So many cool things to post, so little time!

 

I am in crazy organization mode! I have become re-addicted to reacquainted with www.Pinterest.com. This awesome website is such a great resource for ideas that I didn't even know I needed! Great organization ideas, great DIY home decor, great crafts for me and the kids, great ideas for recipes, great sewing ideas...I am totally jazzed and MOTIVATED to do all sorts of things.

So I will be posting about some of the things I have done, some ideas I am planning to implement, and some for the future along with links. You have to be "invited" to Pinterest...I think this was an initial attempt to keep enrollment low, but I doubt it has worked. ;-) You can always email me if you are unable to find someone to invite you.

One of the first things I found while spending too much some time browsing Pinterest was oodles and oodles of cleaning solution recipes using basic natural ingredients. I have always felt like vinegar and baking soda did as good a job or a better job than many of the cleaning products I bought in the store. And using these ingredients makes me feel better than exposing my family to unknown chemicals.

So, I will talk about these great websites here!

There are several ingredients that are common to many of these cleaning solutions and that you should seek out if you want to make your own cleaners:

• Baking Soda: I was able to find some at Target on sale, 4 lbs. for $1.83. It shows that the normal price is only $2.16. I usually buy those little boxes and they are in my pantry for a while, but since I knew I would be using it for lots of different things (including cleaning AND baking), I got two of these large boxes.
• Washing Soda: this is a little more difficult to find, but I finally found some (although there was only one box on the shelf) at Walmart. It can also be found on Amazon.com.
• Borax: Again, a little more difficult to find, but I saw it at Target and at Walmart. This is a natural salt that has been used FOREVER as a cleaning agent. LOTS of uses for this.
• Dawn Dishwashing soap: I have discovered that Dawn is AWESOME. Can be used for all sorts of cleaning. Keep an eye out for coupons in the P&G Saver coupon book that comes out every month and you can get a bottle of this soap for $1 or less!
• Vinegar: Easy to find anywhere...buy in bulk and get the store brand to save even more money.
• Ammonia: see "vinegar." ;-)
• Spray bottles: I got great big ones at the 99 Cent Store for...99 cents. :-)

I recently put together a dishwashing machine detergent for my mother-in-law. She had been complaining that she was getting white calcium deposits on her glasses from the hard water we have. So I found a recipe for a detergent at http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html. My MIL gave it two thumbs up. ;-)

I also just today tried making my own clothes stain remover. I found the recipe for that, along with several others, at http://www.picklee.com/2012/04/13/10-remarkable-diy-cleaning-solutions/#.T4jsfdXnHQI/ . It looks like you could probably click on the graphic and print it out to post it up on your laundry room wall or door. The stain remover definitely worked! (Side note: the stains I was removing were due to store-brand sunscreen...will not be buying that again!)

I will be putting together several other cleaners and some homemade laundry detergent in the coming weeks, too. I unfortunately have forgotten exactly what I paid for everything (except the baking soda since the price is on a clearance tag) but I worked it out and the laundry detergent will cost me about 2 cents per load. About the cheapest I can buy ready-to-use laundry detergent in the store equates to 12 cents per load. A little extra effort on one day to make the detergent ends up saving us a bunch of money! Hope this post helps you save some too.

Good luck to you!
--Katie