Green/Clean: Day 3 ~ Shaving Cream Cleaner

I hate to even show the pictures on this project...mostly because I'm showing the world my dirty tub. I will say that hubby is a mechanic, so my tub pretty much looks this dirty within days of cleaning it. With that said, I found a cleaner that is WAY cheap and super easy to use. When I told a friend this, she asked if it was the Magic Eraser (by Mr. Clean) and I laughed and said, "No, I said cheap." I know most people may think the Magic Eraser isn't that expensive, but when you have to scrub "Mechanic Slime" off of your tub every week, it's certainly not cheap anymore.

My new saving grace in the bathroom: Shaving Cream.

Okay, I just have to say, this came from a bit of a discussion in the bathroom during a deep clean one night. I was telling hubby it would be nice if there was some sort of bleach foam that would get into all the cracks and crevices that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I was using vinegar and baking soda and was making some headway, but certainly not the kind I needed to make. I'm really on a natural/cheap cleaning supply kick. I've discovered about 1,000 ways to clean with vinegar and/or baking soda and it has been AMAZING. Somehow, this miracle concoction was just not cutting through the slime and oil that hubby brings to my tub every day. I was using all the elbow grease I had and then hubby started to jump in and help and believe me when I say he has far more elbow grease than I and still wasn't making the dent I was wanting.

All of a sudden, in a stroke of genius (not sure if it was hubby or I) but we remembered using shaving cream as a kid on our desks at the end of the year and how much dirt it cleaned off of the desks (that we cleaned most everyday). It was just what we needed to get into all the corners and crevices in the tub.

We sprayed some cheap shaving cream that I think I get for a dollar a can for hubby and used way less elbow grease and produced a sparkly, clean tub!

Dirty Shower...yes, I see that grime.

This was after trying to clean it with vinegar & baking soda.

Shaving Cream

Hubby's Elbow Grease. 

Rinse.

AMAZINGLY CLEAN SHOWER!!!

It's certainly not perfect and living with a mechanic I have resigned myself to every having a perfectly white tub again, but it is so much better and made little birdies sing in my head the next morning when I showered...and that is PRICELESS.

Green or Clean: Project 2 ~ Adhesive remover

Adhesive Remover

We have an old Honda that needed a back wing window. My wonderful hubby found one but it was covered with window tint. None of the other windows had window tint. He took a razor blade and scraped all the tint off the window. The problem is that is left the adhesive all over it.


Recently, I had been on Pinterest and had seen several natural adhesive removers. I ended up using some furniture oil, Murphy's Oil, which is an all natural vegetable oil. I used an old rag and rub most of the adhesive off the window with the oil and then followed it with white vinegar and a different rag to clean the window. It took a couple of times but worked like a charm. It highlighted the few bits of tint left behind so I could gently remove them with the razor blade.


Here are some other natural adhesive removers:

• mineral oil, baby oil or orange oil (any natural oil, possibly even vegetable oil) followed by white vinegar to clean off the oil
• These are generally safe on wood and when used on wood do not need to be followed with vinegar

• white vinegar, it seems you may need to soak the adhesive for a few hours
• This is safe for most surfaces but because it needs to sit for some time, not usually best for wood

• rubbing alcohol
• This is not safe on porous materials such as wood. Works great on removed bandage adhesive from skin (as do oils).

Green or Clean: Project 1 ~ Homemade Laundry Detergent

I added a new challenge this month: Green or Clean. I'm going to find 30 ways to make my family more "green" and make natural cleaners. This recipe is one our family has been doing for years. It's not only a great natural cleaner but also a HUGE money saver.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Front or top load machines & HE washer safe

Ingredients:

• 4  Cups - hot tap water
• 1  Natural soap bar (unscented) (I use Lotion Bar Cafe's Naked Bar. She doesn't have it listed on her site but you can send her a message for naked soap. It's only $5 & supports local small business). Most recipes call for Fels-Naptha soap bar. I personally like Lotion Bar Cafe's better.
• 1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* (Usually found in the laundry soap aisle)
• 1/2 Cup Borax (Also found in the laundry soap aisle)

Laundry Soap

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. (I use my food processor to get it done quickly.) Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water (I use filtered water to prevent smells-there is a lot of chorine in our water here). Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. Mine usually looks like jello.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use (will gel). I use empty gallon jugs (milk jugs work great). I make sure to mark the bottles with a red X on the tops & label the sides so they aren't ever mixed up as food containers.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. We don't do any because of skin & fragrance allergies.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. 10 gallons lasts our large family about 9-10 months. It costs around $15 to get started (purchasing all the materials). Then the next batch is around )$0.25 a gallon. It's around a $15/month savings for us or $175 a year!

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads) I bought a plastic measuring cup specifically for the wash and marked 5/8 cup on the side with a marker.

-Front Load Machines- 1/4 Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

-For odor removal, I add 1 cup of white vinegar to every load. 2 gallons of white vinegar are less then $4 at Sam's Club. I found this very necessary being we do not use scent in our detergent because of skin allergies. It will also work as a fabric softener.

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

I borrowed this recipe from the Dugger Family (19 kids & counting) from this recipe & added my own little touches.