The Christian Homekeeper

 

On a daily basis I use natural cleaners and disinfectants. These are my recipes for natural cleaners and disinfectants. I’ve added a few through the years so new recipes will be marked with an *.

My Favorite Disinfectant Cleaner Spray 12 oz water 20 drops lavender essential oil 20 drops Tea Tree oil 20 drops Rosemary or Thyme essential oil Shake and pour into a spray bottle.

Antiseptic Spray A handful each of dried lavender, rosemary, sage, rue and mint A large glass jar 1/2 gallon organic cider vinegar

Place the herbs in the jar, cover with the vinegar. Cover tightly and let sit for about 6 weeks. Strain into a spray bottle. Be sure to label the bottle. It will store indefinitely. Use this spray to disinfect clean surfaces.

Lavender Antibacterial Spray 1 cup warm water 1 tsp pure lavender essential oil pour water into a spray bottle, add essential oil. Shake gently to mix. Spray surfaces and allow to sit for 15 minutes before wiping or rinsing.

All Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant 1 teaspoon borax 1/2 teaspoon washing soda 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1) In a spray bottle that will hold at least a pint, combine the ingredients. Add 1 cup very hot water and shake well, mixing and dissolving the dry ingredients.

2) To use, simply spray and wipe. This can be stored indefinitely.

Homemade Soft Scrub 1/2 cup baking soda Liquid soap 5-10 drops pure antiseptic essential oil such as lavender, tea tree oil or rosemary Place the baking soda in a bowl. Slowly pour in liquid soap, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles frosting. Add the essential oil. If you have hard water, use a liquid detergent instead of a soap. I use a ‘green’ product because it has no synthetic dyes or perfumes. If you have soft water, you can use castile soap.

Store this mixture in a jar. Scoop out some on a cloth and scrub surfaces, then rinse.

Heavier Duty Soft Scrub

Straight washing soda mixed with a little liquid soap is a good heavier duty scrub. You will need to use gloves with this because it is quite alkaline

Mirror and Window Cleaner Use a pure cotton cloth so that you won’t get lint on mirrors and windows when cleaning them.

1/4 tsp all purpose liquid detergent ( a pure, non-synthetic soap is best) 1 cup water

Just combine the water and soap in a spray bottle. Spray on the surface and wipe clean with a cotton cloth. Be sure to label the bottle. It keeps indefinitely.

Tile and Glass Cleaner 1/2 cup vinegar 1/2 tsp mild liquid detergent 2 cups very hot tap water

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray onto tiles and glass surfaces, rinse with a sponge. Label the bottle. Keeps indefinitely.

Another Glass and Mirror Cleaner 1/4 cup white vinegar 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 2 cups warm water

Put all ingredients in a large spray bottle. Shake well to dissolve the cornstarch. To use, spray liberally on the glass, wipe with a clean cloth. Buff to a streak free shine with a wadded up piece of newspaper.

Mildew Cleaner

1 tsp tea tree oil 2 cups water

Combine in a spray bottle. Spray onto the mildew, don’t rinse. Label and store indefinitely.

Clean The Toilet

Pour about 1 cup borax into the toilet and let it sit for a few hours. Scrub the inside of the bowl using a toilet brush. Spray straight 5% vinegar onto the toilet rim, seat and top. Scrub the rim. Wipe the seat and top. Periodically, spray the toilet rim with your antibacterial spray and let it dry naturally.

Another Toilet Bowl Cleaner 1 cup borax 1/2 cup white vinegar

1) Flush the toilet to wet the sides. Sprinkle the borax all along the sides of the inside of the bowl. 2) Drizzle the vinegar over the borax and leave over night. 3) Next day, scrub with a toilet brush and flush.

Hard Water Stains and Scale Cleaner

Use an acid like vinegar or lemon juice. Just spray on, let sit for 10-15 minutes, then wipe off. For large areas, soak a wash cloth in vinegar and then lay it on the stained area overnight. Next morning, the scale should be easy to scrub off.

Soak shower heads in vinegar to remove hard water buildup. Use an old toothbrush to scrub it away.

