Disinfectant wipes

I was looking for some tips on making some disinfectant wipes using an idea my friend Heather used for baby wipes when her kids where little. I found tis on http://organizedhome.com/.

Materials and Equipment Needed:

• cylindrical or tall square plastic food storage container, 10-cup capacity
• extra-large roll of paper towels
• cleaning agents of your choice (recipes follow)
• electric drill with 1/2-inch drill bit
• electric knife
• liquid measuring cups

Instructions:

In the garage or workshop area, place a small block of wood beneath the plastic food storage container lid. Use electric drill to drill a 1/2-inch diameter hole in the center of the container lid.

For best results, select an extra-large roll of good quality paper towels for this project. Less-expensive towels fray or shred when pulled through the holder; thicker quilted towels have greater cleaning strength and withstand more scrubbing. Even at $1.39 per roll, cost for homemade wipes will be less than 75 cents, not including the storage container.

Without removing the paper towel wrapper, use the electric knife to cut the paper towel roll into two shorter rolls. Save the second roll for a refill later. Be patient! It may take up to two minutes to cut through the towel roll and cardboard tube inside.

Remove the wrapper, and place one short paper towel roll inside plastic food storage container. Using a liquid measuring cup, gently pour one of the following cleaning solution recipes over the top of the paper towel roll.

You will need between 2 and 4 cups of cleaning solution, depending on the size and absorbency of the paper towel product selected. These recipes make about three cups of solution; increase or decrease amounts if needed.

General Surface Cleaning Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water

Disinfectant Cleaning:

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup pine cleaning solution such as Pine-Sol brand
• 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cup water

Window and Glass Cleaning:

• 1/2 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Place the lid on the plastic food storage container, and allow paper towels to absorb cleaning solution for 4 hours to overnight.

Open the food storage container. Gently pull the wet cardboard tube from the center of the paper towel roll and discard. Carefully pull the end of the paper towels from the inside, where the cardboard roll had been. Thread the end of the towels through the hole in the lid, and replace the lid.

Pull gently on the exposed end to separate the cleaning wipe.

Tips:

As you use the wipes, they will begin to dry out, so add more water and/or cleaning solution as necessary. Allow wipes to stand overnight before continuing to use them after adding more solution.

You may vary the strength of the cleaning solutions as necessary for your household, using more cleaning agents for a stronger wipe, less solution and more water for a milder product.

My alternitive:

I however have decided to keep my container (and old butter bucket I got from my mom) in tact and am using old baby rags (about 20) that I still have from when my kids where little. Instead of using one of the recipes above this is what I am using:

2 cups of white distiled vinegar

8 drops Lavender oil

10 drops Lemon oil

5 drops Eucalyptus oil

You could also use just 20 drops of Tea Tree, however with it being nice and sunny and wanting to get started on some spring cleaning, I used a springier smelling blend of oils.

Recycle your Brita filter!

I did not you could recycle your Brita water filter. Unfortunately there is not a place by me that accepts them, but I will hold on to them until I have enough to mail in.

http://www.brita.com/us/support/filter-recycling/

Worm Farm

Last week wile working in the yard, the girls were digging up worms so we decided to make a worm farm.

Materials used:
1 clear empty 2 liter bottle-rinsed well.
Soil
Sand
Compost, grass clippings, leaves etc.
A little bit of water. We used rain water.
8-12 earth worms

Step one:

Carefully cut the top of the bottle, poke a few holes in to the top portion of the bottle to allow air in and remove label.



Step 2:

Add about 2 inches of soil to the bottom of the bottle.



Step 3:

Add about 2 inches of sand on top of the soil.



Step 4:

Top with compost.



Step 5:

Sprinkle with a little water, to moisten the contents of the bottle.



Step 6:

Cover and place the farm in a dark area over night.

Step 7:

Add worms and place back into the dark area.



The next day have a look at your farm and see if you can see the tunnels.



Go head and keep it for a few day, observing you worms, then release them and recycle your bottle. We added ours to the compost.

Once we released our worms we could really see the tunnels they made.



This is something we will definitely do again! Next time I think we will use a second container to use as a filler so the worms have to stay toward the outside of the bottle so that we can see the tunnels better.


Happy Farming!

Weekend finds

This past Saturday, Grand Rapids held all kinds of events to kick off the week for Earth Day. Having young kids we could not hit them all, but did make it to 2.

First stop, the Farmer's and Artist Market at the Grand Rapids Public Library. This is something that is usually held at the the Fulton Street Farmers Marker during the regular season which starts next month. We had a good time and found some great finds!

We came home with all kinds of homemade soaps, some geraniums, a spider plant and 2 reused fabric accessories.

The first is a small wallet made from and expired fabric sample book.

Made by Stuff & Nonsense

I had my purse stolen out of my van (in my own driveway) a few weeks ago. In it I had 2 wallets. One with all your regular wallet stuff: ID, bank card, credit card and money. The other held punch card and business cards. This reused wallet is perfect for my punch cards and business cards.

