Another household item I've been meaning to try are disinfecting wipes. I used to buy Lysol or Clorox wipes to make cleaning bacteria-laden surfaces and messes quick and easy. They were not only really expensive, but full of toxins! I know they get rid of 99.9% of germs, but they also replace them with harmful chemicals. My home isn't perfectly green, but I've always been a little bit squeamish about using products like these, especially around the kids. I don't want to throw shade on anyone who uses these products, as I grew up around pure bleach and mainstream chemicals that get the job done well! I'm getting rid of items like these one by one because I've realized the possibility, affordability and ease of making stuff that's safe and actually work fantastically. I realize it's hard to cut out every single thing in a busy family's lifestyle that has any trace of chemicals in it, so I just want to share the ways we're becoming more mindful in using natural alternatives.
I did a little bit of research and what I found was somewhat disappointing. Items like vinegar and baking soda are great, great things to clean with, and they are staples in my house for so many things! But there aren't a lot of green products that actually kill most of the bacteria. And I'm not even militant about cleaning my surfaces raw, because I know we need some bacteria to build those immune systems. But after reading through this experiment on cleaners done by a biochemist, I was pretty surprised to see that even Lysol fell short at getting rid of germs! The most effective tool was hydrogen peroxide! So I decided to use it in my wipes.
You'll need:
1 roll of paper towels, cut in half (I use Viva! The V-Flex ones are even better for scrubbing, I just used the plain ones because they were handy)
1 C hydrogen peroxide
1 C water, boiled and cooled
1 Tb castile soap
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops thieves essential oil (both lemon and thieves have amazing anti-bacterial properties! And the combination of these oils will leave your surfaces smelling wonderful)
1 container to fit the wipes in
Directions:
Place paper towel roll in designated container. In a bowl or measuring cup, mix all ingredients together and pour over paper towel roll slowly. Evenly drizzle the mixture over the inner and outer parts of the roll. Cover container and let sit on all sides a few minutes at a time until solution has evenly saturated the whole roll. Remove cardboard roll and disperse wipes from center. Voila! Get those germs.
