The Natural Cleaning Handbook

by natalie Wise

  • ¼ cup castile soap

  • ½ cup olive oil

  • ¼ cup bentonite clay, optional

  • 4–6 drops ylang ylang essential oil

  Mix ingredients well. Store in a 12-ounce pump container that won’t break if you drop it in the shower (slippery things!). Shake before use, then pump a little on your palms, rub to get a lather, and smooth onto the area to be shaved. Rinse well.

  CLEANING TOOTHBRUSHES, RAZORS, TWEEZERS, HAIR SCISSORS, ETC.

  Cleaning the grooming tools you use on a regular basis just makes sense, but we don’t do it as often as we should. This is an all-purpose cleaning solution that gets rid of buildup and kills germs. Use it for anything from hair combs to cuticle scissors. You’ll probably want to keep the things that go in your mouth in a separate cleaning solution than the things that you use to trim your toenails.

  • 1 cup vinegar

  • ½ cup baking soda

  • Boiling water

  • 1 teaspoon castile soap

  Place the tools you’d like to clean in the bottom of a clean basin. Sprinkle with baking soda. Add the vinegar. Let sit for 5–10 minutes. Then add enough boiling water to submerge the tools completely. When the boiling water is cool, fill the basin with warm water and 1 teaspoon castile soap and clean the tools with a clean rag. Let dry thoroughly.

  CLEANING MAKEUP BRUSHES

  Makeup brushes get caked with powder and foundation, and various colors merge together to make totally new shades we didn’t even know existed. But that is bad news, because germs are caked in there, too, and then get spread on your skin with every stroke. It’s easy to clean makeup brushes, though, when you keep a few guidelines in mind. They sell textured silicone makeup brush cleaning pads and if you have one, that’s great. But your palm and a clean toothbrush work just as well. This works for both natural and synthetic brushes.

  First, gather all of your makeup brushes to be cleaned. On one side of the sink, place a fresh towel where the brushes can dry. Have a clean toothbrush handy to help clean the brushes.

  Then place a drop of castile soap in the palm of your hand. Add a tiny bit of water and make a small lather. Grab the first brush and swirl it gently through the soap in your palm. Be careful not to submerge the portion of the brush where the bristles meet the handle; there are glues in here that will dissolve with prolonged exposure to water.

  If the bristles still look caked, grab the clean toothbrush and gently agitate the bristles. Then swirl it again through a drop of castile soap and a bit of water in your palm. Thoroughly rinse the soap out, give it a little fluff, and place to dry flat on the towel. Do not dry makeup brushes upright, as the water will seep into the handle, causing that glue to disintegrate and wood handles to rot. Repeat with all of your brushes. When the brushes are thoroughly dry, give them a little fluff against a washcloth to give the fibers their fluff back. Use a clean dry toothbrush to separate and fluff the fibers if they’re really matted.

  EYE’LL BE GENTLE MAKEUP REMOVER

  This makeup remover is gentle on your skin but harsh on makeup, even waterproof makeup! Make sure you get a pure witch hazel free of alcohol, such as Dr. Thayer’s. It’s more expensive, but absolutely worth it, especially when you’re putting it near your eyes! Making small batches of this is best; since you’re using it near your eyes, you don’t want to give bacteria a chance to grow. Since it’s just two or three ingredients, though, it’s no big chore; just add the witch hazel first and then add half as much jojoba oil.

  • 4 tablespoons witch hazel

  • 2 tablespoons jojoba or olive oil

  • The contents of 1 capsule of vitamin E oil, optional

  Mix well in a small pump bottle (travel-size works great). To use, simply shake it up well, then pump a very small amount onto a cotton pad or small cloth and use to remove makeup. This may sting a bit around the eyes if you don’t close them tightly!

  COCONUT-HONEY-LIME SHAMPOO

  This shampoo turns your shower into a tropical oasis. It’s quick to make, smells delicious, and nourishes hair beautifully. You’ll want to keep it in the refrigerator, though, since it contains some perishable ingredients. Once you get in the habit of grabbing it on your way to the bathroom, you won’t think twice about it. Just be sure to keep it well-labeled and out of the reach of little hands. This will last a month in the refrigerator.

