Homemade Floor Cleaner

Ok, so we did have disgusting builder grade el cheapo carpet. And, we still do in the bedrooms. But, it was terribly disgusting, especially in our high traffic, living room area. Even though our house was brand spanking new when we moved in, the carpet quickly proved how poor it was. So, after we had enough and the stains were staring at me daily and laughing at me, we threw in the towel and hallelujah got hardwoods. They are from lumber liquidator. And, they are the new laminate floating floor hardwoods. I love them. This was our choice because our home is built on a concrete slab.

 

Dream Home - St. James 12mm Burnet Road Russet Laminate

image via lumber liquidators

 

 We LOVE them. It was so nice not scrubbing spit up into my carpet anymore with the nice lingering spit up smell. You know what I'm talking about! With acid reflux babies, it was constant and yucky. And, with Fulton being the drooly baby he is, wiping baby drool off the floor is oh so nice. But, I must admit, there are some yucky dried drool spots all around my floor right now. Mmmm.

And they do show every sticky fingerprint, hair, fuzz, dust, everything. But, I still wouldn't trade that any day for nasty-never clean-there's not telling what's growing in it-carpet. It's so nice to just wipe it up and KNOW IT IS CLEAN!

 

So, back to the cleaner...

 The installer told us I needed to find a cleaner that is ph neutral. Wasn't quite sure what all that meant because my high school chemistry teacher failed to teach me anything other than how to sit on the bleachers while they worked on the football field.

So, I spent some time in Walmart reading all the hardwood/laminate floor cleaners to find one that was ph neutral. None to be found.

So, I then checked out Lowes and found some called Bona floor care.

So, I bought it and paid a pretty penny.

I liked it. It had a sweet simple clean smell. But, geez. It was really expensive. And, I knew there had to be another option.

So..... since I was on my homemade laundry kick....and no surprise to anyone

 

I MADE SOME HOMEMADE LAMINATE HARDWOOD FLOOR CLEANER!

YAY!

 

Ok, so, I found a great recipe here on Nature's Nurture blog

 

Her original recipe calls for:

1 cup of water

1 cup of vinegar

1 cup of rubbing alcohol (eliminates streaks!)

few drops of dish washing liquid

 

image via Natures Nurture blog

 

It worked GRRRREAT!

But, my husband was watching a little football while I was using it and we quickly agreed that it smelled like I had been dying Easter eggs all day. So, I read on in her post and she changes the recipe to this:

 

1 cup of water

3/4 cup of vinegar

1 cup of rubbing alcohol

few drops of dish washing liquid

10-15 drops of essential oils

 

I agreed on the vinegar changes. Maybe less is more in this scenario. So, I altered my recipe and poured it into my spray bottle. So, now, I have my swiffer mop, a microfiber washable pad (be sure when you wash it and dry it, you do not use dryer sheets because it will lose its absorbing power) and my spray bottle. I just spray and then scrub!

 

I recently ordered these essential oils

 

 

here at amazon.com

I love all the uses for these oils and they smell AMAZING!

 

So, I'm going to start with something citrus to add to my cleaner and I know my house will smell much better! And, I will still have the great cleaning effects as well!

Hope you try it too! Let me know what you think!

 

Beach post coming soon!

 

 

 



And the results are in!!!! {better late than never, right?}

Drumroll please!.................

 

 

I LOVE MY NEW HOMEMADE DETERGENT!

YAY FOR SAVING MONEY AND FEELING DOMESTIC IN 2012!

 

via google images

 

ok ok. so, really, here's the rundown....

 the recipe I followed is found at:

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

There, of course thanks to Pinterest, are tons of recipes out there.

This is the one I found that seemed the simplest for 2 reasons:

 

1.NO GRATING REQUIRED!

2.AND NO MIXING WITH WATER IN HUGE BUCKETS OR WHATEVER YOU GUYS USE IN YOUR GARAGE OR WHEREVER YOU MAKE THAT WORK WITHOUT A HUGE MESS TO CLEAN.

 

ok, so, the recipe:

1 4 lb. box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (did not know this existed)

1 4 lb. box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda

1 4 lb. box of Mule Team Borax (had no idea what this was)

pack of 3 bars- I used the Kirk's Castille Soap (found on the bar soap aisle at Walmart, could not find at Target) 

 

That's it.

I found all of the ingredients at Walmart except the Borax. I had no idea what I was looking for and neither did the guy helping me. He looked at me strangely. Luckily, Target had it. (I've heard it's hard to find right now because of everyone trying these homemade recipes) (Another side note, borax is used to clean anything in your house, amazing stuff!) There are also recipes that use the Fels Naptha- found in the detergent section. But, the smell knocked me on the floor and I had to pick myself up. So, I went with the other. But, I think, next go round, I'm going to try the Ivory soap because I'm a big fan of Ivory. Simple and clean.



