sure you store it in a cool, dark place, because the sunlight oxidizes essential oils.
Some oils, however, can cause respiratory problems to sensitive children, therefore, here are a few kid-friendly essential oils:
- lemon
- lavender
- grapefruit
- tea tree
To give your furniture the shine it had when you first bought it, get your hands on some bee wax and a few drops of olive oil and wipe it throughout.
Another great cleaning tip, this time regarding your microwave, would be to place in the microwave a microwave-proof container filled with water and slices of lemon. Let it microwave for one minute at the highest power. The steam produced is a great way to soften the hardened food remains stuck on the inside of the microwave. Then you can start scrubbing it with baking soda mixed with water or vinegar, depending on how dirty your microwave is.
Baking soda and water is also great for cleaning stainless steel.
