My Quest of Being Frugal & A Housewife

So my story of growing up is this: I was never in a poor family or in a very frugal family. My parents did spend money on things like eating …

20 Things I Didn’t Realize Were Less Waste

We have made choices that are considered zero-waste/chemical free, without even knowing.  1) french pressed coffee. We like it because of the taste. You can make is as strong as …

Back in America…

When we arrived back in the USA we quickly went back into the American way of living. We did not accumulate too much but we still got comfortable in spacious …

Happy Earth Day!

I remember Earth Day in school we would make things out of plastic bottles or toilet paper tubes. Reuse newspaper for a project, or just talk about recycling. I feel …

The Year that Changed Our Lives

My husband and I decided to go to Paris for three months to see how it is to live there and to help an English congregation in our religion! We …

Cookoo for Coconut Oil

Coconut oil was my next major love affair in the natural world. A few years ago someone was telling me about this amazing oil, so I started using it while …

When it All Began

 It all started with Thieves being introduced by a friend back in 2007. I bought a bottle of the concentrated liquid to use as a disinfectant spray. Crazy enough I just finished the last bit of it about a month ago. That was my very first step to using less chemicals and saving money. 

Then came vinegar. Why didn’t I know about the power and amazing qualities of vinegar??? All of our great great grandparents used these items- until companies started creating chemical-filled cleaning supplies. I was amazed at all I could do with it. I started out by using vinegar for adding to the disinfectant. Then I researched and found lists of uses for vinegar. The possibilities seemed endless! 

I started using it to replace fabric softener in the washing machine. I have a top loading machine with a little cup to hold the softener in the middle. It never got cleaned by water during the cycle (terrible invention if you ask me) so it left buildup of this blue sticky stuff aka: fabric softener. Therefore, I had to clean it out regularly or skip the softener altogether. Once I started using vinegar instead, not only did my clothes feel soft still but my machine cleaned itself. You cannot smell any vinegar scent on your clothes. 

Next step was replacing jet-dry in my dishwashing machine with vinegar. I once again didn’t think it would work on keeping my glassware shiny. But alas, it did work well. 

So then I wanted to make my own glass cleaner. I just ran out one day and didn’t feel like buying it at the local grocery store because its overpriced and blue. (Far from natural!) I found online a recipe to make your own glass cleaner with a few ingredients that I always have. One was vinegar of course. (Remember jet-dry?) This recipe works well on chrome faucets in my bathroom along with my sink and mirrors. I have used it while dusting in the house too. Honestly if I use any conventional chemical cleaners I get a headache now. 

Recipe for glass cleaner 

2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol

Combine the water and cornstarch. Add to the spray bottle, I use a recycled one.  Add the vinegar and rubbing alcohol. Cap and shake before each use. ( important because the cornstarch settles)