Homemade Cleaners Toolkit: 5 Essentials to Make Your Own

Last week, I was helping my brother clean out his apartment when he complained about the prices of eco-friendly cleaners. Always looking for converts, I recommended he start making household cleaners himself — it takes very little time and all you need are these five essentials.
You can use these five basics to clean almost everything in your home, from fixtures to floors to laundry to the bathroom. Making household cleaners is one of the easiest DIY projects around and it will make an enormous difference in your home. In addition to being eco-friendly and inexpensive, it also reduces indoor air pollution.

THE FIVE ESSENTIALS:

Vinegar: This is the natural-cleaning powerhouse. It does so many things around the house that it has merited its own post time and time again. Vinegar cleans, adds shine, disinfects, and gets rid of of bad smells, mildew, and other household funk.

Baking Soda: Mixed with vinegar, it makes sinks and toilet sparkle. Mixed with a bit of water, it works great on bathtubs and gets rid of the stuck-on food on your stove top. A good, basic scouring tool.

Lemon or Tea Tree Essential Oil: A few drops will make any cleaner antibacterial.

Liquid Castile Soap: A little castile soap, like Dr. Bronner's, goes a long, long (long) way. Mix it with water to clean your counter tops (vinegar can ruin marble and granite). Also good for dishes, floors, and anywhere else that needs basic, gentle cleaning.

Rags: Make 2012 the year you reduce your paper towel usage! I color code mine for different uses: blue for my kitchen counters, green for the bathroom, and pink for dusting.

FIVE CLEANING RECIPES TO GET YOU STARTED:

Glass Cleaner: Mix equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Add a few drops of lemon or tea tree oil.

Toilet: Pour in one cup of baking soda, followed by one cup of vinegar. Clean with toilet brush as usual and flush.

All Purpose Cleaner/Kitchen Cleaner: Pour 1/4 cup Dr. Bronners into a one quart bottle and fill to the top with water. Add 2-3 drops of essential oil. Spray and wipe off with a damp cloth.

Linoleum Flooring: Mop with half a tablespoon of Dr. Bronners mixed into a half gallon of hot water. You can also add a few drops of essential oil.

Dishwashing Soap: Fill squirt bottle with one cup of castile soap, 3-4 tablespoons of water, and 5 drops of lemon (or other citrus) essential oil.

Second-Look Wallcovering

This is a new line of re-claimed vinyl wallcovering.  They will even pay the freight to send your old wallcovering back to their plant.  What a neat idea!!

 (pictured is Marquetry - Peridot from Cirqa Wallcoverings' Second-Look Collection)

Second-Look^® is the first recycled vinyl wallcovering.

And they said it couldn’t be done.

LSI Wallcovering introduced Second-Look in 2006. Since then, we’ve added hundreds of new products to the collection in each of our three major brands—Cirqa, Plexus and Versa. Many of our standard designs also can be specified as a Second-Look recycled wallcovering.
Commercial vinyl wallcovering has always been an excellent choice for sustainability because of its durability and inherently long life cycle. Second-Look, a comprehensive post-consumer recycling program, extends this lifecycle almost indefinitely. The Second-Look wallcoverings you specify today can be repeatedly recycled to keep them from the landfill for decades.

Read more at their website:  Second-Look

How "Green" is your home?

Two or three times a year Hanley/Wood comes out with their Building Products magazine. In the latest issue they featured the Top 100 Reader-Requested Products and one of the coolest ones they feature is an Energy Dashboard.


This cool little gadget from Vantage Controls gives you real-time information on home energy usage; it can also provide recommendations on ways to reduce energy use and can predict how much money a homeowner might save if they implement the strategies. For those interested in going "green" and saving a little money this is a cool thing to own!

