Getting Started: Tools and Supplies

Getting Started: Home
Tools and Supplies

All of the recipes you will find on This.Herban.Life will require just a few ingredients and tools. Many of these things you will already have at home and a few you will need to pick up. Making your own cleaners is easy, quick and can be made in large batches to save you money and time.

Tools:

Try to reuse spray and squirt bottles whenever possible.
Just wash them really well and you are good to go!   

• A few clean spray bottles: I used ones that had previously held my commercially made products.
• A couple air tight containers: plastic or glass will work 
• A couple plastic squirt bottles
• A non reactive mixing bowl: glass or plastic
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons 

Ingredients:

• Baking Soda- I use good old Arm and Hammer
• Vinegar - I keep both Apple Cider Vinegar and White Vinegar on hand  
• Borax- you want this to be just borax, no detergents or added scents. Borax is made from water, oxygen, boron, and sodium. It is a powder that you can usually find in the laundry soap aisle but also online.

• Castile Soap - this is one of my favorite ingredients. Castile Soap is an olive oil based soap that you will use often. I use Dr. Bronner's castile soap but there are certainly other brands. It can be found in health food stores or the green living area or personal care aisles of most grocery stores. 

• Essential Oils* - Essential oils are basically a highly distilled and concentrated oil that holds the "essence" or healing and volatile properties of a plant. Essential oils have been used since the beginning of herbalism to help heal wounds and maladies, clean, and for aroma therapy. You can pick up essential oils at your local health foods store or online. I like Mountain Rose Herbs for all of my essential oils because they have great prices and many are organic! Keep in mind that you want to get undiluted essential oils and you will use small amounts at a time so no need to keep bigger amounts on hand unless you wish to. They often come in small brown or blue glass bottles and should be kept in a dry cool place.

*Safety - Do Not apply an essential oil directly to your skin. Although they are entirely natural they are highly concentrated and can cause skin irritation. If you get a little on your hands while making your home cleaning products don't worry just wash your hands off right away. You will see other posts here that use them in skin care however in those cases they are diluted before use. In cleaning recipes they are also diluted. Keep your essential oils away from children or pets. If ingested please contact poison control. Even the best and purest ingredients can be harmful when ingested in excess. 

Essential oils are used in virtually all of the recipes I will share for both home and beauty. Different oils have different purposes. As they arise in posts I will explain what they do. They are wonderful and super effective ingredients and I hope you enjoy them! 

Now you are set to go! Lets get started!

Heavenly Commode

Toilet Bowl Spray

This is a great recipe I borrowed from Karyn Siegel-Maier

in her book The Naturally Clean Home. It makes the bathroom smell great 

and is a big germ buster!

What You Need:

Plastic Spray Bottle

2 Cups Water

1/4 Cup Liquid Castille Soap

1 Tablespoon Tea Tree Oil

10 drops Eucalyptus or Peppermint Essential Oil

What To Do:

Give your spray a clever name that makes you hate scrubbing toilets a little less and so that you always know what it is. Write all ingredients on the bottle in case you need to reference it later.

Add all ingredients to the spray bottle and shake.

Just like that, your done!

Why It Works:

Castille soap is a vegetable based soap and works by surrounding the dirt and oil molecules left on the toilet surface and allowing it to be dissolved in the water and removed when you wipe it away.

The Tea Tree oil is an antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antibiotic.

Eucalyptus and Peppermint oils are also antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antibiotic. 


Good Luck!