Experiments with "Homemade" Cleaners

Being a person who greatly enjoys Pinterest, I've seen many a homemade cleaner recipe get pinned. They always catch my eye, and I've pinned a few promising, er, recipes, to try out as time goes on.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

When I ran low on toilet bowl cleaner, I decided to try out one of the recipes! Yeah, combining "toilet bowl" and "recipe" together sounds gross. I shall discontinue that combo.

Anyway, the... steps for making homemade toilet bowl cleaner are very simple. It involves combining baking  soda, water, castile soap, and tea tree oil. I've been subbing dish soap for the castile soap. I strongly recommend sticking to the listed amounts, otherwise your solution will be too runny or way too chunky!

Long story short, you combine the ingredients together and put them in a container that allows you to get it into the toilet. I simply saved one of my last toilet bowl cleaner containers, took off the lid, and used a funnel to add the ingredients. Then use like you would regular ole toilet bowl cleaner... and it works! It does indeed clean out a gross toilet, and it smells very clean afterward. And it seems less chemical-ly than your usual toilet bowl cleaner.

It is indeed a lot of baking soda to use consistently, but did you know that you can get a 13.5 lb. bag of it from Sam's Club for $6.68? Well they do, and you too could feel really proud that you have an abnormal amount of baking soda in your closet! Because I sure do.

Where do you buy tea tree oil? My Target had it in the pharmacy section, hidden in a weird spot. It was about $7, which seems kinda pricey. But you only use a teensy bit, so it goes a long way. I didn't do a massive tea tree oil hunt, so there may be cheaper options out there! If you find one, do tell.

Dusting Spray

I was a little more wary about trying this out, but I wouldn't let myself buy Pledge until I tried it, so it finally happened! I found this blog post that touts a solution of water, vinegar and olive oil. I know... olive oil?!? Hence the wariness.

But my stubborn side prevailed, and I tried it today. Survey says... not too bad. It did indeed allow me to dust, didn't leave a residue behind, and left surfaces shiny and streak-free. My main beef with this solution is that you have to shake it... a lot. Because, well, oil and water, people!! And I assume it won't last long with the olive oil. So... we'll see how I proceed. I may search around for some other ideas, or I may just be cheap and stick with this one, or maybe some Pledge coupons will come along and I'll give in. Suspense!!