Damp/Dust Mop

One part vegetable glycerin One part vinegar One old, clean, dust free cloth

Mix the first two ingredients. Soak the cloth in the mixture until it has absorbed all it will absorb. Take the cloth out of the liquid, and gently squeeze an excess liquid from the cloth. Cover a mop with the cloth and use all over your hard floors, ceilings, walls and woodwork to pick up dust, dist mites and to repel mites, neutralize allergens.

Some Natural Cleaners and What I use Them For

3 percent hydrogen peroxide – good for lightening stains and as an antibacterial agent on clothing. Baking soda – Good for gentle abrasive cleaning. Can also be used as a mild bleach and can neutralize acid based stains.

Citrus solvents All purpose stain removal. Don’t use if you have cats.

Cornmeal Good for absorbing oily, messy stains.

Enzymes I use digestive enzymes like pepsin or papain. They are good for getting out milk and formula stains. Really any kind of carbohydrate stain.

The Freezer! Freeze gum and candle wax before attempting to remove it, works better.

Glycerin softens old stains

Laundry Detergents There are some stains that I just can’t get out with natural stuff, like lipstick and makeup or other oily stains. Sometimes nothing works on ring around the collar except detergent.

Salt salt kills some bacteria and is good to add to your cleaners to make a mild abrasive.

Soap All around good cleaner but don’t use it on fruit stains of any kind, it can set them! (wine, jam, juice….)

Washing soda I love this stuff. Its one of the heavy duty natural cleaners. Good way to remove stains, deodorizes.

I use some of these cleaners on a weekly basis. Be sure to check labels on commercial cleaners and do your research to see if they are acceptable for your home. I like the new Clorox Green cleaners, but when I look at the label….. I realize that its just about exactly what I’ve been making here at home!

I’m venturing out on a project  that I haven’t done in years. I can’t even remember the last time I smoked sausage.

So I bought some sausage from a friend locally and seasoned it with Cajun seasoning and paprika. The Cajun stuff has lots of herbs in it not just cayenne. Then I mixed it really well and pushed it down into cotton sausage bags.

I’m smoking it at about 80*F because I don’t want it to cook, just get that smoky flavor.  This is called a cold smoke.  It will take several hours, maybe til night time.

I’m using apple wood trimmed off our trees.

After it’s done I’ll cook some and let you know how it is.

 

 

 

Hey friends, we’re working on Spring Cleaning and trying to motivate each other over at the Christian Homekeeper Facebook Group.  If you aren’t already a member, come by and ask to be admitted. It’s a Private Group so none of your posts ever show up on FB except in the group .

We accept women only and you do have to answer three questions to apply.

We talk about all kinds of things including our days and our jobs, our menus, gardens, food preservation and lots of good ideas for blessing home and family .  Our focus is Jesus Christ and being good stewards of what He has blessed us with.

Her’s the link:
Christian Homekeeper Group on Facebook.

There is also a Christian Homekeeper Page

I hope you’ll join us!

 

On a daily basis I use natural cleaners and disinfectants. These are my recipes for natural cleaners and disinfectants. I’ve added a few through the years so new recipes will be marked with an *. Why use homemade cleaners?  The main reason is that I know what is in them.  Other reasons I use them are:

• they help my home smell clean without perfumes
• they are friendly to the environment and our health
• they are cost effective meaning that some of the ingredients may be expensive but they go along way and I can make lots of cleaner for less money in the long run.

*For my greasy, dirty cooktop I use a combo of dish soap and white vinegar and plenty of water.  I use a scrubbie to clean then a clean cloth to wipe it down.

*Sometimes I want my pots and pans to be shiny and clean looking so I use a combo of baking soda, dish soap and citric acid. Citric acid isn’t expensive and you don’t use a ton of it. Just sprinkle all the ingredients on your pots, let it foam a little then scrub it off.

*I clean my wooden utensils and cutting boards at the same time that I clean my stainless steel appliances. First I sprinkle some hydrogen peroxide on my cutting boards and let it sit a few minutes. I rinse it off and then wipe them down with fractionated coconut oil. I wipe down my utensils too.  I use a clean paper towel to buff off the remaining oil. THEN I use the coconut oil covered cloths to wipe down my stainless steel appliances. The oil gives them a great shine and helps prevent fingerprints from showing. Fractionated coconut oil is great for polishing wood, it remains a liquid and comes in a pump bottle.