The second is a clutch made of an old sweat shirt and has the characters of one of our favorite books one it! (A great find made by my dear husband)

Made by Sally Ann

She reused the front and back of the sweatshirt as well as a zipper from another piece of clothing. So far it has come in really hand bringing books back and forth from the library.

Next stop, the zoo, for Party for the Planet! Oh how my girls love the zoo! They had over 30 West Michigan organizations there with seedling give-aways, games, entertainment, science experiments, recycling, conservation tips, and of course the animals! They even had a designated area in the parking lot where you could your old electronics and clothes to be recycled. Unfortunately we forgot our recyclables, but will be making drop offs soon.

We did come home with lots of information, which after I have had a chance to read and research I will share. We also came home with 2 fur seedling, some flower seeds the girls planed and a bird house kit that we are going to build and hang this weekend.

Start Simple!

Part of my reasoning behind starting this blog is because a lot of my friends and family ARE NOT GREEN at all. It hurts! It hurts us all! It hurts our planet Earth!

Think about it. Look. What do you see when you drive to work, go to the store? Trash, litter, cigarette butts....everywhere! It is disgusting! When you clean your house, do your laundry, what do you smell? Chemicals! Cancer, asthma causing poisons. You might think they smell good, but do you know what those things are that are in the bottle of toxic you just sprayed all over the counter where you are gonna prep your next meal? Look at the label, do you see anything you can't pronounce? Probably. Whatever it is it is probably harmful for you and your family!

I'm not saying change everything you do to make this a healthier world to live in. I'm saying take a look around and start small. Sure some things come with a price tag. For instance I pay $3 a month to have my recycling taken away with my trash. It is so easy to do! I have 2 bags sitting next to my trash can in my kitchen. One is for paper and the other is for all of my other recyclables. Just put your 'trash' in the correct bag. It's that easy to recycle! Once you start you will be amazed at how much trash you don't have! As a family of 4 with 3 animals we put out less than on kitchen bag of trash per week. Composting helps. Composting is something I am still working on. I just toss my fruit and veggie (no meat or dairy-they may attract animals) trash into an old cat litter bucket (reuse-another way to recycle) out side then later take it to the back part of the yard into a pile and give it a little turn with my shovel. I am not very good making my leftovers into dirt yet, but am hoping to get a compost barrel and some red wiggler worms this summer to assist me with it.

To make your own cleaners is simple really. All you need are a few things to get started and you probably already have them in your own house!
Check it out!

All purpose cleaner:
Equal parts water and peroxide
Put in a spray bottle and spray away use a clean cloth or paper towel (I use a cotton diaper) to wipe a way. Works great in mirrors, windows and to get grubby little hand prints off the TV.
Peroxide is a disinfectant, but you can add Tea tree oil, Lavender oil or a citrus oil for sent and additional germ fighting power.

Powder laundry soap:
2 cups Borax 20 Team Mule
2 cups wash soda 1/3 bar grated Ivory soap.
Store in a plastic container (big butter dishes work well)
Use 2 table spoons for a full load, less for smaller loads.
I find if I dilute this in hot water before adding it to the washer it helps the granules dissolve.

Fabric softener:
1 cup baking soda
6 cups white distilled vinegar
8 cups water 15-20 drops essential oil to sent (optional)

Put the cup of baking soda in a 1 gallon container (I suggest something with a twist on lid, like an old milk jug), add 1 cup of water. With the container IN the sink very slowly add the vinegar (this will cause a reaction with the soda). Add the rest of the water and essential oil. Shake well add 1/2-1 cup during the final rinse.
I find if I dilute this in hot water before adding it to the washer it helps the granules dissolve.

You can also use a small dampened cloth with a little conditioner on it a s a dryer sheet for the dryer.

Wood polish:
3 cups of water
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar
10-15 drops orange essential oil (optional) this will help kill germs and make it smell good. Mix in a spray bottle. Shake before using.

Other stuff:
You can add 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil to a gallon of water to wash windows, floors and toilets to scrub away the germs.
To chase away bugs, but a drop of tea tree oil near where they are coming in.
Lavender oil or tea tree oil can be applied directly to cuts and scrapes where it will cool the pain and help fight infection.
Mixing a few drops of tea tree oil with some water in a spray bottle can clean mold in the bathroom, so can (warmed) vinegar and borax.
Water in a spray bottle a few drops of essential oils sprayed around the room for air freshener. Mine is has lavender & patchouli in it.


It really doesn't matter what you do, but doing something helps a lot!

The Green Me

I am a thirty something Stay At Home Mom.

As long as I can remember my dad has always recycled and I give him credit for turning me green. Thirteen years ago I started doing aromatherapy. Just basic stuff, make the house smell good, a treat wounds, a little cleaning.

When I had my second daughter I started making a few of my own cleaners and composting. Not a lot was added to my green list. Now I am really into being green. You could almost call it a hobby. I find it relaxing.

I am making nearly all of my cleaner with dishwasher detergent being my one exception. I have yet to find something I really like. I have really gotten in to my aromatherapy and am making all kinds of things with my oils, there are little bottles all over my house! I am starting to make all kinds of personal care products and am very happy with them.