Cleaning naturally

Since Ava was born I've been starting to make and use some natural cleaning products for our home. I'd never really thought much about it before Ava, but it just doesn't seem safe to me to have a bunch of chemical-laden products in the house anymore. I don't want to worry about her accidently getting into something, not to mention that I don't want her ingesting the cleaners' residue or breathing the fumes either. God knows she'll be exposed to enough polutants in this world without me using them all over our home.

My first natural cleaning creation was an all-purpose scrub made from baking soda, water, dish soap and a few drops of an essential oil (for fragrance). I've been using that for cleaning the bathrooms for a while now, but I realized that I need other products for windows, wood, etc.

It so happens that I recently ran out of Windex, so instead of buying a new bottle I made a mixture of water and vinegar to which I added a couple drops of blue food coloring (all in the Windex bottle) and voila - natural window cleaner! It takes a little more elbow grease to get all of the streaks out, but it works. And I don't have to worry about what Ava is getting in her mouth when she licks the sliding glass door, something she seems to enjoy doing. ;)

Then I made a wood polish using vegetable oil and lemon juice and polished my coffee and end tables, as well as the kitchen table and hutch. It worked really well and I feel a lot better about using it, especially on the coffee table where (again) Ava is often putting her mouth. How long does this oral phase last anyway? :oP

I found those two "recipes" on this website which has a ton of safer alternatives to hazardous household cleaners, as well as natural ways to kill ants or garden pests. It's amazing how many uses there are for things like vinegar and baking soda or borax! Guess it's good that I bought that 10 lb. bag of baking soda from Costco a while back!

I think I'm going to freecycle most or all of our regular household cleaners to get them out of the house. Then I won't have to worry about locking them up or putting them on a high shelf, etc.

Now if only there was a simple, natural way to clear all the clutter from my house, I'd be all set. ;)