Comment - Homestead Swaps

🧼 CORE HOMESTEAD CLEANING PRODUCTS (From Scratch)

1. All-Purpose Cleaner

Ingredients

• White vinegar

• Citrus peels (orange, lemon, grapefruit)

• Water

How

1. Pack citrus peels into a jar

2. Cover with vinegar

3. Ferment 2–4 weeks

4. Strain, dilute 1:1 with water

✔ Antibacterial

✔ Zero waste

✔ Smells clean, not chemical

2. Scrub Powder

Ingredients

• Baking soda

• Wood ash (fine sifted) or salt

Mix

• 2 parts baking soda

• 1 part ash or salt

Use on sinks, tubs, stovetops.

3. Dish Soap (Low-Foam, Traditional)

Ingredients

• Soapwort root or homemade lye soap shavings

• Water

How

• Simmer soapwort or dissolve soap shavings in hot water

⚠ Not sudsy — but very effective.

🧺 LAUNDRY (Fully Homemade)

4. Laundry Soap

Ingredients

• Homemade lye soap (olive oil = gentlest)

• Washing soda (can be made by baking baking soda)

• Optional: borax substitute = extra washing soda

Recipe

• Grate soap

• Mix 1 cup soap + 1 cup washing soda

Use 1–2 tbsp per load.

5. Fabric Softener

• Plain white vinegaror

• Wool dryer balls (from sheep fleece if you have it!)

🚽 BATHROOM & TOILET

6. Toilet Cleaner

• Baking soda + vinegar

• Toilet brush

Let fizz, scrub, done.

7. Mold & Mildew Spray

• Vinegar + hydrogen peroxide (used separately, never mixed)

🪟 GLASS & MIRRORS

• Vinegar + water (1:1)

• Old newspaper or cotton cloth

🧽 CLEANING TOOLS (No Plastic)

• Cotton rags (old clothes)

• Wooden dish brush

• Loofah gourds (grown + dried)

• Natural bristle brooms

🧴 PERSONAL & HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

8. Hand Soap / Body Soap

• Cold-process lye soap

  • Olive oil, tallow, or lard

  • Optional herbs: calendula, lavender

9. Tooth Powder

Ingredients

• Baking soda

• Fine charcoal

• Optional mint leaf powder

10. Deodorizer (Air & Fridge)

• Baking soda in open jars

• Dried herbs

• Activated charcoal (homemade if ambitious)

SCENT & AMBIANCE (Non-Toxic)

• Beeswax candles

• Simmer pots (herbs + citrus + spices)

• Dried lavender bundles

WHAT THIS ELIMINATES

✔ Synthetic fragrance

✔ Endocrine disruptors

✔ Plastic packaging

✔ Mystery ingredients

Your home becomes:

• Cleaner air

• Healthier skin

• Safer for kids & animals

• Fully circular waste-wise

HOMESTEAD SAFETY NOTES

• Label everything

• Store vinegar & lye safely

• Essential oils = optional, not required

• Simple is better than “Pinterest complicated”