via Flickr user tinyfroglet

For me, mix-at-home cleaners are all about using the least number of products and ingredients, whether it’s synthetic, natural, or somewhere in between. I do not use natural soap, lemon juice, cream of tartar, club soda, or many food stuffs that you might come across in ‘natural’ or ‘green’ cleaning recipes. Oftentimes, you can usually find a much cheaper and debatably ‘greener’ alternative to the natural cleaners.

Lemons, for example, don’t fall off trees where I live and using lemons to clean is a waste of a valuable food source; use vinegar instead. That’s also how I feel about most foods used as cleaners. If you think of all the resources that go into producing the food item, it just seems very wasteful to not eat it.

I also see castile soap in many homemade housecleaners. As I mentioned previously, soap may be more natural than synthetic detergents but if you have hard water like the majority of U.S. households, then you’ll be using much more water and other ingredients and resources to get the cleaning job done. When you look at the ingredients of major ‘green’ cleaners like Mrs. Meyer’s, Seventh Generation, and Ecover, notice that surfactants and water are their main cleaning agents. Not soap. Soap nuts may be the most environmental cleaning agent but I have not researched nor experimented enough using them as a household cleaner, just laundering.

I don’t use the typical ingredients in mainstream homemade ‘green’ cleaners. Hence, I’ll call these the Minimalist’s housecleaning recipes; I clean my entire house regularly with just 6 basic products/ingredients:

• liquid non-chlorine laundry detergent free of dyes and fragrance
• handwashing dish liquid
• borax
• baking soda
• regular distilled white vinegar solution – 5% acetic acid concentration
• water!

Water with and without liquid surfactant is the base of most of my homemade cleaners. Most other ingredients are what you’d typically find in a well stocked laundry room. It works, it’s safe, and I chose this method with good reason – read the detailed post here.

The Basics: General Cleaners for Around the House

Related post here.

All-purpose cleaner: Fill a standard 32-oz spray bottle with water. Add 1 tsp liquid chlorine-free, dye and fragrance free, laundry detergent. Shake before each use.

Multi-purpose vinegar solution: In a standard 32-oz spray bottle, add 1 cup vinegar. Fill the rest with water.

Duster: Spritz multi-purpose vinegar solution onto Swiffer or lint-free rag.

Glass and mirror cleaner: Equal squirts of all-purpose cleaner and multi-purpose vinegar solution. Wipe clean or squeegee.

Air freshener: In a small spray bottle (I use a 3 fl. oz spritzer), fill 1 part rubbing alcohol to two part water. Add about 10 drops of essential oil(s).

Wipes: Have a big stash of shop cloth terry towels and old cut-up t-shirt squares (or any cotton jersey fabric). Designate a laundry bin or trash can to hold all used wipes. When filled, launder together on hot wash cycle, optionally add borax and/or bleach.

Soil and stain remover: Spot treat. Detailed post here.

For the Kitchen

Use either liquid laundry detergent or hand dishwashing liquid as the base for your kitchen cleaners.

All-purpose kitchen surface cleaner: Use all-purpose cleaner (above) or for tougher stains, wipe or scrub with sponge, hot water, and a small squirt of hand dishwashing liquid. Wipe off with dish rag.

Basic degreaser: Same as all-purpose kitchen surface cleaner but with more dishwashing liquid.

Heavy-duty degreaser: For tough grease and dust build-up and most sticky residue, first use a cloth to rub on cooking oil (used oil if you have it on hand) to dissolve the grease. Then, follow with Basic degreaser.

Oven cleaner: First, scrape whatever you can with a plastic baker’s dough scraper or some other tough, yet scratch resistant tool. Then, sprinkle with baking soda and scrub with sponge, hot water, and dishwashing liquid. Wipe off with dish rag. Repeat as necessary. Follow with multi-purpose vinegar solution spray and wipe off. Repeat as necessary until you’ve wiped off the dishwashing liquid residue.

