I love the idea of homemade cleaners and scrubs and polishes....but for the most part I go the easy route and just buy those things at the store. I know that homemade cleaners can be cheaper, safer, and just as effective, but sometimes convenience wins out!
Last week, I really needed to clean a pewter chip and dip bowl that I bought a few years ago. It had gotten kind of tarnished and dirty, and I had no time to find the correct cleaner at the store. So I googled "how to clean pewter" and found a recipe for a homemade cleaner.
This is the piece I started with:
And these are the three ingredients I need for the homemade pewter cleaner.
1 cup of vinegar
1/2 cup of flour
1 tsp of salt
You mix the ingredients together and make a kind of paste. {I ended up adding a little more flour to make the consistency a little thicker.} Then you smear the paste all over the piece you are trying to clean. I scrubbed a little bit and then let the cleaner dry on the piece for about 30 minutes. I scrubbed a little more and then rinsed the chip and dip bowl off. I ended up cleaning it twice to make sure that I had gotten it as clean as possible....and I was pretty impressed with how well it worked.
The cleaner didn't get out all the marks, but it did make the chip and dip bowl a lot shinier and clean! Sorry no after pictures, as soon as the bowl was clean I loaded it up with a ton of fruit and yummy fruit dip.
I think I may try to make a few more homemade cleaners....when I have the time:)
Are there any homemade cleaning products that you love to use?
12 comments:
I am glad you weren't eating the sludge in the last photo!! :)
I am the way you are. I make great homemade cleaners but sometimes when I am in the store it just seems easier to buy something - must be the psychology of the market place.
Great tip! I don't really do many homemade cleaners but always like adding water to a bowl with a bit of lemon juice, put in the microwave for 5 minutes. Let sit for a minute or so to steam and wipes the micro clean....works amazing. Thank you for the Halloween gifts I won, love them!
ahhh, good to know!! thanks for the tip!
I used one w/Tide and vinegar to clean my carpet. It worked great!
I don't usually make my own cleaners either, but I know that vinegar works wonders on almost everything :)
This summer my mom was visiting when I had my second baby. She make something in the oven that spilled over and wanted to clean it, but i was out of oven cleaner. So she looked it up on Google and learned that making a paste of equal parts baking soda and water (I sometimes use a little more soda) and putting it on a warm oven and then wiping it off as it begins to cool works just as good as oven cleaners. For trouble spots, dribble some vinegar on top. I thought it would take more elbow grease, but it doesn't and it saves me the headache from oven cleaner fumes.
Very cool. I have wanted to make my own laundry soap. I think now that I am actually making time to do things I always wanted to do I may just do it. Thanks for sharing that recipe.
i wish i had the energy to make my own cleaning supplies! :) i usually just buy the more natural ones, since i get headaches from the standard ones!!
i LOVE the candy skewers in the post below (a few) we don't 'do' halloween, but i can use that for not halloween. :)
and yay to catching the fish first. ;)
and the chocolate chip cookies look superb!!
Neat...I don't really use any homemade cleaners, other than baking soda. :) I may have to try this one!
I saw your tweets about pewter cleaner, but I had no idea. The only home made thing I can recommend is baby oil and sugar. Mix it up and use as lotion on super dry, cracked hands. I'd love to know more homemade remedies...I'm gonna try the pewter cleaner for sure.
Thanks for the tip! I have some pewter pieces that need sprucing up and I am really sensitive to strong chemicals so this is great. You're the post right before me at TT&J weekend wrap up :)
toothpaste cleans silver like a charm
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