 

 

So, here's my employee working in our factory mixing the stuff up.

I went with a storage container from Target with a lid. Because, I don't need Fulton eating it.



 

I did not take pictures of the mixing process, but basically, in simple southern terms:

 Dump the washing soda in, stir, dump the the baking soda in, stir, dump the borax in, stir.

Cut the soap into small pieces, place in food processor.

Process the soap, mix it in the container. And, all done! It literally took about 10 minutes total.

 

Some recipes require you to grate the soap. Nope, not worth it. Get the ol food processor out.

Save your knuckles ladies.

 

The finished product.

The soap processed will look like feta cheese crumbles.

Your detergent will smell like the soap you choose. So, ahem, choose wisely. (hint hint- no Fels Naptha) For those of you that like that smell, I don't understand.

 

Ok, so here's the run down of my thoughts after about 4 weeks.....

 

1. I have a front loader- high efficiency washing machine. And, I've tried using the Affresh, or is it Afresh, washing machine cleaner, I've scrubbed that nasty rubber thing in the door. I've ran vinegar and baking soda cycles through my washer, and it still smells musty. I know, yuck. So, on the blog where I got the recipe, she talks about her disgust as well. And, this recipe helps eliminate that smell! And, it does. So, number 1: it helps clean your washer as well as your clothes! Multi-tasking! It even cleans top loaders too!
2. There are no bubbles.(Even less than regular detergent with your he washer) Get used to it. And, everything I've read out there, here  and here  are just a few of the many places that discuss how bubbles/suds do not = clean. It took me a few loads to get used to it. I kept looking for bubbles. Trust me, there will be no bubbles.
3. The lady at Sugar Pie Farmhouse, where I got the recipe (link above) also discusses how this stuff is super concentrated. I'll be honest. 2 Tbs. did not seem like enough to clean my load of dirty boy laundry. But, it did! So, stick to the amt to use. And, most of the liquid laundry detergents are the same ingredients, but you add water. I think that's just an extra step and a difficult one.
4. Another important point Sugar Pie Farmhouse lady discusses, if you have a front loader washer, do not add the detergent to your dispenser drawer. It will get clogged! So, I just add it to the actual washer. Once I've loaded my laundry, I just pour it on top of the clothes. Be sure to read that section of her post.
5. In my opinion, the smell is not amazing. It really doesn't have a smell at all. It's not sweet like she describes. It just smells simple and clean. Now, don't think you will be smelling a strong Febreze or Tide Clean Breeze smell. I can't stand a strong detergent smell anyway. Detergent is not perfume people. Again, it will smell like the soap you choose.

MY FAVORITE PART OF ALL......it gets out all stains with no prewash, presoak, pretreat, whatever you mamas do!

 

via google images

 

 For example, Fulton's birthday party- he had dried in strawberry juice all over his clothes. I didn't wash it out at all. It completely dried over night. I threw it in the washer, completely forgetting about the stains, and MAGICALLY, they were all gone when I took it out! No even slight red or pink hint at all! Another example, Ridge had on a white embroidered Big Brother shirt the other day. He had junk all over it. And, 4 HUGE blobs of chocolate milk. I thought the shirt was completely ruined and felt bad because his Granna bought it for him. It sat in my laundry room for 6 days and I did nothing to it. Dried in and yucky food all over it. I DID NOT PRETREAT AT ALL! Nothing! No oxiclean, no shout, no scrubbing in the sink. Nada! Threw it in the washer with a bunch of other clothes, came out  good as new!!! No hint of any dried in chocolate milk stains at all!!! This is really the best part!

The ingredients are so natural, safe, and simple, but yet so so POWERFUL!

 

You mamas out there, we don't need to worry about our kids clothes and stains! They are kids, especially boys, they are going to destroy their clothes! And, we don't need to worry about getting those tricky stains out!

 

So, I've made the 1 batch and I still have tons left. And, the batch was made 4 weeks ago!!!!

My total cost was around 13 buckaroos!

 

*I've been trying her advice and adding probably 1/2 cup of vinegar to my fabric softener dispenser. And, it does not reek of vinegar. And, I've been using some fabric softener sheets to my dryer to still have that small hint of clean smell.

 

Try it and tell me what you think! It's cheap, easy to make, and CLEANS CLEANS CLEANS!!!

* coming sooner hopefully than later, my homemade hardwood floor cleaner!