Household Cleaning Without Feeling Gross as Hell

CLEANING WIPES    
   I loved commercial cleaning wipes. Loved. Past tense. The incredible amount of harmful chemicals that compromise your immune system and the water supply are terrifying, and not allowed in my home any longer. But I missed the convenience of the counter top wipe, until about 2 weeks ago. I had saved one of those contraband plastic containers and put a quarter of a cup of vinegar, about 10 drops tea tree oil, and a half teaspoon Dr Bronner's soap into it, along with about a half cup of water. I added to that some old (though clean) socks that I had cut from the heel to toe to make flat. I shook the whole experiment up and have been using them for the past couple of weeks. The have disinfecting properties, and soak up messes better than those store bought wipes ever did. I only use them from the container once, then they get set aside. Once I have a nice little stack, I boil water on the stove top and let the sock wipes boil for about 5-10 minutes, strain the hot water and allow to dry, then hang dry and reuse! I love this method.







TOILET CLEANING 101
     I hate cleaning the toilet, so I just put a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil in the back tank about once or twice a week, give a brief scrub of the inside, and the bowl is clean, mold free (living in apartments, I've moved in and found many a moldy toilet), and smells nice the remainder of the week.



CARPET SHAMPOO THAT REVIVES EVEN THE GROSSEST CARPETS
     Apartment living means moving in to find some nasty floors (and countertops, and sinks, and walls), and having pets means even the best owner/renter may come home to the occasional mess. When I bought a carpet shampooer I bought the cleaning specifically made for the machine, but it sucked. Didn't work well enough for me. So I've been playing with different mixtures for optimal cleaning both of new messes and oil stains, and for deodorizing. Now I'm going to give you the best 2 ingredient combo EVER. Washing soda and degreasing dish soap. I have a tiny tanked shampooer, so I put in a half teaspoon dish soap and about a tablespoon of washing soda, fill with hot water, and watch the magic happen. If you've got a some heavy duty deodorizing to do, sprinkling baking soda on the floors first, vacuuming, then shampooing works best. Then, I allow the carpets to dry and vacuum again. Because I'm like that.



Now someone help me figure out the best way to clean my shower! Nothing natural has worked for me thus far and my elbow doesn't seem to be nearly greasy enough.