Cleaning up for Christmas

Here is Jamie with his little red Hamburg overnight bag.  He wanted to know why Santa left those presents at our place. 

We have a surprise visitor staying with us. Last night Jamie had his first sleepover with grandma and opa, while Sunny and her mum overnighted on the Gold Coast. Sunja goes home to Korea tomorrow so it was nice for the two of them to have that time together. As I knew he was coming over, I took the opportunity during the day to wrap presents and set up our very small Christmas tree. Lights went up, the reindeer is out and it's looking a lot like Christmas. I knew he'd be excited when he saw the tree but on the way home from kindy, he fell asleep and instead of running in, Hanno carried him in. But the excitement was there when he woke up and he wanted to know why Santa left presents for Alex and him at our place. I sometimes forget how innocent and sweet young children are.

Before I have a break for Christmas, I want to encourage those of you who haven't yet tried any green cleaning to make up this very easy creamy cleanser and see how well it works.  When I first made my move to a more simple life, I worked hard to remove as many chemicals as I could from my home. I had a real bee in my bonnet about dish washing powder, I thought about how caustic is was and that you couldn't touch it with wet hands and in the end it wasn't good enough to come up with a replacement, I got rid of the dishwasher instead. That was many years ago, and I've washed up a lot of dishes since then, but I'd never go back to machine-washing my dishes. I viewed all commercial cleaners the same. I knew they made my hands red and itchy and the thought of the invisible harm those chemicals did helped move me towards green cleaning. 

That was before the days of eco cleaners and ethical companies such as my wonderful sponsor eco store. I use their dish liquid and hand wash everyday. But I still make my own laundry liquid, soap and creamy cleanser - and I use white vinegar in a spray bottle for wiping down the kitchen bench and other small cleaning jobs. If, like me, you're well and truly into the habit of making your own cleaners, if there comes a time when you can't do it, I recommend ecostore to you. They sell their products online - see my sidebar link - and in most major supermarkets. Woolworths has a 25% off special at the moment. Thanks Sue.

This cleaner will replace your Jif or Gumption or whatever you use to clean the bath or kitchen sink. It's a simple mix of bicarb soda (baking soda) and a soapy liquid. I have used my homemade laundry liquid in the past (recipe here), I also use Dr Bronner's Citrus Castile Liquid Soap.  To make it up, place about half a cup of bicarb soda (baking soda) in a small bowl that has a lid. Mix enough of your liquid - either the laundry liquid or liquid soap - to make a paste.  Mix it up well. It will look like frosting, so make sure it's kept away from the children. Make only enough to use for about a month. If you want to make a larger amount, you have to add a couple of teaspoons of glycerin to it to keep it from drying out. Store the paste with the lid on.

This is my kitchen sink after I cleaned it with this paste.

You might also add essential oil such as eucalyptus or tee tree oil. They're both powerful antiseptics. That will help kill some of the germs in the bathroom and around the kitchen taps and sink. But the paste will work well with just the two main ingredients.

So what are the advantages of using this cleaning paste and other green cleaning pastes and liquids?  You know what's in them, they're much cheaper than buying a commercial product, and you'll be reducing the number of chemicals you live with in your home.  Please let me know if you try this. I'd love to know what you think of it.