Cleaning

I don’t know about you, but every time I bust out the glass cleaner and start spraying it around I cringe away from it’s falsely blue mist and I cover my mouth and nose with my shirt.  I finally got tired of acting so ridiculous every time I have some glass to clean, so I decided to make my own homemade diy glass cleaner that is chemical free, doesn’t make me cringe away from it in fear, and most of all works.

I’m neither for nor against using alcohol in glass cleaner at this point. Personally I think it will probably help to reduce streaking because it evaporates more quickly than water. For the sake of including all options here is a simple to make glass cleaner.

Also, I don’t want to go to a liquor store (grocery stores don’t sell hard alcohol in Oregon) just to buy vodka for some homemade glass cleaner, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. Plus, I like the simpler solutions, so here it is.

This glass cleaner is great for everything you’d use a store-bought glass cleaner for: windows in your home, mirrors, or even some metal like faucets.  The good news is that it does all that while being completely animal and kid friendly.  Now, here’s how to make glass cleaner!

I decided to make some diy dryer sheets because I’ve been avoiding dryer sheets for awhile. I never liked their strange sticky texture or their overly sweet smell, and I’ve heard they have potentially harmful or skin irritating ingredients, so I try not to use them.  But, from time to time I want my clean clothes and linens to have a nice scent. So I decided to figure out how to make my own.  Here’s how to make your own dryer sheets, best of all it only takes a few minutes to make.

Here is a little homemade fabric softener recipe I found that is incredibly easy, and takes no time at all.  I can’t stand it when clothes come out of the wash and when they dry they feel all stiff, or crunchy, or rough, or pretty much any way that isn’t soft and pleasant.  I also can’t stand the way that most fabric softeners smell, and I get weirded out by their strange sticky texture.  I don’t know what they are made out of, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want it on my body.  Baking soda is a great option to soften fabric for those who have sensitive skin since it is a natural mineral.

As you probably know, baking soda has about a million uses for cleaning, cooking, and personal hygiene.  Surprise, it works great as a diy fabric softener too.  Baking soda fabric softener will also help to further fight odor, ensuring that your clothes come out smelling extra clean and fresh.

Sometimes our houses get a little smelly.  Whether it’s a stinky trash can under the sink or your bathroom (for obvious reasons) making your own homemade air freshener is the perfect way to fight the stank.

When I was a kid my family always had a can of your average store bought aerosol bathroom air freshener sitting on the toilet tank ready to “freshen” up the bathroom at a moments notice.  Those sprays never seemed to do anything to get rid of the odor.  They just added a sickly sweet smell into the mix, and ended up making the room smell worse.

Try making this homemade air freshener as an alternative to aerosols from the store.  It doesn’t just work for bathrooms, it’s great under the sink, in the fridge, in a closet, cupboard, or anywhere else that stinks.  Not only does it put off a pleasant aroma, but it absorbs all the bad smells too.  Give it a shot and see for yourself.

I’ve already made one homemade carpet freshener on The Homemade Experiment, but I’ve also seen this other recipe around the internet so I wanted to try it out.  The only difference between the two is that this recipe also uses borax powder.  I am completely happy with the other carpet powder recipe, but I want to include this one for the sake of variety and comparison.  As of now I can’t say if one is better than the other, but I can say that they have both worked for me.

This is a good homemade natural solution for freshening up the carpeting in you home without much work, or having to cover your carpeting with chemicals that may or may not be left behind by your vacuum cleaner.  This powder works equally well on rugs, just be a little more careful so you don’t suck your rug into your vacuum cleaner (trust me, I’ve learned this from experience).

Here is a great way to make your own diy mason jar shaker, and best of all it costs next to nothing to make.  My grandma gave me a bunch of her old mason jars, and I’ve been trying to find some good uses for them, and this fits the bill.  These homemade shakers are great because you can make them in any size that you want and can be used for anything from spice shakers to homemade carpet freshener.

Making your own shakers is a great alternative to buying a new shaker, especially as an alternative to plastic.  Don’t worry if you don’t have any mason jars laying around you can also use any glass jar with a metal lid.