I’m not the only one in my house that has been inspired by Craig and Marc Kielburger of Free The Children. I came home from school yesterday and it looked like my mom was doing a science project in the kitchen. Then she told me that it was and that we were going to do our own version of Marc’s science fair project and make our own eco-friendly cleaning products.
Marc’s Story:
When Marc was 13 years old he had to do a science project for the science fair and couldn’t think of a topic. He asked his mom if she had any ideas and she didn’t. She asked Marc to help her with her house-cleaning on a Saturday and when he was taking out the cleaning supplies he saw that they were all labelled with symbols and words for hazardous, toxic and danger. Scary stuff. He thought about his science project and decided that he would experiment to make his own safe cleaning supplies.
He went to talk to his grandmother to ask her what she used in ‘her day’ to clean her house. She told him that she used natural things and whatever else she had. She used things like lemon, baking soda and vinegar. Her friends did do and they told him that they didn’t have all these fancy things to choose from.
So, back to my mom and the science project in our kitchen. My mom told me that she had looked up “do-it-yourself” cleaning products and eco-friendly cleaning products on Google and decided on a few recipes for us to try. She said that we already had almost everything that we needed in our house and that she bought the rest in the afternoon.
My Mom’s Project
The Materials:
Borax, baking soda, rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, castile soap, warm water, corn starch, spray bottles, measuring cups, funnels, essential oils
*have a marker and labels ready to label them when you are done. My mom also wrote the recipe on the label so that it’s easy to make when she runs out.
All-Purpose Cleaner (makes 2 spray bottles)
- 4 cups hot water
- 1/8 cup white vinegar
- 1/8 cup castile soap
- 1 tsp Borax
- a few drops of scented essential oils
Directions: Combine all ingredients, pour into spray bottles and shake well.
Glass Cleaner (makes 1 spray bottle)
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Directions: Combine all ingredients, pour into spray bottle and shake well.
Tub Scrub (makes small container)
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup castile soap
- 1 tbsp vinegar
Directions: Mix baking soda, soap and water well to make into paste then add the vinegar and mix well. A fork works best to do this. After you use it on the tub, rinse it off with cold water.
The Results:
Our homemade eco-friendly cleaning supplies were amazing. They worked really well everywhere my mom used them – the kitchen and bathroom counters, sinks and floors – all clean and smell really good too. Each one cost less than a dollar to make. Now that we have all the materials and recipes we can make more when we run out.
Do you have any eco-cleaning tips for me and my mom?
Hannah, I don’t have any eco-cleaning tips for you and your mom, but I wanted to say thank you for sharing these with the rest of us! We will be trying some of these in our house very soon.
Citrus peels soaked in vinegar/apple cider vinegar with a few drops of essential oil of choice. 🙂 It’s great for in and around the toilet bowl. Fantastic stuff!
Keep up the great work! Thank you for sharing!
Eco-cleaning tips for you (because I can’t even breathe in the chemical aisle so I’ve been using eco for a while now 😉
— that Borax stuff…not only great for cleaning but for crafts. You can make pipe-cleaner crystals and all kinds of cool stuff!
— I’m currently using eco-green but still bought product now but like the idea of going homemade. How’s one for homemade clean-up wipes (like Clorox wipes…but way less gross): http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/11/homemade-clorox-wipes.html
Take care!
Hi Hannah,
Great post, and a great start to helping people get unneeded chemicals out of their lives. They’re not only bad for the environment, but also get into the bloodstream and are linked to all sorts of health issues.
Now how to do even better?
In Marc’s grandmother’s day, all those natural ingredients were actually natural. They weren’t grown with chemical pesticides and didn’t have GMOs. Today, unfortunately, that’s not the case. The term ‘natural’ has no legal meaning, and companies can put it on almost anything. For example, the corn starch and vinegar are both made with genetically modified corn. Kiss My Face doesn’t use organic ingredients, so the coconuts and olives used in their soaps are grown with pesticides, herbicides etc.
What to do? Anything with the Organic label can’t contain GMOs or be grown with pesticides etc. You can buy cleaners with the Organic symbol, or use organic ingredients to make your own.
Keep being an inspiration!
Ian
Thank you so much Ian! I totally agree with you Ian! A lot of things can change in two or three generations! A great resourse to learn about GMO’s is Rachel Parent, who is a 14 year old who is passionate about GMO’s! The cleaning supplies that my mom and I made work great. I hope that one day everybody can contribute to making the world a better, safer and happier place! See you at camp!