PERFECTLY NATURAL HOUSEHOLD CLEANING
After a year of COVID we have been forced to focus on cleaning like never before
Washing our hands
Cleaning door knobs and handles
Cleaning all hard surfaces in our homes
Wiping down groceries
Wiping down delivered packages and their contents
Washing face masks
Our hands have suffered from all this washing - there has in fact, been an increase in hand dermatitis as a result. That makes sense when you read the ingredients labels on commercial soaps and find they are made mostly with synthetic detergents.
The only way to prevent this is to choose natural products and to use a good quality moisturizer directly after washing.
We have a whole range of bar soaps and pure castile liquid soaps and moisturizers made with natural ingredients to take care of your skin at the same time as effectively cleansing off grime and germs.
We've also developed a Hand Sanitizer Spray that is as organic as you can get so that when you can't find soap and water, you
can still feel good about having germ free hands.
The CDC requires that a Hand Sanitizer has a minimum of 60% alcohol and we've gone the extra mile with 70% but you will love the feel of it and it will get you through until you can use soap and water.
CLEANING YOUR HOME
When it comes to cleaning our homes, we have another opportunity to choose natural products over harmful toxin loaded commercial cleaning products.
Natural household cleaning products are even more effective if you include essential oils which are known to be antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal. I'm sure you've heard of Tea Tree Oil, because it is the best known and arguably the most effective.
However, it can be confusing when you research natural cleaning products and if you want to DIY it, there are recipes out there that don't work or can even be detrimental, guess how I know!
We've been making soap with natural oils and other natural ingredients since 2015 and it makes sense for us to also offer you all natural cleaning products that
disinfect your home
are way healthier for you and your family
are kind to the environment
How we started down this path began with making Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner.
Check out this for an all natural ingredients list: Water, Coconut Oil, Salt
Yep, that's all that's in it. Sure we used lye to get there but the lye disappears through the saponification process so it's no longer a present ingredient.
Then we added a blend of Tea Tree & Lemon Essential Oils and D-Limonene for fresh scent and germ fighting power.
You can dilute our Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner to create the following wonderfully natural cleaning products
ALL PURPOSE HOUSEHOLD SPRAY
Fill a spray bottle with warm water, leaving a little space at the top to add the Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner .
To an 8 ounce spray bottle add 1 tablespoon of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner
To a 16 ounce spray bottle add 2 tablespoons of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner
Shake well before each use.
This spray can be used on all surfaces and door knobs and groceries and packages.
TIP: Always fill the bottle with water first before adding the Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner so it doesn't bubble up.
Depending on the hardness of the water coming out of your taps, you can increase or decrease the amount of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner you add so that it's perfectly customizable to your personal preference.
There are some additional ingredients you can add to further enhance your All Purpose Household Spray
If you have hard water then
To an 8 ounce spray bottle add 1 tsp Washing Soda or Baking Soda
To a 16 ounce spray bottle add 2 tsp Washing Soda or Baking Soda
The BATHROOM
The All Purpose Household Spray is perfect for regular use, but now and then you may need to do a DEEP CLEAN.
To deep clean the tiles in your shower or your bath, we recommend mixing
1/2 cup of baking soda with
1/2 cup of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner
In a bowl mix these ingredients all together then put some on your sponge. Add a little bit of water and attack the surfaces you want to clean. Rinse well when done and wipe down with a microfiber cloth.
Cleaning Hack 1: Keep a microfiber cleaning cloth in your shower and if you have time, wipe down the walls and glass(?) after each shower/bath. This will keep these surfaces clean for longer.
TOILETS
In this instance you may prefer to buy a commercial toilet cleaner, we all know they are very effective, but if you care for the environment and maybe want to save money, then try mixing (in the specified order)
1 cup of water
1/8 cup of hydrogen peroxide
1/2 cup of baking soda Mix well then add
1/2 cup of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner
Once combined pour into a condiments squeeze bottle to make it easier to use.
You can recycle a ketchup or mustard bottle or you can buy new on Amazon, just click HERE to see the ones I mean.
Shake well before each use.
Clean the bowl as you would with a commercial cleaner.
Clean all the other surfaces of the toilet with the All Purpose Household Spray and you're good to go.
GLASS & MIRRORS
This is an easy one. Just mix equal parts vinegar and water, say 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water and then, using a lint free cloth or paper towel, get at it. Especially that toothpaste splatter!
Cleaning Hack 2: Save your clothes dryer sheets after you've used them to buff water spots from mirrors, glass and faucets and to do a quick clean of your baseboards.
The LAUNDRY
Add 1/2 cup of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner to the wash cycle for each load. Halve that for HE machines.
One thing you will notice is that there will be little to no bubbles because we refuse to add detergents for visual effect when it makes no difference to the cleaning power.
To whiten and/or brighten simply
add 1 cup of baking soda to the wash cycle and/or
add 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
NOTE: Do not add the vinegar to the wash cycle when using Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner, only use as a rinse after the wash cycle.
PRE-TREATING STAINS
It's always good practice to check clothing for stains before throwing them into the washing machine. If you locate a stain you should pre-treat it to ensure it's not there when the washing cycle is finished. That is just plain frustrating, and doubling the amount of work you have to do.
When you find that stain, spray it directly with All Purpose Household Spray and let it soak for 15-20 minutes.
BUT, it is powerful and you don't want it to wash out the color while its attacking that stain, so test first on an area of the fabric that is out of sight.
In 95% of cases this will be all you need, but for the stubborn 5% apply some Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner directly on the stain and rub into the stain, then let it sit for 30 minutes or more.
