Peppermint cleaning paste

 

 

I prefer to use natural cleaners in our house and here is a fantastic cleaning paste recipe using peppermint essential oil.  It is a great non abbrassive cleaner for using in sinks, baths and showers.

This week I used it to give the bath toys a good clean and to remove the build up that you get with toys that are always sitting damp.  I thought the dishwasher would take care of this, but what was required was good old fashioned elbow grease.

I find it to be a good general cleaner for toys, especially if you have little ones who like to put things in their mouth all the time.

And the smell of peppermint essential oil in the house is always a bonus!

Here is what you will need:

1 cup baking soda
1 tbsp cream of tartar
10 ml liquid castile soap (or dishwashing liquid for a less green option.)

1 ml of peppermint essential oil
5 ml water

 

In a bowl mix together baking soda with cream of tartar. In a jug mix 10 mls of liquid castile soap with the water.

 

Slowly pour into the powders and mix with a fork until you have a paste. Add more water if you need to.

 

Add 1 ml of peppermint essential oil and stir to combine. You may need to use a little more water to get a paste.

 

Store in an airtight container.

 

Happy scrubbing!

 

 

Oranges and Lemons

We have an abundance of oranges and lemons on the vineyard.  And we love them!

I have been experimenting with a lovely orange and lemon body scrub.  There are a few recipes floating around, some you blend, others you grate etc. 

Below is a recipe for the one I love.  It is so quick and easy.  For this amount you can pop what you don't need into a couple of small jars.  They would make a lovely handmade gift.  Alternatively, because it is an oil base it will keep for a couple of months.

Lemon and Orange Body Scrub

You will need:

1 cup sea salt
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil, but if you have it, almond oil, coconut oil, or even vegetable oil will be fine)
1 tsp of grated lemon rind/ lemon juice
1 tsp of grated orange rind

Mix the sea salt and oil together in a mixing bowl, then add the lemon and orange. If the consistency is watery, you may want to consider adding a bit more sea salt.

When kept in a jar the oil and salt will seperate.  A quick shake will sort this out.

I'm going on holiday at the end of this week so have been preparing my skin with this lovely concoction - Enjoy!

Something yummy...................

Easy Lemon Biscuits

You will need:

125g of butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp grated lemon rind (I doubled this for a stronger lemony flavour)
1 egg
2 cups standard plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method:

Cream butter, sugar and lemon rind together until light and fluffy.
Add egg, beating well.
Sift flour and baking powder together and mix into creamed mixture.
Roll heaped teaspoonsful of mixture into balls and place on an oven tray.
Flatten sligthly with a floured fork.
Bake at 190C for about 12 minutes or until pale golden.

For the icing I mixed together icing sugar, lemon juice and rind.  Our lemons are not too sour so this icing was just so good!

The next batch I'm going to include orange rind as well.

And continuing with the citrus theme, I had to include my Lemon Dusters from a previous post.

My sister n law Em made these for me using a recipe from Wendyl Nissen's Home Companion.  I love using these and have discovered that due to the vinegar in them they are fantastic for wiping down mirrors and windows - NO STREAKS! 

Here is the recipe:

Lemon Dusters

You will need:

½ cup water
½ cup white vinegar
3–4 lemons
6 drops lemon essential oil
6 to 8 dusters (made from old towels, nappies or sheets)

Mix equal quantities of water and white vinegar in a bowl. Add lemon essential oil, soak your clean dusters in the bowl for a few minutes and squeeze so that they are damp.

Peel the rind off the lemons and lay a couple of pieces on each cloth. Roll up cloths lengthwise, then roll the other way into a ball. Place these in the jar one on top of each other, throw in the occasional extra piece of rind and screw on the lid.

Take the dusters out when you need to use them, and if they aren’t too soiled you can roll them back up and use them again.

A gift

My lovely sister n law Em gave me this gorgeous basket of goodies on Friday.

It's a thank you gift as I've started looking after my nieces one morning a week while Em returns to part time work.

It was such a nice surprise - I certainly was'nt expecting it.

The basket contains all home made cleaning products:

Cleaning paste
Antibacterial spray
Lemon dusters (lemon soaked cleaning cloths)
Hand cleaner

Em has handmade all these goodies using the recipes in one of my favourite books - A Home Companion by Wendyl Nissen.

 

My favourite gift in the basket are the Lemon Dusters.  These strips of cleaning cloths have been
soaked in water, vinegar, lemons and lemon essential oil.  The smell that these little cloths leave in the room is just amazing.

Here is the recipe:

½ cup water
½ cup white vinegar
3–4 lemons
6 drops lemon essential oil
6 to 8 dusters (made from old towels, nappies or sheets)

• Mix equal quantities of water and white vinegar in a bowl. Add lemon essential oil, soak your clean dusters in the bowl for a few minutes and squeeze so that they are damp.
• Peel the rind off the lemons and lay a couple of pieces on each cloth. Roll up cloths lengthwise, then roll the other way into a ball. Place these in the jar one on top of each other, throw in the occasional extra piece of rind and screw on the lid.
• Take the dusters out when you need to use them, and if they aren’t too soiled you can roll them back up and use them again.

I love a handmade gift.  I can't help thinking about all the care and time that went into making these.

Thank you so much Em xo

Natural Cleaning Recipes (Wendyl Nissen - A Home Companion)

These recipes are from Wendyl Nissen's - A Home Companion.

I love this book - Wendyl Nissen a journalist and former Womens Magazine Editor spent a year "living like her Grandmother" - returning to old fashioned ways of living, making her own beauty products, growing her own food and keeping chickens (more on that later!).

It is filled with beauty, household, and food recipes. Health remedies, home and garden hints and so much more.

 


Natural Antibacterial Spray

1 cup of water
20 drops of sweet orange essential oil
10 drops of lavender essential oil
10 drops of eucalyptus essential oil

Pour water into a spray bottle.

Blend essential oils in a glass jar.

With an eye-dropper add 8 drops of this base to the spray bottle.

Spray on surface and let set for at least 15 minutes.  No need to rinse

Keep the base oil mix in a dark coloured glass bottle in the cupboard and use to mix up more spray as you need it.

Shower Cleaner

500ml of water
500nl of white vinegar

Mix together in a one litre spray bottle.

Spray on shower doors or anywhere there is soap scum and leave for five minutes.  Then wipe off.

If you have alot of soap scum build up you can use straight vinegar combined with alot of scrubbing with a steel wool pad.

 

Everday Spray Cleaner

(Almost) 1 litre of water
1 teaspoon of baking soda
A few drops of liquid soap (like Dr Bronner's or Sunlight)
10 drops of lavender or tea tree essential oil

Add all of the ingredients to a 1 litre spray bottle and shake - Easy!

If you have wooden benches add about 1 teaspoon of olive oil and shake the bottle everytime you use it.

If flies are a problem use citronella oil which helps deter them!