Make Your Own Cleaning Products

by MarkGallagher

I watched the documentary Chemerical a few months ago and wanted to start making my own cleaning products at home for a while.  I do not like the smell of most conventional cleaning products and bleach makes me want to gag, even with the windows open.  I'm using what I have now, but I bought glass mixing bottles from Ross and just grabbing ingredients as I go.

As soon as a bottle was empty I went to work creating my own mosquito repellent, because the screens on my bedroom widow doesn't quite fit and I'm being eaten alive.

I bought some lemon eucalyptus oil from Whole Foods and grabbed some Rubbling Alcohol from CVS, I also grabbed some vinegar to make a natural all purpose cleaner later.

The recipe I followed was based off the instructions from About.com:

One 16 oz. Bottle of Rubbing alchohol
One Small Bottle of Lemon Eucalyptus Oil (One bottle is almost not enough for the ratio, so 1/2 of another bottle of essential oil will cover the appropiate ratio)

The rubbing alcohol cost a little more than a dollar and one bottle of oil was about $6 and still cheaper than a 16oz bottle of the premade natual repellent.

by Stephanie (strph) from Oklahoma City, USA

How well does the concoction work?
I haven't been bittin again sense as long as I spray it nightly around the windows and front door.

How does it smell?
Like Off, but not too offensive once it dries, I think if I added more essential oil it would smell fine.

I also made my own personal all purpose cleaner:
32 oz. bottle (glass for me, but you can use your own old spray bottles too!)
1/4 cup of salt
about 16 oz  water
about 16 oz vinegar
If you don't like the smell, add favorite essential oil (about 100 drops, more or less)

With the essential oil it doesn't make for a great glass cleaner, but you can just do 1 part water and 1 part vinegar to make a good glass cleaner.

A great car windshield recipie:
3 tablespoons of cornstarch (to clean off bugs)
1 cup vinegar
3 cups natural glass cleaner (I used Method Glass Cleaner)

Another recipie I've used was for deodarant:
1 part corn starch
1 part coconut oil
1 part baking soda
Essential Oil 4 drops per oz

You mix all the ingridents in a pot or pan, put in mold or old deodarant stick container and keep in fridge in hot weather.  If the deodarant irritates your skin add less baking soda or change the essential oil.  I recomend a small batch of unsented to just try it out and change it later for your needs.

These are just a few I've used so far, do you have any cheap natural recipes for cleaning your home?

How to Petition Effectively

by Kennet1

I was listening to the Pagan Centered Podcast: Episode 239 1/2: Action and Reaction and the cast spoke about how people try to petition through a variety of sites; Change.org, Moveon.org, Care2 Petition Site, Causes.com.


All of these sites attempt to bring attention to important issues, but when I tried to search on any of these sites there was over 20 different petitions, sometimes more, about the same subject.  100 signatures on one, 13 on another, 0 on another, it went on and on for pages sometimes.  Every single signature disjointed for, perhaps, a just cause because of the lack of unity between these people.


Like the hosts on Pagan Centered Podcast (PCP) said in the Occupy Movement was as cluttered as a grandma's house of nick-knacks; many ideas, but no unity.  Well thought out campaigns, like Kony 2012, brought a concise view with a powerful message:

by occupyhelp 

"Joseph Kony is one of the world's worst war criminals, and I call on my leaders to support the international efforts now led by the United Nations and African Union to arrest him and his top commanders, bring the child soldiers home, and restore lasting peace."

With one sentence the reader knew the offenders name, where he was from, what he was accused of and the ultimate goal.  Occupy and many other campaigns do not have this concise message and were lost under the mounds of repetitive intentions.

Once I attempted a petition, but I lost my fire in it because I felt I was overwhelmed with clone messages throughout the Change.org site.  One of the better ways to begin a petition, a recommended by PCP was going directly to the White House website and sign there.  The site  was a direct link for an average person and the White House where a politician in need of a plan will actually read the words and notice the signatures.

 by Ed Brown, as Edbrown05

The best way a person could help a politician was to have a step-by-step plan ready to go with little to no thought effort on the elected officials part.  This may sound sad to the average citizen, but our responsibility to throw fully formed ideas in Congresses' face and keep them on their toes.

It is time for a revolution in politics and only together can we arrive there.

What are you concerned about politically?