Recipes

Try these easy homemade recipes.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent (16 loads)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Washing Soda OR Baking Soda
• 1 cup Borax

Directions:

• Mix thoroughly and store in a plastic container, use approximately 2 TBS per load
• Use vinegar in the rinse compartment as a rinse agent to help prevent residue
• Try adding 2-3 drops of essential oil

Homemade Fabric Softener (15 loads)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 6 cups distilled white vinegar
• 8 cups water
• 10-15 drops of essential oil of choice (optional)

Directions:

• Add baking soda to a one-gallon plastic container
• Add 1 cup of water to start
• Slowly add vinegar — the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz
• Add the rest of the water, cover and swirl to mix venting the top a few times
• Add the essential oil
• Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using.

Frugal Fabric Softener

Directions:

• Using 1/4 cup vinegar in your laundry’s rinse cycle keeps clothes soft.
• You can set aside a vinegar jug just for laundry and add about 2 dozen drops of your favorite essential oil to the vinegar if you’d like (or as much EO as you feel necessary).

Homemade Glass Cleaner

By Sarah Aguirre1, About.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rubbing alcohol
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions:

• Using isopropyl alcohol and white vinegar together makes a quickly evaporating spray glass and mirror cleaner that competes with national brands.
• This can also be used to give a nice shine to hard tiles, chrome, and other surfaces.

Homemade Laundry Soap Detergent

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Vinegar (white)
• 1 cup Baking Soda
• 1 cup Washing Soda
• 1/4 cup liquid castile soap

Directions:

• Pour the liquid soap into the bowl
• Stirred in the washing soda
• Add baking soda and vinegar in small batches (it will foam at first). Make sure the baking soda is not lumpy.
• Mix well. The mixture is a thick paste at first that will break down into a heavy powdered detergent, just keep stirring
• Break up any hard lumps
• Mix well and store in sealed container
• Use approximately 1/2 cup per full load

Lemon and Sage Disinfectant Surface Spray

Ingredients:

• Witch Hazel
• Essential Oil – Lemon, Clove, Sage
• Water

Directions:

In a large plastic spray bottle add:

• 3 tbs of witch hazel
• 18 drops of lemon essential oil
• 7 drops of clove essential oil
• 4 oz. of water
• 10 drops of sage essential oil
• Shake until the essential oils are dissolved
• Use to disinfect surfaces as needed. Shake before each use.