Kitchen appliance cleaner: Same as all-purpose kitchen surface cleaner, using degreasers as needed.

Mineral build-up (i.e. on refrigerator water dispenser): If the tray is removable, soak in distilled white vinegar. If not, spray vinegar. Let stand at least 30 minutes.

Coffee maker: Pour equal parts vinegar and water into reservoir. Brew. Turn off and let cool, about 30 minutes. Discard vinegar water solution or repurpose (i.e. soak anything that needs mineral build-up removed). Brew a couple more times with plain water.

For the Bathroom

Sinks and countertops: Use all-purpose cleaner.

Mirror: Use glass and mirror cleaner above.

Toilet: On the seats and outside, spray all-purpose cleaner. Use lots of single-use wipes to wipe clean, then toss with other used wipes to be laundered together on hot wash cycle. On the inside, lay toilet brush inside the bowl first. Squirt liquid detergent onto brush, then sprinkle with borax. Optionally add bleach to the water. Scrub the inside rim first. Wet with clean toilet water as needed.

Bathtub: Sprinkle lightly with borax. Squirt liquid detergent onto damp no-scratch scour pad. Clean basin first, adding water as needed. Then, use the scour pad now soaked with detergent and borax to clean the walls. Rinse off with water.

Floor cleaners

Carpet deodorizer: Sprinkle with baking soda before vacuuming. Store baking soda in a large, old spice container. Optionally add a few drops of essential oil.

Tile and sealed concrete floor cleaner: Vacuum or sweep first. Fill bucket with 1 tbsp of liquid detergent to 1 gallon of very hot tap water. Optionally add essential oil. Mop. Optionally and occasionally follow mop with a vinegar rinse solution of 1 part distilled white vinegar to 3 parts water.

Surface-sealed wood and bamboo floor cleaner: Vacuum or sweep first. Mop with water only; use damp mop, not soaking wet. Optionally follow with dry mop. Basically, minimize moisture. Spot clean with all-purpose cleaner and dry immediately.

Heavy duty cleaners: If you have carpeting, it’s worth investing in a deep cleaner. Deep clean at least twice a year. I bought a Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge about 10 years ago for less than $150 and have been very happy with it. You can also use it to clean upholstery, drapery, tile, and surface sealed concrete floors. Its 12 amp motor is powerful enough for the job. It does not have a heating element like some of the newer, more expensive deep cleaners. It is not worth the extra cost to get the added heat; hot tap water works great. Besides, having a heating element just adds unnecessary complication and is one more thing that can break. I’ve also never used the Hoover detergent that it came with and always cleaned with a solution of 1 tbsp liquid detergent to 1 gallon of very hot tap water and several drops of essential oils.

Note on Disinfectants

Trying to rid yourself and your environment of all germs is practically impossible because we don’t live in a bubble! Basic cleanliness using soap or detergent and water is all that’s needed for regular cleaning in a healthy household. Disinfecting was never meant to be a regular household practice. Decades of disinfecting and antibacterial product use have not proven that we are healthier. In fact, many suggests we are ‘sicker’; our germophobic mentality reduced our exposure to normal levels of microbes, thereby weakening our immune system. I cover the subject of microbes in detail in a series of posts here. Nonetheless, if you feel the need to disinfect on the rare occasion, mix anywhere from 3/4 tsp to 6 tbsp of regular unscented 5.25% household bleach with 32 fl-oz of water in a spray bottle. Clean as usual, then follow with the disinfectant. No need to replace or purchase cleaners with disinfectants already in them.

Note on Essential Oils

Use them if you like the scent. I do not use them for their antibacterial or anti-fungal properties but if they happen to have those qualities, great! Citrus, herbal, and woodsy essential oils are common scents in cleaners.