  • 1 can whole-fat coconut milk, room temperature

  • 2 tablespoons honey

  • 2 teaspoons castor oil or jojoba oil, or 1 teaspoon of each (castor oil helps with hair growth; jojoba oil helps with shine)

  • 20 drops lime essential oil

  Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until well incorporated. Pour into a 16-ounce squeeze or pump bottle. Store in refrigerator. Shake well and use as you would regular shampoo. Once a week, follow with a lemon-apple cider vinegar hair rinse (see below).

  LEMON-APPLE CIDER VINEGAR HAIR RINSE

  My mom has loved rinsing her hair with lemon juice and apple cider vinegar for as long as I can remember. It’s an easy, frugal, and lovely-smelling way to pamper your locks a little. Be sure to use real, fresh lemon juice, not the bottled stuff. This might sound silly, but I like to take the leftover juiced lemons and sit with my elbows in them, one in each half. This softens the tough skin around the elbows and gently lightens any darkening that might be happening on our elbows (I have no idea why that happens, but it does). Plus, it’s just one more use out of that one simple lemon. You only need to use this rinse once a week or so to clarify and refresh the scalp.

  • Juice from 1 lemon

  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

  Mix the two ingredients together in a small bowl that won’t break if you drop it in the shower. After you’ve shampooed, step out of the water and pour this mixture over your hair and work it into your scalp a little bit. Don’t let it sit. Rinse thoroughly. Then find someone to smell your hair and tell you how lovely it is!

  Extra Tip: Lemon juice is naturally a bit oily, so be careful that you don’t slip in the bathtub when using this product!

  PISTACHIO-LEMON HAND AND BODY EXFOLIATING SCRUB

  This is such a refreshing hand and body scrub, you’ll almost want to eat it! But don’t, because that means less to use in the shower. Be sure to use your food processor to grind the nuts very finely so they aren’t too abrasive, and store this in the refrigerator, well-labeled.

  • 1 cup pistachio nuts, shelled

  • Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped

  • ¼ cup light olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 2–4 drops lemon essential oil, optional

  Place the pistachios in your food processor and grind them to a fairly fine powder, about the texture of sugar or salt. Then mix all of the ingredients together in a medium-size bowl. Pack into jars. Keep the lid on these tight so they don’t dry out, and store in the refrigerator. It may separate and need a bit of remixing; not to worry, just give it a stir. Use a few good handfuls on your hands and body to rub in and gently exfoliate. Rinse well.

  We all have a catch-all room of sorts. In Vermont, where I live, we call it the mudroom. The catch-all room, which is usually a spare room, mudroom, entryway, or basement, gets a bad rap because it’s a dumping ground for just about anything and everything: dog food, mail, muddy boots, wet umbrellas, exercise equipment, and so much more. But this mess does not work well within the organic home for many reasons. First, it is usually a mental/emotional burden to have one space be entirely disorganized. If you have a space like this in your house, chances are you regularly feel guilty about it, particularly if someone comes over to visit and this space can be seen. Secondly, it is not modern to have such a mess taking up your valuable space, nor is it organic, because a mess means we’ve got germs, potentially bugs, and grime all hiding in and on your piles. Time to purge, clean, and organize the catch-all room.

  The Process: Purge, Clean, Organize

  Purge: Pu
rging the catch-all room is best done on a sunny afternoon so you can bring everything out into the light of day. The catch-all room’s sneaky issue for many of us is that we don’t change the seasons out in our home like we should, so skis are tucked into corners come June, and gardening tools are still dirt-encrusted on a bench in December. The process of putting away seasonal items can be a bit burdensome because it may involve shuffling around in the garage or attic to find their proper places. But each area that we purge, clean, and organize means we won’t have such a burden come the next change of seasons.

