It’s been 5 weeks since I started the infusion of vinegar with Loblolly pine needles to make my own non-toxic pine cleaner.
You might remember the original post back in December when I discussed the dangers of using cleaners like Pine Sol and the benefits of making your own non-toxic version,here.
In February, I posted the steps I took to gather the items you need to make a pine vinegar infusion, here.
Today, I took the infusion out of the dark, cool cabinet it was being stored in to make the cleaner. After 5 weeks, the pine aroma was present, but was more subtle than I expected. The vinegar darkened to a weak tea brown. Although the scent was more “acidic salad dressing” than “piney fresh”, I decided to follow the steps to make the cleaner and test it out.
What You Will Need:
1/2 cup Pine Vinegar Infusion
1/2 cup plain white distilled vinegar
1 tsp. Unscented Liquid Castile Soap*
*You can find many brands in natural or health food stores or online. I used Dr. Bronner’s 18-1 Hemp Baby Unscented Pure-Castile Soap. Here is a link to it on Amazon.
A clean, sealable glass jar or container
A spray bottle
Directions:
1) Add all ingredients to the glass jar.
2) Seal the lid and shake well.
3) Pour as needed into spray bottle to clean.
4) Store unused portion in sealed glass jar to keep fresh.
When we mixed the ingredients in the glass jar, some of the oils in the castile soap solidified. I am not sure how to prevent this. It did not effect the effectiveness of the cleaner, but you should try to keep the solid out if you are using a spray bottle to clean.
Finally, for the test….I decide to try the pine cleaner on my wooden kitchen cabinets. Check out the pictures below for the before and after. (The before is totally cringe-inducing. This is a cabinet right next to the stove and it had accumulated plenty of cooking “grunge” since it was last cleaned.) I am super-impressed with the result and couldn’t be happier to have found a non-toxic replacement for a chemical cleaner.
I’m calling this Green Living Challenge a WIN!!! Many thanks to our fellow “Greenie”, Cara, for providing the idea and inspiration. Please let me know if you think you will try it for yourself 🙂
If YOU have a great eco-friendly tip or product that you haven’t tried yourself because you:
A)think it would be too expensive to try
B)think it would be too time consuming to try
C) think it’s just a bunch of malarky….
then let me try it first!
Post your idea in the comments below. I would LOVE to try it for you.
