Green Cleaning for Dummies - Week 7: Armed & Dangerous

Pictured: Pomander
Assortment

**Green Cleaning for Dummies is an 8 week series
WEEK 7:  Armed and Dangerous...
Let's Freshen Up!

First a Recap  of your Prepared Arsenal:

1. Baking soda and 50% Vinegar in all bathrooms and the kitchen
2. Baking soda, vinegar, washing soda, and sodium per-carbonate in the laundry room
3. All Purpose Cleaner
4. Bathroom Disinfectant Cleaner
5. Dishwashing Mix
6. Carpet Deodorizer
7. Furniture Polish
8. Furniture Duster/Cleaner

Purchased Detergents/Soaps

1.  Earth friendly laundry detergent
2.  Earth friendly dish soap
3.  Earth friendly regular soap

What's Next?
1.  Replace your toothpaste with a SLS free kind
     or with a mix of equal parts baking soda/salt and xylitol to taste if desired
2.  Replace your shampoo with detergent free
     or baking soda and vinegar
3.  Get rid of all commercial air fresheners


Stove Top Air Freshener

In a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water heat until hot cinnamon sticks, cloves, all spice, or nutmeg in any single spice or combination desired.   Once hot, turn off and the house will smell of spice.


Recipe:  Ginger Spice Spray Air Freshener

1 cup water (or 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup vinegar)
1-3 cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Mix well in a small spray bottle and spray wherever desired.


Recipe:  Scent Essence Air Freshener

1 cup water (or 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup vinegar)

Your Choice:
Lemon Extract (or lemon juice/zest)
Lime Extract (or lemon juice/zest)
Vanilla Extract (or vanilla bean)
Almond Extract

Mix well in the concentration desired in a small spray bottle and spray wherever desired.


Recipe (Advanced):  Closet and Drawer Freshener Pomander Ball

What you need:

1.  An orange (something with thin skin not thick!) or another citrus fruit.
     Apples also work nicely.
2.  Whole cloves
3.  2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4.  2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5.  2 teaspoons allspice
6.  2 teaspoons orris root powder OR sandalwood oil  (essential)
7.  A nail or embroidery needle about the width of the clove stems

** you may use any spice pre-mixture you want.  Apple Pie Spice, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Garam Masala, etc.**

Prick holes in the fruit in a desired pattern.  The most common is up and down rows, but you can get fancy.   Insert cloves into the holes about 1/8 of an inch apart.     Mix the spices in a bowl and roll the fruit in it until it is completely covered (use the leftovers to make more pomanders).   Put the fruit into a paper bag and keep in a cool, dry, dark place for three weeks to six weeks so that it can shrink and harden (it won't mold because of the orris root powder).    When cured properly it will be light and sound hollow if tapped on a surface.   If you use sandalwood oil paint the fruit with the oil (you don't need a lot) then roll into the spices.

Toss into a drawer or attach a pretty ribbon with pins to the dried pomander and hang in a closet or wherever you want a nice scent.   You can also affix a ribbon or string to the top of the fruit first and then put in the cloves.   If you want to wrap the ribbon around the fuit, use masking tape the width of the desired ribbon to mask off an area before studding with cloves.  Pomanders keep indefinitely.   To freshen the smell of a very old pomander, brushing it with orange oil or clove oil will keep it going.