Project Completed: Squeaky Clean

Lately I have been really into Pinterest. The only problem is I actually don’t end up doing anything I pin. So I decided to put my mind to it and finally do a project! Project: Make your own cleaner! So instead of the typical, vinegar, essential oils and water combination, the twist was you “make your essential oil” as well. In this post is how I went about and did this DIY project. Like a typical science experiment I also put my observations and outcomes, And what I think I should do differently. (I have put the links that I saved on Pinterest at the bottom of this post as a reference and for those interested.)

PROJECT: MAKE YOUR OWN CLEANER

Ingredients:

1 Mason Jar
1 Metal Strainer
1 Measuring Cup
1 Spray Bottle
1 Orange
3 Cups Vinegar
5 drops Vanilla Essential Oil

My Steps:

Step 1: Peel Orange and put into Mason jar. Try not to get any of the juicy pulp that you would normally eat. You can put the inside orange aside for a snack later.

Step 2: Pour Vinagar into Mason Jar. Now I was able to put 3 cups into the jar. So it depends on the size of jar you use. Size of jar may also effect how many oranges you put in

Step 3: Tightly close let and put in dry cool spot.

Step 4: Wait 2 weeks.

2 week cleaner mixture

Step 5: Strain your vinager/orange misture into your measuring cup.

straining
Step 5

Step 6: Pour strained mixture into spray bottle so it fills halfway through.

Step 7
Step 6

Step 7: Fill rest of spray bottle with filtered water.

Step 8: Put in 5 drops of essential oil put on lid. Shake bottle

Step 8
Step 8

Step 9: Clean your heart out.  🙂

Final Product
Final Product

So these are the steps I went through. Now for the review of the experiment.

Observations:

I found a lot of smaller floaties (really small pulp most likely) that went through the metal strainer. I did half and half for water/mixture. Some recipes say to add water and others do not. Using a spray bottle with measurements was a good choice. I did test out a section on my tub where there is some scum. It seemed to wash wipe out nicely. Below is a picture from my tub (it might be hard to see though as its hard to take a picture of without a very dirty tub) 20140513_130953

Positive Observations:
Using Orange Peels (or other natural ingredients) makes me feel good that I am not wasting anything. Though you eventually throw out the peel, at least you are trying to put out as much as you can. Its like the saying we all grow up with “Waste Not, Want Not” It is super easy to do. I would spend maybe 20 minutes putting everything together (not including the waiting time). You could spend that much time just to go pick some cleaner up at the grocery store.

Negative Observations:
When not properly rinsed or wiped away, the mixture leaves orange spots when dried (see picture). These orange spots do rinse away on hard surfaces. So you might want to be careful not to get the cleaner on material though. Something every post I read was make sure you test on all surfaces.

Orange spots
Orange spots

Conclusion:

I think its a good twist for cleaning with vinegar. I think I may need to tweak the recipe. Though I don’t know how about doing that. Also I recommend using a cheese cloth or something similar to get all the little floaties out.  Not sure if I am sold for using it as my only cleaner though. If you have any thoughts or versions you know works, please leave a comment. Hope you enjoyed this post!

References:

http://www.theyummylife.com/Natural_Citrus_Vinegar_Cleaners

http://www.savingwithshellie.com/diy-lavender-orange-purpose-cleaner/

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