Cleaner and Greener

I have been feeling lately that I don't really do enough to connect with and protect with the earth. I don't have a yard and in the winter a walk to the park is not very desirable. Aside from a trip to the recycling center twice a month I don't really do very much at all. I decided this week I was going to start using homemade green cleaning products, and (sighs...) actually cleaning.

I have been looking around on the Internet for a few recipes and here is what I have found so far:

Soft Scrubber - Take 1/2 cup baking soda and add liquid detergent until the texture is like frosting. If you want to store this in a jar add a tsp. of vegetable glycerin to keep it from drying out.
When I make this soft scrubber I will probably use shampoo as a liquid detergent because I have used it cleaning my showers before and it actually works works pretty well.

Glass Cleaner - mix 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon soap or detergent 3 tbsp. vinegar and 2 cups water in a spray bottle. The soap in this recipe is important because it will help was away the residue from the toxic cleaners you have used in the past.

Oven Cleaner - Sprinkle Water generously over the bottom of the oven then coat with at least a cup of baking soda. Sprinkle more water over the top and let sit overnight. The grease should wipe away easily. After you get the bulk of the mess cleaned up use a small amount of detergent to get what remains.

All Purpose Cleaner - Add 1/2 teaspoon washing soda a dab of liquid soap and 2 cups hot water to a spray bottle. Shake well until the washing soda is dissolved.

Furniture Polish - Mix together 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and 1/4 cup vinegar of fresh lemon juice in a glass jar. This recipe stores really well.

Mold Killer - Mix 2 tsp. Tea tree oil with 2 cups water in a spray bottle. Spray on the problem are and don't rinse.

Mopping- mix 1 cup of vinegar and a few drops of olive oil and 1 gallon of water. Some recipes recommend baby oil but I don't recommend this because baby oil can be toxic if inhaled in large amounts so I prefer not to keep it in my house. Kids will always find away to get to something they want. For tough jobs add 1/4 cup borax but use this sparingly on linoleum.

Wish me luck with this. I suppose I should get off my butt and do some cleaning now. Blessed Be!