First thing you need to know is that it’s all about your water. Soap or a surfactant combined with water is the base of most cleaners. But its effectiveness is very much dependent on your water source which is in turn dependent on your geography. If you are harvesting and using rainwater, then cleaning with just plain ole soap, water, and elbow grease like people did back in the old days would work just fine. But times have changed and part of modernization means most of us get our water through municipal water systems which in turn get their supply mostly from groundwater and surface water. Water from these sources flow through soil and rock, picking up minerals along the way before reaching our water lines. The amount of these minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, is what determines water hardness. Hard water is not a health hazard but it does make cleaning a nuisance. Soap is more affected by hard water than detergent since it reacts with the minerals to form a greasy curd, soap scum, that’s insoluble in water. More soap may clean more but also leaves behind more soap scum. With detergents however, you can usually use more to counterbalance the effects of hard water. Here’s a good site that describes basic soap and detergent chemistry.

The majority of households in the U.S. has hard water. That means that unless you’re softening the water in some way, cleaning with soap and water isn’t going to get the job done. Softening your water (by installing a water softener or adding borax or washing soda) and then following with a vinegar rinse will help soap clean significantly better. But the drawbacks are that you’re using more resources – water, your time, money, etc… and increasing the salinity/sodium content of your used water. The latter may not be such a concern if you’re plugged into your local sewer system but if you have a septic tank or greywater system to reclaim and reuse your water, then you definitely want to limit and control your water’s sodium content.

Surfactants have come a long way and are not as hazardous as they were back in the fifties. Surfactants today are also much more biodegradable, enough to be suitable for reuse as greywater. Not all surfactants are created equal. If you have hard water, then choosing a detergent with the least environmental hazard for your area and use condition is much more environmental and effective at cleaning than using soap. I wish there was a site to rate all the detergents available to us here in the U.S. so we can make more of an informed decision on which detergent to choose. Australians and New Zealanders have Lanfax Labs to thank for their in-depth research and very useful information on detergents commercially available down under. As for the rest of us, just stick with a mild liquid detergent. Liquids and powders are built differently. In general, liquid detergents are less alkaline and less corrosive than powders. That means liquids are gentler on your fabrics and surfaces but it also means that they don’t clean as well as powders. Then again, it is better to spot treat soils than to use a strong cleaner allover.

Water is called the “universal solvent” because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Water alone can clean most dirt and non-greasy food mess so long as it’s still fresh. Add surfactants to water and you can clean almost everything around your house. Heat and a little bit of elbow grease also helps. Basically, make your homemade cleaners from commercially available laundering products that you’re already using to clean your clothes. Use common additives like borax and refer to laundering do’s and don’ts for proper usage and knowing what you can or cannot mix together. Examples: Never mix chlorine bleach with ammonia, vinegar or anything acidic; it’s okay to mix borax and baking soda with detergent; vinegar solution and detergent is also fine. Stick with simple mixtures and basic chemistry. When you stick with laundering products, not only does it work but these products come with safety guidelines and you’re less likely to mix two unknown chemicals.

As of January 2010, the Consumer Product Communication Initiative Program took effect as a volunteer program within the household product manufacturers industry to inform consumers about the ingredients in their products. Not only is this useful for evaluating store-bought products but you can use this information to safely mix your own cleaners so long as you stick to common laundering products. No, you probably won’t achieve the same product, but you’ll get good enough cleaning power. Take for example Seventh Generation. Notice the similarity between their liquid detergents and all-purpose cleaners. So, if you’re already using their detergent, simply mix one tsp of it with 32 oz of water for a similar all-purpose cleaner.

The SDA site lists just some of the participants with links directly to the manufacturer’s websites. Another good site is the Household Products Database through the U.S. Dept. of Health and Services. There is also the Consumer Product Information Database which seems redundant but still worth a mention. Notice how water and surfactants make up a large portion of everyday cleaners. Many of the other ingredients exist to enhance the cleaning power of water and/or surfactants. And of course, there are those that are unnecessary for cleaning, like fragrance and dyes.

In the next post will be my homemade cleaning recipes (using mostly laundering products of course). Finally!

There are many ways to categorize soils and soils usually fit under several categories. You can get pretty technical and delve into the chemistry and science of stain removal. Or do what I do and start with the easiest stain fighting solutions first.

