When my oldest daughter Joy was born, that’s when it started for me. You know how babies put their mouths on everything? I remember cleaning a toy that she promptly put in her mouth and feeling really freaked out. Did I rinse it well enough, or was she now chewing on bacteria-killing cleaning agents? Yuck, I felt like she might be better off just chewing on the germs!

  Tubtrug

That’s when I really got interested in homemade cleaners. Well, that and the fact that I stopped working after Joy came along, which meant we had just cut our household income in half! Being frugal while also making something non-toxic to my family and friendly to the earth? Yes, please!

My natural cleaner repertoire began with a simple multi-purpose spray of 1/3 parts vinegar + 2/3 parts water + a few drops of essential oil, and that is still my go-to cleaner. I’ve branched out over the years to find other great homemade recipes for cleaning just about everything, and thanks to Pinterest, it’s gotten super easy to find new ones!

Keeping new recipe ideas on a pinboard is a great way to organize them. But, I find that when I need to mix up a batch of my favorite cleaners, I have a bit of a mess on my hands. I have various print-outs from blogs, along with a few hand-written notes on scraps of paper. Aby came up with the idea for this great printable, which I just love. How easy is it to jot down the few ingredients and instructions for these cleaners? And now, my cleaning recipes will be together in my Command Central Binder. (Plus, they will look cute! I love that!)  Homemade cleaner recipes

So I’ve solved one problem. But putting my cleaner recipes together has reminded me of my struggles to find recipes for laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. I have tried three different variations of laundry detergent but haven’t found the magic combination. It’s especially frustrating because I’ve got friends who just loved those recipes. I think I may have a tall order when it comes to laundry, though. We have seriously hard water. We are very active (a polite way to say there are super sweaty and stinky clothes in the laundry bin). Plus, my daughter Faith is a dirt and stain magnet. Oh, and I really dislike having to hunt through dirty clothes for spots to pre-treat. So I’m looking for a detergent that will do the dirty work for me!

As far as dishwasher detergent, total no-go there. I’ve only tried one recipe, and I felt like the dishes may have gotten cleaner if I’d just rinsed them off with a hose! And, I know that Aby tried a recipe for this that turned into the consistency of concrete. Not good!

So we are on the hunt for new cleaning recipes. Do you have a terrific recipe for dishwasher or laundry detergent you could recommend to me? Would you be kind enough to leave it or link to it in the comments below? Or if it’s something you’ve pinned on Pinterest, recommend it to me there. Thanks so much for your ideas!

Happy Cleaning & Organizing!

Jennifer