A RE-USE IT PROJECT: Citrus Vinegar

I know y'all love re-use it projects; in fact my Hockey Stick Muskoka Chair post is the most-viewed one on this blog almost every week! (And no, I don't normally talk like a Southerner, but hey, I've just finished a novel set in the South so it must have rubbed off on me ::grin::)

As fun as re-use projects can be, they can often take a fair amount of time to complete. No so with this one! It's practically effortless, which is my kind of project. Not only that, it's a way to squeeze a second use out of something you'd normally toss in the compost bin: your citrus peels (pun fully intended!)

Here's everything you need:
White vinegar
Leftover lemon, lime and/or orange peels
A quart/litre sized Mason jar with lid

I keep a perpetual jar of this stuff going in my pantry. Simply fill the jar about 3/4 full with vinegar, then add citrus peels as they happen to become leftovers in your kitchen (stop adding more once the jar is full!) Let this steep for a week or two after the final addition of peels. You'll end up with something that looks alarmingly like you might find it on Hannibal Lechter's mantle:

Once it's done "brewing", carefully pour the liquid into a clean Mason jar or spray bottle (a funnel makes this job a lot easier). And voila! Homemade citrus vinegar, a cheap and natural disinfectant/deodorizer.
 

How to use it:

This is a great disinfectant spray for many types of surfaces: kitchen counters, that nasty area around the toilet, etc. If you have cutting boards that you've used to cut up meat, rinse them, then spray some of this on them afterwards and let it sit a few minutes before you wash.

If you normally add vinegar to your dishwasher in the "rinse agent" dispenser, you could use this instead to give it a citrus-fresh boost.

I also use this to spray down my yoga mat after hot yoga classes (I hang it out on the clothesline and spray it down, then let it drip dry).

Do you have a favourite use for leftover citrus peels?

For more re-use it projects and ideas, click HERE to see all my posts on this topic.

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Clean, Green and Cheap, Part 2: Spring Cleaning

Photo by chaiwat/Freedigitalphotos.net

Back in October, I shared some of my strategies for switching to less-toxic personal care products without breaking the bank. Seeing as how spring cleaning season has officially arrived, it seems like a good time to share the products and potions I use to clean my home as "green and cheap" as I can. So here's a roundup of what I use to keep the different areas of my house as dirt- and germ-free as possible:

Kitchen:

Counter and cutting board disinfectant: Straight up white vinegar will do the job here. Since I saw this orange-infused vinegar over at Frugally Sustainable, I've been meaning to brew up a batch as I love the freshness of citrus in the kitchen!

Dishwasher tablets I know some people have success making their own dishwasher detergent from equal parts washing soda and borax. Unfortunately, this extremely inexpensive solution does not work well for me at all - it leaves my glassware all cloudy. I have a feeling that our extremely hard water may have something to do with this problem. I've tried out a variety of natural products and found that the one I've been most pleased with is Method Smarty Dish Tablets. The only thing I don't like about them is the price! I started cutting them in half a while ago and have found that half a tablet still has adequate cleaning power for a load of dirty dishes. (Warning: The tablets are VERY hard to cut in half - we use our heavy-duty butcher knife and it still takes a good deal of force to get the job done.)

Dishwashing detergent: Again, I've tried a variety of different products and been less than thrilled with most of them. Right now I'm using Greenworks dish detergent, which works great and is very affordably priced.

Scouring powder: To get those baked-on bits off pots and pans, I simply sprinkle on some baking powder and scrub away

Degreaser: To deal with areas that have a lot of grease buildup (like the stove and range hood), I use a mixture of 2 cups of water and half a cup of Murphy's Oil Soap that I keep handy in a spray bottle.

Bathroom:

Tub and sink cleaner: I use a combination of Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap and baking soda. Usually I just sprinkle some baking soda in the tub/sink, squirt a bit of Dr. Bronner's on top, then scrub away with my scrub brush. For more stubborn areas, I mix together the baking soda and soap to form a paste, then apply to the area and scrub with a toothbrush. Dr. Bronner's can be expensive, but a little goes a long way! I also buy the largest size (944 mL), which is a lot cheaper on a per-unit basis. The large bottle costs about $20 and will last me at least a year (and I use it for body wash, too!).

