Any easy way to make the holidays healthier, is to stop using harmful chemicals to clean with. Here are some easy natural cleaning tips and recipes. The extra nice thing about these recipes and tips, is that they save you money!

Multi-Purpose Cleaner
1. Fill a bottle with 1-2 cups vinegar (depending how strong you like it).
2. Add a few drops of tea tree oil or orange essential oil.
3. Fill to the top with water.

Homemade Laundry Detergent
1. Start with a (clean) 5 gallon bucket
2. Add 3 gallons of warm/hot water
3. Add 2 cups of baking soda
4. Add 2 cups of borax (found on the laundry aisle)
5. 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).
6. Add soap mixture to your 5 gallon bucket that already has the previous ingredients in it.
7. 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).

Soap Nuts are also a great natural laundry alternative, and you can make body wash and shampoo out of them as well.

Surface Scrubbing Cleaner

Just plain baking soda works well for great scrubbing power. It gets rid of soap scum. You can also use a citrus fruit with salt.

And if you want a little fizz action (great for the toilet bowl), add a little vinegar or lemon juice to your baking soda. You can even get rust off of your silver or stainless steal utensils with lemon and baking soda.

Natural Cleaning Gift Idea

Be sure to check out this “Have a Green Christmas” gift basket.

Be sure to visit all the sites for the 12 Days of Christmas series:Christmas Homeschool Fun: 1+1+1=1

Christmas Decorations: Songbird

Tips for a Healthy Holiday: The Thrifty Mama

Saving Money: Surviving the Stores

Travel Tips: Mom’s Travel Tales

Christmas Recipes: Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures

Christmas Family Fun: Life as Mom

Homemade Christmas Gifts: The Happy Housewife