Homemade Household Cleaners & Beauty Products

My goal this summer is to replace as much of our household cleaners and beauty products 

as possible with homemade versions.

I want them to:

-be made of as many natural ingredients as possible

-be just as, or more, effective as the store-bought version

-cost less than the store-bought version

I am going to gradually replace each item once I run out of the store-bought version-

that way it won't be so overwhelming and time consuming.

I just ran out of dishwasher detergent, kitchen sink scrub and facial makeup remover pads,

 so that is where I am starting.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I followed Recipe 1.

The only ingredients needed were Borax, Baking Soda, Salt, and Lemi-Shine.

I already had salt, and the Borax and Baking Soda were very inexpensive for the size of the box.

The only thing that I will have to buy more of after a couple batches will be the Lemi-Shine.

 One batch filled up a big plastic container, and I only use 2TBS for each use.

Better, Cheaper, Safer 4-Way Soft Scrubber

The only ingredients needed were Baking Soda, 

Environmentally safe liquid laundry detergent or soap, and Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE).

I had the Baking Soda from the Dishwasher Detergent, already had GSE in my cupboard, and used the laundry detergent I already had.

I kind of cheated with the laundry detergent. The environmentally safe kind was pretty expensive, and since I only needed 1/2 cup I decided to use the kind I had at home this time.

Once my laundry detergent is out I'll be replacing it with the homemade version, which I'll use in my next batch.

I just used an empty condiment container from the kitchen.

Organic Makeup Remover Wipes

The only ingredients needed were Coconut Oil, Baby soap and paper towels.

I already had Coconut Oil on hand, decided to use an old t-shirt instead of paper towels, and used Castille Mild Baby Soap (since Castille soap is used in a lot of other homemade recipes).

The t-shirt gave me 60 little wipes, which is actually the same amount as the store-bought version I normally use.

The wipes were kind of scrunched in the jar, but it'll work this time.
I am hoping the t-shirt wipes will be more gently on my face, 

plus I can wash and reuse them after each use.

I also tried out this Jewelry Cleaner with my ring, and it worked great!

I am finding out that most of these homemade cleaners and beauty products call for the same basic ingredients. This will be nice in cutting down costs, and also helpful if I need to whip up a batch of something real quick.

Once I have replaced most of my cleaners and beauty products I will work on storing them in more visually appealing ways. 

But, for now it's all about getting the hang of this new method.

-Sharon