• I. For most food and outdoor stains:
  • A. Use liquid detergent at full strength, diluted as in the homemade all-purpose cleaner, or anywhere in between. If that doesn’t work, then
  • B. Work a small amount of borax in with the liquid detergent (full strength or diluted). Borax softens hard water thereby helping detergents remove soils more effectively. Optionally follow with vinegar rinse to neutralize the alkalinity. If that doesn’t work, then
  • C. Pretreat stain with an enzyme digester (protease, bromalain, amylase) as found in meat tenderizer, juice of pineapple (preferably the core), human saliva (yes!), or a laundry stain removal product that contains enzyme digesters such as Zout. Follow with liquid detergent (full strength or diluted). Some liquid detergents already have enzymes added. Enzyme digesters work on protein stains like eggs, meat, and dairy. Use warm, not hot water as the heat will kill the enzymes. Do not use on silk, cashmere, or leather as they will break down the fibers.
• II. For greasy, oily, non-water soluble stains:
  • A. ‘Like dissolves like’ so use liquid oil such as cooking oil or mineral oil to dissolve the sticky, greasy residue first. Then, follow with soap, dish liquid, or detergent. If that doesn’t work, then
  • B. Use a solvent such as isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. Many laundry stain removers also contain solvents. Follow with liquid detergent (full strength or diluted). Solvents dissolve the non-water soluble residue to make it easier for the detergent to lift and remove the stains.
• III. If none of the above works, use an oxidizer to bleach the stain (but doesn’t actually remove it):
  • A. Treat with detergent, then dry in sunlight. Or,
  • B. Treat with detergent and hydrogen peroxide, then dry in sunlight. Or,
  • C. Use Oxiclean powder (free of dyes and fragrance). Follow product directions. Or,
  • Z. If all else fails and you can’t tolerate the stain, use chlorine bleach. Follow product directions. Never mix with ammonia nor vinegar. Bleach is safe to use with laundry detergents and borax.

Notes:

• Fresh stains are easier to remove than old, dry stains.
• Make sure your cleaning ingredient is compatible with the fabric or surface being cleaned.
• Most laundry detergents are alkaline based and most stains are acidic. So, laundry detergents are usually all that’s needed to neutralize stains.
• The pH of some stains, such as perspiration and urine, vary greatly. Fresh stains may start with an acidic pH, older stains all become alkaline. If plain liquid detergent does not remove the stain, pretreat with detergent and a small amount of borax for fresh stains or vinegar for older stains to neutralize the stains. Rinse and rewash with detergent cleaner.
• Take clue from laundering do’s and don’ts.

Clothing, carpet, upholstery, fabric window treatment, and tablecloth soils can all be treated with common laundry products. After all, they are all fibers – synthetic, natural, or blends. Usually, if it works on fabric, it works on most non-porous surfaces around the house. Here are some additional resources:

• Purex Stain Guide: This is an excellent site for troubleshooting stain. Although the guide is geared towards fabric, you can easily adapt to suit most surfaces.
• Crayola Stain Guide: Crayons and colored drawing implements are usually harder to remove as they’re made up of more complex substances. This guide features many commercial stain removal products and can be useful when none of the simple stuff works. However, I usually find that a little borax or baking soda mixed with detergent will remove most water soluble Crayola products. Cooking oil or rubbing alcohol or WD-40 (which contains primarily solvents) followed by detergent will remove the other non-water soluble products. Many makeup stains can be removed similarly.

