Wow. That's a lot of hyphens in that title. Am I right?
It's no secret that I've got a little bit of hippie in me. From my days as an undergrad at College of Charleston to my love of Dispatch to my affinity for wall tapestries (I seriously have to restrain myself to keep them out of my house to this day), one thing is clear: I'm a secret hippie.
So it’s no surprise that I am all about keeping harmful chemical junk out of my body and home. And you really don’t need to be a fake/secret hippie to feel this way. Don’t we all love surrounding ourselves and our loved ones with good-for-you things? Geez, there I go with the hyphens again.
A couple of months ago, when HDawg started sitting in his highchair, I realized that I didn’t have a good way to clean the chair after he ate. We use mostly “all natural” products around our house, but I’ve quickly learned that even when the label on the product says “green” or “natural,” it could still have some chemical junk in it. You have to be very careful to read the ingredients on that stuff!
It really bothered me that I was cleaning an item that HDawg basically licks three times a day with chemical-based substances. So I did a little research and found a recipe for this awesome DIY natural cleaner. Here’s the recipe breakdown.
R E C I P E :
1/2 gallon of water
1/2 cup of vinegar
1/4 cup of baking soda
Simply mix all ingredients and pour into a spray bottle for use.
At first, I was a little skeptical of how well this DIY cleaner would work. But after testing it, it proved itself. One morning after a banana smashing breakfast adventure, I tried to wipe down the chair with just water and a paper towel. It had been about thirty minutes since HDawg ate, so the food was a little… well, grounded to the highchair. [Ew, who does that?! I do it all the time. Not me.] The water didn’t budge the gross, dried food. But the DIY spray? One squirt and the mess wiped right up. Boo-yah.
After each time he eats, I spray the highchair down with the homemade spray and then every other day I spray the highchair down with Method Antibacterial Kitchen spray. It’s only something like 5% natural ingredients, but it has a great smell and important antibacterial power. I use pretty much the same routine on my kitchen counters. By using both types of sprays, I feel like it’s the best of both worlds.
I know some of you might disagree and say, Michelle, just use the regular old kitchen cleaner. We all grew up with it and we’re fine. I totally get that. But my thoughts are, if there’s a natural version available, that’s a better choice for my family. I’m actually reading Jessica Alba’s book, The Honest Life, right now. It’s such an eye-opener! I’m definitely taking it with a grain of salt, but it’s such good information about incorporating an all-natural approach in all elements of your life, including home, food, baby and beauty.
Speaking of beauty, I’ve been hard at work researching and testing some products that you guys recommended in this post. So far, I’ve got some great skin care tips and ideas (make-up is next!) that I plan to share with you next week. Get excited!
And for kicks, I have to include my favorite HDawg high chair picture, ev-er.
So tell me, do you guys use natural cleaners? Have any DIY recipes of your own to share?
