While I may have the nutrition market cornered in our house, Richard has taken the initiative with making cleaners. I discovered his little stash growing in the laundry room. He’s been collecting emptied cleaner bottles as they become available in our house, basic cleaner ingredients on grocery shopping trips, and cooking/mixing containers from various sources. I used to think this was a little bit ridiculous and a lot crunchy. And possibly stinky or streaky. What could possibly work better than a blue window cleaner, or an expensive orange jug of laundry detergent?
I, of course, was badly mistaken. My crunchy friends know this, and have been trying to tell me for years that I am an idiot, in the friendliest and most non-aggressive ways, which is apparently why I missed it completely. Speak more clearly next time, please. “You can use vinegar and baking soda to clean almost everything in your house!” doesn’t cut through the duh that has accumulated in my ears from decades of marketing.
When we ran out of Costco dishwasher detergent and rinsing agent (please don’t carp on me about using a dishwasher – baby steps) he made some. (Sorry about the cruddy picture quality. No natural light at 10:30 pm.) On the left is the tub of dishwasher detergent, and on the right in the rinsing agent – pure vinegar, in an old water bottle.
When I went into the pantry the other day, what did I spy? He’s brewing a little general/glass cleaner. All you do is fill up a mason jar tight with orange peels (which we have from our juicing every morning). Fill up the jar with vinegar. Stick it on a shelf for 3 weeks. Strain it, and use equal amounts of the cleaning mixture and water to fill up a spray bottle. Voila, orange cleaner.
The man has plans. Tonight he mentioned that he’s been reading some blogs on how to make soap. He’s my rock star.