My soil and stain removal kit is a mixture of natural and synthetic ingredients. I simply strive to use the least amount of products and ingredients in the smallest quantities needed to get the job done. To sum up, my list includes:

• liquid laundry detergent
• borax
• baking soda
• vinegar
• multi-purpose laundry stain removal product like Zout
• liquid oil such as cooking oil or mineral oil
• rubbing alcohol
• WD-40
• hydrogen peroxide
• Oxiclean
• chlorine bleach

My must-have list is surprisingly short:

• vinegar
• baking soda
• chlorine-free laundry detergent – surfactants

Unlike many homemade household cleaning recipes, I do not use soap. Soap is wonderful on our bodies but it does not make an efficient household cleaning product. It tends to leave a thin film, scum or grime behind that can build up quickly over time. Detergents, on the other hand, are very effective and efficient cleaners. Due to its man-made molecular structure, surfactants (surface acting agents) simultaneously adhere to the soils and reduce the water surface tension to loosen the soil. Not all laundry detergents are equal. Choose those that contain the fewest additives and still get the job done, i.e. free of dyes, fragrance, etc… Personally, I use the Costco/Kirkland Ultra Free&Clear liquid detergent for all my homemade cleaners and some of my laundering (soap nuts powder for the rest).

Simple all-purpose cleaner: mix 1 teaspoon of non-chlorine, very basic, liquid laundry detergent with 32 fl. oz. water. Did you know that most all-purpose cleaners are simply surfactants diluted in water? They differ in concentration and additives (to boost cleaning power). For a homemade version of all-purpose cleaner, stick with just the basic detergent in water.

At a minimum, I dust, vacuum, and wipe surfaces on a weekly basis using the following:

• Dust: spray a little vinegar on a lint-free cloth or Swiffer.
• Vacuum: sprinkle carpet and pet area with baking soda beforehand.
• Wipe: spray with all-purpose cleaner and wipe down with a rag. For mirrors and glass, spray vinegar along with the all-purpose cleaner. You can mix them so long as the detergent does not contain chlorine.

Storage tips:

• vinegar – spray bottle – pink/red to indicate acid pH
• baking soda – large spice container
• all-purpose cleaner: spray bottle – blue to indicate base pH (detergents are usually alkaline)

The 32-oz garden sprayers are ideal for storing homemade household cleaners.

Kitchen and bath receive extra attention as does stain removal. I will cover these in a later post.

And now, I’m going to explain why I brought up the subject of microbes.

A large portion of my posts are dedicated to homemade, do-it-yourself crafts and necessities. I do it mostly to save money without sacrificing quality, the trade-off being sacrificing personal time and a little effort on my part which I think is worth it. Some of the topics like cooking, aren’t so foreign to the vast majority. But other topics like homemade skin care and housecleaning seem to raise a lot of questions. Mainly, is it better? Does it work? IS IT SAFE?

I brought the subject of microbes to answer the safety question as it is one of the of the main concerns or aversions people have with anything homemade. Understandably so. Some of our concerns with contamination are misplaced and stem from our germaphobic mentality. In a public setting, then yes, it would be prudent to exercise some precautions. But in our very own home, a healthy home is one that co-exists with microbes. Again, I am not advocating living in filth. But we don’t live in a bubble. Trying to engage in a full-on war against microbes can have adverse consequences. So, the goal of homemade, whether it’s cooking, housecleaning, skin care, or some other craft, is still safety but without too much help from man-made biocides. The safety trade-off here means having a realistic expectation of what our homemade goods can accomplish. For example, in the case of housecleaning products, it means that your house will be clean but you won’t even come close to imitating a clinical, almost sterile environment. Not that this should be your goal – you’re not trying to operate on your kitchen table after all. Even in a clean house, bacteria can still spread and cause infections but again, that’s not a bad thing if you view it as exercising your immune system (provided it is not compromised in the first place). In the case of your homemade perishable goods, food and cosmetics, it means a significantly shortened shelf life. With cooking, we are accustomed to this trade-off. We know that the cupcake we bake and leave out on the counter is not going to last as long as a Twinkie. And we use our senses to determine when it’s past its prime and chuck it. Homemade skin care is also a perishable and shares many of the same ingredients you would find in food. However, it seems that we still have unrealistic expectations as to its shelf life and aren’t as accustomed to using our senses to judge when it is past its prime as we do with food. I will address this topic in detail in many future posts. For now, assume that as long as you apply the same mentality to homemade cosmetics as you do to homecooking, you should be fine.

