The holiday season is just moments away, and with it comes visiting family, parties and gatherings, and lots of extra clean-up. Our friends at The Optimist Co. are sponsoring the giveaway this week, to help us all breeze through this season of messy togetherness easily, and without a toxin in sight.
Devin Donaldson founded The Optimist Co. after conventional cleaning products left her with a nasty asthma attack. Her products are simple, effective, and non-toxic (all made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen) and will help you keep your home spotless without compromising your health or the planet.
My favorite product from The Optimist Co. is their Make Your Own Cleaning Products Kit (for the right person, it could be an excellent holiday gift!). This six-piece kit includes two spray bottles, a small bottle of concentrated soap, and three small bottles of essential oils.
The bottles have recipes on the side so that you can create a cleaning and shining sprays. There are suggestions for scenting them, but you can also devise your own essential oil formula. Oh, and if you’re not into making the products yourself, the Green Your Home set comes with everything ready made and ready to go!
The Optimist Co. recently added a new scent to their line-up. While it’s not part of the MYO kit, a bottle of the Time to Shine cleaner with Rosemary and Mint is a winner for every stinky mess.
Thanks to Devin and her team at The Optimist Co., I have three Make Your Own Cleaning Products Kit to give away this week. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and share a favorite cleaning trick.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, November 15, 2015.
- Giveaway open to United States residents only. Void where prohibited.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: The folks at The Optimist sent me the kit you see here for review and photography purposes at no cost to me. No additional compensation was provided. All opinions remain my own.
I just discovered the excellent powers of vinegar for stain removal – red wine gone! miraculous.
Vinegar and baking soda are my go-to cleaning team!
I put a few drops of essential oil on the pad when I steam clean the linoleum floors. Smells wonderful!
Blue Dawn and hydrogen peroxide. With a little baking soda it is a great stain remover.
lemon peels in my leaning vinegar, smells so nice!
I use a lot of vinegar for cleaning everything. Between canning and cleaning I go through a ton of vinegar. I also really like dr. bonners for natural cleaning.
I use white washcloths to clean with. When dirty just put in washer with bleach and hot water
I like to sprinkle a generous amount of borax into the toilet after flushing and before leaving the house for a while. After soaking all you need to do is brush well and the toilet is clean with out leaving the smell of chemicals or perfume.
When I feel like cleaning (which is not often), I work like crazy before I lose the mood.
i like tucking tea bags full of dried herbs or flowers into linen drawers. then everything smells nice and fresh
vinegar can replace a multitude of (more expensive and more toxic!) cleaning products.
hydrogen peroxide. I burned a batch of blackberry jam this summer, left a thick layer of char permanently affixed to my pot. no amount of scouring or scraping or soaking touched it. Finally soaked it in hydrogen peroxide, and the whole mess lifted out in one piece. my pot looked like new.
Vinegar and baking soda are some of the best cleaning products and they are inexpensive and can clean anything.
Baking soda, sprinkled on and let sit for a couple minutes, then scrubbed off with just water – makes my sinks sparkle!
White vinegar for just about everything…and plain vodka for musty odors!
I use baking soda to sprinkle on any greasy messes, then spray with plain white vinegar and wipe up with hand knit cotton dishcloths. Gets the grease off almost anything!
Original Dawn, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda on tough to remove laundry stains.
We started using Vinegar more now. I heard about it but did not think it could work but it does on so many things. It is my new friend.
Dance music! My daughter is much more likely to help clean is there’s good music playing. (I’m more likely to clean too)
Not so much a cleaning problem, but more a make your own product; I make my own fabric softerner out of white vinegar and hair conditioner. I use about two tablespoons of conditioner to a quart of vinegar and add a few drops of essential oil (usual pepermint, but sometimes lavendar).
I vacuum up a cotton ball with some essential oils on it. It makes my whole house smell great when I vacuum.
The magic eraser solve a lot of problems.
I use old towels to do alot of cleaning jobs – keeping paper towel usage to a minimum.
I use shop towels for cars to clean up everything. They are absorbent, easy to wash and can even be used to dust.
My friend once introduced me to the power of salt. Sprinkle generously on a burnt pan and let it sit for 20 minutes or so, then clean with warm water and minimal elbow grease. Works magic!
Love to use baking soda dry with a damp cloth as a scrubber. It’s not abrasive and it’s handy.
Lemons in water for cleaning the microwave
We use old (clean) cloth diapers for mopping up spills. They work soooo much better than paper towels and you can throw them in the washing machine and use them again and again.
I’m not good at following this, but the easiest time to clean a mess is right when it happens! Sounds obvious, but it’s really true. When I follow it, things do stay significantly cleaner.
Blue dawn and hot vinegar. Love it for the shower, tub and sink.
White vinegar, it works for almost everything
Boiling water and baking soda in a pan to remove tough, cooked on goo. It does wonders!
I love baking soda with either vinegar or hydrogen peroxide (which I rarely have in the house but works great if you do!) to clean my kitchen counters and stove top!
I use vinigar for cleaning everything
I invite company over! It’s the only way to ensure I’ll clean up.
My favorite cleaning trick is to JUST DO IT! Do the little things before they all pile up!
I just checked out “The Hands on Home” book from the library and started the process of moving our home to natural cleaners. Made my first bars of soap yesterday, will be hard to wait 4 weeks for them.
A lot of vinegar is my best trick
I never throw away an old toothbrush. They make the best scrubbers for small spaces.
I steep my used lemon rinds in vinegar and use that in my kitchen – smells so good!
Borax, washing soda, white vinegar and baking soda.
My cleaning trick is to clean the house by going through one room at a time. This way, I don’t feel too overwhelmed with a house in a complete mess 🙂
We were once told that owning a dog would spare us to sweep the crumbs of food the kids drop to the floor when they are eating because the dog would eat them…still thinking bout it…lol
I like to simply use bleach to clean the toilets at my house. Since I always have bleach for laundry, it can double for the toilet too.
My favorite cleaning trick is to LET IT SOAK! That help clean off a lot of nasties!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Vinegar in the final rinse for dishtowels and bath towels – it removes the musty smell they can sometimes have.
my favorite cleaning trick is to hire a maid service 🙂
I’ve been trying to use reusable cloths as often as I can instead of paper towels or napkins. I also like to hang dry my clothes instead of using the dryer!
I use a lot of vinegar and baking soda for cleaning the bathroom and stove/oven.
Magic eraser for some otherwise impossible to remove marks.