USE IT UP Challenge--being frugal

[keljonma]

I love this Karen, great ideas for everyone!

Well I did really well last summer switching to all natural fertilizers for the garden so I guess the next step is to switch to all natural cleaning products....then MAYBE soaps & shampoos, although I will admit my exprience with natural shampoos has not been pleasant.
Anyone have a natural idea to replace stainless steel cleaner?

Keljonma, question for you....
1 spray bottle eucalyptus oil/water
1 spray bottle white vinegar/water
1 spray bottle tea tree oil/water
1 large jug white vinegar
4 16 oz bottles hydrogen peroxide
1 container homemade oxy-clean

What are you using all of these for, how do you make homemade oxyclean and you also had lavender oil and a couple of others in your list...what are they for?

After reading the question, I posted the homemade oxy-clean recipe separately.

White vinegar is my main cleaning supply, as it is a disinfectant and rinses clean. I use it for everything. We're using the homemade laundry detergent for washing dishes, walls and vinyl floors also.

The hydrogen peroxide is used to make the oxy-clean. Sometimes I just put a 1/4 cup of the hydrogen peroxide in the washer, as I don't use bleach.

The lavender, geranium, and eucalyptus oils are great in the bath after a hard day. In a spray bottle with some distilled water, they also make a nice air freshener.

Both tea tree and eucalyptus have disinfectant properties. I use the eucalyptus for antibacterial cleaning and an inhalant for stuffy noses and respiratory issues. I make an anti-viral spray that we use also.

The tea tree is used for disinfecting and insect repellant. I have also successfully used the tea tree oil on serious chicken injuries.

For stainless steel cookware, baking soda is good. For stainless steel appliances, fill a spray bottle with undiluted white vinegar. Then, spray on all of your stainless steel surfaces, and wipe dry with a soft cleaning cloth. For a stainless steel sink, cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide work well.

I have a recipe for a natural bug repellant that uses essential oils, but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[Dace]

Keljonma...thank you for the very thorough expaination! I am off to find your other oxyclean post!

 

[keljonma]

In re-reading my laundry/mud room list, I see I left off Lanolin.

 

[lorihadams]

This is awesome...I recently went through a lot of our stuff and when it gets warmer I want to have a yard sale. I love to read and I have made a silent vow to try not to buy so many books but go to the library instead. I do still buy cookbooks though and I got a $100 gift card to barnes and nobles for xmas so there goes that plan...

I am also a stickler for using up what is there before opening a new container. Chad is the worst for that. He hates to scrape the inside of a container and I swear the man has never heard of a spatula.

I don't use paper towels either...I use washcloths for everything. It grosses my hubby out to see me cleaning a toilet with a washcloth but it goes straight into the washer so who cares, right? We have started recycling and I think he was really surprised at how much packaging we really were just throwing away. I will burn stuff before I put it in a landfill...including my body when I die...sprinkle my ashes somewhere pretty, why do I need to take up space when I'm gone?

I try to put stuff on freecycle, take stuff to goodwill, I am constantly giving clothes to my friends that I can't wear anymore...I'm finally coming to terms that after 2 children I will NEVER be a size 5 again.
We have a network of childrens clothes that we all keep swapping out to each other when our kids outgrow them.

I am trying to teach my children not to be wasteful and appreciate what we have. I want to live more simply but its hard when materialism is everywhere nowadays...I don't want to shelter my children but it's hard to teach them that they don't NEED something, they WANT something. I am trying to justify my spending now on my needs instead of my wants...that's one thing that I have learned from a lot of the people on here.

I'm rambling...I'll stop now.

 

[Beekissed]

Not rambling....I refer to it as focusing my thoughts!

I know just what you mean about teaching the children the difference between want and need. I don't know how many people are doing that now days....all my little nieces and nephews (grade schoolers) have their own cell phones...each one!

What in the world could be so important to communicate to little kids that would warrant 6 cell phones in one family???

We don't have any.....

 

[CityChook]

Just before Christmas I cleaned out my fabric trunk... I came up with 3 paper grocery bags FILLED with fabric remnants all +/- 2 yards each. Beautiful textiles, some antique, mostly cotton, from years and years of projects. I always thought I'd do something with them but in the end just decided that they were clogging up my life....

So I listed them on Freecycle.

I got an email not ONE HOUR later from a woman who sews quilts for sick kids at the Children's Hospital. She asked if she could have the fabric.

Man, I cried when she came to pick them up. What a wonderful feeling to know that something that was a thorn in my side was going to be used for such a wonderful gift. A treasure for little someones who really needed something soft and lovely to hug.

 

[FarmerChick]

great story
quilts for sick kids, now that is wonderful that is where your fabric went!

 

[cknmom]

The cleaning things I have still are things we bought when remodeling our house that we didn't have because I DON"T USE THEM!! DH insisted that we NEEDED them! So there they sit. I have used them twice in three years! The bleach I have to keep, we occasionally get mold on the bathroom ceiling, haven't found anything that works as well. But I have to let wahtever I pour it in sit until it evaporates because I can't put it in the septic.

I do make my own cleaners, floor, toilet, counter. I tried the dishwasher(store-bought is sooo expensive), but it puts an awful film on my glasses, so DH insistes we go back to store-bought, oh well.

DH insists windex is THE best thing ever for windows. I use vinegar and water. So we always have a gallon of windex.

I have almost 20 boxes of tide HE in my closet. We got a coupon book for free laundry soap when DH bought me my new machines 3 yrs. ago. I just used the last cupon last mo. I use half the amount said, only wash 5-8 loads a week. So I will have laundry soap FOREVER!! I can't wait until it's gone so I can make my own!


keljonma-I love your laundry/mudroom list. I am trying to get mine set up, you gave me a good starting point.

I can't make a soup/stew jar. I send leftovers with DH for lunch. If there is enough for another meal great! There is always someone that will eat the small amounts of leftovers. Or I use them in a casserole I'm throwing together. I do A LOT of cooking from the cupboards/fridge.

Monica

 

[FarmerChick]

if you can't wait for all that laundry soap to be gone, ship it to me......LOL----you did great. 20 boxes.....hey, that means big money savings. Yea you can go green in that area later..HA HA

I liked Windex also. Vin. and water is good but Windex to me is a good window cleaner....just want to be more friendly to the environment where I can. I know what your DH means. I like the product.

 

[annmarie]

I'm about to run out of dishwashing detergent (for hand washing, not automatic). Is there a homemade alternative that anyone is aware of?