And So it Begins....

I am determined to change the way I clean.  So today I took the first step and found a better way to pretreat my daughters stained laundry.  I usually buy Dreft Stain Spray which costs about $2.99 and it only last me a couple of laundry sessions for the girls (they stain their clothes a lot).  Needless to say, it adds up.  My natural alternative recipe came from the book Natural Cleaning for your Home and it was fairly easy.  

 PRETREATING SPRAY FOR DELICATES:
1/2 cup (118ml) of Gentle Soap Base
(made from Castille soap flakes and boiling water)
4 Tablespoons (60ml) of Hydrogen Peroxide
1/2 Tablespoon (30ml) of Ammonia

So far it is working pretty much like my other cleaner and when I calculated the cost, this one only costs $1.75....cheaper and natural!  The only thing I'm not loving is the smell of ammonia, I think I'll try vinegar for my next batch.

Another score for the day is a bit of thrifting with the girls after a morning in the ministry (and bit of errands too).  I was looking for a small grater to use for the Castille soap and we ended up with quite a loot (as usual)...

- an indoor tent for the girls (so we could return the very expensive one we bought last month from Target)
- 3 more books from the Top 100 Children's Books of All Time list namely:
(1) Goodnight Moon
(2) George and Martha
(3) How I Became a Pirate
- A brand new coloring book that Mer picked
- A couple of vintage looking Pottery Barn lap boards for the girls to do their artwork or "homework" in
- the grater of course!
- a shiny purse for the purse princess (Mer)
- and a Wall-E cartridge for their Leapster game - only 99cents...these will usually run you $20!

Total damage: $15.58 but with a $5 coupon, all of these were just a little over 10 bucks!  Thrifting is awesome indeed...oh and very green as well!

Tomorrow....a bit of purging.  I think I'll start with the junk drawers....