Non-Toxic Oven Cleaner

My family is wrapping up moving. Like big time, across an ocean moving! With moving comes great responsibilities--mostly cleaning, BOO!

Every time we do this--and we do this more than most as a military family--I swear the next time I'm just going to hire someone!  But then, every time, we think about what we need to do and how much time we have to do it and we convince ourselves "It's really not so much," and "We can spread it out," and "We got this." And every time we end up slaving and sweating in to the night, cleaning ceiling fans and base boards for the first time since we moved in, while roasting ourselves out with the oven's self-cleaning cycle stinking up the house burning off 2-3 years worth of stuck on grease!

This time, I'm happy to report, was different!  Well, a little different.  We came close to hiring someone, at least to clean the windows. Mind you, we live in Hawaii and we had 30 sets of jalousie windows. Don't know what those are? Check these babies out (I count that as 2):

Now, we do have a pressure washer, but those little slats just can't quite get a seal, so unless you want water spraying inside with all the gook it's supposed to be washing off, each one is going to need to be wiped down by hand! But, my husband's "let me just see how long 1 takes" turned in to me demonstrating a suggestion to make it go a little faster, magically evolved in to both of us and our 4 year old knocking out 80% before dinner! So, no we didn't hire anyone!  I mostly covered the mom stuff and kept the kids out of the house while the hubs cranked out most of the cleaning, a lot of which he finished while the packers were there and you can't do much else anyway! This was a great opportunity to put my clean cleaning products to the ultimate test and they didn't disappoint!

However, after several days of transition craziness and sleeping in strange beds, while largely on exclusive parent duty, I was begging for my turn in a quiet, empty house, even if it meant until I was scrubbing until I was sore! One of my tasks included the oven... so thanks for sticking around through the epilogue to finally get to the good stuff!

Now, like I mentioned before, we are leaving Hawaii, so even though it is December, it was still 80 degrees outside and our house had no air conditioning. The self-cleaning cycle is, let's just say, less than appealing. Plus, I didn't have the time to wait for it to cook and cool so I could wipe it out. That seriously takes 5-6 hours!  And nasty oven cleaner?  No thank you!  That aerosol can of chemicals won't come near my home again!  I whipped up a magic solution and was done in no time!

1/2-1 cup baking soda (less baking soda for a dirtier oven!)

1 capful Thieves Household Cleaner concentrate
a splash of water, 1 TBSP or so to thin it out and combine

Mix ingredients, scrub on with scouring pad, wipe off with a damp rag. DONE!

*Extra degreasing, deodorizing, stain fighting power of lemon essential oil or Citrus Fresh essential oil blend would be a nice touch here! 8-16 drops should do the trick.  I simply didn't have any on hand this time and it did a very good job!

OMG, this was SO super easy!  Even with the self-cleaning cycle, you still have to wipe it out. This method really required very little elbow grease to just wipe the gunk away.  There were a few spots I had to do twice, but even the tough spots went down! I was so blown away by how easy and how effective this was.  I may or may not have gone on Facebook right in the middle of the job to share how amazing it was! You can catch my video here and watch the magic in action!

The baking soda is an excellent, gentle abrasive and a great little deodorizing scrubber all on its own.  It makes for the perfect base for this product.  The Thieves Household Cleaner concentrate packs an incredibly strong degreasing punch! Not to mention, it's completely plant-and mineral based, non-toxic, and smells great! It is a Young Living exclusive and you can learn how to get it wholesale here. Check out these before-and-after pics. I think they speak loud and clear:

I will admit this is obviously more labor intensive than the self-cleaning cycle, simply due to the effort in covering the surface area. But it was really worth it to me to not have to run that cycle or use a harmful product. The labor involved really wasn't bad. And, in the end, I can confidently say that no brain cells (or any cells, for that matter) were harmed in the fantastic, get-your-security-deposit-back cleaning of my oven! And the rest of the house looked pretty good too ;)

Car Interior Cleaning Spray

Hey ladies, trying to get the man in your life on board with all this DIY stuff? Guys, no offense, but most proactive DIYers are female! Here is a recipe everyone can enjoy and everyone can make! It also happens to be one that helped me rope my husband in to DIY products too ;)

This is a solution to make the interior of your shine! We've spent years living in hot climates and the sun is brutal on cars. We use this spray on all of the hard plastic and vinyl surfaces on the interior of the car. It works great, makes your car look great, and smells fresh too!

2/3 cup water
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp vinegar
2-4 drops concentrated soap (we use castile, but any biodegradable concentrated soap is good here)
4-6 drops essential oil (think tea tree, Thieves, Purification...any of the good cleaners)

Combine in an 8oz spray bottle and shake as needed. The oil and water will separate, but remember not to make the soap go crazy!
Spray on surfaces in the car and wipe with a soft, clean cloth. *Watch out for windows! That olive oil will be a little bit of a pain to get off!

