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Home Made Cleaning Products

Welcome to The Seasoned Franciscan. Sisters and their partners in mission—including affiliates, prayer partners and staff—share these recipes hoping to provide you with new ways of looking at the food around you. Being mindful of the food we eat is integral to making lasting change throughout the world. We focus these recipes on five themes: eating seasonally, exploring our heritages, pursuing meatless meals, foraging or using food scraps and embracing indigenous and ethnic foods.

New recipes are shared on a regular basis and can be submitted to the FSPA Eco Pact Team at ecopact@fspa.org.

Home Made Cleaning Products

All Purpose Cleaner
2 C water
1 tsp dish soap
10 drops essential oil of your choice
Shake well and fill your favorite spray bottle

Room Spray
1/2 C water
1 tsp baking soda
15-20 drops essential oil of your choice (mix into baking soda)
Shake well and fill your favorite spray bottle.  (Caution: Because of the baking soda if you have dark colored clothes on, a residue might appear if you get the spray on you.)

Disinfectant Spray
1/2 C water
1/2 C rubbing alcohol
15 drops essential oil of your choice
Shake well and fill your favorite spray bottle

Hardwood Floor Cleaner
2 C water
1/2 C white vinegar
1/2 tsp dish soap
Shake well, spray contents on floor and use a flat head mop to clean

Story:
When my parents expanded the size of their neighborhood grocery store, Dad would often lament: “There isn’t enough room for all the new products customers want.”  Browse the cleaning aisle where you shop.  Notice the many cleaning brands and products.  Look at packaging. Read some labels.  How many ingredients would your great-grandma recognize or be able to pronounce?  

The Homemade Cleaning Products Recipes featured in this post, offer ways to upgrade our household cleaning routine to create a healthier, safer environment.  There are many reasons to make cleaning products, such as knowing what the ingredients are, saving money, using less toxic and more environmentally friendly products, and to reduce allergens and irritants in some cleaning chemicals. 

Homemade products leave out added water, colors and fragrances which require more product per use.  We can control the ingredients and the strength.  We can choose biodegradable, reusable and recyclable packaging.  When you're ready to make homemade cleaners, consider using a new glass Spray Bottle that can be cleaned easily.  Be sure to add a label. Take the time to add usage directions so others in your household can help with cleaning.

For more home made cleaning recipes, check out The Spruce where you can find the photo above.  Whatever choices we make about cleaning supplies and practices, there is a huge variety of environmentally friendly choices for green cleaning. This can also include steam cleaners, which do not use of any chemicals to clean and sanitize surfaces.

For more information, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) keeps an easily accessible database of greener cleaning products in its Safer Choice program.  Their “Safer Choice Products Search” lets you search for home and business cleaning products that meet the Safer Choice EPA standard for environmentally friendly cleaning and other products for use at home or in a or look for the Safer Choice Label.Safer Choice Label
IF you are a chemist, you can learn more about what these standards are and how the EPA encourages the use of alternatives wherever polluting chemicals have been the standard.

In addition to making our own cleaning products and purchasing Safer Choices, we can advocate to ensure that local and state business and government protect our environment.  We can encourage efficient use of the Environmental Protection Agency resources to enforce high standards to prevent pollution.  Pollution prevention (P2), also known as source reduction, is any practice that reduces, eliminates, or prevents pollution at its source prior to recycling, treatment or disposal.  

Comments

Nancy Wynn Says: 08/23/2023 1:18 pm

I love to use all these recipes, but please do some reasearch on the essential oils you are adding to any of these recipes. Some essential oils are harmeful to your family pets. Since essential oils used in this manner are mainly inhaled they not only effect us but also our pets. I found lists of toxic essentials on line for cats, dogs and even birds. And you can always check with your local vet. So please check before adding.

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Vicki Lopez-Kaley – I am an affiliate with FSPA and a member of the Eco Pact Team. For me the kitchen and garden are about slowing down and being creative. Sharing stories and connecting with others and the earth through food can bring great meaning and pleasure.

Isabel “Iggy” Bauer – I served as an AmeriCorps Service Member with FSPA. Sustainable food is one of my passions and I have a vision of bringing local food, gardens and green spaces to urban areas in support of human health and happiness.

The FSPA Eco Pact Team – We are a cooperative group of sisters, affiliates and partners in mission focused on making an impact on integral ecology through the lens of Laudato Si’. Since beginning our mission in the summer of 2021, Eco Pact has brought forward many changes, including initiating effective recycling practices at St. Rose Convent. Connect with us at ecopact@fspa.org.

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