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A few weeks ago, on Earth Day, I posted a link to Lindsay Coulter’s homemade green cleaning recipes. I also said I’d give them a try sometime. That sometime came last weekend.

Green CleaningThe recipe for the all-purpose cleaner called for 3 ingredients. All I had to do was mix these with a gallon of hot water:

  • 1 tbsp Borax**
  • 1/2 cup castile soap [I used Dr. Bronner's almond castile soap]
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar

[optional is 20 drops essential oil like lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot, lavender, tea tree]

Note: If you don’t have a container to fill a gallon of water, use your big pot for mixing.

The resulting liquid is whitish (castile soap becomes foggy white with the addition of water). I’m thinking this batch will last us for months unless I go on a tri-weekly cleaning spree. I filled one empty bottle spray with the liquid, and was able to fill an empty tequila bottle and an empty bottle of soap refill with the remaining liquid. If you’re planning to make this, have empty bottles to reuse — wine bottles, milk bottles, etc.

For anyone thinking that it would be expensive to make your own green cleaners — it’s not. The most ‘expensive’ ingredient to buy was the 1qt/944ml bottle of castile soap and it will last you a long time for quite a number of uses.

After having gone ‘greener’ and biodegradable with my all purpose cleaner, the big question in my head when I started this was — Does it really clean? YES, it does! It worked on the counters, on the stove, and on the super greasy areas that were casualties of cooking. I was honestly very surprised, but it worked! I also used it to clean the microwave oven and the refrigerator.

If you’re looking to make your own, the complete list of green cleaning recipes are here. You’ll find “Green Spa” recipes from there as well.

**If anyone can enlighten me more on Borax, I’d love that. I’ve searched all over the ‘Net and found that it has a low level of toxicity, but regardless, one shouldn’t ingest it. It’s a naturally occurring compound but that doesn’t meet it’s fully safe, just like your other household chemicals.  Lethal dose for humans would be 5 grams. Direct contact of pure borax with skin is not recommended because it can be an irritant. It’s not to be used by pregnant women.

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