Glass cleaner: I use Crunchy Betty's glass cleaner recipe, which uses basic ingredients you're sure to have around the house.

Toilet: After years of scrubbing away with baking soda and vinegar, I decided I needed something a little more potent as my toilet bowl can get pretty heinous (hey, I live with *3* guys!). I'm using Greenworks toilet bowl cleaner right now, and have been impressed with how well it cleans up the really nasty areas.

Air freshener: During the growing season, I simply put a Mason jar full of mint sprigs on the back of the toilet tank. I might give these homemade gel air fresheners a try once the colder months roll around again!

Laundry:

Detergent: I've been using soap nuts instead of laundry detergent for close to a year now and love them - you can read more details about how I use them here.


Pretreating/Stain Removal: I scrub heavily soiled areas with some Dr. Bronner's before washing. For tougher stains, I make my own "homemade oxiclean" by mixing about half a cup of hydrogen peroxide with a tablespoon of washing soda. Straight hydrogen peroxide can be very effective for removing blood stains (it does have a mild bleaching effect, so be cautious about using it on coloured items).

The rest of the house:

Floors/Baseboards/Doorframes: We have mostly hardwood floors in our home, and I find Murphy's Oil Soap does a great job on them. I also use Murphy's to clean baseboards, doorframes and any furniture that's particularly grotty and needs a deep cleaning.

Furniture polish: I've been looking for a good nontoxic solution for furniture polish for a long time. I'm planning on trying out a homemade beeswax and olive oil polish (4 parts olive oil and 1 part grated beeswax melted together) and really hope I'm satisfied with the results!

Freshening drawers, cupboards and closets: For storage areas that have developed a stale smell, I put a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and place it in an unobtrusive area (make sure not to set it on clothing or linens, which the essential oils could stain).

Do you have any favourite natural cleaning products or recipes? Please share them with us!

My Successful Soapnuts Experiment

Image by Carlos Porto/freedigitalphotos.net

I first heard about soapnuts earlier this year and was fascinated - washing your laundry with the fruit of a tree sounded very natural and all, but I was concerned it wouldn't be an effective enough cleaning option for dealing with my stinky loads of boy-laundry washed in cold, hard water.

One of my friends knew I was interested in trying them out and gave me a small bag of soapnuts as part of my birthday present at the end of May. I started using them in June after my batch of homemade laundry detergent was used up, and after a good solid three months of use, I can officially say that I have been very pleased with the results!

My clothes are at least as clean as they were with the homemade detergent - probably cleaner. And the added bonus is that the soapnuts seem to have a fabric softening effect - I definitely notice a difference in the feel of our cotton T-shirts.

For those unfamiliar with soapnuts, they are kind of like a hard, sticky berry. They usually come with a little cotton bag, and you put 4-6 of them in the bag and throw it in the bottom of the washing machine when you start your load of laundry. The soapnuts contain saponins which are a natural surfactant that will clean your clothes. The same batch of soapnuts can be used for 3-4 loads, then most of the saponins are used up and you need to start with a new bunch (I suspect I've done up to 6 loads of laundry using the same batch, as I've been known to lose count of how many loads I've done with the current batch!)

After a bit of experimentation, this is my new laundry washing "formula":

-if using a fresh batch of soapnuts, soak them in boiling water for a few minutes before starting laundry (I do this because I wash in cold water, and I've heard this helps "activate" them so they will be effective in the cold water)

-for each load, use 4 soapnuts plus about 5 drops of lemon essential oil added to the little cotton bag with the soapnuts, plus about 1/4 cup of borax

That's it! I am really pleased with this method of doing laundry. The soapnuts are not only a 100% natural product, they are also a Fair Trade product, and when you're done with them they can be tossed right into your compost bin. They are also quite reasonably priced when purchased in bulk: the best price I have found so far from a Canadian source is at Grassroots - $25.99 for 1 kg, which will do over 200 loads of laundry and last me over a year. In the U.S., Mountain Rose Herbs seems to have very good prices (although I'm not sure what the current price is as they're out of stock right now and the price isn't listed).

(No, those are NOT affiliate links - I just really like soapnuts and these are two of the best places I know of to get them!)

Have you used soapnuts? If so, have you been pleased with the results? If not, have I convinced you to give them a try?