A year or two back I grew frustrated with domestic cleaning agents such as surface spray, laundry powder and such; not only are they mostly bad for the environment they are also expensive and often not effective so I did some research and now make my own.
All the following ingredients are available from Safeway, are cheap, less damaging to the environment and work well, give them a try:
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Floor cleaner
2L of hot water
A small squirt of dish washing liquid
75ml white vinegar
1/4 cup of washing soda
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Laundry powder
1 bar cheap soap, grated
1 cup of Lectric Washing Soda
1/2 cup of Borax
Mix together and store in a sealed container.
Use one to two level tablespoons for a medium wash
NB. Use 100ml of white vinegar in the rinse to restore the pH balance
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Surface spray 1
Cloudy ammonia
Disinfectant
Water
The cloudy ammonia should be mixed at a ratio of 1:10 and the disinfectant at 1:20 therefore for a 750ml spray bottle mix 75ml cloudy ammonia and 40ml disinfectant and then top the bottle up with water.
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Surface spray 2
Mix 3 tabsp of borax and 1 cup of white vinegar with 3 cups of warm water to make an all-purpose cleaner.
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Ant killer
Mix 3 spoons of sugar and 1 spoon of Borax, make a watery solution and put drops of it on the ant trail.
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Washing soda = sodium carbonate = soda ash. Used for swimming pools and gardening.
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End
Edit: Typo
-- Edited by Mike Harding on Monday 16th of January 2023 02:42:05 PM
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
I tend to use wool wash or sodium percarbonate for laundry and plant product dish liquid for dishes. Neither harm the environment and are very effective. Wool wash has the added advantage of saving water and work because you don't really need to rinse. For heavily soiled laundry, soaking in warm water with some sodium percarbonate (usually the key ingredient in "oxygen bleach") for an hour does a great job and the grey water is benign to the environment. Fantastic for cleaning bbq tools, burnt pots, etc., too. No phosphates, detergents or chemical residue in any of these products. Sodium Perc is used in brewing to clean and sterilise because it is safe and can be bought in bulk from brewing suppliers.
Thanks for the surface spray and other ideas, Mike. Keep them coming.
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2008 Landcruiser single cab chassis, 2.7m tray. (Sad to part with the 2005 Isuzu, tho)
