Well, it is 4:30pm and Tyler is still napping – it is going to be a long night. Anyway, when I recently had some time (when was that?), I decided to slowly get rid of all of my cleaners and make my own non-toxic ones. Partly because of the environment, partly because of my children and our health, and partly because I hope to save some money.

I bought all my ingredients and made a glass cleaner and soft scrubber. The soft scrubber is awesome and I can’t believe how far just a little bit goes. The glass cleaner is great; although paper towels aren’t the right tool for the job.

Here are some of the recipes I love. Oh, and suprisingly – all ingredients were found at Central Market. I couldn’t find anything at Whole Foods.

Disinfectant/Mold Eliminating Soft Scrubber

1/4 cup borax, enough vegetable-oil-based liquid soap to make a paste (I used Dr. Bronner’s scented with lavendar)

Place borax in a bowl and stir in liquid soap, stirring as you add, until you have a rich, creamy texture. Again, I doubled this recipe and have been surprised how far it goes. A litte more than two tablespoons cleaned my upstairs double sink! Stores great in a glass jar.

The Best Window Wash

1/4 tsp vegetable-oi-based soap, 3 tbsp vinegar, 2 cups water, spray bottle

Put all the ingredients in the spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand. (When you first shake up, it make look like the soap isn’t mixing in and look kind of wierd, but after a while it does all dissolve together)

Oh, and the glass cleaner doesn’t leave a “vinegary” smell either….. Geez – when will this child wake up? He went down at 1:45pm. Woke up at 3:30pm and nursed back to sleep. Back in the crib to see what happens at 3:50pm and he stayed there. We may have to hit the pool tonight to wear him out…..otherwise, it will be a late night and those drive Chris and I crazy.