A fabric softener laundry trick that can save you alot of money and reduce plastics/cartons in landfill:
1/2 cup white vinegar with 10 drops of your favorite pure essential oil added to the rinse cycle.
Super fabric softener at a fraction the cost of others! Removes static, is my favorite scent instead of manufactured scents, and a bonus is that there’s no more linty stuff coming off my clothes after being in the dryer! (Other softeners leave stuff on your clothes or break down the fibers so your clothes wear out faster.)
The white vinegar actually helps rinse the clothes much better. For towels and bed linens, I sometimes put more essential oil drops if i want a stronger fragrance. White vinegar, $1/gallon; pure lavender essential oil, $17 (will last all year)… My monthly fabric softener cost has gone from $6/bottle/month down to 25 cents/month!
Plus, i use that same essential oil in unscented candles and tealites.
How funny....i only very recently (within last week) read the coconut oil articles on the web. (100 uses, 80 uses etc.) so i bouht some and ordered some from amazon. (Im a stockpiler.)
Have started trying some of the uses. I tried using it a
If your going to be financially secure enough to venture out and see whats available in the B & B field...take your time and check it out. If you have to jump into a job..just to have one..you will not be happy. Hope you get the time to find wh
I’m a big fan of vinegar and baking soda and lemon for home cleaning products.
Just last week I burnt some butter in a very small white cornflower blue corning ware fry pan. Left a mess and soaked it for 2 days, used my fav cleaning product, nothing worked. so resorted to my old fashioned soak in white vinegar with some soda and voila! It worked.
Also, a couple of white blouses with underarm stains. Pure vinegar will take that out.
Living in an old apartment with no dishwasher. Load your sink up with dishes, put in a small amount of liquid dish soap some vinegar and soda, let soak for 10 min, and again, voila! Sparkly clean dishes.
GREAT…. I thank you for the underarm stains…tip…sooo many of my blouses are completely ruined because of the stains..THANK YOU
love the underarm stain idea… alot of underarm stains are from the deodorant/antiperspirant aluminum, which is also a cause of alzheimers… good to switch to Tom’s brand or the new Thai Rock Crystal (which i recently took on a trip as it was the right small size allowed in carryon bags)….works great! no more stains.
does anyone have ideas on treating underarm stains or odors for items that are dry clean only? seems my dry cleaner can’t get the items cleaned, which means their ruined.
Oh my goodness….I did not know this!!! believe me I personally am prepared to do whatever I can to avoid the Alzheimers thing…
I will look for Tom’s brand as well as Thai Rock Crystal
I have used “Mrs Stewarts” liquid bluing..now if you like the brightest of whites..this stuff will do that for you..and alittle goes along ways…one has to be carefull though, if it is not mixed well in the water…..everything has bright blue spots on it…Great for white towels and white bed sheets….and it is eco freindly….kinda like going BACK TO THE FUTURE…..most of our grandmothers would have used this stuff.
http://www.mrsstewart.com for tons of cleaning ideas and projects with Mrs Stewarts bluing…have fun girls!!!
thanks for the ‘blueing’ tip… don’t you find it so interesting that during these times our society is recognizing the ‘old time’ remedies as significant and relevant… in food, in health, and cleaning, exercise, etc…?
ALUMINUM… so glad to share this important health safety note… lots of materials out there about the topic. … pots and pans coated aluminum is strictly prohibited in some countries like France, Germany, Great –Great Britain, Belgium, Hungary, Brazil , India, Canada and Switzerland. a good site for an overview of research and items containing aluminum: http://www.endeavorfreedom.org/Alzheimers.htm It’s so great that we are seeing new choices in products that eliminate known neurotoxins like aluminum.
most important is to not be fearful during these times of overwhelming fear… your body knows what to do and is an extreme adaptogen… your mind/body/spirit will ask for the highest evolvement in any scenario.
Please note the information on the attached link has a differing opinion on the aluminum and Alzheimer’s connection:
http://alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/406
Also aluminum pots and pans… baking powder that contains aluminum..contribute to cancer and Alzheimer’s
Guess what i found out/…. that old time pine tar soap is great for cleaning the skin of mites or bacteria on the skin.
love your suggestion about vinegar for stained under arms.. I have been giving those (some of my favorites) away… I am gooing to try that .
The rest is totally my list of cleaning supplies…We have to try where we can to improve health and the planet.
i have expanded my use of vinegar and baking soda for cleaning thanks to these wonderful comments by all…
i will say that i’ve read alot of various views of disagreement on the effectiveness of apple cider vinegar on improving health, losing weight, and so on… so i’m still optimistic and plan to try it and see what it does for me, myself and i, and then draw my own conclusions. i am a big proponent of the natural things that help us to attain good health, and have learned many of those natural old remedies really do work. i will also try it on my pets, and i was surprised to find that a few drops in a bowl of water was gobbled up by my cats so we’ll see what happens in the pet department. i’m optimistic for both my pets and myself! of course, we all know pickles love vinegar and don’t age once immersed in vinegar! (-; and pickles are pretty delicate little cucumbers! i wonder if i smush pickes under eyelids if those dark circles will go away, just like using cucumbers under eyes for dark circles… just kidding!
I have been using microfiber cleaning cloths for a lot of my cleaning chores. You will decrease your need for cleaning products. Great for mirrors and windows, counter tops, stainless steel appliances. I keep a couple on each floor of my old house, find it handy to just grab and wipe as needed.
what are these and where do you get them?
They are at lots of places, try Bed Bath and Beyond, Target etc. My are from QVC, Don Aslett cleaning products. They are sold in packages of multiples.
oh that Don Aslett book he wrote (a long time ago) on cleaning… it was the best!
I’ll look for these micro cleaning cloths…
I got my microfiber cleaning cloths at Costco in the automotive section for a good price.
Tried it. Works great! Especially since I live in an area with hard water.
I use vinegar and water as a final rinse for my hair and it’s so soft (rinses out the hard water minerals). I use 3/4C vinegar to a gallon of distilled water. Use a cup for rinse each time I shampoo.
My neice was just complaining about what her hard water has done to her hair. I will pass this tip on to her, thanks
Thanks this a great post. It is a shame how much manufactures charge for vinegar based “green” cleaning products 3X the price of the regular window cleaning treatment…Isn’t it funny how we are going back to what our parents used that was so much safer? and sitting on the shelf under used?
white vinegar is great for cleaning wood floors and not leave any film on them
so true, the price of remarketed and repackaged items is too high. a couple other examples in addition to vinegar/green-cleaners is peroxide as a food cleaning product.
peroxide in water or straight on is a great way to disenfect vegetables/fruit, and when you look at those very expensive veggie/fruit cleaners … that’s what they’re made of, peroxide diluted in water. and compare the price, specialty produce cleaners at >$3/container versus peroxide at <$1,
just tonight i was looking at the price of ‘canned’ peaches because i saw the most beautiful peaches in syrup packed in clear plastic bowls in the fruit section at $3.38/20oz, and right above was a jar of same peaches/oz at $2.87, so i went back to canned goods, and you can get same brands, twice the quantity in cans at $1.60! so it pays to look around and not pay premium price!
thank goodness we have choices!
Thanks Radianton, for the info on the peroxide.