  The transition from school year to summer is another culprit of catch-all room clutter. School books, lunchboxes, art work, permission slips, raincoats . . . they all get tossed here and there and completely discarded once summer vacation hits. Swimsuits, goggles, beach towels, library books, and more get piled on top of the school things, and the mess keeps growing.

  Purge with abandon in this room. Purge anything that’s broken and has been put in this space until you figure out what to do with it. Here’s what you’re going to do with it: throw it away. No excuses. Yes, someone might have been able to salvage a part, but that person is not you. Most thrift stores and reuse places require items to be in good working condition. Don’t feel guilty. The item has served its useful life and now must be removed from your house.

  Then put away anything seasonal. Christmas decorations still out in March? We’ve all been there, but it’s time to put them back in the trunk in the attic. Christmas lights that don’t work tangled in a corner? Toss ’em. Things you’ve been meaning to take to the thrift store? Put them in the back of the car now, so you have them with you next time you swing by. Get rid of broken baskets, dirty towels, outdated exercise equipment, sneakers that have seen better days, bulky old televisions, grimy tote bags, old catalogs, and anything else that is no longer useful.

  Clean: Cleaning this room will depend largely on what sort of space it is. But to begin in any space, take everything out. Everything. Move furniture if you can, to start completely from scratch. If there’s carpet in here, chances are it hasn’t seen the light of day in a while, so give it a good carpet refresh (pg 102) and vacuum. Wipe down those baseboards (pg 108) and walls (pg 94). Clean the ceiling fans and blinds. Wash the curtains, wipe down the curtain rods. Wash any dirty laundry that’s been hanging around, take out the trash that might be lurking, and recycle the recyclables. Open windows if you have them to let fresh air circulate, and give a few generous spritzes of air freshener.

  Organize: When you’ve thoroughly cleaned and aired out the room, come back with a new perspective. What do you want this catch-all room to actually accomplish? Does it need to serve different purposes depending on the season? Maybe it’s an arts and crafts area during summer vacation for the kids, but an after-school central drop-off location during the year. Does the whole family use this area, or is it dedicated space for just adults, children, or pets? Come up with a game plan. Even if this room needs to have multiple purposes (such as a home office and a home exercise area), you can still plan and organize. You’ve got clean surfaces now, so hang those curtains back up, rearrange furniture if necessary, then create a place for everything. Hooks on the walls for coats, boot racks on the floor for boots, a clothespin line for hats and mittens. Have cubbies for backpacks and lunch boxes and bins for library books. Keep mail corralled by separating it into three categories: bills, personal, and junk. Junk doesn’t actually needs its own space . . . a close-by recycling bin will do nicely. Keep exercise equipment in a crate, put unruly wrapping paper tubes in a tall plastic bin, have a box for bubble wrap you’re saving to reuse. Once everything has a home, keeping the space tidy will be infinitely easier.

  OM-MAZING YOGA MAT SPRAY

  Yoga mats should inspire calm, strong feelings. When they are stinky and sticky, it’s a bit tough to muster up your zen. Since you’ll be downward-dogging on this mat, it’s essential it remain germ- and odor-free. And you won’t want to be prana-breathing in chemicals either. This spray should be used liberally before and after practice. It doesn’t contain alcohol, so it won’t eat away at your favorite mat. Scent it to your liking; I prefer a calm-strong scent, which I create by combining peppermint and lavender. Be sure to let the spray dry thoroughly before you roll your mat up, or this will be counterproductive, as any moisture left in the mat will cause odor. If you won’t have time to let it dry right after practice, spray the mat when you get home and let it dry before you put it back in your yoga bag. This spray also works for yoga bags, towels, blocks, and any other tools of the trade. Alochol-based yoga mat sprays can break down the mat material, but witch hazel retains the antibacterial properties without being as harsh.

  • Organic witch hazel

  • 12 drops lavender essential oil

  • 12 drops peppermint essential oil

  • 8-ounce glass spray bottle

  Mix all ingredients well in spray bottle. Shake a bit before each use, then spray liberally on yoga mats and accessories. Let dry thoroughly.

