Keep it Clean

Home Made Cleaners

Okay now I know what you're thinking. You are all about gluten free! What about my recipe? Here's the deal though. We had baked potatoes yesterday. We are having taco rice tomorrow. Tonight is leftover night. We will be more experimental and have more new recipes next month. After I make my new meal plan ha ha.

I love home made cleaners. I use them literally every day. Since our kitchen is a combo gluten/gluten free place I fell compelled to really clean as often as possible. Sometimes the dishes just pile up too high, or the baby is sick, or life happens. It's a reality of being a family. The house won't always look perfect, but at least my kitchen can be clean.

Now not only are commercial cleaners a little scary (can you really pronounce any of that stuff), they are so stinking expensive. There are two cleaners I don't make at home. Bleach and Soft Scrub. But lets face it, Soft Scrub is glorified bleach. For everything else it's some combination of lemon juice, lemon slices, vinegar (always the high acidity), baking soda, washing soda, borax, salt, and lots of water.

Since I am here as a gluten free guru lets start go ahead and talk kitchen cleaners. 

As a sort of all purpose cleaner I mix equal parts vinegar and water and add a few drops of tea tree oil. The vinegar dissolves most gunk and what it doesn't clear off on the first swipe you can soak off by simply placing a rag soaked in the cleaner over the gunk for a few minutes. The vinegar does a great job of eliminating odors. The tea tree oil is an antiseptic and it smells great! The vinegar smell will dissipate after about 20 minutes.

If you have really stubborn stains on a light colored counter warming the solution will do wonders. Also putting a dish of it in the microwave for about 10 minutes and then wiping it clean with a damp rag will eat away at all those nasty crusty bits. The steam in the microwave will have the acidity from the vinegar in it. It's awesome. 

If you have stainless steel in your kitchen use baking soda with a dash of vinegar to scour it clean. It will make it gleam. If you have a stainless sink this is a great time to trick your children into helping you clean. It's a science project! Everyone loves that fun foamy sensation.

Once a week I clean my sink and all my counters with Soft Scrub. There's some things that are best killed with bleach.

Here are a few more cleaner recipes.

Glass Cleaner

1 cup rubbing alcohol

1 cup water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Use with newspaper to prevent streaking

Drain Cleaner

1/3 cup baking soda

1/3 cup vinegar

Pour baking soda first then follow with the vinegar. Wait 5 minutes then flush with hot water.

1 cup vinegar in the rinse cycle is a great fabric softener

Furniture Polish

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

Carpet Cleaner

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup borax

1/4 cup vinegar

Mix the paste well, rub it into the stained area, let dry and vacuum up.

Hope these work well for your family!

Happy eating cleaning!

Tori