Castile Soap

I am currently on a mission to switch all of my household cleaners over to homemade, green products.  I haven't really "cooked up" any of the recipes I've been scouring the internet for, although I have been using some good ol' fashioned vinegar and baking soda (vinegar in the rinse-agent dispenser of your dishwasher is AMAZNG and much cheaper than Jet Dry!).

When you have a baby and suddenly find you're actually in charge of the life of this tiny person, the quality of life seems to become more important than it ever has before.  At least that's how it was for me.

But, the reality of how bad and scary it was to have commercial cleaning products in the house didn't really hit me until my son became mobile, and we had to start baby-proofing.  And of course the first thing you have to take care of is that cabinet under the kitchen sink.  You know the one I'm talking about.. that one that has all those bottles with skull and crossbones on them.  The ones that say "if ingested, call the POISON control center."

Why would I want to clean with poison?

And so I consulted Professor Google and sought out to find a better, safer, way of doing things.


It was on this journey that I discovered Castile soap.


I kept coming across all sorts of fun uses for the stuff: homemade cleaners, shampoo, hand soap, toothpaste (although I admit I'm a little hesitant to try that one).


Fast-forward to this morning.  I roll over in bed, and realize that BabyGirl is pushing my stomach up into my throat (aka, unimaginable heartburn.  Oh pregnancy joys).  Then I realize that I'll surely die of thirst if I don't get any water NOW.  So I whisper-yell at my husband, while trying not to disturb the boy, to pass me the water, which of course is on his side of the bed.  And THEN I remember that, oh yeah, I'm pregnant, and just drank a bajillion ounces of water.  I have to pee.  NOW.  Then I go back to bed, and stare at the ceiling, trying to will myself to sleep.  I even try to sleep sitting up, to see if it will calm the heartburn.

After a sigh of defeat, I grab my phone and look at the time.

4:45.

Of course it is.

This isn't the first time this has happened, and it's at this point when I usually play mindlessly on my phone for hours until everyone is awake.

However, this morning I was feeling a little more energetic than usual.  I decide that since I'm awake anyway I'll go throw a load of clothes in the washer, so I'll feel useful for the day, then lay back down.  But after I started said laundry, I was still feeling too energized to lay down.  After looking around at my sadly deserted kitchen counters, desperately in need of a good deep cleaning, I decide to whip out one of these "recipes."

Initially, I wanted to make this recipe from Crunchy Betty's blog.  She describes it as a bathroom cleaner (The Best Bathroom Cleaner Ever, to be exact), but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work for kitchen sinks and countertops, also.  However, I was still short a few ingredients. Plus it makes a pretty big batch, and I don't have a storage container I want for it yet.

(*side note.. if you do happen to try this recipe, I would recommend not adding the optional vinegar.  While looking up homemade cleaners, I came across Lisa Bronner's blog, where she recommends not mixing vinegar and Castile soap.  Long story short, Castile is a base, and vinegar is an acid, so they'll probably just cancel each other and not be as effective.  However, using a vinegar solution AFTER using the soap mixture works as a great rinsing agent.)

So, I worked with what I had, and made a cleaner from this list, the one under kitchen countertops.  I'm not sure if I would even call it a "recipe," it's just Castile soap and baking soda made into a soft scrub.  Measurements aren't that important.. I think I used about a third a cup of baking soda and a few tablespoons of soap. After mixing, you should come up with an icing-like consistency.  If you use peppermint Castile soap like I did, it will look and smell delicious.  I wouldn't recommend eating it though.  You could also add a few drops of tea tree or lavender essential oil if you wanted, for some extra antibacterial power.

I then proceeded to remove everything from my countertops and started scrubbing.  And I have to say this stuff lives up to it's hype.  It even brought up some caked dark chocolate that was hiding under my crockpot for quite some time (don't judge me) with little to no elbow grease.  I only used about half of what I made, even after scrubbing the sink and the backsplash.

I considered tackling the bathroom with what I had left, but by then the boys were awake, and my energy level wasn't quite as high.  My kitchen is spotless, smells deliciously of peppermint, and I used no toxic chemicals I would worry about my son inhaling, touching, or eating off of.  Oh yeah, and my clothes made it to the dryer.  I'd count today a success, and before 9:00 am!

The little guy was so excited about the whole thing he even tried to help me clean up after breakfast.