  CAN’T BE ANY ANTS ANT DETERRENT

  Ants are one of the most annoying and common household pests. They come in for sugar and water, so they are most likely to congregate in your kitchen, bathrooms, and, of course, the catch-all room where crumbs linger and no one bats an eye. The first thing to do is find out where they are coming from and where they are going. Follow the path back to their entry/exit point at a wall, door, or floorboard. Then, you can employ a few different natural techniques to keep these pesky little bugs away. Ants detest chalk, cinnamon, and diatomaceous earth, so this is a nontoxic triple-threat.

  • Plain white chalk

  • Diatomaceous earth

  • Cinnamon

  Draw a chalk line around the area where the ants are entering, encompassing the entire space and making a full circle/shape around it that connects, leaving no space where the ants could get through without passing a chalk line.

  Then, mix enough diatomaceous earth and a little cinnamon to cover the entire area of your circle, and the path where the ants have been traveling. Sift this onto the floor/surfaces. Leave for at least a week, until all signs of ants have disappeared. Sweep up the mixture. Repeat in a month if necessary.

  NO FLY ZONE FRUIT FLY TRAP

  Fruit flies are pesky little buggers; they seem to love flying right in your field of vision, as close to you as they can get, before disappearing when you swat. I know they say you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, but you catch more fruit flies with vinegar! This little trick works wonders almost immediately. Don’t worry; the fruit flies aren’t smart enough to see their friends drowning and learn to avoid the trap. They’ll keep collecting until you’ve got them all, but feel free to change the mixture frequently for aesthetic purposes. The vinegar mimics the process of rotting food, so the fruit flies are immediately attracted to it. Yes, even natural dish soaps will work here; they simply change the viscosity of the mixture so the fruit flies cannot escape.

  • ¼ cup vinegar

  • 2–3 drops dish soap

  Pour the vinegar into a small, deep dish. A ramekin works perfectly. Add the dish soap and swirl lightly so the dish soap kind of coats the surface of the vinegar. Set out on the kitchen counter or wherever the fruit flies seem to be congregating (near the trash or recycling, etc.). Pour it down the sink when you’ve captured enough flies.

  PET LEASH AND COLLAR WASH

  The grime that accumulates in pet leashes and collars, and how quickly it accumulates, is astonishing. Leashes and collars are not inexpensive, and chances are you’ve chosen one that suits your dog’s personality, your home’s color scheme, or for some other important reason (such as the kids absolutely insisted on a certain cartoon character themed leash and you purchased it to bribe them to take the dog out more often). Keeping them clean and fresh is a simple prospect. Just be sure to do this at night when you don’t need them, and that your dog is safe without a collar, or keep a backup collar on hand for clean
ing the regular one. The leash should be dry enough to use by the morning.

  • 1 teaspoon castile soap

  • 2 tablespoons baking soda

  • 2 cups hot water

  Mix the ingredients in a basin and add the collar and leashes. Let soak for 30–45 minutes to soften the grime and get into the fibers. Use a clean toothbrush to scour the tough fibers and get around the buckles and hardware. Rinse well. Let dry flat on a clean towel in a warm place but not in front of a heating source.

  Extra Tip: You can give your leash and collar an extra vinegar rinse if you’d like for additional cleaning power. But you don’t want to add the vinegar to the soaking mixture since it breaks down the soap and you lose that cleaning agent.

  PRETTY & PEPPY PUPPY PET SHAMPOO

  Pet shampoos are expensive, and unless your pet has severe allergic reactions to skin products, this soap should work wonders. Your puppy will be pretty and peppy in no time. Not only does it lather well and get deep dirt out, it doesn’t strip the natural oils of your dog’s coat thanks to the glycerin. Tea tree oil soothes itchy or inflamed skin, which will help any minor irritations your dog’s skin may have from scratching. Peppermint oil is cooling and refreshing, giving the peppiness to the name, along with having a pleasant scent. Use good judgment in using essential oils with your pets; most dogs respond well to them when properly diluted, but keep them away from strong doses or open bottles.