Step Away from the Chemicals: Disinfecting Goes Natural

Did you know that the air inside your home is usually more polluted than the air outside? It’s true! According to the EPA the air inside our homes is more polluted than the air outside. Today I’m going to challenge you to take a good hard look at the cleansers you are using on a daily basis, and rethink whether or not they are something you really want to continue exposing your family to.  Think about this: you have to childproof your cleaners.  If baby gets into them, it can be deadly. Same for you. They are full of hazardous, poisonous chemicals with names no one can pronounce. Every time you spray them onto your surfaces, you are releasing toxins and gases into your household environment.

The good news is that you can still disinfect and clean your home without any of those chemicals! Below are two different recipes for all-purpose cleansers that will both clean and disinfect just as well as the chemical-laden cleansers do. Like the laundry detergent I shared with you yesterday, these are extremely simple to make–walking from your car to the cleaning aisle in the store would take more time than making your own cleansers does! There are only three ingredients here, and most of these ingredients should be in your pantry already–at least, it is if you took my advice and stocked up on these ten basics for your Eco-Friendly Pantry. All of these recipes work well–it is up to you as to which you prefer.

 

Ingredients

• white vinegar
• borax
• tea tree oil
• optional: lemon oil or orange oil, for scent
• (Buy tea tree and other essential oils here)

Recipe One

1.  Add 1/2 a gallon of water to a spray bottle.

2.  Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the bottle.

3.  Add 1/4 cup of borax to the bottle.

4.  Shake to mix and use! This can be stored for several months.

Vinegar and water alone do well at cleaning, but adding borax kicks the cleansing power up a few notches. Borax is also an excellent deodorizer and disinfectant. This one not only cleans counters and surfaces, but is excellent for cleaning hard water stains off shower doors, faucets, etc. Add 10-15 drops of citrus oil for scent, if desired.

 

Recipe Two

1.  Add 1/2 a gallon of warm water to a spray bottle.

2.  Add 1/3 cup of borax to water. Shake to dissolve.

3.  Add 15 drops of tea tree oil to mixture.

4.  Done!

This one is perfect for people who don’t like the smell of vinegar. Tea tree oil is one of the most powerful disinfectants out there. Research shows that it is effective against E Coli, Strep and even MRSA. It has a slight antiseptic smell so it gives you that “clean” scent while still being a rather neutral smell. You may add orange or lemon oil to the mix if you like.

 

That’s it! Aren’t those simple? They store well and will last for a long time. A little goes a LONG way with these disinfectants. They cost pennies to make and won’t add to to pollutants in your home. Win-win-win!