My Favorite Disinfectant Cleaner Spray 12 oz water 20 drops lavender essential oil 20 drops Tea Tree oil 20 drops Rosemary or Thyme essential oil Shake and pour into a spray bottle.

Antiseptic Spray A handful each of dried lavender, rosemary, sage, rue and mint A large glass jar 1/2 gallon organic cider vinegar

Place the herbs in the jar, cover with the vinegar. Cover tightly and let sit for about 6 weeks. Strain into a spray bottle. Be sure to label the bottle. It will store indefinitely. Use this spray to disinfect clean surfaces.

Lavender Antibacterial Spray 1 cup warm water 1 tsp pure lavender essential oil pour water into a spray bottle, add essential oil. Shake gently to mix. Spray surfaces and allow to sit for 15 minutes before wiping or rinsing.

All Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant 1 teaspoon borax 1/2 teaspoon washing soda 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1) In a spray bottle that will hold at least a pint, combine the ingredients. Add 1 cup very hot water and shake well, mixing and dissolving the dry ingredients.

2) To use, simply spray and wipe. This can be stored indefinitely.

Homemade Soft Scrub 1/2 cup baking soda Liquid soap 5-10 drops pure antiseptic essential oil such as lavender, tea tree oil or rosemary Place the baking soda in a bowl. Slowly pour in liquid soap, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles frosting. Add the essential oil. If you have hard water, use a liquid detergent instead of a soap. I use a ‘green’ product because it has no synthetic dyes or perfumes. If you have soft water, you can use castile soap.

Store this mixture in a jar. Scoop out some on a cloth and scrub surfaces, then rinse.

Heavier Duty Soft Scrub

Straight washing soda mixed with a little liquid soap is a good heavier duty scrub. You will need to use gloves with this because it is quite alkaline

Mirror and Window Cleaner Use a pure cotton cloth so that you won’t get lint on mirrors and windows when cleaning them.

1/4 tsp all purpose liquid detergent ( a pure, non-synthetic soap is best) 1 cup water

Just combine the water and soap in a spray bottle. Spray on the surface and wipe clean with a cotton cloth. Be sure to label the bottle. It keeps indefinitely.

Tile and Glass Cleaner 1/2 cup vinegar 1/2 tsp mild liquid detergent 2 cups very hot tap water

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray onto tiles and glass surfaces, rinse with a sponge. Label the bottle. Keeps indefinitely.

Another Glass and Mirror Cleaner 1/4 cup white vinegar 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 2 cups warm water

Put all ingredients in a large spray bottle. Shake well to dissolve the cornstarch. To use, spray liberally on the glass, wipe with a clean cloth. Buff to a streak free shine with a wadded up piece of newspaper.

Mildew Cleaner

1 tsp tea tree oil 2 cups water

Combine in a spray bottle. Spray onto the mildew, don’t rinse. Label and store indefinitely.

Clean The Toilet

Pour about 1 cup borax into the toilet and let it sit for a few hours. Scrub the inside of the bowl using a toilet brush. Spray straight 5% vinegar onto the toilet rim, seat and top. Scrub the rim. Wipe the seat and top. Periodically, spray the toilet rim with your antibacterial spray and let it dry naturally.

Another Toilet Bowl Cleaner 1 cup borax 1/2 cup white vinegar

1) Flush the toilet to wet the sides. Sprinkle the borax all along the sides of the inside of the bowl. 2) Drizzle the vinegar over the borax and leave over night. 3) Next day, scrub with a toilet brush and flush. Hard Water Stains and Scale Cleaner

Use an acid like vinegar or lemon juice. Just spray on, let sit for 10-15 minutes, then wipe off. For large areas, soak a wash cloth in vinegar and then lay it on the stained area overnight. Next morning, the scale should be easy to scrub off.

Soak shower heads in vinegar to remove hard water buildup. Use an old toothbrush to scrub it away.

