DIY Yoga Mat Cleaner

This was my favorite one. Lol. I just like the attitude. 

So a while back, when I was doing the work out month February of last year, I thought about doing a yoga mat cleaner. Back then though, I thought to myself, Self, why would you do a yoga mat cleaner? 

You work out at home.

Then I started going to the gym. That’s right. Me, miss anti-work out in public, is going to the gym. In fact, it’s become my second home.

While at the gym, I picked up a yoga class, and then I realized why you’d want a cleaner.

The same class you do your yoga on is the same class that hot guy doing pushups and free weights sweats on. And the same class the Zumba people dance on with their shoes.

Does anyone else think about where dirty shoes have been?

I do. Ew.

And other peoples sweat, even that hot guys? Blech.

So I finally got down to business and made a yoga mat cleaner, because why not? 

I hunted around Pintrest, until I found a recipe I liked. I found one at Greenback Girl here. 

Here are my ingredients. 

You'll need some water, witch hazel, tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus oil, and a spray bottle. Well, really only the tea tree oil. that's the true disinfectant. But the others are good as well. 

First, you need a 1 cup of water. 

The website I got it from didn't say distilled water specifically, I picked it up, because distilled water is better than regular water, right? Besides this was only a dollar.  and I got to drink the rest. 

Next comes the witch hazel. 

You need 1/4 cup. Witch Hazel. This is a cleanser and air freshener. (You can use it on your face too.) I personally don't like the smell of witch hazel, but it helps clean and it makes it better. 

Next come the essential oils. 

You need 10 drops of tea tree oils. Again, a disinfectant. Personally, I love the smell of tea tree oil. 

 Then, 15 drops of lavender oil. This is for calming. It also covers the smell of the witch hazel. I like the smell tea tree oil smell better.

5 drops of Eucalyptus. Another air freshner and cleanser. 

Then you put it all in a bottle and. . . 

Shake, shake, shake. 

Then you spray spray spray. 

Give it a few minutes. Wipe it off. It smells aaaammmmmmaaazzzzzinnnnnnnnggggggg. I really mean it. It smells super good. And it felt pretty clean. If nothing else, it smells good. 

So this is the first post of 2017. I hope every one enjoyed it. 

DIY Glass Cleaner

So, the last money saving thing is DIY glass cleaner. While you can buy cheap things at dollar tree, you still don't get the volume you do by making it at home. Sometimes that's a way to save money; rather than buying more of something for a dollar every time, spend a few more dollars and make a bunch of it. 

I emptied out the glass cleaner thing.

Rubbing Alcohol

Cornstarch

Water

Vinegar

Lemon Essential Oil 

1 Tablespoon of Cornstarch

This kind of is a gentle buffer on the glass surface. 

1 and 1/2 cups of water

1/2 cup of vinegar. 

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol

I added about three drops of essential oil in order to mask the smell. It helped some and left more of a lemon smell, but it's not necessary. 

It does separate some, so you'll need to shake it every time you use it. Also, as a note, it doesn't work as well with cloth. I don't know why, but when I tried wiping it with cloth it streaked. Paper towels worked best. 

This is how it worked.

Before 

After

It also worked really well on the bathroom fixtures. Gave them a nice shine. 

I like this one. I'll probably make more and continue to use it in the future. 

DIY All Purpose Cleaner and Carpet Cleaner

So, I'm making more cleaners. And I've used them somewhat. In the long run they would be cheaper than buying something pre-made. 

One of my favorite things about making things at home is that they're customizeable. That's a big thing for me. I like things just so a lot of the times. Anyway, I'll start on the all purpose cleaner. 

So, vinegar,  dish soap tea Tree oil I don't have any specific measurements for it either. 
It's mostly vinegar. 

Then you add some dish soap, roughly half a tablespoon.

And a few drops of tea tree oil for the antibacterial properties. Although, it's optional if you don't have it on hand. 

I would say it works pretty well. The only complaint I have is the strong vinegar smell, but that's about it. I used it in the bathroom, and to clean up dog messes on the floor. In my opinion you probably use just as much as normal cleaner. 

Ok, now for the carpet cleaner. 

I found recipes on Pinterest of different scents you can get. I have carpet in my bedroom, and since my dog refuses to be house broken--little hell hound, but I love her-- I wanted to use one for getting rid of pet odors. 

The premise is that you use 15 drops of essential oils per 1 cup of baking soda. 

I used an Parmesan cheese container because I didn't want to buy one. 

You need at least one cup of baking soda and essential oils. I have Purification and Thieves here for the pet odors. 

One cup of baking soda. 

10 drops of purification

5 drops thieves

It smells like Christmas to me. 

Mix, and let sit for 20 minutes

Sprinkle on the floor. 

Wait 20 minutes. 

Vacuum up. 

Done. 

DIY Laundry Soap

So, I've been seeing if DIY really does help you save money as far as a price comparison. So one of the things I wanted to make myself is laundry soap. So I did. 

You'll need to get a container. I mean it; don't do this with out one. 

You'll need: 

A Cheese Grater

Fels-Naptha Soap, which run $0.97 each and you'll need 3. 

Borax $4.00

Washing Soda $4.00

Baking Soda  $2.00

You'll want the large box, but I didn't get it. So I had two new ones and use a half of the other one. 

Grate the bars first. I just grated mine, but you can also put them in the food processor and blend it down more if you want. It doesn't take very long to do this actually. Originally when I started this plan, I thought I would need to put some essentail oils in there to give it some scent. Nope. These bars smell amazing. They perfume this whole thing nicely. 

Once you have that, you'll want to put in the powders.

So I wish I had a full shot of this. This is a huge punch bowl and even then I had to put it in another container. At this point, I mixed it together with my hands to get a fairly even distribution. 

I've washed a few loads with this. I did a load with what looked liked to be the equivalent of what I would normally use in liquid. I actually had to wash it twice because it was too much. I did another load later and used a little bit. That worked. It works just as well as normal liquid soap. 

You have to use less, and this recipe makes a lot. So that makes it pretty cost effective. 

If you compare spending 14 to 17 on things like Tide or Gain. Even if you get Costco brand, it's $11, but you get twice as much. 

I like this. I'll be making it again. 

DIY Vanilla Syrup

So, in order to save some money I decided to cut back on Starbucks, because I mean seriously, paying $5.00 for one drink is just ridiculous.  So, one of my favorite drinks is an iced caramel machiatto. It requires vanilla syrup, and sure I can buy a big thing of it for $5.00, that's still super cost effective, or I could make my own.  I was in DIY mode, I decided to make my own. It's incredibly simple.  So first you'll need to get your stuff together. 

1. sugar 2. water 3. Pot 4. Vanilla  5. Container So the nice thing about this is it's a one to one ratio on sugar and water. So one cup of water takes one cup of sugar.  So I did one cup of water and one cup of sugar in a pot. 

Turn the burner on and stir the sugar and water until it's been brought to a gentle boil. Make sure that everything is mixed completely. 

 Pour it into a container and let it cool off a little bit. 

 Add roughly two teaspoons to the mixture. Stir that together. 

Done!