Going Green, Part Three

(clipart, copyright http://www.monroecounty.gov/des/solid-waste.php)

For part Three of our "Going Green" series, I wanted to talk about a few different things. One thing that is important to consider is what happens when the lifespan of a product is complete? Many things can't be thrown into the landfill, such as technology products - computers, tv's, batteries, etc. It is important to know what happens after you've finished using it. Some general things to know are these: Is it recyclable? But, before we tackle that one, lets learn about some of the different types of recycling.
1. "recycling" - this is the type of recycling that you hear about on a regular basis. Soda cans, newspapers, magazines, glass and plastics; these are all types of recycling that we all probably have taken part in at some point. I'm sure many of your towns have recycling programs that are easy to participate in. While many items can be recycled, there are different types of plastics, for instance, that can be recycled in different ways. In "recycling", items are typically ground down to their basic form (take glass, for example) and remade into other products similar to what was recycled. For example, take a glass bottle. You take it to the recycling center, it is ground down to sand, then goes through the process of becoming a glass bottle again.
2. "downcycling" - in downcycling, a product which is recycled is made into a product of typically inferior quality. Tires that are recycled are a good example of this. You take old tires, they are ground up and turned into mulch for playgrounds or something similar.


Other than recycling, there are other characteristics that are important when shopping for decor items. How do you take care of it? If you have an item that requires chemically-heavy cleaning processes, but is produced in an eco-friendly manner, perhaps it is time for them manufacturer to think of a new way to allow for cleaning. Chemical cleaners let off gases that can be harmful to you and your environment and typically offset any environmental "attaboys" of the original purchase.

Sometimes, these chemical gases can simply be a by-product of the item itself. One common example is treated wood products. They can let off gases such as formaldehyde (which is used to preserve things for biology class, for instance). Do you really want that in your home or on your deck? I wouldn't. There are many ways you can determine this information before purchasing. A few websites that are helpful are here and here.

After the strange weather we have had in this part of the country, it really makes us all wonder - are our actions truly contributing to global warming? Even if they're not, what is it going to hurt to live a little greener?

Trendy or Stylish?

One thing we are asked often is "do you think this look will last for a while"? Sometimes, the answer is simple - NO! But where exactly is the line between "trendy" and "stylish"? Here are some trends in interior design that we hope will stay!

"User Friendly"
Now, more than ever, we are entertaining ourselves at home. That naturally leads to the desire for a home that is comfy, cozy, casual and easy-to-keep. Our more casual lifestyle has led to rooms that are truly "functional" - the living room is for living, not keeping the antiques, the dining room is for the evening family meal, not just for when company arrives. Space is at a premium in most of our homes, so why not make the most of it?

"Environmental Decorating"
Natural fabrics, earthy colors, post-consumer content - these can all be beautiful things! Wood blinds, wool rugs, stoneware - these are all great examples. Even faux-wood blinds, surfaces that emulate stone or fruit and vegetable motifs could all be used as an example of environmental decorating. Wood flooring, skylights, rock fireplaces - all of these items have a natural element to them. With the rise in log homes and a return to a more simple life, natural elements have become very commonplace. We seem to enjoy "bringing the outdoors in", so why not bring some nature into your own home?

"Boldly Moderate"
Using neutrals for the major elements of your decor (i.e., walls, rugs, etc.) allows the opportunity to use bright, bold colors as accents, rather than as the main focus. I love this movement in design. Using a more muted palate allows you to showcase a few special accent items. It also allows you to be more versatile in your decorating. Love hot pink this spring? Use it as an accent with decor elements - then when muted orange comes in as your color of choice this fall, you aren't having to repaint and reupholster!

"Energy Efficient"
This seems to be quite a commonplace term nowadays. It is great that so many designers and manufacturers are beginning to "go green" in ways that aren't necessarily obvious by the end-use consumer. There are many ways that manufacturers do this - environmentally conscious foams, fabrics and processing methods are just a few. While this can tie into the "Environmental Decorating" section, I feel that it deserves its own. Having an energy efficient home helps not just the environment, in the long run, it can help your pocketbook in the form of savings on your heating/cooling bills, food costs and utilities. This is a great place to start learning about some of the many ways you can improve the energy efficiency of your own home.

Keeping these tips in mind should help you be able to design decor around you, as a person and be decor that will last for a long time. Everyone has their own style and what you are comfortable with is what you should choose. It's your style - be proud of it!


Today's Tip:
Do you have cushions that have lost their fluff? Try this quick tip: put it in the sun for a few hours (careful to test color-fastness on a small, inconspicuous area first!), flipping the cushion after an hour or so. This draws the moisture out of the cushion, naturally restoring the prior fluff!