One last point I want to make is that just like microbes, man-made biocides do have their place in our society. In a public setting, for better or worse, the public is more trustful of clinical-like environments and prepackaged, commercially prepared goods. So no homemade goodies to hand out at our kids’ soccer games. But it’s okay. A little bit of man-made biocide in our lives is not harmful. It is the cumulative overexposure that create problems. In the same manner that the dangers of the presence of germs has been blown out of proportion, the toxicity of man-made biocides has equally been overexaggerated. More on this topic in a future post. My point is to minimize, not eliminate, our exposure to biocides. How? By not including synthetic preservatives in our homemade goodies and only using germ-killing household cleaners when necessary, not as part of routine cleaning.

Humans are tough and very adaptable, whether it’s to normal levels of microbes or small amounts of man-made biocides. How else did we come out on top of the food chain and overpopulate the Earth? But if we let science over-intervene, eventually, our bodies and our environment will not be able to keep up with our science.

Everything in moderation.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Photo via Scott Sodora/WSJ

We hear a lot about the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The medical community has done well in informing both medical health professionals AND patients. We know that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics lead to drug resistance and newer drugs must be developed to keep up. But what about non-medical, everyday cleaning products? Like anti-bacterial soaps with triclosan and germ-killing household cleaners?

Though antibiotics are meant to treat whereas anti-bacterial products are meant to prevent infectious disease, the underlying concept is practically the same. They are all biocides and share similar traits. Including developing bacterial resistance. The concept is nothing new. Bacterial resistance is well observed and documented (see medical reference below) both in man-made biocides and in nature. At first, this may sound like an alarming issue. In the case of antibiotics, it is a cause for concern especially if antibiotics development can’t keep up and stay one step ahead. As for household disinfectants, there are no strong evidence that biocide resistance has escalated to a point of major health risk. That’s good news I guess, especially for the manufacturers of consumer household products. There aren’t sufficient data and the medical community can only speculate on the future. Some experts believe that the recent explosion of biocide containing household products could lead to highly resistant bacteria and therefore reduce the product’s effectiveness but more importantly, that this phenomenon could even directly or indirectly affect antibiotic resistance. On the other hand, other experts believe that the relatively low usage of such biocides in the real world as compared to a clinical setting is not enough to drastically disturb the microflora. Future speculations aside, most of the research do indicate that the regular use of antibacterial agents and disinfectants in a healthy household is unecessary and does not provide any additional health benefits. Not only that but overuse disturbs the balance within our immune system as I pointed out in Part I. Many of these products were not meant to be used on a regular basis. We all have times in our lives where our immune system is compromised. For me, it was the weeks after delivering my babies. Other than that, there hasn’t been any need for our family to use antibacterial products regularly. Just occasionally.

Our oversanitized environment and germaphobic society have led to the explosion in the number of germ fighting household products. But it is unclear whether consumers first demanded those products or manufacturers began making and aggressively marketing them. After all, the global household products market is a $70+ billion dollars industry and growing. It is also fast-paced with new ingredients and technologies and continuously changing regulations. The aggressive nature of the industry drives companies to constantly churn out new products and race to be the first in the market with a new and improved, latest and greatest germ-fighter without fully knowing the long-term health and environmental effects. The plethora of products has clouded our judgment and basic common sense.

Conclusion

Humans have co-existed and co-evolved with microbes since forever. And we will continue to do so either at nature’s pace or with the aid of man-made biocides. But if man-made biocides ever become a major problem, then most likely there can only be a man-made solution as nature will not be able to keep up with the altered and accelerated evolution of our microflora.

So what to do?

