Chemical Free Living workshop

On a miserable rainy night, some intrepid souls headed to Kaeo to participate in an Eco-Solutions workshop making safe cleaners. Anouk and Katharina, both timebankers, brought a collection of non-toxic ingredients, essential oils and a list of DIY Cleaning Products recipes.

We decided to collaborate and each made one cleaner to share with the others. I chose the All-Purpose Spray since I don’t use commercial cleaning sprays at home and wanted something I could use safely.

The cleaning paste expanded and exploded out of the jar, which gave us a giggle. We left with both those cleaners, as well as laundry powder, liquid handwash, lemon cleaner (made from previous distilling of lemon peels in white vinegar) and a dusting cloth smelling of thyme.

At the end of the night of fun and laughs, and a bit of mess, we left with the hall smelling divine from all the essential oils and, for me at least, a renewed desire to clean.

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Cleaning Paste for kitchen, bathroom and toilet

1c baking soda

1 tbs cream of tartar

10ml liquid castile soap

3ml water

1ml peppermint (or other) essential oil

Mix baking soda and tartar in a bowl.

In a jug, mix castile soap, water and essential oil.

Slowly add it to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until you have a paste

Add more water if necessary.

(Don't overfill the jar to leave room for expansion - or you get the explosion we did!)