Housewife MacGyver: Natural Cleaning with Increasingly Domestic

Today we have as our guest the fantastic and lovely Amy from Increasingly Domestic. She is one creative and seriously funny woman, so go on over and check her out! She's here today sharing some of her favorite natural and make-at-home cleaners. I'm convinced that she can clean anything with lemons and vinegar, and she has yet to prove me wrong! ;) Here's Amy:

Hello fellow Lu readers! 

I am so excited to be here sharing about how I clean my house

...when I actually clean that is! *wink wink*

My name is Amy and I blog over at Increasingly Domestic,

where I write about all things domestic: sewing, crafting, upcycling, cleaning, parenting, cooking, decorating, painting, furniture refinishing and more.

I am a little bit all over the place;)

I have switched from using toxic commercial cleaning products

to all natural non-toxic cleaners that I make using ingredients from my kitchen!

Let me just say that I am not all granola-y...I just do what I can to minimize the toxins that come into my home in order to protect my family. We live in a toxic world and though we have no control over the external toxins, we can take steps to decrease some of our exposure at home. Those toxins build up in our systems, entering through inhalation or even by being absorbed through the skin and can do some serious damage over time. Our bodies were not made to process these chemicals and so they accumulate and affect us at our core.

Today I am going to share a recipe for a natural Furniture Polish.

1/4 Cup Distilled White Vinegar

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Essential Oil (I used Lavender)
Small glass jar (I used a jelly jar)

Pour the oil and vinegar into the jar.

Try to resist dipping bread in it or covering a salad with it.

Add 20-25 drops of your favorite essential oil.

Shake well and pour a little onto a rag or cloth diaper and rub with the grain of the wood.

The Vinegar cleans, the Olive Oil moisturizes and the Essential Oils just smell amazing!

Store in a cool, dark place.

BEFORE:

 Disgusting right?

That's from this little gross-o.

He likes to chew up crackers and then fingerpaint with them.

He also likes to smear food in his hair;)

AFTER:

Much better, right?
Plus, I know that the next time my son decides to lick the cracker goo off the table
that he is not getting any chemicals along with it! ;)

Here are some more natural cleaning posts:

Natural All Purpose Cleaner

Clean your microwave naturally

Cleaning and deodorizing the garbage disposal naturally

I hope that you will take a look at the products you use in your homes

and will take steps to live a greener life for the health of your families:)

Thanks for having me over Lu!

 

Thanks, Amy! All of my furniture can use a polishing right now, and this recipe gives me no excuse not to do it NOW -- since I'd been putting off going to the store for furniture polish ;)

This post is part of the Housewife MacGyver series on just Lu. Read more about Housewife MacGyver and see all the posts in the series here.