Damp/Dust Mop

One part vegetable glycerin One part vinegar One old, clean, dust free cloth

Mix the first two ingredients. Soak the cloth in the mixture until it has absorbed all it will absorb. Take the cloth out of the liquid, and gently squeeze an excess liquid from the cloth. Cover a mop with the cloth and use all over your hard floors, ceilings, walls and woodwork to pick up dust, dist mites and to repel mites, neutralize allergens.

Some Natural Cleaners and What I use Them For Baking Soda  has a gentle abrasive action plus when it is combined with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar it foams and those foamy bubbles help to move dirt.

3 percent hydrogen peroxide – good for lightening stains and as an antibacterial agent on clothing. Baking soda – Good for gentle abrasive cleaning. Can also be used as a mild bleach and can neutralize acid based stains.

Citrus solvents All purpose stain removal. Don’t use if you have cats.

Cornmeal Good for absorbing oily, messy stains.

Enzymes I use digestive enzymes like pepsin or papain. They are good for getting out milk and formula stains. Really any kind of carbohydrate stain.

The Freezer! Freeze gum and candle wax before attempting to remove it, works better.

Glycerin softens old stains

Laundry Detergents There are some stains that I just can’t get out with natural stuff, like lipstick and makeup or other oily stains. Sometimes nothing works on ring around the collar except detergent.

Salt salt kills some bacteria and is good to add to your cleaners to make a mild abrasive.

Soap All around good cleaner but don’t use it on fruit stains of any kind, it can set them! (wine, jam, juice….)

Washing soda I love this stuff. Its one of the heavy duty natural cleaners. Good way to remove stains, deodorizes.

I use some of these cleaners on a weekly basis. Be sure to check labels on commercial cleaners and do your research to see if they are acceptable for your home. I like the new Clorox Green cleaners, but when I look at the label….. I realize that its just about exactly what I’ve been making here at home!

Hey Friends

I’m in the process of handing off Christian Homekeeper to my friend, Marie Hanley! So you will see fewer of my posts here and more of hers eventually.

You can still find me online at the Christian Homekeeper Facebook group and page. And you can find me at my personal blog, SylviaBritton.com  .   

There isn’t anything there right now because I’m still setting up house.

I know you’ll enjoy Marie and what she offers you here at CHK, so be patient, it will all be finished soon and the dust will settle.

God bless you as you serve Him in your homes!

Love,

Sylvia

 

Wasn’t that the title of a children’s book from years ago? I just found the picture of the book. I’ll share it here. It is a Rod & Staff book that we used in the 2nd grade, I think.

The days do go by rather quickly now. I don’t mind but I realize because the days go by quickly and I’m a little slower than I used to be, I don’t get everything done I’d like to get done in a day.  When I look back on the first things I posted on CHK in 1997, I wonder what that version of me would think of me now. I wonder what she’d day to me?  I think she’d speak kindly to me.

I do have more wisdom now and more compassion, more love. I think those are the important things, not keeping a perfectly clean house. Not that mine was ever perfect, ha!

I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year, I don’t usually. Do you?  I am though trying to do something more than I’ve ever done it: talking to myself like I am my own best friend, speaking kindly to myself.

I realize I say very negative things to myself and it’s usually when I am anxious. So I have been trying to say to myself, when I feel anxious, “You’re doing great, it’s going to be OK.”  “That wasn’t the right thing to do but you didn’t know what else to do, you did your best, give it to God and rest in Him.”

For the longest time after we left our church of over 25 years, I berated myself and told myself that I was stupid, an awful person, that I must have caused all the problems the church was experiencing, that how I was feeling was my own stupid fault. I stopped calling myself names but the feelings remained until I started speaking to myself the way a best friend would.

I want to tell you something. I needed grace. I needed a human being to call me up and say,  “It’s going to be OK, you are doing the right thing (or the wrong thing!) and here is why …” But I didn’t have that, so I had to rely totally on the Lord and be that for myself.

Not long afterward, I saw the situation more clearly and knew that leaving was the only thing I could do and that I wasn’t responsible for the trouble. I don’t think I could see this until I stopped being so negative with myself.