WASHING RE-USABLE FACE MASKS
The CDC has guidelines on washing re-usable face masks (click HERE)
which is worth a quick read if you haven't read it already.
We recommend treating your face mask as hand washing and wash them separately. Keep a bucket with 1/4 cup of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner in a couple of gallons of water and each day drop in the mask you were wearing. When you are about to run out of masks, using rubber gloves (to protect your skin from drying out) hand wash your masks.
Rinse and if possible, hang outside to dry in sunlight for that extra disinfection and they will also smell incredibly good from that sunshine bath. By handwashing, your masks will last longer and too, any germs will be kept separate from your general wash.
It would be nice to think that this Summer we won't have to wear face masks, but if that doesn't happen then that raises a problem. It's going to be uncomfortably hot wearing a face mask.
I went hiking with my grandson in March and even though in the mountains it was 38F with a wind chill that brought it down to 34F and I kept my face mask on to prevent my face from freezing, my face mask was accumulating moisture just from my breath.
I've seen some 'wicking' face masks online. Has anyone tried those yet? Let me know if you have a recommendation cause I am definitely going to buy some. Will update this post when I do.
The KITCHEN
You can use the All Purpose Household Spray for all hard surfaces in your kitchen.
STAINLESS STEEL SINK
Spray down the sink with All Purpose Household Spray or for deep cleaning, additionally sprinkle Baking Soda.
Scrub and rinse.
STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES
Years ago I walked away from stainless steel appliances because after spending hours using stainless steel cleaners trying to get them looking all sparkly clean with no residue streak, I found it was a losing battle so I pivoted.
I changed to white appliances plus I love that clean aesthetic.
Back then though, I didn't know about this
Cleaning Hack 3: Clean your appliances with All Purpose Household Spray to remove all dirt and grime.
Then put a couple of drops of olive oil on a microfiber cloth and buff your stainless steel appliances.
FRUIT & VEGGIE WASH
To a bowl of water add a few drops of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner.
Drop your produce into the water and swoosh around, rinse with clean water, shake and let dry.
HAND WASHING DISHES
Having your Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner in a pump or squeeze bottle makes using it most convenient.
When hand washing your dishes add a squirt or two of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner directly onto your kitchen sponge or brush and clean away.
There is nothing worse, in my opinion, than a funky smelling wet sponge sitting in the kitchen sink. Living with boys the sponge was always left soaking wet sitting in the sink so I changed to an all paper towel kitchen for cleaning. Then I got the point about re-using as much as possible, so I changed to using microfiber cloths.
The thing is, this method of squirting some Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner directly onto the sponge or whatever cloth you choose and using that to wash the dishes means you are virtually washing it each time and once finished squeezing it out and draping it somewhere to allow it to dry means it's not harboring a plethora of bacteria and getting sponge funk.
However, just to be certain, you can go one step further with this
Cleaning Hack 4: After using and then rinsing and squeezing out your sponge or microfiber cloth, put it in the microwave and nuke it for 30 seconds. Be sure to let it sit for a couple of minutes to cool down because it will be very hot. Then hang it somewhere to allow it to air dry.
Another reason I like the microfiber cloths is because I can throw them into the washing machine and hang them out to dry in the sun (I live in New Mexico where we get 280 days of sunlight per year, on average).
FLOORS
If using buckets and mops is your jam, then simply add 1/4 cup of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner to 3 gallons of water and mop away as you normally would, making sure that you are not using excessive water on wood and laminate.
But if you're more of a Swiffer person like me, then just use your All Purpose Household Spray and spray an area then mop it.
The key is to vacuum first and to change out the Swiffer pads as needed so you're not pushing dirt around. I like the re-usable pads that you can throw in the washing machine.
You can also give them a pre-soak in a bucket with a few squirts of Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner in a gallon of water.
PRECAUTIONS
Our Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner is not suitable for application on your hands or body because we have designed the formula not to have any moisturizing properties.
If you do use it on your skin it is not harmful other than you will find it extraordinarily drying.
However, we have a whole range of Liquid Castile Soaps for your hands and body that are wonderfully moisturizing and beneficial for your skin. Click on the pic below to see them all
We strongly recommend that you do not mix our Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner with the following ingredients:
Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Epsom Salts, Alcohol, Club Soda, Hydrogen Peroxide or Oxygen Bleach.
The reason being that they are all acidic (pH below 7) whereas soap (Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner) is alkaline (pH above 7) so they react and can have a cancelling effect, at best. The combination of the two doesn’t give you the benefits of each. Instead, you can get the best result by using those acidic ingredients as a rinse AFTER using soap.
For example, I wash my hair with a shampoo bar soap but I always do an apple cider vinegar rinse afterwards to restore it's pH balance so my hair is shiny, detangled and healthy.
DO YOUR PART TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
SAVE MONEY
Ever since I started making my own cleaning products, it's really incredible how much money you save because cleaning products are probably the most expensive group of products we buy.
You can further those savings by buying your Pure Castile Totally Natural Liquid Cleaner as Refills. We have two sizes at present, both in eco packaging: 13.5 ozs and 64 ozs. We are considering offering a 1 gallon option too but that will depend on whether you would like that option or not.
and SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
Add to that the fact that natural cleaning products are so much better for the environment - you are not contributing to polluting the planet when you are considerate about what you pour down your drains.
And if you can recycle the containers that you use that is a double whammy for the environment.
When you make the change to natural cleaning products and natural personal care, you will be amazed at how much better everything feels.
Your next step will be to consider what quality of food you are eating . . .
Take care and stay safe,
