How It All Began

I remember very clearly exactly when my DIY nature was turned up a notch. Bug was around 8 months old and we had just purchased foam letters and numbers for her to play with in the bathtub. I put her in the bathtub, added a few letters and numbers and showed her how when wet, they stick to the side of the bathtub. Moments later, they were of course no longer on the side of the bathtub, but….yes…IN HER MOUTH.

I know, you’re thinking that’s what babies do, what’s the big deal? My panic attack came from the fact that earlier that day I cleaned the bathroom and bathtub – with chemicals. And I thought to myself, I know I rinsed the tub when I was finished scrubbing, but did I really get all of the chemicals off the surface? Did the foam letters suck up chemical residue and now it’s in her mouth?

I couldn’t stand the thought of even the remote possibility of a trace amount of chemical entering her body, so the foam letters took a backseat until I could clean the bathtub…again. Isn’t that a treat that I have to clean the bathtub of the item that I used to clean the bathtub? What?

My search began for homemade, natural cleaners. I learned that the most basic ingredients are all you need to clean pretty much anything in your house: vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, olive oil. Am I cooking or cleaning? That question brings up an excellent point: If these ingredients are safe enough to put in my recipes, any leftover residue from cleaning is also safe. I was hooked.

My bathroom cleaner now consists of a spray bottle filled with 50/50 vinegar and water. For those of you who don’t know, the smell of vinegar is gone as soon as it dries. And for added kick in the bathtub/shower, I scrub with a Magic Eraser. I will admit that I have not found a recipe for my toilet that I feel does the job, so a store bought, chemical cleaner is employed for that job. And yes, children get to an age when they like to play in the water in the toilet and for that I say…toilet locks and YUCK!!