Last week our bathroom really started to bug me. It's a small space and we only have one, which means all our toiletries, cleaning supplies, and personal care items make their home there. In piles. Huge, chemically piles. Our tiny medicine cabinet was over-run with old prescriptions my husband never needs now that he's a non-smoker. The door barely shut most days, as the facial creams, eye-shadows, and blackhead remover strips peeked around the corner to remind me just how cluttered our bathroom really was. (By the way...have you ever read the label on those blackhead remover strips? It's pretty much a paraben party. I'd rather be ugly.)
I finally got to a point where I literally thought out loud, " When do we ever use this junk? It's not even GOOD for us!" And that's when everything in the medicine cabinet found a new home: the trash. After that I cleared out the shelf above the toilet and the wicker basket on the floor. Pretty much everything went. WHEW...ok.
Now what?
I'd not only thrown away all our chemical-laden personal care products, but virtually all of the bathroom cleaning products as well. As I surveyed the landscape of my freshly de-cluttered bathroom one thing became painfully clear: this place was funky. Annnnd now I have nothing to clean it with.
Google search. (Can I just say that mom blogs are the bomb? I have discovered more useful parenting tips, home remedies and all natural personal care and cleaning recipes from these sites than any other place on the web. Women are awesome. We're runnin' this.)
I came across keeperofthehome.org ,which led me to liverenewed.com ,which introduced me to the a Tub Scrub recipe that I tweaked a bit and then put to the test....hardcore. As I said, the bathroom was a raunchy mess (see the picture below for proof), but this super simple to make, incredibly easy to use scrub knocked the job out in less than 10 minutes.
Check it out:
Tub Scrub Recipe
3/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup castile soap ( I used Dr. Bronner's liquid peppermint soap)
1tbsp water ( I just used good ol' tap water)
10 drops of Tea Tree Oil (Verefina of course)
Put the baking soda, castile soap, and water in a bowl and mix well with a fork. Add the tea tree oil in one drop at a time while folding the mixture with said fork. Place in airtight container. Use within a few days because it sounds like the mixture can dry out quickly.
I used the entire batch on my gnarly bath tub/shower, it seemed like just enough to me. Take a looksy at the fabulous results!
Sadly, the "before" doesn't give you the full impact of how bad the tub had gotten... It's really quite sad, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I am SOLD on this scrub. It was easy to make and use, super effective and so safe and natural I was scooping it out of the container with my bare hands. It left the bathroom smelling fantabulous and I was pretty dern proud of myself for takin' care of business with a totally natural, 100% safe scrub.
Try it. You won't regret it! It's easy, super cheap to make and ( especially if you've got kids) will put your mind at ease knowing that it's all natural.
You can grab the Dr. Bronners and the baking soda from a place like Trader Joes, but be sure to get your essential oils from a high quality, reputable source ( like Verefina) to ensure that you are getting true, 100% pure essential Tea Tree Oil. Go ahead and click on the link above to order your essential oils online. And, if you haven't already, read my blog on Tea Tree Oil and take note of the tips for purchasing high quality oils.
Try it and let me know how you like it in the comment section below!
There will be plenty more experimenting like this as the summer unfolds, so be sure to follow me on Blogger so we can test out these crunchy mom recipes together!
Until next time :)