I’m not talking about Word of Faith beliefs here. I’m not talking about “affirmations” either. I’m talking about that inner dialogue that happens for almost everyone where we either build ourselves up or tear ourselves down. You know in Ephesians 4 where it talks about not letting unwholesome words come out of your mouth?? Well this is about not speaking those unwholesome words to your own self.

Now with my husband’s stroke and some terrible things that happened at the same time, I started the whole berating myself and talking negatively to myself again. That was a year and a half ago and I have only just in the past few months started speaking to myself kindly again.  When I say talking negatively, berating myself, what I mean is I spoke mean, hurtful words to me, I beat myself up with words. And because I believed those words, I cried all the time.

You might say, “Sylvia, why in the world would you do that to yourself?”  I don’t know but it is my default setting to blame myself and beat myself up. I am devoted to stopping that behavior in myself and with God’s help, I will.

Speaking kindly to myself really is helping me not to be so anxious and I am not having the mental stress of thinking that I’m such an awful person. I created that feeling of awfulness with my words to myself.

I’ve been saying, “Do you need to pray about this? Do you need to repent for anything? You are doing the right thing in this and it is all you can do, so rest in the Lord.”

At the same time, I talk to the Lord. I ask for help and I worship Him.  As I read the Bible and pray, He shows me what His will is and I am convicted or encouraged where I need to be.

You should try it if you don’t already talk to yourself like this. It is reassuring and keeps me from feeling so negative.  Add it to your prayer life.  My 1997 version of me would have spoken kindly to me today, I think. And that is something I’ve learned from her just recently.

I’m convinced that we are our own worst enemy when it comes to telling ourselves negative things. As the days go by, speak kindly to yourself, see if it isn’t a blessing.

Hey, while I’m thinking of it, if you’d like to get new posts from CHK in your email, scroll down to the very bottom of this page and enter your email address to subscribe.  Every time there is a new post, it will be sent to you. 

Life got hard around 8-10 years ago. Then it got harder. And when it got really hard, people left.  So in case your life, or a friend’s life, gets hard, here are some thoughts.

People I thought were life long friends left. People who I thought had some kind of spiritual responsibility to stay by my side, also left. People I have known and served God with for over 30 years simply left my life. I guess they left because my life became messy and very hard and it was probably because I wasn’t willing to talk in depth about it. Most people though never even asked.

I’m not angry and I am not bitter now, though I was for a while. I was disappointed for a while. I was sad for a while. But I’m not even sad now because my understanding has been enlarged. And because this is about the ones who stayed.

The ones who stayed are few. They are not all related to me. Some are related and I sort of think that people who are related don’t have any choice but to stay but they do have a choice if they’re adults and they all are. Some are friends who are not related, and both of these kinds of people are super precious to me.

They don’t ask a lot of questions when I say I can’t talk about that right now. They are quiet when it’s needed and they’re always there. They have lives of their own just like everyone but they have taken the time and effort to stay and be present when I felt like I was losing my mind and when I was grieving and searching for light. When I just needed a hand to hold and to feel that hand in mine.

More than anything I see now that Jesus also stayed. He has become an even deeper Friend. I realize that everyone who has stayed with me through this valley is very much like Him. Some more than others but they all have His traits and the characteristics of a loving, caring, helpful  friend.

Life is still very hard but I am living it better. I’m learning about life, people, faith, what is important and about God Himself. I’m grateful for that.

If you ever go through what sometimes people call “hell on earth”, believe me, people will leave because nobody wants to walk through hell.

But there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother and there are people out there who will come and stay with you while you walk through it. Jesus will be first in line, so call out to Him. Let Him in and He will stay with you while you weep and wonder. Call out to Him to bring you a friend who stays. Don’t dwell on those who left. Look around at those who stay and thank the Lord for them.

And if your friend goes through a hard time, be the one who stays. Don’t allow a friend to simply fade away and disappear. Ask questions, even if you don’t get answers. Persist and pursue them. They may reject you, but I think it’s so important to try.  I hope I can be a friend like that if I am ever called on.