Let the medical community research and debate on the future consequences of abundant biocide use. Let the environmental groups and powers-that-be fight and persuade our government and its many overburdened agencies to regulate and do something about it. And let the manufacturers continue to make and market their unecessary germ-fighting household products in the absence of regulations. The most effective action we can take right now, as stewards of our healthy home, is conquer germophobia and reduce our use of antibacterial and disinfecting cleaners. The effects of your actions will ripple through the industry. So much of our house can be cleaned with simple solutions like vinegar, water, soap, surfactants, and baking soda. You don’t even have to exert a lot of effort – let your appliances do the hard work. I will elaborate on these simple cleaners in many posts to come. I just felt like it was important to give a little backgrounder as to why. For now, suffice it to say that regular use of commercial antibacterial products is overkill. Literally.

In the next section, I’ll discuss preservatives in our perishables, food and cosmetics. It’s all related!

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

References and further reading:

Aiello et al. Antibacterial cleaning products and drug resistance. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005 Oct;11(10):1565-70. View full-text.

Russell AD. Bacterial adaptation and resistance to antiseptics, disinfectants and preservatives is not a new phenomenon. J Hosp Infect. 2004 Jun;57(2):97-104. View online.

Aiello et al. Antibacterial cleaning and hygiene products as an emerging risk factor for antibiotic resistance in the community. Lancet Infect Dis. 2003 Aug;3(8):501-6. View abstract.

Tan et al. Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Consumer Products. Arch Dermatol. 2002;138:1082-1086. View abstract.

Levy SB. Antibacterial household products: cause for concern. Emerg Infect Dis. 2001;7(3 Suppl):512–5. View full-text.

International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene. Recent publication listing on microbial resistance.

Athavaley A. Household Products Start to Come Clean on Ingredients. Wall Street Journal. April 2, 2009. View online.

I also lowered my energy use and consequently, utility cost, although in my case it wasn’t that much – about $20 a year. Here’s a great site to estimate energy consumption of various home appliances.

Yep, it takes more work. Though it is a great activity for the kids to take part in (the little ones can hand you clothespins) all the while getting chores done and breaking our outdoor time into 10 – 15 minute chunks throughout the day. Having said that, I’m glad the weather is finally cooling off in Austin after record highs all summer long and I’m going back to using my dryer and shorter laundering time. It’s great to have options!

Rotary clotheslines are seasonal items (here in the US) and many are now on sale.

Traditionally, homemade laundry detergent involves at least two steps:
(1) grating soap and
(2a) either running it through a food processor to make it fine enough to use in powder form or
(2b) melt it with water on the stove top to be used in liquid form.

An easier alternative that’s also 100% natural is to use soap nuts. Soap nuts actually refers to the outer shells of the soapberry tree fruits and contain saponin, a cleaning agent occurring naturally in many plants. Soap is the man-made equivalent.

I’ve experimented using soap nuts in many forms and concluded that the simplest method is to grind it up in a high-power blender like the Vita-mix (use the dry blade container).

Basic Laundering directions:
• For hot or warm wash: Add 2 heaping tablespoons (or 1/8 cup) to your machine the same way you would any powder detergent. If you are not comfortable pouring soap nuts powder into your machine’s detergent compartment, then sprinkle it over your laundry. I pour mine straight into my front-loading high-efficiency machine’s detergent compartment.
• For cold wash: Add 2 heaping tablespoons (or 1/8 cup) to a jar with lid. Fill it with hot water and shake vigorously. Add the mixture to your machine.

Variations:
• For whites: Use 1/8 cup soap nuts powder plus 1 scoop Oxyclean
• For tough stains: Use 1/8 cup each of soap nuts powder and washing soda. Follow with a vinegar rinse.
• For extra tough stains and general laundry booster: Use 1/8 cup each of soap nuts powder, borax, and washing soda. Follow with a vinegar rinse.

Albeit 100% natural, hypoallergenic, environmentally sound, and 100% biodegradable, soap nuts aren’t the most cost effective cleaning agent. I’m happy to find that my favorite natural health retailer, Mountain Rose Herbs, also sells soap nuts. For other homemade alternatives, Tipnut.com has a very comprehensive guide to soap-based laundry detergents.