Home Ec Homeschool Supply List

Learning about DIY cleaning and home care introduces one to a lot of serendipity regarding ingredients. Many, many homemade cleaners have the same ingredients or combinations of them. Even better, each of these ingredients, almost without exception, is inexpensive as can be. With a little familiarity with the functions of your basic ingredients, you can whip up almost any cleaning product you need without finding a recipe. Buying the following ingredients in bulk can save you a lot of money and time. No longer do you need a different, overpriced product to clean every fixture in your house, you can whip up inexpensive and nontoxic solutions to all your household chores.

What Does a Homemaker Need in a Cleaning Cabinet?



The Basics

Baking Soda - Baking soda deodorizes and is a mild abrasive. Suggested use: mix with water to clean bathtub and shower instead of using a store bought, chemical abrasive. Add to laundry to eliminate bad smells.

Vinegar - Vinegar makes everything shiny, and the smell goes away almost immediately as it dries. Wiping down metal or glass surfaces with vinegar will disinfect them and make them shine. Vinegar also kills and impedes the development of mildew. Suggested use: fill rinse aid container in your dishwasher with vinegar instead of store bought. It costs a fraction and works just as well.

Washing Soda - We already used washing soda in a DIY laundry detergent recipe. Washing soda is exceptionally good at cutting through greases and waxes. Suggested use: mix 1/2 cup washing soda with 2 cups water and use to get tough stains out of carpets or crayon marks out of clothes. Note: washing soda should not be used on aluminum surfaces or no-wax floors.

Borax - Borax is best known as a laundry booster. It can also be sprinkled at the bottom of your dishwasher to eliminate problems associated with hard water. Suggested use: use it instead of color safe bleach by adding 1/2 cup to your ordinary wash.

Hydrogen Peroxide - a general disinfectant. I once knew a woman who swore that a mixture of half hydrogen peroxide and half vinegar in a spray bottle was better than Lysol. I happen to agree.




Getting Fancy

Essential Oils - You can add essential oils, such as eucalyptus, lavender, or peppermint, to the cleaning products you make to give them a delightful scent. Many homemade cleaning products are more effective deodorizers than store bought, in my experience, but I sometimes miss the added smell of "spring rain" or "thai dragonfruit" or what have you. Using essential oils gives a fragrance without the chemicals and headaches.

Tea Tree Oil - In homemaking circles, I'm learning that tea tree oil is held up as some kind of panacea. It's anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-everything bad apparently. It is more expensive than almost anything else you'll by for home cleaning, but a little goes a long way. It's used in a lot of recipes for homemade beauty products.

Citric Acid - You can buy citric acid online or at a beer-making supply store. Spoiler alert: we'll be using it in a recipe for DIY dishwasher detergent.