Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

March 22, 2010 By 6 Comments

We have been trying a frugal dishwashing recipe. It is SO easy to make, and it works pretty well!

Here is how to make your own dishwashing detergent:

Take 1 TBS Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and 1 TBS Borax. Place the 2TBS in the dispenser and fill the rinse agent cup with white vinegar.

How easy is that!! I just keep little containers of each, and put equal parts into my water then pour in the vinegar.

Note: We did try just the detergent before without the vinegar and eventually the glasses became cloudy. With the vinegar……the dishes are much cleaner.

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Budget Saving Cleaner

October 26, 2009 By 11 Comments

baking soda

While canning last week, some of the apple butter got onto my stovetop and completely burned in on the stove. So I have had these lovely black streaks all over my stovetop. I have tried tons of cleaners (I have lots to choose from due to coupons), leaving rags on it all night to try and loosen it up with no success.

Tonight after trying to clean this all week long, I tried baking soda and white vinegar. The burned marks came up with a couple minutes of elbow grease. I was quite amazed. I have tried baking soda by itself and vinegar by itself, but together they worked GREAT! I had literally spent well over an hour trying to scub and with this combo it came up in just a couple of minutes.

I think I might be about ready to give up on all of those fancy cleaners, sometimes the basic things our grandparents used work best. I know the cleaners were free, but I have tons of free baking soda as well. Plus vinegar and baking soda seem a lot safer to use than lots of chemicals I can’t even pronounce.

Anyway, I am so happy that my stovetop is clean and shiny again with a budget saving cleaner. Do you guys use any other household items as cleaners you want to share? I would love to hear them, just leave me a comment.

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Filed Under: Budget Saving Tips, Homemade Products/DIY, Organic, organic

Back to the Basics – The Wonders of Vinegar

September 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vinegar is an amazing product! It is so versatile, and you can do SO much with it. We always keep white distilled vinegar around our house. Vinegar is not only used in cooking, there are many other uses.

What makes vinegar so special? It is slightly acidic, will kill mold, bacteria and even weeds. Here are some ways to use vinegar.

1.  As a weed killer.
(My hubby goes out and sprays for weeds on occasion, and I really hate to see him spraying poison, so I tried something different, straight vinegar. I had heard that it would work, gave it a try and it was shocking to see. My hubby had sprayed poison on one area and the plants didn’t die, I sprayed straight white distilled vinegar and my weeds died. And, I didn’t have to be around any poison. As an added budget saving bonus, white vinegar is a lot cheaper than weed killers you find in the store.)

2. Mix vinegar and water and use it to clean your windows and mirrors.

3. To clean the microwave, put a bowl of half vinegar and half water in the microwave, heat it to boiling and wiped out the microwave easily.

4. To get rid of ants (Spray some vinegar where they are coming in.)

5. Keep boiled eggs from cracking. (Add a tablespoon to your water before boiling.)

6. Use as a cleaner by mixing equal parts vinegar and water. (This works great on the fridge and eliminates odors as well.)

7. Make buttermilk. (Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let is stand for a 4 or 5 minutes and you have buttermilk. I never buy buttermilk anymore because this is so much cheaper.)

8. Get stains off your aluminum cookware. (Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of water, boil and the black stains will be removed.)

9. As a bathroom cleaner. (Use one part vinegar to one part water. Put it in a spray bottle and you have instant, inexpensive, safe cleaner.)

I am sure that there are many more uses, but these are some of my favorites. If you have any similar budget saving vinegar tips, I would love to hear!

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Filed Under: Homemade Products/DIY, Organic