Comments on Hobo Mama: Healthy Child, Healthy World: Simple steps to crea...

Love the article as a whole but adore this part: <...

2009-12-19T22:33:47.132-08:00

Love the article as a whole but adore this part:
"(Or cleaned the kitchen, or placed my prescription order, or made the bed, or washed my hair or taken my vitamins. Hey, I'm a working mom, give me a break! Today I chose to pluck my eyebrows. I'll get to all that other stuff later.)"
Ha ha! Thanks for admitting it for the rest of us.

My go-to cleanser is a spray bottle of vinegar and water. I also keep a big bag of baking soda on hand when I need to scrub, or if I just want to see the pretty bubbles that come from mixing the two! :)

As you said, I love that Mikko can clean with me, and he really likes to. He gets a kick out of spraying the bottle into the toilet and swishing the brush around. Hey, someone should do it! It sure as heck isn't me most of the time.

I want to get more adventurous, so I bought some borax, and I've been looking for washing soda, without success. I also use bleach sometimes. I want to try some new recipes, like one I found for dishwasher detergent. Those are all toxic, so shouldn't be used WITH kids & you should use gloves, but they're still considered natural and a good choice for greener cleaning — as well as tons cheaper! I also love that I have less clutter now, since I don't need specific cleaners for each task, just a couple multi-purpose ingredients.

Thanks for this book recommendation, Molly! I'll definitely have to check it out and try not to get overwhelmed by all the possibilities! :)

I make an all purpose cleaner that I really like. ...

2009-12-19T21:41:15.245-08:00

I make an all purpose cleaner that I really like. I use washing soda or Borax to clean the tubs. And I use vinegar and water as my mop water. I haven't progressed to making laundry detergent or dishwasher soap yet, though I hope to once we move. Part of it for me is that I don't like buying special containers full of special chemicals. And this way, I don't have to worry about our cat walking in the tub after I've cleaned it and then licking his paws. :-) Plus all my homemade cleaners smell so much better! I use orange oil to scent things, even the mop water.

I wrote a term paper in college all about common chemicals and the havoc they wreak on female reproductive systems, and since then I haven't worn make-up, and I am now only using Burt's Bees and Dr. Bronner's soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

I never thought about how using greener products w...

2009-12-18T13:02:17.060-08:00

I never thought about how using greener products would also mean my kids could help out! I like that idea :)

I only use a frangrance-free eco-soap for laundry and the rest is toxic (Clorox, Lysoform, Mr. Clean...)

I do like to use vinegar and newspapers to clean glass, but I never heard of baking soda to scour. That's a great idea.

I do use hydrogen peroxide to sanitize our toothbrushes (then soak them in plain water). the peroxide is great for scrapes and cuts, too.

When I lived in NYC I used some weird mixture of cocoa powder and borax to kill ants, now I just spray them with rubbing alcohol because we don't have any colonies -- they're just in transit.

I'm way more wary of lotions and soaps and shampoos since we're directly applying that stuff to our bodies. I prefer almond oil and marseille soap -- which I just googled and saw it does have lye... ooops I'll look out for Castile. Thanks for the tips!