My favorite Cleaning Products

Home Made Glass Cleaner (which I use for counters, appliances, & glass)

Home Made Laundry Detergent

& Purex Fabric Softener.  Yes, I know you can use vinegar, but I really prefer Purex.

Scott's Liquid Gold for every day dusting (the BEST for old wood furniture!)

Home Made wood cleaner (for once a month cleaning, a little more oily then the Scott's)

Comet & sos pads - for the sinks and stoves

The Works Toilet Cleaner, and The Works Shower Cleaner, for hard water stains

(Dollar General has their own brand for a few cents less, but I do not think it works as well. )

Iron Out for monthly cleaning of the shower heads, washer, coffee pot,  and if the water system is acting up, the dishes.  I've started using lemon shine in our dishwasher and it is AWSOME.  Not only is is cleaning up the dishwasher, but our glasses are finally truly clean and sparkling!

For the daily floor cleaning..  I admit to loving my swiffer wetjet.  I keep trying various reusable options..  but most often I buy the disposables.  This is the one area I want to work on  - I don't like disposable products and try to avoid them.

(Weekly the floors need to be washed by hand.  Not that I always do, but they NEED to be.) For that I use pinesol.

Bissel vacuum cleaner.  This is one of the cheaper models - but I love it!  I tried a more expensive Pet hair version, and it was just too much of a pain to use. The attachments on this are easy to get to, it cleans well, is light, the cannister holds a lot (this is a farm, with two dogs, several cats, and 4 teenagers in and out. )  My first one lasted me 4 years - a record for any vacuum I have ever owned.  I bought a new one, just like it, recently for $89.

   

Home Made Furniture Polish

I still love scott's liquid gold for every day dusting. Yes, I prefer it to pledge - although I will use pledge in a pinch.  

But for polishing, and scratch cover, this works REALLY well.  Especially on really old dried out wood!

• 2 cups olive oil (use the cheap stuff)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix well.  I use one cloth to apply, and a second to buff off.  It is not supposed to store well, but to be honest, I have never stored it for long, so I really do not know.  :-)

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https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-grass-is-always-greener-in-pasture.html

A case of Scott's Liquid Gold

I buy old furniture.  Not restored antiques - beat up old furniture.  I like it.  I don't want to paint most of it, I like the look of wood.  Most of my furniture it purchased at the Beaver Run Consignment Sale - an Amish run auction to benefit their school.  (Although with what they must make off that auction, they could have a huge air conditioned building with full time paid staff..  not just the outside toilets and simple one room school they have..) 

I furnished my entire dining room - china cabinet, dry sink, buffet, two wing chairs, two end tables, a piano, and a dining room table with 8 chairs - for $100.  THAT kind of old furniture. Normally I bring it home, and use Scott's liquid gold on it, the wonder spray that makes scratched, dinged, dried out, furniture look...  rustic, but clean and nice.  

Last week I ran out of Scott's.  I stopped at our grocery store where I usually buy it - there;s no longer even a space on the shelf for it.  I tried Big Lots, where I sometimes find it, no luck.  Tried target - No Scott's.

Uh oh!  So in desperation I bought Old English in a spray bottle.   My living room looks clean..  but shiny.  It's oily, and the overspray on my walls worried me..  I'm not sure it will just dry up, and if it does't, my walls look like I was cooking with oil in front of them, and it splattered.  Not pretty.  I had to use too much of it - the spray was..  too much.  it did a great job getting in all the detailed nooks and crannies of my furniture, but to do so meant I used half a bottle just in my dining room.  And everything looks shiny - like a high gloss version of Scott's.  I think I'd like to use this once in awhile, IF it dries nicely, but for weekly polishing, it's way too much.

I need my scott's liquid gold!!  I went to the website today, and they do still make it.

  I think I'm going to order a case.  :-)

http://www.scottsliquidgold.com/scotts-liquid-gold/about.html
Update - 8 years later, you can just order it on amazon.
https://amzn.to/2Z7hvRN

Check out the great how to clean videos along the right hand side of the site above - how to clean antique mirrors, how to clean wood drawers, how to clean an antique sewing machine...

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https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/p/diary-of-housewife.html

A Few Of My Favorite Soap Making Resources

A Few Of My Favorite Soapmaking Resources & Supplies

Disclaimer - You should never, ever make soap until you have researched it and know what you are doing.  As much as I love to "wing it" - soap making it not a wing it activity.  

Basic Resources:

• Lye Calculator (for making your own soap recipes)
• Essential Oil Blending Calculator
• How To Calculate How Much Oil Is Needed For Your Soap Mold
• A Beginners Guide To Making Cold Process Soap

The formula for Crisco has changed since the early 2000s. It now incorporates a fair amount of hydrogenated palm oil, which is good for making soap. If you're using Crisco, be sure to know what kind you are using and and adjust your lye calculator accordingly. Most lye calculators have a setting for "old Crisco" and "new Crisco." If your label lists "hydrogenated palm oil" as one of the ingredients, use the "new Crisco" setting.

Soap Making Recipes:

• Step By Step How I Make Home Made Soap
• Step By Step Homemade Peppermint Soap
• Basic Slow Cooker Soap (Make soap in your crock pot!) 

The Soap Book, by Sandy Maine 

This is the soap making book I started with.
Great, simple, recipes, with lots of herb additives.
It has a great format, and is easy to follow.

Simple & Natural Soap Making by Jan Berry is my current favorite soap making book.

My favorite book does change frequently - but this is a nice balance between the simple book above, and the very complex book below.  And it's pretty.  :-)

https://amzn.to/3t8Wrih

The other soap making book on my shelves.
This one is not as pretty as the Sandy Maine Book, it's more, well, like a BOOK than a magazine.  But it is SO full of great information, my copy  is marked with bunches of sticky notes. https://amzn.to/2QLfybp

Bramble Berry Project Ideas (Formerly The Soap Queen)
Bramble Berry is a supply site, and to inspire you to purchase their products, they offer great projects!
https://www.brambleberry.com/

Soap Making Supplies:

Soap Mold & Cutter
https://amzn.to/37vMQ4U
I have a lot of wooden molds, which I either grease with crisco or line with wax paper before using.  But silicone really is sooooo nice when making soap!
And these cutters are great!

You can make soap without an immersion blender.  If you do not mind stirring really hard for HOURS.  :-)
Seriously, this makes it so much faster and easier!
https://amzn.to/2FhEX7i

An accurate scale is an absolute essential.
Make sure it can measure in both ounces and grams
This is not the one I use, mine is a 20 year old postal scale - but this one looks nice, and is reasonably priced.
https://amzn.to/2QCwjFA

Lye is getting harder and harder to find - our grocery stores no longer carry it.
I can still find it at lowes, by the drain cleaners
Just be sure it is 100% lye - and nothing else added.
Thankfully, there is also Amazon Prime.
https://amzn.to/2FbwnXE

A nice selection of colors to start with - 
https://amzn.to/39B6jTx

I used to buy dried lavender at the health food store, to add to my soaps - but it's cheaper to buy it online now.  Here's an assortment of additives - 
https://amzn.to/2ZMmwku



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