Thursday, May 18, 2006

Clean Green

With a few common household products, plus some essential herbal oils, you can make your own environmental friendly cleaning products. Herbs such as lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree are antibacterial and antifungal, and smell much more pleasant then toxic cleaners. Your house will smell like a spa on cleaning day!


Germ-Buster Scrub + Shine


3/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup borax
3 Tablespoons liquid castille soap
3 Tablespoons white vinegar
20 drops eucalyptus essential oil
15 drops lemon essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a pint size/wide mouth canning jar and shake till blended. It's like a soft scrub, with a natural clean smell. Great for cleaning kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

Germ-Killer


1 teaspoon lavender essential oil
1 teaspoon eucalyptus essential oil
6 drops tea tree essential oil
2 cups filtered water

Add ingredients to a spay bottle. Use on sink, tile, counter tops, etc.

Window Wash


Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon spearmint essential oil
1 tsp cornstarch
2 cups filtered water

Add ingredients to a spay bottle.

HAPPY HEALTHY CLEANING!

13 Comments:

At 11:49 AM, Blogger Stunned Donor said...

Don't forget a 10-15% strength vinegar (commercial vinergar is usually 5%) makes a darn good weed killer too!

 
At 12:34 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Hi Jeanne, discovered your site very recently and wanted to let you know how great I think it is. I'm in the UK (Sheffield, in the North) and got an allotment at the end of last year. Its like a field so I'm gradually clearing it - am very inspired by your site.

Notice that you are growing lots of squashes / courgettes - have you any experience of growing them up trellising ?

my blog site is: duckdinnerdash.blogspot.com

Look forward to following your progress.

Michelle

 
At 4:00 PM, Blogger Jeanne said...

Hi Steven - Thats great. Where do you get that vinegar? I just got my chickens this past February, and had already pulled most of my weeds, but I was thinking they would probably eat them all next winter. They love the sour grass, and they usually cover my yard in the winter.

Hi Michelle - I have grown spaghetti (winter) squash and a bottleneck gourd verticle and had a huge crop, each grown up one of my tomato cages. I actually think they do better grown verticle. Last year I tried the Kaboocha Squash just trailing on the ground and was disappointed with only 2 squash, but they were so delicious, it was worth it. I am hoping they do better this year grown verticle. I will post the results on my blog come Fall.

What are courgettes? I've always grown cucumbers verticle with great success.

 
At 5:56 PM, Blogger Stunned Donor said...

The vinegar is hard to find, but this stuff is great:

Burnout

 
At 9:42 AM, Blogger ~~ Melissa said...

I've been on the lookout for a good green tub cleaner. I will try your scrub recipe--thanks.

 
At 9:33 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

oops - the joys of language, we call 'em courgettes, you call 'em zucchini (we call them aubergines, you call them egg plants) !!
Michelle

 
At 5:19 PM, Blogger David (Snappy) said...

hi jeanne when i grow some more stuff like you I can try out your idea's.I have just reread your blog again.hope you are okay.cant wait for new posts.I want to buy a raising chickens book in preperation.And coffee filter papers for uncle toms seed method.

 
At 7:38 AM, Blogger Jeanne said...

Thanks snappy. I'm still here! Went camping last weekend, and scheduled to go again this weekend........so, just a little fatigued.....catching up. Did get a new bed of lettuce planted this week, so am planning on a new post in a few minutes.

 
At 7:48 PM, Blogger R said...

hi jeanne,
thanks for the great ideas. i'm trying to make my yard/garden all organic and was wondering if you have any ideas of a good, organic, preferrably one i can put together at home, insect-piddily insects who like to live in soil-killer (like potato bugs, and baby milipedes or earwigs). i don't know if they are beneficial insects or not.
also, do you have a good organic recipe for insect repellent?

 
At 7:50 PM, Blogger R said...

oh ps..
will the scrub and shine scratch surfaces?

 
At 8:32 PM, Blogger Jeanne said...

rachelle - I don't use any type of spray for bugs. I think if you attract enough beneficial insects, they will take care of the pesty ones, eventually. My first few years, I had aphids, and I released lady bugs, but I haven't even had to do that for a few years now, just don't have the problem anymore. So plant lots of flowers and herbs along with your vegetables is my best advice. Good Luck. Oh, I have spread dried herbs to detract earwigs away......I think it actually worked! But you need to have lots of dried herbs, and keep sprinkling each night around your seedlings. I dry my own oregano, lemon balm, etc, so I have plently.

The scrub will not scratch surfaces, its very gentle, like soft scrub.

 
At 11:34 AM, Blogger R said...

thanks. what type of lowers do you recommend? i have nasturtium and calendula growing around the border, but they are just starting to sprout

 
At 11:50 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

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