As I mentioned earlier in the month when I shared my favorite DIY room spray, a goal of mine for the year is to eliminate as many chemicals from our home as I can. I easily swapped out store bought alternatives for my room spray, but the thought of trading in heavy duty cleaning products for a safer alternative has been a bit more of a challenge for me. It is as if my brain is hardwired to connect the overwhelming scent of chemicals and bleach to cleanliness. Yuck.
Needless to say, the adoption of a chemical free cleaning spray has been quite the process. After a bit of trial and error (more on that below) I finally created a DIY cleaning spray mixture that both effectively cleans every day messes AND smells great. Strong and mighty this cleaner is not. Fresh and safe it is.
When I began researching DIY cleaning spray recipes I came across many recipes that involved the combination of Castile soap and vinegar. It seemed like a winning solution, after all both are effective cleaning agents. I initially went with a blend of the two ingredients, photographed the end result and had the beginning stages of a post written when I went to actually use the spray. It was at that point that I had a brief lesson in chemistry.
The Castile and vinegar blend worked famously when I first mixed them together but over time the two ingredients combined into what I can only liken to sludge. It turns out that the combination of an acid (vinegar) and a base (Castile soap) results in the cancellation of all commendable properties. The vinegar actually removes the soapiness of the Castile soap and reduces it to it’s oil base. The end result is the sludge I spoke of. Lovely.
Round two of the great DIY cleaning spray experiment led to a much more basic recipe of soap to clean with, water to dilute and tea tree oil to further disinfect.
MATERIALS
2 cups water
2 teaspoons unscented Castile Soap
20 drops tea tree oil
I am excited to keep using this more natural, refreshingly scented cleaner. Not only does it effectively clean surfaces, it leaves them looking polished! It acts as traditional two household agents in one! The best part is that I don’t have to worry about any harm coming to Ms. Lola as she sniffs and licks every reachable surface in our home.
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