Make your own cleaning products for pennies

I thought I would share with you some of the homemade cleaners you can make for pennies on the dollar. I am using them and most work as good, or better, than the expensive stuff from the store.

Laundry Detergent: 1 cup Fels Naptha or Ivory soap (grated finely)1/2 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax. Mix and stir in lidded container. For lightly soiled loads, use 1 T. For heavily soiled loads use 2 T. Estimated cost: $1 for 32 T

Homemade Shout: 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda, 2 T ammonia, 3 C water. Stir together and fill a labelled spray bottle. Spray soiled spots before washing.

Fabric Softener: 1/4 cup baking soda,1/2 cup vinegar. Fill washer with water, add baking soda, stir, then add clothes. Add vinegar to final rinse.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: 1 cup borax, 1/2 cup white vinegar.Flush to wet sides. Sprinkle borax all along the sides and insides. Drizzle vinegar over borax and leave overnight. Next day, scrub and flush.

All-purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant: 1 tsp borax 1/2 tsp washing soda, 2 T lemon juice. In a pint spray bottle, combine ingredients. Add 1 cup very hot water and shake to dissolve. Store indefinitely.

Kitchen Disinfectant: Keep a spray bottle each of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in the kitchen. Best results come from using one spray right after the other (the effect is in the mixing, but you can't mix ahead). Use to wash vegetables, sanitize counters and cutting boards. More effective than chlorine bleach at killing salmonella, shigella, and e. Coli.

Drain cleaner: For a great once-a-month drain cleaner, pour 1/2 cup baking soda into the drain, follow with 1/2 cup white vinegar (it will foam). Cover and let sit 30 minutes and then flush with cool water. For stubborn, slow-running drains, pour 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup salt down the drain. Follow this with 2 quarts boiling water. Let sit 30 minutes, then flush with cool water

Oven Cleaner: (No toxic fumes) 3/4 c Baking Soda, 1/4 c Salt. Add enough water to make into a paste, spread it around the oven. Leave overnight (at least 8 hours). Spray w/ water if it has dried. Wipe it up. Spray w/vinegar to get rid of any baking soda residue.

Dishwasher Soap: Equal parts borax and washing soda. I usually make up 2 C at a time and sore in a lidded container. Increase the washing soda if you have hard water.