Baking Soda Fresh

Baking soda is wonderful deodorizer around the house and can be used to freshen and launder clothing as well as to freshen furniture or carpets. It can also be used as an eco-friendly oven cleaner. Since the oven is where you cook your food, it’s better to skip oven cleaner chemicals, which leave a residue that could be quite unhealthy. Make a paste by adding water, or equal parts water and vinegar, to one cup of baking soda. Coat the inside of the oven and leave overnight. In the morning, turn the oven on low heat for an hour, then let cool. Use a spray bottle of water and vinegar to soften the hardened paste, then use elbow grease to scrub it off. When you are baking that batch of cookies for your loved ones, you can rest assured no fumes are getting into the yummy treats!

Good for Wood Eco Floor Cleaner

Combine the following in a big bowl:

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 drops lemon essential oil
• 1 quart warm water

Mix everything together, preferably in a glass bowl, and pour into a clean spray bottle. As always, use caution even with these homely, organic ingredients and avoid getting vinegar, lemon juice, Borax, or any of your eco witchery concoctions in your eyes. Simply aim the spray at your floor and mop with a clean damp mop. Follow by mopping with hot water. Allow the floor to dry a bit and buff with clean dry cloths into which you have sprinkled a few drops of lavender oil. Your floors will look really good and smell even better.

Eco-Detergents and Nontoxic Paint

We all want to live in an enchanted cottage, a charming residence in every sense of the word. Several years ago, I learned that all the chemicals in our conventional cleansing products introduce potential toxins into our lives, along with a certain amount of negative energy. Who likes the smell of raw bleach, over-perfumed detergents, and those scary oven cleaners? They strip away the natural and are simply too harsh. It is even a danger to have them around young children whose curiosity could lead them into trouble. I think we can all agree it makes a lot of sense to simply not have anything in your kitchen cabinet that is marked “poisonous.” There are so many options that are inexpensive and will make your home and anyone who walks in the door feel healthier and happier. Creating your own all-organic green witchery cleaners gives you the opportunity to put the most magic into every surface, room, and corner of your home. Every time your home is cleaned using these pagan potions, you are bettering the vibrations of your home, creating healing energy, eliminating toxins and introducing a light, bright positivity right where you live. There is no more powerful enchantment than this; it is the foundation for a peaceful and pleasurable home.

DIY All-Purpose Cottage Cleaner

• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Teaspoon liquid Castile soap
• 3 drops lemon essential oil or 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 quart warm water

Pour the above into a bowl and mix well; transfer to a clean spray bottle and shake. If you have a tougher job than usual, add a cup of white vinegar to the other ingredients. Baking soda is a mild alkaline abrasive, so don’t use it on fine furniture or delicate fabrics. Otherwise, it is quite miraculous for tough stains, rust, ovens, tiles, stain removal, tough greases, smelly fridges, and so many other household chores.