Day 1- Getting Started

I have found a ton of recipes. Yesterday, I went to the health food store in town and bought some essential oils. They had one I am really excited about, a bacteria fighter blend. I really like how it smells. It is a blend of lemon, cinnamon, lavender, rosemary, tea tree, clove, elemi, and thyme oils. It mostly smells like clove, which I love! And I was surprised that it only cost $9.49 for a 10 mL vial. I also picked up some orange oil (yummy!) for only $3.49, grapefruit seed oil (another natural antibacterial), and castille soap. They gave me some samples for this magnesium supplement drink to help with my muscle aches called calm. I'm going back to buy some, it was great. You mix it with water, and its slightly effervescent, like alka-seltzer, with a mild orange flavor. It was nice. I drank it last night before bed, and I slept wonderfully! I actually woke up early this morning without an alarm or anything at 7:30. Lately, I haven't been able to sleep before maybe 3am or get up before 10. Its been bad.

So after the health food store, we hit Wal-Mart and picked up a huge jug of white vinegar, micro fiber cloths, big boxes of baking soda, borax, washing soda, spray bottles, a glass jar, and lemons. I spent about $40 at the health food store and about $60 at Wal-Mart. I made my first cleaners last night when I got home!

I used a recipe I got from my friend, Erin, to start a citrus-cleaner. I took the gallon-size glass jar with twist-on top from Wal-Mart, filled it with white vinegar and lemon peels, and I added 1c lemon juice along with 20 drops of the bacteria fighter oil and 60 drops of the grapefruit seed oil. Now I'm letting it sit for 2 wks on my counter. Added bonus: it looks really pretty sitting there. I'll let you know how it cleans.

Then, I made a bucket of my first non toxic floor cleaner. Filled my bucket with HOT water, 1c white vinegar, 15 drops of the bacteria fighter oil, and 30 drops of grapefruit seed oil. Then I used a rag and cleaned the floor by hand. I don't like mops, I think they are gross. Mops and sponges just breed bacteria. I like used rags for all my cleaning so I can wash and bleach them after each use. The solution I made cleaned just as well as my old Lysol bucket, and smelled wonderful. It didn't feel heavy in my lungs, either, and my husband even commented the same. It smelled like I was baking, not cleaning. I noticed I didn't seem to need as much elbow grease, either. My floors look just as clean now today, though slightly streaking. The pergo we have is a little low quality, and the sheen has not been there since we've lived here. Even with the Lysol, its a little streaky and dull. So I'm not sure if its the floor or if I used too much vinegar, but we move next week, so I'll try it on the hard wood floor at the new house and let you know!

Homemade all-purpose no rinse floor cleaner:

Bucket full of HOT water
1/4 c white vinegar (I used more)
15 drops Bacteria Fighter Blend essential oil (tea tree or lemon will work, too)
30 drops Grapefruit Seed Oil
clean rag


Homemade all-purpose cleaner:

Glass jar
Citrus fruit peels
White vinegar
1c lemon juice
20 drops Bacteria Fighter Blend
60 drops Grapefruit Seed Oil

Mix ingredients, seal jar, and let sit for 2wks.