My Home Cleaning Remedies

Getting ready for the holidays can take a lot of time—cleaning, decorating, wrapping, shopping, hiding gifts, cleaning some more…..

Jessica mentioned on her blog that she made some homemade laundry soap and I’ve been thinking of other cheap and easy ways to clean up after a party or before one, for that matter. I researched these about a year and a half ago, so here you go:

Homemade Glass Cleaner
(we used this recipe when I worked in the dry cleaners right out of high school and it worked better than any window cleaner)
1 Cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
1 Cup water
1 Tbsp white vinegar
Use this class cleaning spray for windows, mirrors, chrome fixtures and for a shiny finish on hard-surface ceramic tiles.

Cloves:
1. Cinnamon and Cloves: My mom used to use this just before we’d have guests. Boil these spices for a fragrant smell in your home. For ease of cleaning, make a cheesecloth bag to contain these spices and boil the bag.

2. One more from my mom: Use whole cloves and push them in to the peel of an orange—you can make designs for aesthetics. Do this with 3 or 4 oranges and place them in a bowl. As the oranges dry out, there’s a very nice scent in the air—natural and better than glade.

3. Hang clusters of cloves to repel flies. Also makes the room fresher.

Vanilla: Place pure vanilla on a cotton ball in a small saucer. Place that saucer in the car or refrigerator to remove odors. (keep out of reach of the kiddos, though)

Toothpaste:
1. Remove crayon marks from the floor or wall by rubbing with a damp cloth containing toothpaste. This will not work on wallpaper or porous surfaces.

2. Remove water marks from wood furniture (I’ve not actually tried this one, yet). Rub gently with toothpaste on a damp cloth.

Vinegar:
1. To remove no-slip decals from the tub, saturate a cloth or sponge and squeeze hot vinegar over decals. Also removes price tags and other decals from glass, wood and china. Give the vinegar time to soak in before rubbing off the decal.

2. To remove smoky odors from clothes, fill your bathtub with hot water and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Hang garments above the steaming bath water.

3. Hard lime deposits around faucets can be softened for easy removal by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave the paper towels on for about an hour before cleaning. Now your chrome will be clean and shiny.

4. Cola stains can be removed from clothing by applying undiluted vinegar directly to the stain within 24 hours. Wash as usual.

5. Can’t wait to try this one: when you have to leave your car outside overnight in the winter, mix 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part water and coat the windows with the solution. This solution will keep windshields ice and frost free.

Baking Soda:
1. Remove black heel marks by rubbing with a paste of baking soda and water. Don’t use too much water or the baking soda will lose its abrasive quality.

2. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup baking soda to a load of laundry to make clothes feel soft and smell fresh.

Sand, lime or ashes
Have a problem with snails in your garden? Snails avoid protective borders of sand, lime or ashes.

Salt
Remove soot stains from carpet by sprinkling salt generously over soot. Allow the salt to settle for at least 15 minutes before vacuuming.

I have a ton more but here’s where I’ll leave it (cuz I really hate to clean). Let me know what you think of these more frugal ways of cleaning.