As promised...

I have tested out a few different recipes for natural & homemade household cleaning and skin care products over the last few weeks and I thought I would share my favourites. Teddy and I really started rethinking what we were using to sanitize the surfaces in our home when squish recently started putting kisses on every little thing in sight. Teddy has always opposed my use of bleach to clean things and can tell immediately when he comes through the door if I have clorox'd anything in the house over the course of the day. He finds the scent nauseating and doesn't want any of us breathing that stuff in. So I broke down and hopped on the vinegar bandwagon...And let me tell you, that stuff is sure stinky but it cleans like the dickens! And baking soda...What a miraculous little powder. Anyway, here are my favourite recipes:


Laundry detergent

2 cups pure soap (ivory, sunlight, etc)
2 cups borax
2 cups laundry soda

Melt grated soap in boiling water and pour into a bucket with the borax and soda. Top up bucket to 2 gallon mark. Stir, add 40 drops of your favourite essential oil, stir again, cover and allow to set over night. It will gel. Use 1/4 cup per load of laundry.



All-purpose Cleaner

1/4 cup vinegar
2 cups water, boiled and cooled.
15 drops orange/citrus essential oil (citrus is great for killing kitchen stinkiness)

Mix it all together and pour into a spray bottle.


Air freshener (Diaper pail deoderizer)

1 cup water, boiled and cooled
15 drops tea tree oil

Pour into a spray bottle on the 'mist' setting. It works like a charm!
You could use other essential oils as alternatives, but tea tree oil is great for killing bacteria. Lavender and clove also have anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties so they could be good options also.



Facial Cleanser

Castile soap. That's it.



Baby Body Wash

Castile soap. MMhmm.


Face/Body Scrub

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1/4 Cup Sea Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar (white, granulated sugar is great for this)
15 drops of your favourite essential oil (I used a vanilla/lavender combo--AWESOME!)

Smash it all together and store in a sealed container. Use a quarter-sized blob on your finger in the shower and massage into your face and neck. Presto.


Facial Moisturizer/Diaper Rash Cream

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
3 Tbsp pure shea butter
10 drops Tea Tree Oil

Smash it all together and slather on after a good wash/scrub. Your skin will feel awesome.
OR apply liberally to a red bum. This is the best diaper rash cream I've tried.




I had a lot of fun with this project. I'll post more recipes as I try out more things. Happy cleaning!