Homemade Cleaner

This is a pretty awesome potty chair.
Ours is just the standard plastic variety.

In honor of Potty Training Tuesday, I thought I'd share my homemade all-purpose cleaner recipe. As you can imagine, we've gone through quite a bit of this stuff so far. I love that it cleans everywhere, especially carpet. That means I only have to chase Gwenny around with one spray bottle instead of one for each surface type she walks over. (Oh yeah, it streaks glass, so I use vinegar on a coffee filter for that). It's especially brilliant at removing coffee stains from our bright white  counter tops (yikes).

Really I love this cleaner because it's effective and safe for the girls. They can lick the still wet floor, and it won't hurt them. In fact, the ingredients won't even hurt them. I came in the laundry room the other day to find G finger painting in the Borax. I wasn't happy about it, but it didn't hurt her either.

Ingredients

2 cups warm water

1 cup white vinegar

2 T Borax (if you don't have any, you can use baking soda. Just add the vinegar slowly to avoid Mount Vesuvius)

1 T Castille's Soap

1/2 t essential oil - use eucalyptus, citrus, tea tree, peppermint or lavender for best antibacterial action (unnecessary if you buy castille's soap with essential oil)

Spray bottle

Directions

Dissolve Borax in warm water. Combine all ingredients in spray bottle and shake to mix. Freely spray all over the house and wipe away with rag or paper towel. Then stand back and inhale - no strange cleaning fumes. Ahhhh....