I love Pinterest. I really do. But I don’t love how I go back in 6 months and the site that my pin leads to is gone. It’s an annoyance. I’ve decided to add my preferred recipes here, so I don’t lose them, having to find and tweak a new one every time. I’ll also be adding credit, as I can!
I love cleaning with castile soap. This isn’t news. I’ve taken to using Peppermint scented castile for kitchen use because it deters bugs like spiders and ants. An ounce of prevention and all that. It also smells lovely and clean without smelling ‘scented’.
One thing that helps my brain is to write the dilution on the bottle. I also like to make a note of the dilution in smaller units if I can, so it’s easy to keep my formula the same when I get a new spray bottle of a different size.
My preferred dilution is 1 tbsp castile soap for every 8 oz of distilled water. This is the same dilution recommended by the Bronner folks, just scaleable (and it doesn’t require you to remember the conversion of cups to tablespoons!). I use distilled water because it is shelf stable longer, since any water-born bacteria have been killed during the distilling process. We also have hard water, which can leave the mix cloudy (something science, soap + minerals, something, I was a music major, google it).
In the kitchen, this spray goes on countertops, our wood table, and our floors – and is gentle on the skin! I like this for food prep surfaces, too, like plastic cutting boards. In the bathroom, this spray gets used for quick wipe-downs of sinks and faucets. It also does a nice job getting nose smudges off of windows! It can leave a streak, but I’ll take that over all the ‘nose art’ our boys leave.
You can’t beat 24 oz of cleaning spray mix for less than a $2, with limited ingredients, no artificial colors, fragrances, or petrochemicals (synthetic or otherwise). Saving multiple plastic spray bottles from the landfill is pretty nice, too.
Have you tried making your own cleaners? Do you have a favorite scent?
Donita Westman 