Now, ya'll know I loooove the Thieves Household Cleaner for just about everything, but the olive oil in this recipe will condition your vinyl surfaces and give them that great shine. I mean, look at those results!

It can also help a little bit with all the sun beating down on your dash. We don't have leather in our cars, so spot check on leather first, giving is a few days of sun exposure, especially if you are using citrus oils. You don't want any discoloration from the sun!

Tub Scrub

I really don't like cleaning. I mean, does anyone really like it? What's your least favorite part? Hard to pick just one, right?  Well, one thing I don't hate anymore is the chemical stink that used to fill my home on cleaning days. It's really easy to make your own great, clean, chemical-free, fresh-smelling cleaning products! Did ya know that? Baking soda and vinegar will take you a long way! Throw in a little castile soap, lemon and tea tree essential oil, and you've got yourself a cleaning par-tay!  Here is the recipe I use for my tub, my sink, and anywhere else that could use a good scrubbing!

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 tbsp castile soap
• 8 drops each lemon and tea tree essential oils (Thieves, Citrus Fresh, Purification, or Melrose would also be great in this recipe!)

Mix everything together in a bowl with a spoon (remember, glass or stainless is best when dealing with essential oils!) and sprinkle a light dusting on whatever you want to clean. Scrub a bit and rinse off. See, easy! Letting it sit for a little while won't hurt anything either. Today, I mixed and dusted before nap time, then did my tuck-in duties and scrubbed after. Store any extra in a jar with a shaker top for easy use next time.

Baking soda is a great cleaning product. It's cheap, easily accessible, and natural! It's also good for deodorizing and stains, and while mildly abrasive, it won't scratch your surfaces. Check out the box panels for some ideas on where you can use it!

The soap makes for a good texture and offers some more cleaning power. You want to wash off dirt, right?  Castile soap is a blend of saponified oils, including coconut, jojoba, hemp oils, and others. It is plant based. It is also a concentrate, so don't be scared of the price! It works out to a good value. Think of it as buying in bulk. You can get it pre-scented, but I prefer the plain, mild version.

Finally, the oils. Many essential oils, like tea tree, Thieves, Purification, and Melrose, have great cleansing properties. Lemon, Citrus Fresh, and Purification are all good for odors. Many citrus oils are helpful for stains, too! I like this combo for the scent, and it does such a great job! Everything is left sparkly fresh!
(Need to get your hands on some oils, including these great blends? Check out this page!)

Here are the great results I get with this scrub (you can click to enlarge)! Please don't judge my nasty sink and tub! My husband is away and I've been doing the single mom thing! I may have fallen a little behind on my chores...

Thieves Household Cleaner All-Purpose Sprays

The Thieves Household Cleaner is one of the best bang-for-the-buck products I’ve found from Young Living! It is an all plant- and mineral-based product and features the king-of-clean, Thieves Essential Oil blend (which is part of the Premium Starter Kit, and you can read a little more about here). Thieves is a combination of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyuptus, and rosemary essential oils, so you know it smells amazing!  Because it's all natural, it's an ideal cleaning solution for homes with children and/or pets.  But the absolute BEST part is... It actually works!!!  It actually gets things clean!

The Thieves Household Cleaner comes in a reasonable 14.4 oz or a jumbo 64 oz bottle (honestly, I’ve had the smaller one for months and it’s not gone yet. Maybe I just need to clean more...) Simply dilute it with water, or add to some baking soda, and you can use it to clean your house from top to bottom, on nearly every surface.  It's that easy! And a little goes a very long way. This solution is SUPER concentrated, so dilution is almost always required, making it an economical solution as well. Dilution ratios vary based on how strong of a cleaner you need.

I keep 2 spray bottles in my cabinet all the time:

1. A light weigh spray of 1 capful in about 3 cups of water + 1 tsp vinegar

    My favorite uses:

• Mirrors (if it streaks, add a little more water)
• Stainless appliances (think smudges on the fridge!) 
• Chrome faucets
• Giving kitchen or bathroom countertops an everyday wipe-down. 
• My sofa. I spot clean from messy little fingers and every week or 2 just do a light mist over the whole thing to freshen it up.
• Toys
• My dinner table and chairs (they are wood)
• The crib  
• Re-usable AC filters
• Doorknobs and light switch plates

2. A more heavy-duty, all-purpose solution made of 1 capful in about 1 ½-2 cups of water. 

    My favorite uses:

• The stove top after dinner
• The high chair 
• Car seat cup holders
• Old, sticky juice
• The trash can
• Toothpaste spots in the sink

*Be sure to spot check for color-fastness and against staining on fabrics and porous surfaces. But, my couch is red micro-suede and I've had no issues!

Just an FYI, each cap full is about 1 tbsp, so the smaller bottle gets you 29 caps and the larger one gets you 128! Such a bargain!

See, super easy! I do use this concentrate in other recipes as needed around my house, but I use at least one of these 2 almost every day. I love that I can get out my bottle #1 and just go to town, cleaning all over the house at once!  Don't you just love simplification in life?