In Celebration of Earth Day, I’m going to do a short series of posts today and tomorrow that will help us all to live greener healthier lives,  and also help us save some moolah!  These are things that I do in my home, because I am after all a “Natural and Thrifty” Mama.

Earth Day Tip # 1:  Make Your Own Cleaners

• Surface Spray Cleaner
  • Fill a bottle with 1-2 cups vinegar (depending how strong you like it).
  • A few drops of lemon juice
  • Fill to the top with water.
  • As another option you could add a little Tea Tree Oil to the mixture.

• Laundry Detergent - Start with a (clean) 5 gallon bucket
  • Add 3 gallons of warm/hot water
  • Add 2 cups of baking soda
  • Add 2 cups of borax (found on the laundry aisle)
  • Add 1 bar of soap (shred it with a cheese grater) to a pot of almost boiling water.  Make sure it doesn’t boil, and keep stirring until the soap is dissolved (3-4 min).
  • Add soap mixture to your 5 gallon bucket that already has the previous ingredients in it.
  • Top off with warm water and mix until well blended.
  • Total cost: Approximately $1.29 for 5 gallons of laundry detergent (less if you use coupons on these items).

You can see some awesome picture tutorials on this HERE and HERE.

• Surface Scrubbing Cleaner
  • Just plain baking soda!  And if you want a little fizz action (great for the toilet bowl), add a little vinegar or lemon juice. You can actually get rust off of your stainless steal utensils with lemon and baking soda.

If you make your own cleaners, do you have any great tips that I didn’t mention here?