Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Zero Waste Wednesday: A couple of kitchen cleaners that are rocking my world

I'm deep into my zero waste project over at The Simple Year, and it's been both overwhelming and amazing. Overwhelming because there's still SO MUCH TO DO, and amazing because I now have an excuse to be full-on zero waste crazy.

Which is kind of fun.

Recently I've been researching do it yourself (also known as DIY, except I always want to say DYI. It flows better, don't you think?) ... everythings ... and found two kitchen cleaners that have passed all of my tests: They're simple, you can get everything you need for them in the bulk aisle, they smell fantastic, they clean like a champ, and nothing separates when you leave it in the bottle for extended periods of time.

So basically like a lazy girl's dream.

Total ingredients: Two.

All-Purpose Cleaner
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon castile soap (I like peppermint)
Mix that around in a spray bottle and go to town. Give it a shake with each use.

Why this is so great: It takes very little to get a clean counter, it smells great, it's cheap and it's easy. This is my new favorite counter cleaner, and I have no desire to go look for any other recipe, THAT is how great this is.

Also, fun fact, I just learned that you aren't supposed to mix vinegar and castile, or you get the worst of both because of some scientific reaction that I'm not even going to pretend I understand. My old homemade cleaner mixed the two. I solemnly swear to never do that again.

Looks like marshmallow fluff, smells like candy canes.
Uh, if you use peppermint castile like me. ;)

"Soft Scrub" Sink Cleaner
6 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons castile soap
1 1/2 tablespoons water
Mix and store in a jar.

Why this is so great: It's not great -- it's perfect. Again, it takes very little to clean my sink, it smells lovely, it's easy to knock together and cheap as hell, and it doesn't separate during storage. Go make this RIGHT NOW. See? I told you!!!

BONUS CLEANER: Did you know you can use used coffee grounds to clean and deodorize? You can put a jar in the fridge to absorb odors AND sprinkle in your pans to super scrub. Technically I haven't tried either of these yet, it just sounds weird which makes it right up my alley.

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