A Few Recipes for the Home

The other day I was googling how to clean my dishwasher (cause it was stinking!!) and found this awesome blog!

One Good Thing by Jillee

I started browsing and found a great recipe for homemade dishwasher soap. I was interested because I previously had read an article about how companies removed some ingredient from their detergents that previously had prevented the fogginess on cups and things. But, generic brands like Members Mark found at Sam's still kept it. Since I'm now at Costco and not sure about what's going on anymore, and since I'm cheap I decided to give her recipe a try. It works fantastic! I'm planning on making enough to fill a metal can to keep under my sink.

Powdered Dishwasher Detergent/Scouring Powder:

* 1 cup Washing soda or Baking soda (I’ve seen many recipes that use both..so use whatever you have on hand)
* 1 cup Borax  (Borax and baking soda/wash are both natural disinfectants and mild abrasives.)
* 1/4 cup Kosher salt (reduces the effects of hard water)
* 1/4 cup citric acid (available at brewing places or Amazon.com. Or as an alternative you can use the same amount of Fruit Fresh or two packets of Lemonade-Flavored Kool-Aid, ONLY lemon and ONLY unsweetened!)

Add 1-2 tablespoons per load along with a splash of white vinegar as a rinse agent to prevent spots. (I just splash some straight into the bottom of the dishwasher).  Makes the glasses shine!

Use this same mixture as a scouring powder! Put some in a shaker canister from Walmart….and use it to scour your sink. The salt gives it extra scouring power and it smells so good!!! :-)

There were some concerns raised about this mixture hardening and clumping together, making it hard to get out of the jar.  One of the brilliant comments left was to use some of those silica gel packets that come in bottles of medicine or in shoe boxes or just about ANY product that comes in a box nowadays. Problem solved.

Homemade Carpet Shampoo

This recipe comes from The Thrifty Momma. I wanted to shampoo  my carpets NOW but couldn't run to the store. So, I googled, found a recipe and made my own. Worked fantastic and I'll never buy the pricey stuff again. :)

Homemade Carpet Shampoo Recipe
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons hydrogen peroxide 3% solution (This is the strength you’ll get in the first aid section.)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon dish detergent
5 drops essential oil (if desired)

Directions:
Mix the ingredients well.  I shake mine thoroughly in a lidded mason jar.  This makes it much easier to distribute the cleaning agents into the water.
Blend this mixture with 1-1/2 quarts of hot water.
Use in carpet cleaner as directed by manufacturer.
This recipe can easily be adjusted for full-size carpet cleaners.  Double or triple quantities as needed.