As hard as we try, in one form or another there is always something to clean in that kitchen! Back when I knew very little about the harsh reality of commercial cleaners, I was using a slew of toxic concoctions bought from the store. Blissfully unaware of just how must nasty stuff was in my "cleaning" agents.

Oh yes, they got stuff clean alright, but the after effects.....(sigh) nasty. It all started one day when I was about 23 years old. I got a new rental house of my own, & new found freedom. My landlord was gracious enough to allow me to have my pets, which at that time consisted of 2 cats, and 2 dogs. Well as anyone knows, moving into a new house requires some spiffing up, so off I went to get some cleaning supplies to beautify my new home.

The kitties litter boxes needed to be disinfected, so bleach was in order. The floors needed to be scrubbed, so lemon scented ammonia was in order (grandma swore by it, since it left a clean smell after it was used) dishes needed to be washed, windows, etc, etc.

By the time I left I had spent over 50.00 dollars in cleaning supplies at that time, and that was many years ago already, (I'm sure the price went up). Anyways, I come home and start to clean, whirling around the house in my faded blues and do-rag covered head, swinging my then libmann wondermop around my linoleum covered kitchen floor.

Spraying the windows with Windex and washing them to a sparkling shine. The house smelled of what could be described as a chemical plant. Noxious and almost an insult to the nose. However if it smelt of bleach, and ammonia and Windex, you knew it was clean.......yea right.

Then came "the incident". I filled the tub up with warm soapy water, added a cup of bleach and added a dash of ammonia for good measure. then threw in the cat litter boxes and started to scrub away. Leaned over the tub, with scrubby sponge in hand, then suddenly, I began to feel just awful, sick, and nauseated. Next thing  know, I was touching the floor with my nose. Yea, what the hell was I thinking? Apparently when you mix bleach and ammonia, it makes Chlorine Gas. OOOOHHHHHH how lovely.

Even worse....if I would of added one more than the other, it would have made either Nitrogen Trichloride (very toxic) or Hydrazine (explosive rocket fuel). Yipes!!!!!!!

Now tell me, what woman, who cleans, is aware of these things...well common sense would tell you that yea, your not really suppose to mix stuff, but at that age, who thinks of this stuff in such great depth. Well anyways...lessen learned, after practically gassing myself to death!

My mission since then, was to find out all I could, about the constituents of everything I used. Literally. Call me anal, but hey, can you blame me?

Cleaning naturally is the way to go in my book. Yes some things are just darn near impossible to get to work that way. What do you mean you say? Well let me give you an example. Say for instance. You have an automatic dishwasher. Not only is it not frugal to make your own dishwashing liquid/powder, but darn near impossible to get it to clean properly, if at all. Get my drift? So the next best thing is to search for an alternative. Something that is less toxic to you and your envirement. I use WAVE High performance dishwashing liquid, it's earth friendly, as is all there products, and its made with natural ingredients.

However, like with all natural products, sometimes it takes some getting used to. Let's face it, if your switching over from your regular grocery store brand, to an all natural cleaning product, yes you will see some differences, but for the most part the differences can be tolerated. At least for me they can, the way I See it, if I have to tweak it a lil bit to make it clean for me, it is still better than using the toxic stuff.

When I use my liquid in the dishwasher, it doesn't like to rinse well, it does leave white film on some of the dishes, but hey, problem solved, I just add some vinegar in the beginning of the wash, and problem solved. Sparkling clean!

Ok, so I'm getting long winded here, so onto a few recipes for some homemade cleaning products I use in my home on almost a daily basis. But first, the 3 most important cleaning supplies I ALWAYS have on hand.

1. 1 gallon of white vinegar

2. 1 HUGE box of baking soda
3. 1 gallon of liquid castile soap

I use alot of these ingredients, from cleaning my toilets, and using it in my laundry.

So here is a recipe for a disinfectant I use in my kitchen and in my bathrooms. I use it to clean my counter tops, toilets, sinks, anywhere I think is "germy".

you will need:

 a spray bottle ( enough to hold @ a quart of water - more or less)

water

castile soap

essential oils of tea tree, peppermint & eucalyptus

add to the spray bottle @ a 1/4cup liquid castile soap

20 drops tea tree essential oil

10 drops peppermint e.o.

5 drops eucalyptus e.o

add the warm water to your spray bottleand other ingredients, put the cap on, shake, and spray wherever you think needs disinfecting. Let sit for a few seconds, then wipe off with a clean wet dishrag. Depending on what your countertops are made from, essential oils will strip wood. So be careful. I found this out while cleaning my toilet seat....LOL

It smells wonderful, and tea tree is a great disinfectant, and among other things, antiviral, fungal, you name it. So is peppermint and eucalyptus great for killing the germies.

Ok, so not the most greatest name for a toilet bowl cleaner...LOL But it cleans beautifully.

add to your bowl 1/4 cup vinegar

10 drops of Tea tree e.o

and 1/2 cup baking soda

then stand back and watch it foam! hehehehe, swipe with your brush, swish, swish, and flush. Done. Smelling like a daisy and clean.


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