natalie Wise - The organic country home handbook : how to make your own healthy soaps, sprays, wipes, and other cleaning products

Copyright 2019 by Natalie Wise

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Peter Donahue

Cover photo by Natalie Wise

Print ISBN: 978-1-68099-444-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68099-445-2

Printed in China

Contents

INTRODUCTION

K eeping home is one of my favorite things. I love having a home that is bright, healthy, happy, and welcoming. Home is our refuge, our place of comfort at the end of a long day, when our hearts need a little refreshment. This is why keeping home is so important to me: my heart lives here. And the hearts of my family and friends. The world out there is harsh; full of heartache and distress. But my people and I deserve the best when we come home. Our home world will not be harsh; it will not be full of heartache and distress. And it sure as heck wont be full of chemicals. We love living in the country; chemicals dont seem to mix too well with that!

Chemical cleaners are not happy and healthy. They might kill germs, yes, but you better wear a hazmat suit and a mask if you plan to use them. Look at the label on the back of a commercial cleaning product. Do you recognize any of those names? Can you even pronounce any of those names? Me neither. There are phthalates, triclosan, PERC, sodium hydroxide, Quarternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS), and 2-Butoxyethanol. Then they add sudsing agents and artificial dyes and fragrances.

Many of these ingredients are endocrine- and hormone-disrupters, known carcinogens, and neurotoxins. And I have some bad news for you: This market is largely unregulated. Companies can put any number of toxic ingredients in a cleaning product and have to answer to no one. Well, they might not have anyone to answer to, but I sure do: My family. And I am not willing to take the risk of such a high toxic burden when I dont need to. There are natural ways to harness germ-killing power that is child- and pet-safe, wont irritate your lungs, and wont cause cancer. Your home is your haven, and it should be healthy.

The recipes and tips in here are a mix of old wives tales (that actually work) and adaptations of modern cleaners. Both are equally wonderful and effective. Keep in mind that natural cleaners are by no means miracle cleaners. If the porcelain glaze on your bathtub has worn off, no cleaner, not even the strongest chemical one, will be able to fix that and make it look new again. But while it may not look new, it can still be clean with the use of simple, natural ingredients. These recipes will help you keep your house a home; a clean, country, comfortable, organic one.

I have allergies and the second I open the attic door, I cant stop sneezing. Cats, bunnies, guinea pigs pretty much anything small and furry makes my eyes go red instantaneously. (But luckily the scent of an old barn is just fine!) Cleaning products make my throat tighten in a way that feels scary. Why would something that is supposed to make my home clean and healthy make me feel scared? Why should my throat tighten when I simply want to clean the kitchen counter after making dinner?

This reaction to commercial cleaners led me to research gentler, natural alternatives. I started with commercial green eco-friendly cleaners. These were much better; they didnt affect my throat and the scents were not overpowering. But they didnt work that well. An all-purpose cleaner left soapy residue on mirrors; another left white streaks. They were expensive, though, so I kept using them, just washing them again with water or another product after I was done. Cleaning up after the cleaning products, what a concept! When they were finally nearly empty, I went back to the Internet to find something more useful, and I happened upon some recipes. Basic recipes, things I could make that day with supplies I already had in my cupboard.

Ive loved recipes my whole life. Baking recipes, mostly, but also recipes for anything interesting and clever. Seeing recipes for homemade cleaning products stirred something in my soul. Yes , I thought. Yes! These are the cleaning recipes my grandma used to make, but I can make them modern and pretty! I started with a simple vinegar and water glass spray. Guess what? No white streaks. I cut an old T-shirt into rags like I remembered my mom doing so that I wouldnt have to waste paper towels. I bought an essential oil to scent them lemon, since that seemed to be the clean scent that most commercial products used.

Then I expanded my recipe book. A paste for my old porcelain sink. A spray for the bathroom counters that had a different essential oil in itone with extra germ-killing properties. I found baking soda in the bulk section at the co-op, one lonely box of washing soda in the enormous, brightly-colored sea of laundry products at the grocery store. Started saving glass jars and bottles to store my cleaning products in; spent time making pretty labels This became part of my life, rather than something that had to be done out of duty. Making my own cleaning products invested me in the cleaning process. It invested me in the health of my home and self. That alone felt, well, organic in a lifestyle way.

Ill be honest, my interest is also partly monetary and partly, well, vain. A bottle of the standard tub-cleaning solution is nearly $6 these days, with the commercial organic version even more than that. With an initial investment, you can keep your home clean for very little. Traditional chemical cleaners come in garish containers with warning labels all over them. I prefer a small tote full of natural ingredients in glass bottles and shakers, which looks clean and calm. It doesnt look scary. Ive made them; I know whats in them. It also looks pretty darn cute and country!

The recipes in here probably all sound simple. Good. They are, and thats the way they should be. Yes, they almost all use the same handful of ingredients. Those ingredients are staples for a reason: they do an effective job, theyre safe, and most of all, theyre time-tested.

I know what youre probably thinkingNatalie, isnt everything going to smell like vinegar? First off, I will gladly take the smell of vinegar over something noxious. The vinegar scent, if it is in a product, dissipates very quickly. This is another reason we add essential oils; apart from their cleaning properties, they also add pleasant scents. You can add 5075 drops of your favorite essential oil to a gallon of vinegar to camouflage the scent. A little bit of aromatherapy as we keep home I love it. If vinegar scares you, start with something that doesnt include it. Or try using apple cider vinegar instead. It has the same cleaning properties and a slightly weaker scent. In fact, any fancy vinegar will work. It ups the cost, but they do smell slightly less strong.